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Hello all!

2 weeks ago I finally bought myself an Game Gear from ebay.
It has a McWill screen and a recap (so the adverd said).
Today I finally had time to play with it but I'm having some issues with it, so maybe someone can help me understand what that is.

I thought I had some fully recharged batteries in it, but it only stayed on for a second or so.. then I did place some "normal batteries". I was able to play maybe 10 minutes and then it went dead again..
Because I wasnt really sure if the batteries where used before I went to the shop to get some new ones, but that gave me the same result, no more than 10 minutes of gameplay.

What I noticed was that the batteries where quite warm after the short use. also there's a loud noticable humm when using headphones and the sound (music) is louder on the left.
I'm using a GG everdrive for the games.

What could be wrong? I know the GG is not the best handheld when it comes to batterylife, but even with these cheap batteries I should expect at least 2 hours of gameplay I guess? (or even more with this McWill screen?)

All suggestions are appreciated!

Hi Moniz,
I've noticed many of these modded Game Gears on ebay selling for way too cheap, I can only wonder what kind of rush hack job was done to cram a McWill in there and flip it for quick bucks.

Your unit is definitely damaged and probably has leaking electrolyte issues and/or a minor short across positive voltage causing the batteries to drain quickly (smaller resistive load that there should be).

If you are handy with a soldering iron and can take good pictures I will try to help. Or if you are in the USA you could send it in to me for a proper repair.

-Segasonicfan

Hi Segasonicfan,

Thanks for your reply!
I opened the GG this morning and I guess youre right, the soldering looks sloppy with big lumps of solderingtin at the capasitors..
I'm not really good with an soldering iron, but my girlfriend is!
I made some pictures and hopefully you can help out a bit.
Unfortunatly I don't live nearby, so sending would be a bit expensive (I'm from the Netherlands)

While trying some thing last night I also found a new problem: when I first powerded it on the sound was fine when I wasn't using headphones. the rest I played with headphones.
Now when I disconect the headphones there's no sound at all....

game_gear.zip (13.38 MB)

pictures of my GG's guts

wow, that looks horrendous. Poor wiring and leaking electrolyte everywhere. That job needs to be completely redone with a thorough cleaning of the PCB with alcohol.

btw, in the future just use a 3rd party host like mediafire.com or resize the images to save smspowers hosting space :)

-Segasonicfan

I guess they are not WAV files?

gotta rename them to .zip

How bizarre...

Author	Message
Moniz Joined: 13 Oct 2017 Posts: 2	my new Game Gear with issues... Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 3:46 pm
Moniz Joined: 13 Oct 2017 Posts: 2	Hello all! 2 weeks ago I finally bought myself an Game Gear from ebay. It has a McWill screen and a recap (so the adverd said). Today I finally had time to play with it but I'm having some issues with it, so maybe someone can help me understand what that is. I thought I had some fully recharged batteries in it, but it only stayed on for a second or so.. then I did place some "normal batteries". I was able to play maybe 10 minutes and then it went dead again.. Because I wasnt really sure if the batteries where used before I went to the shop to get some new ones, but that gave me the same result, no more than 10 minutes of gameplay. What I noticed was that the batteries where quite warm after the short use. also there's a loud noticable humm when using headphones and the sound (music) is louder on the left. I'm using a GG everdrive for the games. What could be wrong? I know the GG is not the best handheld when it comes to batterylife, but even with these cheap batteries I should expect at least 2 hours of gameplay I guess? (or even more with this McWill screen?) All suggestions are appreciated!

segasonicfan Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 374 Location: USA	Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 10:27 pm
	Hi Moniz, I've noticed many of these modded Game Gears on ebay selling for way too cheap, I can only wonder what kind of rush hack job was done to cram a McWill in there and flip it for quick bucks. Your unit is definitely damaged and probably has leaking electrolyte issues and/or a minor short across positive voltage causing the batteries to drain quickly (smaller resistive load that there should be). If you are handy with a soldering iron and can take good pictures I will try to help. Or if you are in the USA you could send it in to me for a proper repair. -Segasonicfan

Moniz Joined: 13 Oct 2017 Posts: 2	Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 7:33 am
Moniz Joined: 13 Oct 2017 Posts: 2	Hi Segasonicfan, Thanks for your reply! I opened the GG this morning and I guess youre right, the soldering looks sloppy with big lumps of solderingtin at the capasitors.. I'm not really good with an soldering iron, but my girlfriend is! I made some pictures and hopefully you can help out a bit. Unfortunatly I don't live nearby, so sending would be a bit expensive (I'm from the Netherlands) While trying some thing last night I also found a new problem: when I first powerded it on the sound was fine when I wasn't using headphones. the rest I played with headphones. Now when I disconect the headphones there's no sound at all.... game_gear.zip (13.38 MB) pictures of my GG's guts

segasonicfan Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 374 Location: USA	Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 7:00 pm
	wow, that looks horrendous. Poor wiring and leaking electrolyte everywhere. That job needs to be completely redone with a thorough cleaning of the PCB with alcohol. btw, in the future just use a 3rd party host like mediafire.com or resize the images to save smspowers hosting space :) -Segasonicfan

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14744 Location: London	Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 7:23 pm
	I guess they are not WAV files?

segasonicfan Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 374 Location: USA	Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 7:32 pm
	gotta rename them to .zip

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14744 Location: London	Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 7:48 pm
	How bizarre...

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