Trying to FIX a Bunch of SEGA MEGA DRIVE (Genesis) Games - PART 1

Hi, in this PART 1 video I attempt to fix a bunch of SEGA Mega Drive (Genesis) games sent in by Mike from 1upGamingLimited over on eBay.
All 5 games do not work and just show a black screen. How many, if any can be fixed. Let's find out.
If you would like to see Part 2 please click here • SEGA MEGA DRIVE (Genes...
If you would like to support these videos, please click here / mymatevince
Remember that this is just for entertainment and I am not an expert in these repairs. The processes in the video may not be the best way, the correct way or the safest way to fix these things. I do love fault finding and trying to fix broken things, so I hope that comes across in this 'Trying to FIX' series. Many thanks, Vince.

[@taltechchip5827]

Solder tip: Use Kapton tape on the cartridge pins will help to block the solder to flow in the wrong direction

[@taffowst]

I was thinking that myself, tape up the pins apart from a tiny bit and it would have nice and tidy edges

[@pvc988]

Removable soldermask. Good idea.

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks Taltech :-)

[@skonkfactory]

A metal binder clip also works great for this- it keeps the pad cool so the solder won't flow onto it.

[@joseluissertajeperez4980]

🔧🖌️🎮

[@ZonicMirage]

That sense of satisfaction was real. I was wondering if Castle of Illusion would work, especially.

[@Chunka666]

Copper tape, conductive glue. 2 very quick and easy ways to reconnect those pins. Good work nonetheless, pleasure to watch as always.

[@dahger7]

Brasso metal cleaner works great on those pins too. Love your videos. Watch them from start to end.

[@1up_Gaming]

Well chuffed with Pt 1, excellent work there I must say. Pretty sure I opened Mickey, as I said in one of the comments below, I'd tried and failed to get the chips on and off the Megadrive PCB's easily, mostly burning the boards, getting frustrated and firing them towards the bin... I might have managed to get Micky off it's original board and onto that one, then stuck it in the wrong place.. face palm if I did, rookie error, otherwise, it would have been from the previous owner, this came in a big box of faulty stuff, mostly disc based ones, along with the rest of the MD Carts, some NES, a couple of SNES ones ( Parodius and Super Metroid, one just needed the pins cleaning, Metroid needed a complete board swap though, but both working ). Looking forward to Pt 2 for sure, and I'll keep putting bits n pieces aside as I come across them, as they always make great viewing :)

[@Mymatevince]

Cheers Mike, I will email you over part 2 now :-)

[@paulb8186]

Saw an interesting video where a guy filed down a brass fitting with a very fine file. He then mixed the filings with flux, applied it to the cleaned bridges then applied solder on a wide chisel tip and dragged down. The fine filings enabled the solder to bridge the gaps easily. Worth a try!

[@Mymatevince]

That sounds like an interesting idea. Thank you for sharing it :-)

[@davidayres7973]

Nice result there. Micromachines 96 is an absolutely amazing game. I got it when it came out and absolutely hammered it. 24 years later i still have the original cartridge but I've been playing it on retropie and I still remember every track. 👍

[@MrStereoify]

What a result Vince. Great success. For the first one, I'd simply file down the plastic on the edge touching the cart,and perhaps put some felt tape, like Tesa 51608, to keep it from fluffing in the breeze.

[@Mymatevince]

Great tip!

[@drachengott95]

I recently repaired a US copy of Trouble Shooter. The original board had very severe pin damage and one of the pins had a break. The pin lifted off the board while trying to fix it. Since this game was oned by my local independent game store in which i am good friends with the manager and owner. We found a sacrifice board from Columns with the exact same board. I swapped the IC chip to fix it!

[@justaregularguy7388]

Smashing it! To flip the chip around making it work that’s fab!!!! Looking forward to part 2!!

[@tech34756]

One of the few things I accomplished during lockdown was fixing my MD copy of The Lawnmower Man. Accidentally fried the original chip during a failed mod, but fortunately I had just bought a compatible EPROM and writer.

[@GadgetUK164]

Great stuff =D It's hard dealing with so much damage like that! One thing that can help make it tidier - put a strip of kapton tape down over all the pads before you start, just leave a tiny little bit exposed on the edge to solder onto. That way you would get less solder and it will look tidier when finished! Well spotted on the Castle of Illusion cart!

