eBay Game Gear - First Look and Repair

I won an untested Sega Game Gear on eBay. Did I get lucky or...?
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00:00 Introduction
00:55 History and Specs
02:40 eBay Purchase and Unboxing
05:13 Initial Inspection and First Test
08:25 Disassembly
10:39 Capacitors and Model Identification
13:21 Cap Removal and Cleaning
18:13 Cap Replacement
20:51 Power and Audio Board Recap
28:46 Second Test
30:14 No Audio
32:11 Gameplay and Conclusion
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[@tiemanowo]

20:15 wait. You sure that was a good polarity? It looks like you are soldering a negative side of a capacitor (leg with stripe) to a positive pad.

[@8bitbubsy]

That's indeed incorrect! I wonder if he noticed lateron...

[@retrobitstv]

Good eye! I did indeed screw up the orientation when I formed the compound bend in the legs. I did not go back and fix it off camera yet the Game Gear is working fine so I assume they are just "optional" decoupling caps. I will go back and fix them. Thanks for mentioning it; I watched the replay a dozen times when editing and totally failed to notice!

[@axemanracing6222]

@@retrobitstv Unfortunately, it might work but could cause damage. Try to fix it before powering up again!

[@retrobitstv]

@@axemanracing6222 All fixed now! I still can't believe I screwed that up. When filming it's easy to forget what you're doing when worried about framing the shot properly, getting the lighting right, remembering to disable the autofocus, etc.

[@wonderrob3225]

I had Game Gear as a teen through twenties while in the U.S Coast Guard. You could pick up TV on an antenna, even at sea. You could play incredible games in full color. When all you had was one bunk and one locker for yourself and all your worldly possessions, Game gear was an amazing luxury.

[@TheVGhunter]

*Watches video*. *Deep Breath* I have 5 of these that needs recapping and I just realized my patience may not be up to doing all 5. This gives alot of knowledge for doing the job though so ty!

[@RetroKrazy]

Ideally you need to cover the plastic connector points if using hot air to remove the surface mount as spotted you slightly melted one. I try a different method on my nexy video this Wednesday which works and for newer people to soldering, is safer IF they take care. Good save though and one hell of a cheap price you paid for that lot!

[@drifter7508]

Was just gonna comment on that 😅

[@retrobitstv]

Agree, in hindsight I should have covered more. I didn't think the hot air spillage would melt the plastic but it totally did. I also may have bumped a connector with the iron at some point too 😅

[@RacerX-]

@@retrobitstv This is totally a problem with the A1200 too as a couple of the caps are right next to the keyboard connector. You could also desolder the connector which is pretty easy. In areas like these and small boards I find it far less damaging to just cut or twist the cap off. I know I will probably get hate over that but I have done it for more then 15 years and have to this day never lifted a pad. I have lifted several pads using the Hot Air method though. My guess is the amount of heat you have to use helps lift the pad easier.

[@retrobitstv]

@@RacerX- I have seen many people use your method without issue. I think it'd most likely be a problem where leakage has caused so much corrosion the pad is already marginal to begin with. I've yet to lift a pad either but I've only done a couple of SMD recaps so far :P

[@RacerX-]

@@retrobitstv 100% agree it is always a case by case really. You made the call and it worked for you so that is great. I recapped a Macintosh PPC 6100 one time and the caps were so crusted that they literally fell of the board with very little contact. It was the easiest one I have ever done. No tools required! hahaha. Amazingly no damage and all was good after.

[@anotheruser9876]

Heads up! The two caps nearest to the "Made In Japan" on the main PCB have the polarity flipped from the original. Check @11:26 vs @20:40

[@retrobitstv]

Great catch! When I took went to form the compound bend in the legs I must have screwed up their orientation. Oddly enough, I didn't fix the mistake off camera so the Game Gear is working despite the wrong polarity. Probably just decoupling caps. I will still fix them. Thanks for the heads up!

