Just came back here to tell you that I now have a working atari with full color thanks to you. I got it yesterday for free because it had no colors :) Thanks for the tutorial, in my case I have a 4 switch one so I replaced the 241 cap and adjusted the potentiometer.
I just made an order from Console5 and included 10 of those .22uf caps. I have a couple 2600's with slight snow but not bad. Also ordered some 2200uf caps for the main power cap as well.
I see people do this and see it remarkable to go in there and do it yourself. My Atari jr capacitors are failing but found someone who provide this service work.
I just picked up a light sixer 2600 that just _BARELY_ gives off any signs of video from it's native RF. If I switch channels, I can sometimes just barely tell it isn't total static for a second or two. What would you suggest I look into for this particular issue?
If you're not concerned about originality, go ahead and do an a/v mod. If you're confident in your soldering skills, go ahead and order a tune up kit from Console5 that he mentions in the video and do it all one afternoon. You'll be pleased.
Great video! I have an Atari 2600 Jr. with the same issue unfortunately. Any chance this repair would work on the Jr? I haven't opened it up yet but i'm assuming the Jr is different than the woodgrains
Hello! On my (UK) VCS (light sixer), colours have the right hue and brightness, but the aside from the dark ones they flicker, don't look solid. I tried carefully adjusting the RF inside, but no difference. I don't have a CRT, but issue is same testing on an old LCD and a modern DTV. Any ideas?
I know this is an old post but will this fix my light sixer showing the wrong colors? Everything that is supposed to be green is blue and some other colors are the wrong ones
I have a Telegames heavy sixer which has snow, but proper colors. I was thinking it might just be a dirty connection where the RF cable plugs into the board, but when I went to take it apart, it doesn't want to come apart. I can't tell if there are more screws either.
I want to say there are six screws - the four on the perimeter of the case and then two additional ones in the middle that clamp the metal shielding surrounding the PCB to the case. I don't have a Telegames heavy sixer - only a heavy sixer, and mine is currently disassembled.
It was just stuck. I removed the screws and the top portion came clear but not the bottom portion (wood-grain area), but after a bit of putzing around, it came apart. Thanks.
So my Atari has weird green lines across the screen I’m thinking that it’s those chips because you said that’s the place in the unit where the color problems originate from?
Vertical green lines (bars?) and nothing else? The Atari will do various shades down the screen sometimes when there isn’t good connection with the cart (possible dirty connector)
Hey Dan - I am not sure. There were numerous internal revisions for the 2600. Is it possible they located it somewhere else on your board? I don't have the schematic in front of me at the moment. How is the system behaving?
@@DisplacedGamers - Thanks for the reply. First of all, after watching your voltage regulator repair video I purchased the refresh & tune-up kit form Console5 and got my dead unit up and running. I was not able to get a picture at all on a modern TV (presumably due to not being able to fine tune Ch 2 or 3) but I was able to get it working on an old B&W TV which is what prompted me to do the composite video mod. I just finished the composite video mod and the picture has quite a bit of ghosting (I give the overall picture a 8 out of 10). I'm not sure what the screen should look like but it is not as clear as I would expect it to be after seeing others' posts. After all, I am running on a 55" LCD TV, not an old 13" CRT so my expectations may be a bit high. Another thing to note is that I have an emulated version of the 2600 on a Raspberry Pi and that picture is quite clear. This may be giving me an unfair comparison as well. When I installed the refresh kit, I noticed that the kit came with two .22µF capacitors to replace the chicklet caps but I only had one chicklet cap near the voltage regulator. After watching this video, I noticed the second chicklet cap on your board so I decided to install the 'extra' cap from the kit in that location to no avail. The only other chicklet type cap that I can see is on the main board. It is physically smaller than the one near the VR and I can't see any markings on it. My bottom line question is: what more can I do to get a clearer (authentic) picture?
