Saturn shaky display & freezing between loads...

[retroborg]

Good day,
I have a EURO PAL SEGA Saturn Model 2. MK-80200A-50, ASSY CD UNIT JVC EXL-P605 & 32pin IC.
Games do load, but the screen is a bit shaky as if there is a sync problem. It is not possible to be caught on camera, but the problem is there. Also after some time and in between loadings, the display will go black while the CD continues to spin and the console will stop responding, until I reset it.

After visual inspection on the M/B, I don’t see anything that could be causing this problem and the problem persists even with different TV cables and various games.

Does anybody know what could be wrong with it and what I could do to fix it?

Thanks in advance

[Ziggy]

What kind of TV are you using (CRT, LCD, etc)? Can you try using the Saturn on another TV?

[retroborg]

What kind of TV are you using (CRT, LCD, etc)? Can you try using the Saturn on another TV?

It's just a common CRT 21" TV. It's not the TV's problem, as there seem to be other issues with this specific system as I mentioned above.

[Ziggy]

You said it's a PAL Saturn... What region are you in? What region is the TV?

[retroborg]

So, apparently it was a problem with the PSU. I changed it with another one and everything seems to be working fine now.

The letters on the screen (Especially the white ones) are still a bit more shaky than the other 2 Saturns I own, but I'm not sure if recaping the motherboard will fix that.

Oh by the way, I've read that there are some notorious faulty component like that TOP PWM switch. Not sure exactly where that is on the M/B, so if anybody could point it out? And would replacing it eliminate the minor shake on this Saturn?

Thanks in advance

[Ziggy]

You could try recapping just the power supply board, since that seemed to be your issue.

[retroborg]

You could try recapping just the power supply board, since that seemed to be your issue.

You mean to replace the caps of the older PSU I replaced?

[Ziggy]

I meant the newer one, but either.

[retroborg]

I meant the newer one, but either.

Well this specific PSU wasn't causing any problems or shaky display on the other Saturn I cannibalized it from; it was working perfectly until the Saturn died from other "un-natural" causes

So I'm not sure if I should fiddle with the PSU at least…

Anyway, the shaky display has been greatly improved with the new PSU, it's just not as stable as the other VA7 Saturn I have.
So my guess is either there is something else wrong on the M/B that’s causing it, or this specific Saturn VA9 version is just like that. In fact I've read that All VA9 boards are like that, and to a slightly lesser extent also VA7 PAL and VA13 PAL too. (Anybody care to verify that) and this so happens to be a VA9 board, while the other VA7 board has a more stable display.

Thanks in advance

[Ziggy]

Ah, gotcha. Well, you could try recapping the mobo. It's not a hard thing to do when you know how to solder, it's just annoying.