Saturn repairs

Hi guys, ...it's been a while. I hope you are all staying cool or at the very least slinky!
So i've been doing some Saturn repairs on these three dodgy Chinese models for a friend. Hoping to get two fully working hassel free. One is for parts because the darn ribbon is totally munted! :/
* >>> WARNING <<< *
Naked Saturn pictures below!
 

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They are VA9 units so most likely they need the caps replaced so the PLL can keep generating clocks stable enough so the entire thing does not randomly freeze until it has "warmed up" sufficiently.
 
that's hot !
what's wrong with these saturns ? bad cd lens ? you need fenrir ;)
Hey vbt! They all kinda work. Number two is running better now after i removed the skeletal remains of a dead Moose that crawled under the motherboard. I don't even know how it got in there, not only that...We don't have Moose's in Australia?
Number 1 motherboard base is the most glitchy and the ribbon on this one is in very bad shape. It also takes the longest to load. Something i noticed on any Saturns if say, the coin battery has died or you are powering up for the first time after not being used for months. You may get a black screen for up to 15-30 seconds before the video signal pops up to the "enter date and time" screen. It's like they are booting up windows XP PC style without the info you see on the monitor as the OS loads but you don't see the info as its booting...if that makes any sense?
I put one together years ago, powered it up and got a black screen, i thought it was dead and i broke something. Disappointed i walked away to do something random but left it on....when i came back, it had video signal for the date/month/year time screen. So now if they do this, i'll just let them sit for up to 30 seconds and the video signal eventually pops up.
I avoid this issue now, mainly by keeping a little sticker on the back somewhere with a date/month/year when the battery was last replaced. I'll usualy get about 18 months out of a battery but it depends on the brand of battery and where they were made. Chinese batteries are useless.

Ive got one running stable. Been swapping around bits to get a second one working. The combinations will power up, i get a "checking disc" message when loading as they spin up but having some issues with the laser detection me thinks. I know the laser works because it was reading and working good after i de-modded the thing so, there maybe a height adjustment to get it back.

Still investigating.

What's a fenrir? I suppose i should google it.
 
They are VA9 units so most likely they need the caps replaced so the PLL can keep generating clocks stable enough so the entire thing does not randomly freeze until it has "warmed up" sufficiently.
Hi rorirub, all the caps appear to be good. I gave the motherboards close inspections and couldn't see any red flags. They seem to be in pretty good shape for their age. Im guessing Moose skeletons rattling around don't help stable operation so im glad i was able to sweep them out! :D
 
...and just in case any of you misfits don't believe me about the Moose bones...luckily i took a pic before shaking them all out!
Holy lamas in the bahamas wearing pajamas made out of gunja and almonds Batman!!
 

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Hi rorirub, all the caps appear to be good. I gave the motherboards close inspections and couldn't see any red flags. They seem to be in pretty good shape for their age. Im guessing Moose skeletons rattling around don't help stable operation so im glad i was able to sweep them out! :D
Electrolytic caps degrade over time as they dry up. You may not see any faults visually, but unless you measured them electrically or have recapped the system in the past decade, it's very likely that they are not performing within the same electrical parameters anymore. And this can cause issues, like the console crashing or the screen being unstable (both issues are very frequent with the pal VA9 units).
 
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Roger that mate. I do own a soldering iron and volt meter. Although these devices may appear to give an impression i could know what i am doing...they are actually sitting around on the work bench soley to make me look sexy. Unfortunately i have the technical electronic skills of an earthworm. Electrocuting myself from time to time proves im doing it wrong! That's why i'd never get a job making bombs for a terrorist organisation.

Video Game Esoterica

You probably already know about this VGE fella. Dude has a good collection of strip down maintenance vids. When ever i accidentally electrocute myself, i always blame him for it.
He also recommends running your old consoles for about half an hour every three months to keep your capacitors alive. Exercise them more if you have the time. Unlike most humans, video game consoles love doing push ups and sit ups for most of the day. But who has any time to play video games these days? I seem to spend more time fixing video game consoles than playing the games anymore :/
 
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