I haven't done a lot of work on 7800 systems. It looks like there are potentially multiple issues that could cause it from the quick Google search I did just now. Some people have reported only having trouble with 2600 games being in black and white. Another reported that they appeared to have some issues with joints on the circuits due to the 7800 board flexing from inserting and removing cartridges over time.
Are those the only games you have for testing? Make sure both have clean cart connectors and that the slot in your Atari is also clean. Pitfall is an Activision cart, and those cart connectors tend to be a bit thinner than an Atari-branded cart. If those are clean and your system is powering up to a black screen, you could have improper voltages (not getting +5v from the voltage regulator). It is possible you may need to re-seat your chips. You can extract them from their sockets and then re-insert them. Be careful when doing this.
@@williefleete I recently cleaned a filthy 4 switch Woody and I'm getting no image. Just big vertical bars in various colors. So it is powering up, but the game image isn't showing. Any thoughts?
Kam Aura I have zero experience with these, but check the basics, voltages, solder joints and traces, capacitors, resistors. If you have a known working one compare voltages and resistances etc
@@williefleete I did another follow up cleaning and the game is working now but the color only works if I press the logic case. Also, the joystick is brand new but I can only move left right and up (not down).
Kam Aura that sounds like broken solder joints or traces or a pressure sensitive component. With the case open press the board, the area where the fault clears the easiest will be where you need to look. The controller issue may be joints or tracks or the connector on the unit
Just came back here to tell you that I now have a working atari with full color thanks to you. I got it yesterday for free because it had no colors :)
Thanks for the tutorial, in my case I have a 4 switch one so I replaced the 241 cap and adjusted the potentiometer.
I just made an order from Console5 and included 10 of those .22uf caps. I have a couple 2600's with slight snow but not bad. Also ordered some 2200uf caps for the main power cap as well.
I see people do this and see it remarkable to go in there and do it yourself. My Atari jr capacitors are failing but found someone who provide this service work.
I am glad you found someone to help out!
I am working on learning how to fully restore an Atari 2600 again. This may be helpful for me. Thanks.
How's the restoration going?
I just picked up a light sixer 2600 that just _BARELY_ gives off any signs of video from it's native RF. If I switch channels, I can sometimes just barely tell it isn't total static for a second or two. What would you suggest I look into for this particular issue?
If you're not concerned about originality, go ahead and do an a/v mod. If you're confident in your soldering skills, go ahead and order a tune up kit from Console5 that he mentions in the video and do it all one afternoon. You'll be pleased.
That's awesome, thank you. A very useful fix to know.
Great video. Clear and concise.
Great video! I have an Atari 2600 Jr. with the same issue unfortunately. Any chance this repair would work on the Jr? I haven't opened it up yet but i'm assuming the Jr is different than the woodgrains
Sadly, I have never worked on an Atari 2600 Jr.
Great video - well done! Thank you!
So satisfying that the song ends right as the video does.
Hello! On my (UK) VCS (light sixer), colours have the right hue and brightness, but the aside from the dark ones they flicker, don't look solid. I tried carefully adjusting the RF inside, but no difference. I don't have a CRT, but issue is same testing on an old LCD and a modern DTV. Any ideas?
Is it possible to make a video showing how to resolder a controller port? Or showing how to check for cracked solder joints or bad traces?
I know this is an old post but will this fix my light sixer showing the wrong colors? Everything that is supposed to be green is blue and some other colors are the wrong ones
I have a Telegames heavy sixer which has snow, but proper colors. I was thinking it might just be a dirty connection where the RF cable plugs into the board, but when I went to take it apart, it doesn't want to come apart. I can't tell if there are more screws either.
I want to say there are six screws - the four on the perimeter of the case and then two additional ones in the middle that clamp the metal shielding surrounding the PCB to the case. I don't have a Telegames heavy sixer - only a heavy sixer, and mine is currently disassembled.
It was just stuck. I removed the screws and the top portion came clear but not the bottom portion (wood-grain area), but after a bit of putzing around, it came apart. Thanks.
