The most work you've ever had to do on a console?

[mr.soul]

Mine is pretty odd...

At the beginning of my interest in older video games, I bought a NES on eBay that came with pretty much everything I needed. When it came in the mail and I hooked it up, it flashed like crazy but I could get it to boot every once in a while. Well, it sat in my closet for about a year until I stumbled upon a way to fix it, replacing the connector! So I bust out the screwdriver, get off the RF shield, and...

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/3038/1002358sv6.jpg

I still don't know what this crap is to this day, maybe graham crackers and ice cream or something. Well, I took about 2 or 3 hours cleaning it all off with 409 and some toothpicks. Whatever it was it got all in the connector so I had to replace it. Now my NES is in great shape.

Share your horror stories!

[bangtango]

Mine is pretty odd...

At the beginning of my interest in older video games, I bought a NES on eBay that came with pretty much everything I needed. When it came in the mail and I hooked it up, it flashed like crazy but I could get it to boot every once in a while. Well, it sat in my closet for about a year until I stumbled upon a way to fix it, replacing the connector! So I bust out the screwdriver, get off the RF shield, and...

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/3038/1002358sv6.jpg

I still don't know what this crap is to this day, maybe graham crackers and ice cream or something. Well, I took about 2 or 3 hours cleaning it all off with 409 and some toothpicks. Whatever it was it got all in the connector so I had to replace it. Now my NES is in great shape.

Share your horror stories!

Nice topic. It has popped up here every so often but I don't mind posting each time it does.

I got my primary Gamecube from Goodwill over a year ago for like $20. Since I didn't own one and $99 new was not in my budget at the time, I was a little excited to see it. Just a loose system with no hook-ups. I'd say some kids owned it and were totally careless with it. The open button was jammed and after I got the system home, I noticed it ran games poorly. It had to be opened up. The system was awfully dirty inside, so I had it cleaned out and the open button unstuck. Now the system works as if it were new. I'm glad I grabbed it because I tend to think someone else a little less ambitious might have grabbed it otherwise, thinking they got a steal, then returned it to Goodwill as non-working. Knowing Goodwill, they might have either thrown it away (for shame) or just tried reselling it to someone else entirely.

Then there is a clear original Game Boy that I grabbed a few weeks ago which had a missing screen cover. That wasn't much trouble to replace but that is the biggest project I've had since that Gamecube.

My next project will probably be an N64 system that I need to open up. That one is dirty inside, too. The reset button is jammed on it. All I need is the right security bit and I'm off to the races. Just a spare system that I have no use for, since I recently acquired another working N64 here on the forums. Still, I am like a shark that always has to swim or it dies. Translation: I always like to be busy with something.

[KingCobra]

Over time I've found some pretty hanis consoles, Dust covered NES's, Spillage in the cart slots, Hammer'd Atari's, cheap thrift stores buys ect...

Hell! I've gone as far as to take 3-4 consoles of the same and combine theim and make ONE Fine like-New console, tearing theim down and washing the shells from Dust cover'd/Cat-pissed/Peanut butter covered shit garbage not worth the time or effort really :p


Windex, Dish soap, Goo-Be-Gone, rubbing alcohol, Q-Tipps, Thooth picks ect...


Let's not talk about countless controller saved from the dead :|

[DOL_001]

Awhile ago, I bought a softmodded Xbox that had a very bad paintjob for $50, then bought a replacement case from ebay. I opened them up and swapped the cases, but the Xbox didn't power on anymore. I thought the power supply was dead so I bought a replacement psu on ebay. When I got it and swapped in the new psu, it still didn't power on. I did some research and it turns out the Xbox was a version 1.6 and is not compatible with non-1.6 cases. Then I checked the replacement case and it turns out it was a 1.5 or older, so the motherboard was fried because the 1.5 case has a metal prong which isn't present in the 1.6 case :-( Fortunately I found a working and mint condition Xbox system on ebay for $30 shipped and I sold the non-working Xbox, the extra case and the new psu on ebay for almost the amount I spent on them.

Also at the beginning of the year, I got a mini SNES and there were these little yellow spots that look like someone spilt some liquid over it. It took alot of hard scrubbing with the Mr. Clean magic eraser to get them off and I took it apart to wash all the plastic parts, but now it looks like new.

[wallydawg]

When I got my gamecube in the mail, I'd describe it as "furry." It seemed like the previous owner had a skin on it, but then decided they didn't like it and took it off. After removing the skin, leaving the outer case sticky, it seems like they decided to roll it like a bowling ball down a dog groomers floor.

[coreys429]

I let a friend of mine borrow an N64 for a few months. Well I expected it to be a little dirty because it was in her room...When I got it back I took it apart and looked inside. The inside had dust layered as well as hair spray layered with that dust. It's so bad to clean that.

