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Electronics but not specifically Pinball related

Wiredworm

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10 Years
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
2,377
Location
Grimsby
Ok, so a little OT here as it's not related to pinball.

I have an old N64 here which i've not used for many many years. Recently i've come to hook it back up and found it's developer an odd fault whereby games reboot after they've been running for a short while. It's not related to a single game and I suspect actually the fault is the PSU. Once the rebooting starts it then occurs much more frequently (as often as every 15-20 seconds).

Now reading online it suggests that bad caps in the PSU module could be to blame. I've stripped it down and visually they look fine.

So - my n00b question - is there anything else I should be looking for? Or is it really the case that i'd be best just investing in a capacitor test meter like this one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Digtital-..._Measurement_Equipment_ET&hash=item5d4cf1b233

I found a kit in the USA that includes all the needed caps but as you'd expect the PSU module for an NTSC N64 is different to what we have here in the UK, and of course the caps are also rated differently. There are 6 in total which they recommend replacing and I think i've mapped these over to the ones i'd need to swap out. So in theory it should be a case of removing them, using the test meter and, where necessary, purchasing a suitable replacement.

Any tips or advice on this would be really appreciated.
 
Buy replacements for all 6, unsolder old parts, solder in new parts.

Caps are cheap as chips relative to your time.
 
I figured that might be the case abaxas, but thanks for confirming it. Usually I'd have just ditched the Psu and bought a new one but there is something really satisfying about fixing and old bit of kit, and of course it's usually cheaper too.
 
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