Fixing an old SNES

Beta Ray Bill · 21-06-2021 11:13am #1

Hi Guys

I recently moved house and in the process of moving out from my mams I came across my old SNES

I hooked it all up and turned it on.
the Graphics are very distorted, and not being displayed correctly.

I don't think its the cables, (It is however displaying on a 78inch LED TV)
Sound is perfect

I bought a game bit and took it apart and cleaned the inside.
Still the same. I also cleaned the cartridge's

I made a video and uploaded it to YT so you can see what im talking about.
Any ideas on how to trouble shoot it would be great

21-06-2021 11:15am

I'm no expert, but I'd say the SNES can't read the cartridge correctly. It looks glitched as opposed to it being a TV connection issue.

Potatoeman · 21-06-2021 11:24am

You said it was in a shed. Is the he shed damp?

head82 · 21-06-2021 11:26am

Have you tested it on another TV? Ideally an old CRT type.
I assume it's connected via the RF Aerial connector. It would be interesting to see if problem persists if you have the option to try it with a AV cable.

At least try it with another TV. If only to rule out that it's not a TV issue.

Beta Ray Bill · 21-06-2021 11:33am

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm no expert, but I'd say the SNES can't read the cartridge correctly. It looks glitched as opposed to it being a TV connection issue.

I've the same issue with every single cartridge though.
I've taken the cartridge's apart to clean the inside of them.
Note: Mariokart or indeed any other game that has a save feature actually have a little battery onboard! How cool is that?

Potatoeman wrote: »

You said it was in a shed. Is the he shed damp?

No, not really, and it was boxed!

head82 wrote: »

Have you tested it on another TV? Ideally an old CRT type.
I assume it's connected via the RF Aerial connector. It would be interesting to see if problem persists if you have the option to try it with a AV cable.

At least try it with another TV. If only to rule out that it's not a TV issue.

This is my next port of call I think
I'm gonna try on an older TV

eddhorse · 21-06-2021 11:35am

EDIT : You have done this
I'd check the contacts on the game itself, use an eraser to clean.

Also what cable are you using to connect a 78" tv? Scart? Composite?

I have seen a single hair doing something similar on a Snes connector before.

Beta Ray Bill · 21-06-2021 11:39am

eddhorse wrote: »

EDIT : You have done this
I'd check the contacts on the game itself, use an eraser to clean.

Also what cable are you using to connect a 78" tv? Scart? Composite?

I have seen a single hair doing something similar on a Snes connector before.

The Cable is a 1990s tune in Job
Standard TV aerial

Beta Ray Bill · 21-06-2021 12:02pm

I've actually just noticed that its upscaling to 16x9
I dunno if the TV is doing this or not, could potentially be the cause?

21-06-2021 12:12pm

Beta Ray Bill wrote: »

I've the same issue with every single cartridge though.
I've taken the cartridge's apart to clean the inside of them.

I'm suggesting that it might be the cartridge reader, not the cartridge. The reader might have been damaged by exposure.

Again, I'm no expert.

Retr0gamer · 21-06-2021 12:14pm

It's nothing to do with cables. If it's happening with all cartridges I'd be thinking it's a capacitor issue. They might need replacing. I'd also check the board for leaking capacitors as the acid from them can cause major issues.

Glitching like that would be either a cap issue or a cart not inserted properly.

Beta Ray Bill · 21-06-2021 1:56pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

It's nothing to do with cables. If it's happening with all cartridges I'd be thinking it's a capacitor issue. They might need replacing. I'd also check the board for leaking capacitors as the acid from them can cause major issues.

Glitching like that would be either a cap issue or a cart not inserted properly.

How do I check for this?
Also do you know of a person who might repair it if this is the case?

Retr0gamer · 21-06-2021 1:59pm

Usually it's salt crystals around the capacitors or the capacitors bulging.

Sometimes it can be hard to figure out as it's not as obvious and you just have to replace them all.

I'm sure if you ask someone could do it for you. You can also get snes capacitor replacement kits on line. I can't really speak for anyone that could do it bit it's not a tough repair just a time consuming one.

Beta Ray Bill · 21-06-2021 2:15pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Usually it's salt crystals around the capacitors or the capacitors bulging.

Sometimes it can be hard to figure out as it's not as obvious and you just have to replace them all.

I'm sure if you ask someone could do it for you. You can also get snes capacitor replacement kits on line. I can't really speak for anyone that could do it bit it's not a tough repair just a time consuming one.

I've ordered a capacitor kit.
Cheap enough.

I'll try and fix if up
I did clean the board with electrical contact cleaner and there was some orange gunge that came off it, but I think that might have been excess flux

I inspected the capacitors, no leaks or bulging.

Beta Ray Bill · 21-06-2021 2:30pm

See below for capacitor pics

21-06-2021 2:38pm

In the second picture it seems as if there is some corrosion on the metal housing for the cartridge bay? Is there any corrosion underneath that?

o1s1n · 21-06-2021 2:47pm

Have you given the cartridge slot a good cleaning itself? 99% of the time graphical glitches are due to either dirty carts or a dirty cart slot.

Handy trick for that is to put a credit card in some cloth (an old thin sock works well) dab the cloth/sock in isopropyl alcohol and you can then insert it into the slot and give it a good clean.

If that doesn't work and you're getting the same problem across all games it's a component issue alright as Retr0 said.