[kedawa]

A friend gave me his modded PS1 a few years ago after he got a modded PS2. The PS1 worked, but the laser was getting finicky, so I decided to take it apart and see what could be done. What I found inside made me lol. At some point, my friend had spilled a rum&coke inside, and at some later point, some ants took a liking to the dried up syrup, and many got stuck inside.
It was pretty gross, and although I got all of the ants and goo out of the system, I never could get the stains off of the RF shielding or the metal plate that goes between the cd drive and the motherboard.

[Sanriostar]

Most any 5200 found needs 2 hours of work done to it at the get go. But Inty 1's seem to be needing more work lately.

[Lemmi_Is_God]

every system i bought from a fleamarket pretty much

but the worst one was the philips cdi that i found in the garbage
it was pretty dirty/sticky/dusty had a few stickers on it and the door didnt work
oh and it had a few dents in it which wasnt to bad to bend back into shape

[Cinder6]

I replaced the fuse on a Sega CD model 2--didn't fix it, though :(

Like many, I've replaced the 72-pin connector in my NES.

One odd thing that happened was when my friend gave me his old Genesis. I took it apart to see if it was dusty, and the motherboard, the inside of the case--everything--was coated in cobwebs. There were no bugs, though, which was almost as weird as the rest. I still don't know what ambitious spider thought he was getting the best deal ever in roosting in a Genesis that spent about 10 years locked in a cabinet.

Oh, and TC: Maybe the previous owner took the whole "toaster" nickname a little too serious on with that NES and tried to cook some Pop Tarts :)

[KeyserSoze61]

I've been pretty lucky that I havent come across anything disgusting.

I bought a used Xbox from EB games maybe 4 years back. The thing was remarkably filthy -- I vowed never to make another major purchase at EB or GS after I got it. Aside from the grimyness and a non-working controller that had to be returned, the DVD drive made all sorts of weird sounds. I thought I would be okay, as it was a Samsung drive. It ended up failing after about 9 months.

When I went to open it, I discovered that the warranty seal had already been broken -- it had been covered up by an EB games sticker. Ridiculous. Either way, I ended up replacing the drive with an internet bought Philips drive and its still going strong.

As for my other consoles, I've had to replace a resistor in a dreamcast to fix the controller ports (a fairly common problem). Furthermore, out of the three model 2 Saturns that I have had, only one is capable of modding. So Ive dumped a lot of futile time perusing the SegaXtreme site to try to get them to work. Then the normal stuff, NES 72 pin connector, cleaning cartridges.

[Niku-Sama]

about a year ago now i was at a city wide garage sale and i was headed out and one of the places still had a ton of game stuff, were talkin like 7 nes's 2 dream casts a N64, 20+ first party NES controllers and loose games and stuff for various systems for $10. great deal huh? even if only one of the systems work. and a few did i got my monies worth out of it but the bottom half of all the boxes.

some ones house must have filled with water, 8 or more NES controllers were crumbling apart, mice had ate through alot of the wires 4 of the NES's were water damaged and had been taken apart, 2 of which had no guts, i am still to this day trying to peice together the usable stuff with the broken stuff but so far i managed to salvage 10 controllers, the N64, a dreamcast, all the loose games 3 of the NES's. luckily the water that did get into the NES's didnt reach the circuit boards and some of the repairs involed as much as soldering whole new components on them.

ironically none of the NES's needed new connectors....so far

[phreak97]

im sure i've come accross lots which im not gonig to remember right now, and i have spent hours cleaning up dirty consoles and games (sometimes an hour on one ex rental game if it needed it), but things i think of now are: my turbografx plus cd addon. when i got it, i plugged it in, and no controllers would work. i opened it up and several traces around the controller port area were cracked or peeled off the board completely, it seems just from plugging and unplugging controllers, there was no damage inflicted by tools or anything. but that all had to be repaired. then i tried the headphone jack on the cd unit.. volume didnt work.. i opened that up, and i actually had to open up the casing (not meant to be openable) of the potentiometer which controls the volume and adding some silver oxide pen lines to reconnect the resistive film. it works, but not well even now, it reaches maximum volume where half way should be.
my atari 7800 came with no buttons working except the power button if you press it alot of times. here i had to open each of the tactile buttons which are not meant to be opened either, theyre melted together. i then got a dremel with a small bullet bit onto the metal plate and contacts.. i did that for each button on the console.
when i got my intellivision the controllers didnt work well at all, i had to completely rebuild both of them, fully taken apart and all cleaned, then reassembled. i actually thought part of one of the keypads had been worn through, but it turned out to actually be dirt which cleaned off. (i talked down the price of it with that too)

oohhh my turbo express arrived with every single capacitor leaking inside.. and i couldnt get surface mount replacements.. i had to make room for regular ones.. and it now works, but only just, it still shows shading in rainbow colours.. thats the most effort ive gone to..
my sms1 came in a styrofoam box half full of water.. there were 9 complete games.. my mum yelled at me when i took one out in the kitchen and left a puddle on the floor from the water that came out of the cartridge.. many hours later, all inserts and cases cleaned, all carts disassembled, dried, cleaned, reassembled. manuals and inserts were ironed out flat. console was disassembled, dried out and reassembled.. in the end 100% success, except the controllers both had their dpads missing, it looks like the owner must have liked it that way.. you cant get the dpad out without opening it.
i got a gamecube controller for AU$5, the pcb inside was completely broken in half, fixed that.
when i got my first nes i think someone actually had vomited alcohol into it.. it smelled horrible and there was dried brown bad smelling stuff in everything, and it was potent enough to have melted through the controller cable's black outer insulation. horrible job that was but i got it all great.
im gonna finish there cos my girlfriend is on the phone