[@dancingwiththedogsdj]

I HAD so much fun with my Game Gear..... Had about 30 games, the TV Tuner was amazing, and the master cart adapter was sweet! I remember actually taking my Genesis on a summer trip with my dad and I was a young teenager.... We'd take a small camper and go visit family for a week and have a blast (although at the time I may not have appreciated it like I do now, but it was always fun) and I used my TV Tuner on the Game Gear to hook up the Genesis to because I was craving some, "Hard Drivin'" and it was quite playable even on the tiny screen (as playable as Hard Drivin' could be, whew it was a struggle for ports of that game) .... I actually have a Game Gear game still in the plastic case, "Alien(s)" or something similar tied to the movie. Great video and enjoyed your take on it! 🍻🌎❤️🌮😁

[@retrobitstv]

Thanks for sharing! That's a great hack, using the TV tuner with a standalone console!

[@dancingwiththedogsdj]

@@retrobitstv it had a A/V input jack on it and I just happened to have the correct adapter because I wanted to try it anyways.... It was fun. Lol

[@axemanracing6222]

@@dancingwiththedogsdj Oh yeah :-D now I remember watching VHS on this, with the power supply connected. What a mess :-D

[@wonderrob3225]

I had Game Gear as a teen through twenties while in the U.S Coast Guard. You could pick up TV on an antenna, even at sea. You could play incredible games in full color. When all you had was one bunk and one locker for yourself and all your worldly possessions, Game gear was an amazing luxury.

[@dancingwiththedogsdj]

@@wonderrob3225 Thank you for your service and glad it seems to have been a fun distraction to help you through. Have a wonderful day/evening! 🍻🌎❤️🌮🎶

[@retrooz4725]

Benn Venn LCD was back in stock last week. You are right $70 US for the kit is a luxury but the difference is night and day compared to the original.

[@retrobitstv]

I was shocked to discover how big the aftermarket is for these systems but I'm glad there are replacement and upgrade options for just about every component!

[@tokin420nchokin]

​@@retrobitstvyou really should stick the BV ips kit in there! It is a really nice kit, probably too nice for the game gear lol😂

[@christianorthodoxy4769]

That little portable gaming system was Awesome! 🔥 In it's time. 🎮

[@mogwaay]

Totally agree with Console5 wiki, it's brilliant.

[@philcarter9738]

You have to love 90's gaming TV adds, they just don't make them like that anymore 😄

[@tetsujin_144]

Those old Sega ads are fun.

[@P5ychoFox]

It was about 2005 when I last saw a Game Gear running fine on it’s original capacitors. Luckily apart from the capacitors, nothing much else seems to go wrong with them.

[@tokin420nchokin]

I had a va5 on og caps working till 2023! All the other units caps were leaky as can be

[@JohnGotts]

I see that you adjusted the positions of some of the replacement caps you installed. The Console 5 replacements require finangling to fit inside the case. They work, though.

[@tetsujin_144]

4:05 - "I'm sure you were the popular kid in school if you were walking around with that clipped to your waist" Yeah what would a trip down memory lane be without a refresher course on decades-old trauma

[@retrobitstv]

Haha, we had fun though :)

[@tokin420nchokin]

Man you got a killer deal on that. Those games were worth more than 49 dollars most likely.

[@Soup_it]

Thank you sir for keeping retro tech alive.

[@alexharker7223]

I haven't played a Game Gear in close to 30 years. I didn't own one and one of my cousins was the only person I knew who owned one. A few years ago I bought one untested but, sadly, it had an irreparably corroded board due to batteries being left in. It's a great candidate for a replacement board and LCD screen but I haven't wanted to put the money into it yet.

[@emilianotechs]

Thanks for the video I have a soldering iron and I've been thinking about tackling some recapping jobs and I bet I could do a game gear!

[@JamiesHackShack]

Enjoyed it! I had use of one of these in my youth and between the games and TV tuner it was a blast. It absolutely went through batteries like nobody's business though of course! 😂

[@Pau_Pau9]

I just won a bidding for Game Gear on eBay. And what do you know!? Retrobits has a repair video! Thanks for the inspiration to fix the broken GG!

[@retrobitstv]

Good luck with your repairs!

[@lyledal]

OK. I am intrigued by that "fresh baked olive loaf" handheld! Someone should have made that happen!

[@LeftoverBeefcake]

Dear sir, your "Official Retro KZbinr" certificate is being mailed out, now that all the requirements are met. Sincerely yours, the Official Retro KZbinr Home Office

[@retrobitstv]

Nice, I'll be checking the mail with great anticipation! Is there a secret handshake that I need to learn? :P

[@jdmcs]

We had one back in the day... and it died back in the day... and dad threw it out back in the day. Did those capacitors cause an early demise of our much-enjoyed Game Gear? Great save! [Starts looking for a Game Gear to restore.]