I can't find c103 and 104 pls help I have the 1981 "Darth Vader" model
and how many .1uf's do I need?
cool, but how is possible to non electrolytic cap to fail?
Thanks for the video
So my Atari has weird green lines across the screen I’m thinking that it’s those chips because you said that’s the place in the unit where the color problems originate from?
Vertical green lines (bars?) and nothing else? The Atari will do various shades down the screen sometimes when there isn’t good connection with the cart (possible dirty connector)
My Light Sixer does not have a chicklet capacitor next to the 2200µF capacitor although the holes are there for it. Any thoughts why?
Hey Dan - I am not sure. There were numerous internal revisions for the 2600. Is it possible they located it somewhere else on your board? I don't have the schematic in front of me at the moment. How is the system behaving?
@@DisplacedGamers - Thanks for the reply. First of all, after watching your voltage regulator repair video I purchased the refresh & tune-up kit form Console5 and got my dead unit up and running. I was not able to get a picture at all on a modern TV (presumably due to not being able to fine tune Ch 2 or 3) but I was able to get it working on an old B&W TV which is what prompted me to do the composite video mod. I just finished the composite video mod and the picture has quite a bit of ghosting (I give the overall picture a 8 out of 10). I'm not sure what the screen should look like but it is not as clear as I would expect it to be after seeing others' posts. After all, I am running on a 55" LCD TV, not an old 13" CRT so my expectations may be a bit high. Another thing to note is that I have an emulated version of the 2600 on a Raspberry Pi and that picture is quite clear. This may be giving me an unfair comparison as well.
When I installed the refresh kit, I noticed that the kit came with two .22µF capacitors to replace the chicklet caps but I only had one chicklet cap near the voltage regulator. After watching this video, I noticed the second chicklet cap on your board so I decided to install the 'extra' cap from the kit in that location to no avail. The only other chicklet type cap that I can see is on the main board. It is physically smaller than the one near the VR and I can't see any markings on it.
My bottom line question is: what more can I do to get a clearer (authentic) picture?
My 7800 just started showing b/w picture only. Wonder if it's a similar problem
I haven't done a lot of work on 7800 systems. It looks like there are potentially multiple issues that could cause it from the quick Google search I did just now. Some people have reported only having trouble with 2600 games being in black and white. Another reported that they appeared to have some issues with joints on the circuits due to the 7800 board flexing from inserting and removing cartridges over time.
Thank you 🙏
I have pitfall and Sears combat when I first got my Atari. now both games dont work showing only a black screen
Any help would be awesome
Are those the only games you have for testing? Make sure both have clean cart connectors and that the slot in your Atari is also clean. Pitfall is an Activision cart, and those cart connectors tend to be a bit thinner than an Atari-branded cart.
If those are clean and your system is powering up to a black screen, you could have improper voltages (not getting +5v from the voltage regulator). It is possible you may need to re-seat your chips. You can extract them from their sockets and then re-insert them. Be careful when doing this.
What kind of de-soldering tool do you use?
Hakko FR-300. I believe it has been superseded by the FR-301.
Nice!
What is the blue battery looking thing?
an electrolytic capacitor
@@williefleete I recently cleaned a filthy 4 switch Woody and I'm getting no image. Just big vertical bars in various colors.
So it is powering up, but the game image isn't showing. Any thoughts?
Kam Aura I have zero experience with these, but check the basics, voltages, solder joints and traces, capacitors, resistors. If you have a known working one compare voltages and resistances etc
@@williefleete I did another follow up cleaning and the game is working now but the color only works if I press the logic case. Also, the joystick is brand new but I can only move left right and up (not down).
Kam Aura that sounds like broken solder joints or traces or a pressure sensitive component. With the case open press the board, the area where the fault clears the easiest will be where you need to look. The controller issue may be joints or tracks or the connector on the unit
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