[ApolloBoy]

Most any 5200 found needs 2 hours of work done to it at the get go.

You can say that again. When I bought my 5200 3 years ago, it was completely covered in grime and dirt. Not only that, but there were spiders crawling out of it (found out there was a spider nest inside, complete with egg sac), and the RF plug was corroded to the point where it was unusable. I spent about 2-3 hours cleaning it out, replacing the RF plug, and I also had to replace an IC in it when I found out the top button on controller port 1 didn't work.

It cleaned up rather well, although it's a bit scuffed and scratched. But hey, I was able to get a working 5200 for $5!

[acem77]

the most work i did has to be the 3do rgb mod i did.
the nes rgb+rgb amp and stereo mod had to be my 2nd.
i have done so many mods for rgb and chips.

i guess mods are self induced and are not needed to keep the system running.


http://www.greatlakesvista.com/rgb/3do/RGB_3DO_MOD.jpg
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=81651&highlight=acem77

[rcgamer]

Fixing the cd tray on a model 1 sega cd.

[DefaultGen]

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[PentiumMMX]

The most I ever did was for my NES. Got it in 2003, used an Air Compressor to blow the dust out, and recently, had to restore the connectors and clean them.

That would be followed by replacing the laser in a PlayStation

[Slate]

Here is what I can think of. (They aren't in any order)

1: I had to replace the plug for my arcade cab (And it needs a new PCB)

2: Replacing the LED for a genesis

3: Replacing the fuse in a Sega CD

4: Replacing the fuse in an Atari 7800 (And replacing the power switch)

5: Resoldering the power input for a dreamcast

6: Cleaning out a virtual boy controller (Someone spilled soda on it)

[DefaultGen]

.....

[PallarAndersVisa]

cleaning out my 360 wireless controller was a bitch. finding the right kind of torx driver was impossible, so I had to make due with one that didn't have the hole in the center of the bit. So I basically had to break all the little cylinders in the middle of each torx screw on the back of the controller, and do my best to screw them out with the regular T8 driver (needed a T8H i believe).

Had to clean that thing out twice, and the stripped screws dont help.

I had an old original psx that needed potentiometer adjustments, but I eventually fried it.

Sega Saturn mods weren't too much trouble, though one of them just quit working on me for no reason.

[FVJVMVP]

Although not technically about a console, I still have trouble getting my gameshark-Super Smash Bros.-N64 hackalicious combo to work right. Other than that, just sorting through the wires is a nightmare :O

[sabre2922]

Ive worked on a LOT of old NES and a few SNES and Genesis systems mostly cleaning them for friends a few years back or "repairing" an NES that someone no longer wanted.

I guess the most "work" ive had to do on one single console was a Dreamcast system that I picked up in a pawnshop for $12 yep that right 12 bucks!

It took me 2 days to clean the thing and a few tries at adjusting the laser but I eventually got it working near perfect.

This Dreamcast had cigarette butts, insects and some orange goo inside it ALL OVER THE PLACE and the case was just dirty and had some type of thick film all over it @_@ but I got it looking and working almost like new.

I currently have a slightly older "fatty" version PS2 that Ive had to clean 3 times within the last year and completely "refurbished" it a couple years ago with extensive cleaning and laser eye alignment that only plays DVD format games and wont play my classic PSone games AT ALL nor the regular cd format PS2 games like Tekken Tag.
Ive also had to clean and straighten the drive tray a couple times but the last time was after a so called friend had it for a few weeks and he basically destroys anything electronic in short time anyway lol.
I think I got it back just in time :|

[Mianrtcv]

Luckily the most I have ever had to endeavour to do is clean contacts. Sadly, I have have had to say goodbye to an original intellivision and atari jr. that gave an an unfriendly puff of smoke. My original xbox with soud issues remains a mystery to me.

[jferio]

Did the NES connector cleaning, bending, and lockout extraction (socketed, with the pin bend on the *socket*, so I can restore it).

Standard power connector on a 7800, bypassing that stupid custom one they used.

Also redid the wiring on a PS1 Madcatz analog controller to restore the shoulder buttons.

My more custom projects were making a Genesis 3-button into a 7800 pad, and making a Taito Legends Plug n Play into a 7800 stick.