Intermittant Washed out video from S-Video modded Atari 2600

[Vectorman0]

So I have been having a problem with my 2600 recently and I have no idea what the issue is, any suggestions would be very much appreciated.
I'm using a heavy six switch model Atari that I modded with the Longhorn S-video mod (http://www.longhornengineer.com/Videomods/Videomods).

When the system is turned on, the video comes up one of three distinct ways. Either normal as if nothing was wrong, very washed out and bright to the point that you can barely see anything, and semi washed out. I posted a picture of each situation.

I thought maybe the power supply was outputting inconsistent power, so I tried another one and still encountered the problem. I tried a separate input on my TV and got the same results. I will try another TV and video cable tonight to isolate the problem to the console for certain.

I tried (gently) shaking or moving the system once it's on and I can't get the video to vary. It only varies at startup to a seemingly random output of the three types I mentioned. I would think if there was a problem with the S-video mod circuit that shaking it around would change the output. Who knows, I'm not very good at troubleshooting this kind of thing at the component level.

Very Washed Out:

http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr140/Vectorman0/4d72bf54.jpg


Washed out:

http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr140/Vectorman0/90dba17d.jpg


Normal:

http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr140/Vectorman0/aae8459a.jpg

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

You definitely get should get an award for describing the problem so well. :guitar:

I must ask if you have tried a different s-video cord, in case you have a bad one, or a cheap one.

Also, could the problem have something to do with it being on a HD TV. Do you have a CRT with s-video to test on?

Those two things may eliminate some possiblities.

[FABombjoy]

Assuming it isn't something weird in the tv, the issue is probably somewhere around the 3904 or fms6400. I'd reflow all solder connections in the area and make tripoly sure there isn't a slightly bridged connection somewhere. Especially make sure that pin 2 on the FMS6400 has a solid connection to ground.