Forums

Hello!

Sorry this is my first post here though I do plan to be more active and am looking for a little guidance.

I have a European Sega Game Gear here (837-7996) and have been replacing the caps more as a bit of a hobby side thing than anything else, recently I have had a clear out of some electronics and after testing salvaged plenty of caps I have reused perfectly fine in the unit since before starting it had no sound out of the main speaker and the backlight was gone out on it as many GG's do and the caps I have done have brought it back to life.

However it's still not up to its normal full brightness like my other American single ASIC one and I have only 1 Capacitor to change the C37 (68uF @ 6.3v)

What I am wondering is this, is it possible for me to substitute the capacitor for another? Or does that one capacitor have to be dead on 68uF? All the other caps in the game gear have been changed with correctly rated caps at the same or higher voltage.

Many thanks in advance

Yo Kouen, why didn't you ask me first? :P
Also, welcome to the forums. :wacko:

Most caps have a 10-or so percent tolerance related to the value, which is something the hardware engineer has/had to take into consideration. I cannot say for sure that C37 in particular may be within a +/- 5% range from 68uF, but it should not hurt to try. Unless the capacitor is used within an RCL timing circuit, staying as closely to the recommended value should be harmless.

If of course you find negative results, 68uF caps are not hard to find.

Cheers

Small world eh Jazz?

To be fair I may have asked you but I don't have you on Steam or Skype :P

What I'll do is solder in a 22uF and 47uF (both 6.3v caps) in parallel and that should be well within even 5% tolerance being that's only 1uF over

This has been my little project over the past week or so :)

Kouen Hasuki wrote

Small world eh Jazz?

To be fair I may have asked you but I don't have you on Steam or Skype :P

What I'll do is solder in a 22uF and 47uF (both 6.3v caps) in parallel and that should be well within even 5% tolerance being that's only 1uF over

This has been my little project over the past week or so :)

Great idea! I hope you have enough room for both of them.
Keep us updated and good luck.

Update: That worked! I laid one flat the normal way the other in the opposite direction, thankfully one of the caps was one of those tiny cylinder ones so it didn't need much room and did not interfere with the casing in any way!

Backlight is working to the point you can play fine without much issue now though its still not quite as bright as it should be... the caps are good and soldered perfectly so I suspect the tube is on the way out.

I think the LED Backlight mod might be next, unless you got other ideas on screen lighting mate?

No, get rid of the CCFL tube asap. LEDs are brighter, smoother, safer (haha) and use less power. If I had any decent GG games, I would install LEDs myself, but until then I have other projects to work on.

Aye that is what I am thinking too and its a simple mod to do no harder than changing the caps, so I think ill look into 2x 5mm White LED's and a 33 ohm resistor for it,

Also as for game I got some good ones so I am happy :)

Here's a back-light mod link and an led link.
Back-light:
http://xantufrog-games.blogspot.com/2009/05/game-gear-led-backlight-mod.html

Led:
http://www.amazon.com/50pcs-Addicore-White-Bright-14000mcd/dp/B00HD4N7YW/ref=cm_...

Cheers for the links Capt. 2110

Unfortunately I cant order from Amazon they never seem to ship to my address in Norway.

However I did spot this on ebay that looks like it could do the same job

http://www.ebay.com/itm/20x-Colorful-LED-Light-Bulb-Ultra-Bright-Signal-indicato...

What do you think?

Updates: Still waiting for my LED's and Resistors to come but I took the time to change more caps out on the Power Board since I heard that caps that start to go on it can cause uneven power to the board.

Well, good luck! Once you open the Game Gear, replace all of the rectangle caps. The rule usually is, If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
With Game Gear caps, that doesn't apply. Ever.

Author	Message
Kouen Hasuki Joined: 03 May 2014 Posts: 10	Subsituting the 68uF Cap on a Game Gear Posted: Sat May 03, 2014 9:14 am
Kouen Hasuki Joined: 03 May 2014 Posts: 10	Hello! Sorry this is my first post here though I do plan to be more active and am looking for a little guidance. I have a European Sega Game Gear here (837-7996) and have been replacing the caps more as a bit of a hobby side thing than anything else, recently I have had a clear out of some electronics and after testing salvaged plenty of caps I have reused perfectly fine in the unit since before starting it had no sound out of the main speaker and the backlight was gone out on it as many GG's do and the caps I have done have brought it back to life. However it's still not up to its normal full brightness like my other American single ASIC one and I have only 1 Capacitor to change the C37 (68uF @ 6.3v) What I am wondering is this, is it possible for me to substitute the capacitor for another? Or does that one capacitor have to be dead on 68uF? All the other caps in the game gear have been changed with correctly rated caps at the same or higher voltage. Many thanks in advance