Few ways of determining what's wrong here that I robbed from another site (if it's not a bad capacitor)

If it wont boot or wont play - its usually a CPU-

if games play fine, but have "wierdness" - flickering sprites, flashing blocks etc- its probably Also a CPU

If games play fine, but display incorrect or missing sprites- like mario completely missing, or him being made from random turtle parts - Its probably a PPU

If sprites are correct, but in the wrong places or flipped (say mario is made of mario parts in the wrong places, his head upside down etc) - its probably a VRAM failure.

any of these, you're looking at a "replace the SNES, or Solder 40 pin Chips" problem.

Inviere · 21-06-2021 3:57pm

First port of call is the cart slot. Look up the 'credit card cleaning method', and grab some isopropyl alcohol from a pharmacy for best results. Micro fibre cloth, wrap it around a credit card, and insert the credit card in/out of the cart slot multiple times all across the slot (with isopropyl alcohol on the cloth to clean the connectors.)

It's not a cable issue, it's graphical corruption. The issue will be fixable however.

Edit - see o1s1n's post above!

sundodger5 · 21-06-2021 4:05pm

Does that solder joint on C63 look iffy?

o1s1n · 21-06-2021 4:42pm

Inviere wrote: »

Edit - see o1s1n's post above!

Ah credit cards, the cause and solution to all of life's problems :pac:

sundodger5 · 21-06-2021 5:08pm

o1s1n wrote: »

Ah credit cards, the cause and solution to all of life's problems :pac:

And Alcohol

KeRbDoG · 21-06-2021 5:49pm

Defo not related to your TV.

Be super handy if you could get this console to someone with a (or get a) flash cart to run something like a test cart/ROM as it might show up a RAM/chip issue;
https://hiddenpalace.org/SNES_Burn-In_Test_Cart_(Rev._D)
https://tcrf.net/SNES_Burn-In_Test_Cart

Beta Ray Bill · 21-06-2021 6:07pm

So I did the cleaning thing with the cartridge holder.
Its as clean as its gonna get.

I've watched a few videos on YouTube and what I've learnt is to not to attempt to repair this myself.

I've also noticed what could be a damaged traced on the board.

I've been ringing around looking for some electronics shop that will repair this board for me. Not having much luck though

21-06-2021 6:09pm

You know, a second hand working SNES isn't that expensive. Before you embark on getting repairs.

Beta Ray Bill · 21-06-2021 6:34pm

Deleted User wrote: »

You know, a second hand working SNES isn't that expensive. Before you embark on getting repairs.

Aye!

You're talking about €150 for one in good condition
I'll factor that on on the repair costs
I'm hoping it's just capacitors and that busted trace

o1s1n · 21-06-2021 6:45pm

Deleted User wrote: »

You know, a second hand working SNES isn't that expensive. Before you embark on getting repairs.

Ah yeah but the nostalgia factor in using your original one from when you were a kid is priceless! Definitely worth repairing if you can.

21-06-2021 6:47pm

o1s1n wrote: »

Ah yeah but the nostalgia factor in using your original one from when you were a kid is priceless! Definitely worth repairing if you can.

Yeah, but if the cost of repair exceeds the cost of a new one I'd say buy one.

KeRbDoG · 22-06-2021 1:30pm

I'd be happy to have a look at this if you wanna PM me and send it over.

Beta Ray Bill wrote: »

So I did the cleaning thing with the cartridge holder.
Its as clean as its gonna get.

I've watched a few videos on YouTube and what I've learnt is to not to attempt to repair this myself.

I've also noticed what could be a damaged traced on the board.

I've been ringing around looking for some electronics shop that will repair this board for me. Not having much luck though

Beta Ray Bill · 22-06-2021 9:34pm

So I got this fixed
As I suspected, it was the corroded traces that were the problem.
I've got a Muti-Out to HDMI with up scaler on the way so should have decent setup on my 78inch TV

Retr0gamer · 23-06-2021 10:02am

Enjoy!

eddhorse · 23-06-2021 11:53am

Great work, another device saved, good spot and fix.

o1s1n · 23-06-2021 2:59pm

Beta Ray Bill wrote: »

So I got this fixed
As I suspected, it was the corroded traces that were the problem.
I've got a Muti-Out to HDMI with up scaler on the way so should have decent setup on my 78inch TV

Nicely done! I'll be keeping that in mind myself for future fixes.

Did you just have to clean the corrosion off the traces or did you have to actually redo any of the lines?

Beta Ray Bill · 23-06-2021 3:35pm

o1s1n wrote: »

Nicely done! I'll be keeping that in mind myself for future fixes.

Did you just have to clean the corrosion off the traces or did you have to actually redo any of the lines?

There are 3 options

1: You can run a cable from a leg/pad on a chip/board to where ever it's joining up
2: Put tape down, sandback and put solder down
3: Bring it somewhere

3 is what I did, I showed the guy what I thought was wrong, he tested it very quickly to verify and had it fixed quickly (I do not have a steady hand, so wasn't going to attempt this myself doe the sake of 30 euro)

Burzum · 24-06-2021 4:57pm

Any chance of a picture of the repair job for curiosities sake

deadduck · 30-06-2021 11:21pm

Burzum wrote: »

Any chance of a picture of the repair job for curiosities sake

Be interested in a pic of the repair too if possible ðŸ‘

Beta Ray Bill · 30-06-2021 11:22pm

Burzum wrote: »

Any chance of a picture of the repair job for curiosities sake

deadduck wrote: »

Be interested in a pic of the repair too if possible ðŸ‘

I'll open the console on the weekend and take a pic

Fixing an old SNES

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