OK, What's Wrong With My Console!? (Genesis)

[marlowe221]

This is weird.

I go to play some more Road Rash 2 and hit the power button on my Model 2 and... nothing happens. Well, the little red power indicator light comes on but otherwise nothing happens. No dirty-cart screen flicker, no nothing - it's like the console is not even powered on at all, except for the red indicator light next to the power switch.

I made sure my tv was on the right input, tried a few other cartridges in case it was the game that had gone bad on me... Then I unplugged everything connected to the console and then plugged all the cables back in. Still got nothing the next few times I hit the power button. But finally it came back to life, though I honestly have no idea why or what I did that made any difference at all.

Does anyone have any idea what the cause of this would be? Until this evening, my Model 2 has been perfectly reliable since I got it used for Christmas a few years ago. In fact, I had been playing it just this morning to check out a couple of newly acquired games and there were no problems at all.

I'm baffled by this one.

[Jagosaurus]

Try a new power supply.

[flojocabron]

maybe the power button got stuck there for a second?

I also agree with Jagosaurus, might be the plug, maybe it went kaput?

[Ziggy]

hit the power button on my Model 2 and... nothing happens. Well, the little red power indicator light comes on but otherwise nothing happens. No dirty-cart screen flicker, no nothing - it's like the console is not even powered on at all, except for the red indicator light next to the power switch.

What did the TV do when you powered on the console? No change at all? IDK if you're using a CRT or HDTV. CRTs will sometimes have a solid blue screen, sometimes black, and sometimes display "Input 3" or something when there's no signal. HDTV will also usually have a "No Input" display. Was there no change there when powering on the console? As if the TV didn't see a signal at all? Some TVs will mute the audio if there's no active video input. Could be a wonky AV cable. Try pausing a game and move the AV cable around a lot to see if you lose the picture and/or sound.

[marlowe221]

What did the TV do when you powered on the console? No change at all? IDK if you're using a CRT or HDTV. CRTs will sometimes have a solid blue screen, sometimes black, and sometimes display "Input 3" or something when there's no signal. HDTV will also usually have a "No Input" display. Was there no change there when powering on the console? As if the TV didn't see a signal at all? Some TVs will mute the audio if there's no active video input. Could be a wonky AV cable. Try pausing a game and move the AV cable around a lot to see if you lose the picture and/or sound.

I am on a CRT. It did nothing but continue to display the "video 3" like it would if it was not receiving a signal at all.

I also just noticed that there is a lot of movement in the power cable where it plugs into the console...

[Ziggy]

I am on a CRT. It did nothing but continue to display the "video 3" like it would if it was not receiving a signal at all.

Yeah, could be bad AV cables.

I also just noticed that there is a lot of movement in the power cable where it plugs into the console...

If you power the console on, then jiggle the plug, does the power on light go on and off?

[marlowe221]

Yeah, if I jiggle the power cable the console will go on and off.

I played around with it some more last night. I seem to have corrected whatever it was that was causing there to be no picture - at least I am unable to reproduce it so far. But if the power cable gets bumped the console will reset or completely turn itself off.

[marurun]

Well, then it could be the plug on the console where the power connects. Those sometimes get loose. Fixing that usually just requires some simple soldering.

[Ziggy]

Yeah, if I jiggle the power cable the console will go on and off.

I played around with it some more last night. I seem to have corrected whatever it was that was causing there to be no picture - at least I am unable to reproduce it so far. But if the power cable gets bumped the console will reset or completely turn itself off.

OK, I know exactly what your problem is. It's one or two things, they're both very common and some what easy to fix.

One, the power jack. Sometimes the solder connections will become bad, but it's a really easy fix. Even for a novice in soldering. To find out, you'll have to open up the console. The Genesis is really easy to open, you just need a #2 phillipshead screwdriver. Remove the 6 screws from the bottom of the console and the two plastic halves will come apart. Remove all the screws holding the metal shield on, then remove any other screws that are mounting the board to the shell (don't forget the ones on each side of the cart slot). Locate the power jack on the board, and look at the back side to examine the solder connection (I believer there are three). Check to see if there's any cracks. If you don't see any, gently rock the plastic housing of the power jack a little to see if the pins will move (they should NOT with a good solder connection). If the solder connections are found to be bad, fixing them is really easy. If you need soldering tips, just let me know.