Jazzmarazz Joined: 17 Sep 2013 Posts: 140 Location: TC, MI	Posted: Sat May 03, 2014 12:01 pm
	Yo Kouen, why didn't you ask me first? :P Also, welcome to the forums. :wacko: Most caps have a 10-or so percent tolerance related to the value, which is something the hardware engineer has/had to take into consideration. I cannot say for sure that C37 in particular may be within a +/- 5% range from 68uF, but it should not hurt to try. Unless the capacitor is used within an RCL timing circuit, staying as closely to the recommended value should be harmless. If of course you find negative results, 68uF caps are not hard to find. Cheers

Kouen Hasuki Joined: 03 May 2014 Posts: 10	Posted: Sat May 03, 2014 12:34 pm
Kouen Hasuki Joined: 03 May 2014 Posts: 10	Small world eh Jazz? To be fair I may have asked you but I don't have you on Steam or Skype :P What I'll do is solder in a 22uF and 47uF (both 6.3v caps) in parallel and that should be well within even 5% tolerance being that's only 1uF over This has been my little project over the past week or so :)

Jazzmarazz Joined: 17 Sep 2013 Posts: 140 Location: TC, MI	Posted: Sat May 03, 2014 12:37 pm
	Kouen Hasuki wrote Small world eh Jazz? To be fair I may have asked you but I don't have you on Steam or Skype :P What I'll do is solder in a 22uF and 47uF (both 6.3v caps) in parallel and that should be well within even 5% tolerance being that's only 1uF over This has been my little project over the past week or so :) Great idea! I hope you have enough room for both of them. Keep us updated and good luck.

Kouen Hasuki Joined: 03 May 2014 Posts: 10	Posted: Sat May 03, 2014 12:59 pm
Kouen Hasuki Joined: 03 May 2014 Posts: 10	Update: That worked! I laid one flat the normal way the other in the opposite direction, thankfully one of the caps was one of those tiny cylinder ones so it didn't need much room and did not interfere with the casing in any way! Backlight is working to the point you can play fine without much issue now though its still not quite as bright as it should be... the caps are good and soldered perfectly so I suspect the tube is on the way out. I think the LED Backlight mod might be next, unless you got other ideas on screen lighting mate?

Jazzmarazz Joined: 17 Sep 2013 Posts: 140 Location: TC, MI	Posted: Sat May 03, 2014 1:34 pm
	No, get rid of the CCFL tube asap. LEDs are brighter, smoother, safer (haha) and use less power. If I had any decent GG games, I would install LEDs myself, but until then I have other projects to work on.

Kouen Hasuki Joined: 03 May 2014 Posts: 10	Posted: Sat May 03, 2014 2:05 pm
Kouen Hasuki Joined: 03 May 2014 Posts: 10	Aye that is what I am thinking too and its a simple mod to do no harder than changing the caps, so I think ill look into 2x 5mm White LED's and a 33 ohm resistor for it, Also as for game I got some good ones so I am happy :)

Capt. 2110 Joined: 27 Apr 2014 Posts: 281 Location: Texas	Posted: Sat May 03, 2014 2:33 pm
	Here's a back-light mod link and an led link. Back-light: http://xantufrog-games.blogspot.com/2009/05/game-gear-led-backlight-mod.html Led: http://www.amazon.com/50pcs-Addicore-White-Bright-14000mcd/dp/B00HD4N7YW/ref=cm_...

Kouen Hasuki Joined: 03 May 2014 Posts: 10	Posted: Sat May 03, 2014 2:37 pm
Kouen Hasuki Joined: 03 May 2014 Posts: 10	Cheers for the links Capt. 2110 Unfortunately I cant order from Amazon they never seem to ship to my address in Norway. However I did spot this on ebay that looks like it could do the same job http://www.ebay.com/itm/20x-Colorful-LED-Light-Bulb-Ultra-Bright-Signal-indicato... What do you think?

Kouen Hasuki Joined: 03 May 2014 Posts: 10	Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 8:44 pm
Kouen Hasuki Joined: 03 May 2014 Posts: 10	Updates: Still waiting for my LED's and Resistors to come but I took the time to change more caps out on the Power Board since I heard that caps that start to go on it can cause uneven power to the board.

Capt. 2110 Joined: 27 Apr 2014 Posts: 281 Location: Texas	Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2014 12:26 am
	Well, good luck! Once you open the Game Gear, replace all of the rectangle caps. The rule usually is, If it ain't broke, don't fix it. With Game Gear caps, that doesn't apply. Ever.

Forums

View topic - Subsituting the 68uF Cap on a Game Gear