Super Famicom - A Capacitance for Greatness

Inviere

What hasn't been said about the Super Nintendo/Super Famicom? It's one of the greatest consoles of all time, its library brimming with masterpiece after masterpiece, and it raised the bar for quality all around. Like all electronics though, it's not immune to failure over the years. This Super Famicom has certainly seen better days - several faults, it's in sorry condition, and would normally be destined for the bin. Let's see if we can restore this one back to greatness!

^^ Look at this. This machine was once king of the hill, laughing at its own brilliance above all its rivals....now it sits broken, battered, and unloved. It deserves better!

^^ Powering it up, it at least turns on - that's a positive start. The image is either shifted to the top of the screen, or completely rolls like an old tv not fully tuned in.

^^ A couple of screws later, and we've the mainboard on the table for inspection. I removed the cart connector for a thorough cleaning with IPA. On this model, the cart connector is easily removed without desoldering.

^^ This is an early model, SHVC-CPU-01 board, the one that has the discrete sound module attached.

^^ Ok, aside from the usual dust & dirt....I think the problem is obvious....these capacitors have leaked their electrolytic fluid over the years, and they're now a crusty mess that prevent proper electrical flow/function. They need to be changed out!

^^ I grabbed a complete refurb kit on eBay (full set of capacitors, voltage regulator, and pico fuse.)

^^ Some flux, hot air, and effort....and all of the original caps are removed. The voltage regulator too (this was likely fine as the console was powering on and playing games, but for the sake of completion, I'll do the lot.)

^^ All of the pads are thoroughly cleaned by using solder wick and flux, and then fully cleaned down with IPA to remove any remnants of crud. These are all now factory clean, and ready for new capacitors.

^^ Voltage reg eyelets also given a proper IPA cleaning. I'm going to leave the original fuse in place, as it's clearly functioning perfectly. These down't wear down or degrade with age, they simply work or they don't.

^^ Not forgetting the two through-hole caps from the sound board. It's important to do these, as if these sound boards malfunction for any reason, then the console doesn't boot.

^^ Out with the old....

^^ ...and in with the Nichicon new. These should work very well in the audio circuit.

^^ All the brand new SMD capacitors are soldered into place (obviously they're not all pictured here, but you get the idea!)

^^ Brand new voltage reg sitting into place, about to be soldered in.

^^ Boom. Perfect picture, perfectly centered, no rolling, 60Hz NTSC goodness!

^^ A thorough cleaning of the shell, realign the Eject Button bar so it's now working perfectly, and yeah, a very happy Super Famicom now running as it should!

XsApollo

Nice