Two, the power adapter plug and/or wire is bad. Check the power jack on the console FIRST. If the jack is found to be good (or if it's bad and fixed but you still have the problem) then check out the power adapter. In this situation, the problem you'd find with the power adapter is in the cable itself. After being bend every which way since the 90's, the wires inside the cable will break. It's not the easiest thing to describe how to check for it. There's gonna be two locations of failure. One is right at the plug, which is really common. The other is some where down the length of the cable (or possibly multiple bad spots). You have to make sure the jack is good before testing the cable out, otherwise you wont know what's causing the problem.

If the bad spot is at the plug, usually you'll just cut off ~6" or so at the end of the cable and solder on a new plug.

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/e ... -ND/408475

You use to be able to get them in Radio Shack, but who knows if they still stock them in the stores. If you have any parts stores close to you, ask for a 1.7mm ID, 4mm OD (EIAJ-2) power adapter tip. You want the kind that you can solder to, or have a 6" wire lead. NOT the kind that are used on multi voltage adapters. To solder one of these on, you need actual soldering skills. Not the hardest task, all you really need are steady hands. I could walk you through it. If you can find one with a 6" wire lead, then all you have to do is splice wires together. Just pay attention to what is negative and positive. I could walk you through this if/when you find out it's the problem.

If the break isn't right at the plug, it could be some where down the length of the cable. If there's only one bad spot and it's some where in the middle of the cable, you could simply just cut out the dead spot and splice the wires back together. If there are multiple bad spots, then you'll probably just wanna replace the cable. If this is a third party power adapter, it might be easier to just replace the whole thing. If it's the original Sega power adapter, it'd be worth it to replace the cable.

To check for bad spots in the cable, all you have to do is power on the console and move the cable around until you can isolate where the problem is. Again, make sure the jack is not the problem before checking the cable, otherwise you wont know for sure where the problem is.

[marlowe221]

OK, I know exactly what your problem is. It's one or two things, they're both very common and some what easy to fix.

One, the power jack. Sometimes the solder connections will become bad, but it's a really easy fix. Even for a novice in soldering. To find out, you'll have to open up the console. The Genesis is really easy to open, you just need a #2 phillipshead screwdriver. Remove the 6 screws from the bottom of the console and the two plastic halves will come apart. Remove all the screws holding the metal shield on, then remove any other screws that are mounting the board to the shell (don't forget the ones on each side of the cart slot). Locate the power jack on the board, and look at the back side to examine the solder connection (I believer there are three). Check to see if there's any cracks. If you don't see any, gently rock the plastic housing of the power jack a little to see if the pins will move (they should NOT with a good solder connection). If the solder connections are found to be bad, fixing them is really easy. If you need soldering tips, just let me know.

Two, the power adapter plug and/or wire is bad. Check the power jack on the console FIRST. If the jack is found to be good (or if it's bad and fixed but you still have the problem) then check out the power adapter. In this situation, the problem you'd find with the power adapter is in the cable itself. After being bend every which way since the 90's, the wires inside the cable will break. It's not the easiest thing to describe how to check for it. There's gonna be two locations of failure. One is right at the plug, which is really common. The other is some where down the length of the cable (or possibly multiple bad spots). You have to make sure the jack is good before testing the cable out, otherwise you wont know what's causing the problem.

If the bad spot is at the plug, usually you'll just cut off ~6" or so at the end of the cable and solder on a new plug.

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/e ... -ND/408475

You use to be able to get them in Radio Shack, but who knows if they still stock them in the stores. If you have any parts stores close to you, ask for a 1.7mm ID, 4mm OD (EIAJ-2) power adapter tip. You want the kind that you can solder to, or have a 6" wire lead. NOT the kind that are used on multi voltage adapters. To solder one of these on, you need actual soldering skills. Not the hardest task, all you really need are steady hands. I could walk you through it. If you can find one with a 6" wire lead, then all you have to do is splice wires together. Just pay attention to what is negative and positive. I could walk you through this if/when you find out it's the problem.

If the break isn't right at the plug, it could be some where down the length of the cable. If there's only one bad spot and it's some where in the middle of the cable, you could simply just cut out the dead spot and splice the wires back together. If there are multiple bad spots, then you'll probably just wanna replace the cable. If this is a third party power adapter, it might be easier to just replace the whole thing. If it's the original Sega power adapter, it'd be worth it to replace the cable.

To check for bad spots in the cable, all you have to do is power on the console and move the cable around until you can isolate where the problem is. Again, make sure the jack is not the problem before checking the cable, otherwise you wont know for sure where the problem is.

Oh wow, thanks!

I am kind of leaning towards the solder point theory - it really feels like the jack is moving around inside the console case.

And yeah, I have never soldered before but I have always wanted to learn and I am willing to try!