[@retrobitstv]

Ah bummer! My folks tossed or gave away all of our old family computers too. I wish I had that Apple //c and Laser 128 now!

[@jdmcs]

@@retrobitstv I wish I had our Apple II+ and IBM Portable Personal Computer now, but my folks gave them both away after we got our new Pentium computer.

[@hadessuk]

Great deal you got yourself, just the link cable is worth close to that price. Unlike the Game Boy link cables, there aren’t any modern replacements…

[@retrobitstv]

Huh, I had no idea! Also not sure why it came with two link cables and two copies of Sonic 2. 🤷‍♂️

[@sorcererstan]

What you really should have protected with Kapton tape (or better) is the plastic connectors. Lucky you didn't melt them worse. Just my 2 cents.

[@retrobitstv]

Yea if I were to do it again I would definitely use more tape on the plastic connectors!

[@BestSpatula]

Did you research to see if there were any surface mount caps that would have fit on the pads of the PCB? Also, I like ordering these from mouser/digi-key as you can be pretty picky about quality. You can also use tantalum caps which won't ever leak.

[@retrobitstv]

My friend Lee over at @MoreFunMakingIt discussed using non-polarized surface mount parts and has had success recapping several units that way ( kzbin.info/www/bejne/qWW3d4mJbKqMotU ). I tend to blindly trust Luke over at Console 5 and went with that as the easy mode option instead of measuring the pads and trying to find suitable polarized SMD replacements :)

[@BestSpatula]

@@retrobitstv ah yes the research and measurement stuff can be super time consuming. I like your videos. Never had a game gear but jealous of friends who did. Always cool to see instructionals on how to save them.

[@infinitecanadian]

The Game Gear was the most coveted console in the dentist's office.

[@SEGADreamcast-SEGA]

That scares me :O

[@Idelacio]

Memories, having a rechargeable power pack was a must for any game gear owner. :3 Curious how you got mickey running on the mister, everything I tried is just the master system rom and breaks when renamed. I know they are technically the same data but something else must be needed... Oh, nm: turns out there are two different rom versions after all. Ree. ¬.¬

[@retrobitstv]

I tried 3 different versions of the game and they all had color palette and control issues until I renamed one from .gg to .sms and then it worked fine. Apparently the core can't distinguish when a game is a direct port from the master system.

[@av_oid]

Make sure you don’t leave those Dura-Leaks in the Game Gear when you put it away!

[@user-yr1uq1qe6y]

I hear Arctic Retro here. Thought we were in for a visit from Tommy.

[@digitalarchaeologist5102]

I noticed you probably have the same hot air and soldering station as me, a so called "Horusdy"? Is the de-soldering gun you have compatible with it?

[@retrobitstv]

The hot air station is branded as "YIHUA" but could easily be sold under a variety of other made-up brand names :) amzn.to/3ioSgXb I purchased the desoldering gun a year or two earlier and it's a stand-alone Hakko unit amzn.to/3cP8VR3

[@digitalarchaeologist5102]

@@retrobitstv Thank you very much for the links

[@MaggieKeizai]

Funny. I'm as annoyed today by the "SEGA!" screams in their ads as I was in the 90s.

[@mark6302]

castle of illusion is the bomb

[@OffGridAussiePrepper]

congrats..... wish i was that lucky

[@noelitoangeles287]

Comes a TV Tuner for Game Gear

[@BaneMcDeath]

My GG barely has a display or sound. Controls work fine though. :'(

[@billh2808]

I liked the Game Gear but damn did they eat batteries. You almost had to buy AA's by the gross to keep playing it.

[@infinitecanadian]

I hate it when people list these for parts. These should be fixed if at all possible.

[@emilianotechs]

But a lot of times people listing them for parts gets them fixed right?

[@infinitecanadian]

@@emilianotechs I hope so.

[@jleditzig]

The answer to your question is: I, and many other people, don't.

[@axemanracing6222]

I had a GG + TV receiver + battery pack. King of the crowd. Then ,when digiTV came up it was worthless. Had good days but I don't mind selling old stuff to get new stuff.

[@dennisp.2147]

Kinda kludgy using cheap thru-hole caps instead of the correct part.