[@Mymatevince]

I always forget about the kapton tape Chris. I think you have told me that before...next time I promise, it will be done. Thanks again for the support and helpful tips you provide over here :-)

[@Operational117]

Gotta always remember: thick planes of traces are for power, usually one source and one or more drains. If one of them is unpopulated (or populated with a data pin), something’s horribly wrong. The capacitor is there to smooth the DC-voltage as much as possible to catch any voltage fluctuations, since integrated circuits are susceptible to it.

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks Operational. Once I spotted it, it then became obvious. Hopefully I will spot it quicker in the future :-)

[@danielhedley4626]

@@Mymatevince I love your videos mate ive learned a lot from watching you repair things ive managed to fix 2 xboxones from also watching you do things thanks for the videos and keep them coming pal.

[@skins4thewin]

@Deonte Hemphill That does not at all sound like a power supply issue. Sounds more like an issue with the console itself. If you are not used to fixing consoles then this might be one that you would want to stay away from.

[@skins4thewin]

@Deonte Hemphill Lol it's not that simple buddy... It's something you would have to open up and diagnose. The sorts of questions you're asking tells me that you really should just forget about buying busted systems if you really have no knowledge or experience repairing them. If you want to learn about doing your own repairs then you are going to have to do your own research and learn about it. Plenty of Google searching and KZbin watching should help, and of course you will need to buy good quality soldering equipment, so you will need to research that as well.

[@skins4thewin]

@Deonte Hemphill Lol ok, well best of luck to ya then.

[@99geovanni]

when u use solder to breach some pins u have tu use the iron tip in low temperature and u need solder with no flux in it because this made it act like play doh! good video

[@skonkfactory]

You really ought to get yourself an EPROM programmer, Vince. Super useful for verifying and replacing bad ROMs on old console games and other things like that.

[@BristolMatt]

Amazing seeing your pure joy! Especially with the game of our youth playing in front of you! For a second again you were that same child.

[@Ratzfaz]

I wonder why the ROM has survived the Heat Gun massacre ;-)

[@dodgydruid]

Just imagine if you had used a high silver or gold conductive paint you would have done them traces in a tenth of the time :) I use a high gold paint which sets hard and I use it to repaint corroded traces on my Soviet quartz watch circuit boards using a fine dagger brush I draw it across from known good point to known good point then put something like clear mask on to lock it in. Got the stuff off ebay and its been an absolute spot on fix that is permanent and doesn't require potentially destructive heat on tiny components like on ISA or ETA circuit boards. You can buy high gold and silver content epoxy's and glues which are used to affix the tiny gold wires from quartz motors to the circuit board and is thicker and sets rock hard but is super conductive. Back in the day of early overclocking, we used car rear window demister repair paint to unlock AMD cpu's by carefully linking certain points on the topmost die to bypass the multiplier lock, you could do it equally as well by fine copper strands looped around pins if you didn't want to permanently damage your very expensive CPU.

[@Mymatevince]

Cheers Ian, you got any brand names or recommendations for the stuff you got on eBay? Thanks mate :-)

[@foutchfroutchi8301]

Vince, the best way to fix them is to blow in the gap the hardest you can. It used to fix any Nes, Snes or Genesis games when I was a kid. This video was so wholesome, especially the successful celebrations. If one day I manage to fix my parents old Polycon 4003, it will be thanks to you Vince. Cheers from Belgium ! Ps: of course I didn't actually mean the special tip that would bring some humidity and so, corrosion to the contact pins.

[@Mymatevince]

Haha, thank you :-)

[@willproctor7301]

Love the Mickey fix mate, very well worked out. Your soldering is pro level now, give yourself a pat on the back :)

[@ErroneousClique]

Solder is not the best conductor, I would typically run a small wire myself. Would have been faster as well than sitting there building up solder IMO for some of the larger gaps.

