Recapping and Consolizing a Game Gear (WIP)

[Ziggy]

This is a project that I'm working on I'm taking way too long to complete for a fellow Racketboy forum member. Since I normally take pics along the way for myself (mostly for reference) I figured it would be something neat to share here for fun.



I was sent 3 Game Gears, each of which still having their original capacitors. The GG is known to have electrolytic caps that go bad and leak. So step one is to replace all of the electrolytic caps for all 3 GGs.

Step two is to take one of them and "consolize" it. Meaning, turn it into something resembling a home console. Mainly, there's two mods to accomplish this. One, an AV mod (adds a TV output). And two, a controller mod. Which adds a Sega Genesis style controller input. Then there's a nifty 3D printed case that it should all fit nicely into.

So first thing is first, the recapping...







Luckily, even though the GG's caps were leaking, I see no evidence of corrosion or other damage. Still, I used white vinegar to neutralize the electrolyte, followed with isopropyl alcohol to clean the white vinegar off the board (this is what I've seen others do in YouTube videos).



And here's one main board with new caps installed...

[bmoc]

Good stuff. What kind of video out will you be using?

[Ziggy]

Tim Worthington's GGTV board...

https://etim.net.au/ggtv/ggtv.htm



Also, here's the controller mod board if anyone is interested...

https://console5.com/store/pxlmod-v1-3- ... -gear.html

[Ziggy]

More progress!



Above is the audio board (the GG has a mainboard, then a small audio board and small power board).



Above is the audio board just after the caps were removed but before cleaning.




Above, new caps installed on the audio board.



Above is the power board, which is by far the easiest to recap. There's three through hole caps, which are cake to replace compared to the audio board.





It works!

The audio is nice and loud. And the video... Well, I suppose it looks as good as a stock GG screen looks. I never owned a GG, but I know these aren't the best screens. So I'm assuming it looks as good as it possibly can. By comparison, when I tested the GG before the recap, there was no audio and the screen was barely visible.

[Ziggy]

In the above pic, you can see how toasty the solder pads are. Like before, I cleaned the board with white vinegar, then with isopropyl alcohol. Then I used a solder wick to remove any solder that was still on the pads.



And there it is, all clean!



In the above pic, you can see two caps that are on angles. This is the benefit of doing something multiple times in a row, you have the benefit of hindsight. Those gold circles are keep clear zones. The new caps cannot overlap the circle at all or else the case wont be able to close. So I remembered this after doing the first GG, and I was able to get it right the first time. All I had to do was angle the legs differently when forming them.

The power board...



Corrosion on one of the battery terminals. White vinegar helps with that, too.



I had a lot easier time with the audio board this time. Again, having the hindsight from the first one, I was able to come up with a better plan of attack for installing the new caps. The problem is that it's hard enough to hand solder this type of surface mount cap. But this audio board is extremely cramped, making it much more difficult.



As you can see in the above pics, the caps were not glued on. That made removing them a lot easier.



I decided to remove this connector, it made hand soldering that one cap a lot easier.



And there's the finished audio board, with a minimal amount of the plastic housing of the 3.55mm jack melted.

And the finished main board...



By the way, the LCD screen really flops around when you take the main board out of the case. I'm not about to desolder the screen, so this is what I came up with...



Just a piece of microfiber, cut to size, with low tack tape.

[Anapan]

Very cool! I recapped three, but only got one out of the experience too. I made the OG LCD work. It's kinda crap compared to how they looked new, but I'm waiting for a replacement LCD that is not so low resolution that it needs to either be black border or badly scaled. Still had a blast with a few translations and exclusives on the flashcart.
How much fun was this for you? Do you want another recently-dead GG? I'd ship it over to ya. I didn't enjoy my recapping adventure as much as I thought I would.
I sure enjoyed reading about your arduous journey. Having been there and remembering the smell of cheap cap oils brought me back to that unpleasantness. It's a labor of love, right?

[Ziggy]

LOL that smell is pretty distinct. I'm also not a fan of the way vinegar smells, but at least it isn't harmful to your health.

[Note]

Thanks for documenting and sharing, Ziggy! I've heard of the infamous cap issue with GGs. It seems that nowadays if I see one in a store, it's usually recapped and modded with a better screen.

The consolized mod is a cool idea too, as it's probably more comfortable to play. Look forward to seeing how the rest of the project goes.

[Ziggy]

I picked one of the VA-1 models to use for the console. So far I've only just begun to dry fit everything. I've removed the screen and the florescent bulb. This isn't exactly a mod kit that comes with instructions. The case is just a 3D model that you can download and print. The only details is that it's meant to work with the controller and AV mod I linked above. Otherwise, you're on your own as far as the installation goes!



Now here's one potential hiccup, there's nothing around the cart slot! Again, this enclosure doesn't come with instructions. It was found online, and the forum member that is having me assemble this for him had the models printed up some where. I just looked through the models on Thingiverse again, and there seems to be two top pieces. One that closes in the cart slot, and another that leaves it open.





There's also some other parts that I have no idea what they're for, like the "feet". As well as this small part called "cart_lidChamfer2"



This looks like it might be a dust cover for the cart slot.




Here are some pics I found of the thing assembled...

Not my pics:

Those pics came from here: https://www.printables.com/model/18888- ... sole-shell

And here it is on Thingiverse, if anyone is interested: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4128698/files

[Ziggy]

Thanks for documenting and sharing, Ziggy! I've heard of the infamous cap issue with GGs. It seems that nowadays if I see one in a store, it's usually recapped and modded with a better screen.

The consolized mod is a cool idea too, as it's probably more comfortable to play. Look forward to seeing how the rest of the project goes.

Yes, I would be surprised to see a GG that had factory caps and was fully functional. And even then, I wouldn't want one unless I could recap it myself since it's only a matter of time.

I think this case looks pretty neat, but I think there's one or two other options now. This project has actually been a year or two in the making. We knew that there were other consolizer kits on the horizon, but decided to power through with this existing shell design.