[@dash8brj]

Nice save on the Mickey cartridge - I would have sworn with a red hot chip it would have been fried. Guess they built them tough :)

[@Mymatevince]

I was very lucky on that one dash :-)

[@MayaPosch]

A big reason to not use solder for bridging is that the point behind solder is to create an intermetallic compound (IMC), the layer between the PCB pad and the component lead. The formulation of a solder alloy serves to form the best possible IMC (no Kirkendall voiding, and resistance to stress and electromigration). When used as a low melting point 'wire', it tends to be far more fragile and weak than a bit of copper wire, with worse properties in general. In the case of leaded solder (63/37 or non-eutectic 60/40), imagine why you'd not want to use lead for wires, let alone tin.

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks Maya :-)

[@SparksNZeros]

it's not a bodge but their are ways of making it tidier, just use blue masking tape to cover the rest of the contact and use some magnet wire cut slightly larger than the gap you're trying to jump and it'll make it a more robust long lasting repair with less solder blobs that can stress and recrack.

[@Coonfused57]

If the board flexes at all the solder will break and you'll get opens. Use a tiny non-insulated wire about 3mm or .125 inch to bridge gaps and use flux.

[@AnonymousRepair]

Solder needs proper temperature other wise you get a cold joint / dry joint that could cause intermittent faults, great video Well-done 👍😊

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks AR :-)

[@Greg8745]

Another lovely video from My Mate Vince! I love the Trying to fix and Tea Break fix series! Thank you! Vince, I loved the mod video for the switch you did a while back... Do you plan on making a "Trying to mod" series someday? For example, modifying one of the already fixed Mega Drives with an RGB bypass to improve image quality? I would love to see something like that! Regards from Brazil! ;)

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks Greg, maybe one day. I am open to all suggestions, thank you :-)

[@VirtualSpeed]

A wire is far a better job and about time, it just takes practice. I saw you struggle a lot even with the lower temp. Buy single core wire awg32 Regarding the solder mask, put the board in direct sun light and it will cure in like 1h

[@jrsc01.]

The Micro Machines game mode that Vince was reminiscing about is the same, but Head-to-Head Mode, where the player at the back lost a point (or life) when hitting the edge of the screen when too far back in the race, and therefor had to win a certain number of points in a row to win the race. The game is fun and was one of my favourite Mega Drive games. I believe that the '96 version was updated from the original MM2 game.

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks John :-)

[@anthonyclarke5643]

Great video vince glad you got 2/2 fixed lol keep up with the lucky fixes 👍💪

[@andreaskarlsson7954]

Really love all of your trying to fix video. You inspire me 😊

[@dannyhtheretrogamingmaster9548]

Flicky was the bird who made further appearances in Sonic the hedgehog games - sonic rescued him and his mates by destroying the badniks that they were hidden in by dr robotnik/eggman. I love the Micro Machines games on megadrive as I always played them when I was in my teens.

[@Mymatevince]

Nice one Danny :-)

[@dean_c]

Fun fact about micromachines 2. The Violet character is Violet Berlin from Bad Influence!

[@SPEXWISE]

21:09 Hah, I never knew Sinead O'Connor was in micro machines. Because Cartridge Repairs....Cartridge Repairs....To Yoooooou..

[@unitedfools3493]

u wot?

[@danbrittain9530]

It's not Sinead O'Connor, it's Violet, from the 90's computer game show Bad Influence.

[@jochemcode4570]

You inspired me to get back into repairing, tho I'm more on the software side of things. Just bought some working and non working parts:)

[@andrewblackburn6965]

What you may find better to bridge the gap where there is no more copper is stained glass copper tape. It is adhesive on one side and copper on the other and you can use it with soldering (as you would for stained glass). You could cut it thinner as needed. It would seem to me that placing tape and soldering would be far easier than bridging the gap. I can link one if you prefer but an search for “stained glass foiling tape” on Amazon or something similar should get you what you’re looking for. I’ve never used it for this application but I can’t see why it wouldn’t work. The cost of entry is certainly low enough to give it a go. Hope it helps. Cheers.

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks Andrew, I do have some copper tape (slug tape). It is probably the same stuff just a different name. Cheers for the helpful message :-)

[@callumthomas653]

Good starting points into repairing small circuit boards for little money

[@Snufl]

The first one is why you never use brasso on games. Sure you get the contacts shiny and happy, but of you don't have the game apart to clean it, you leave the stuff sitting sandwiched against the board, and brasso is very corrosive.

[@mattigins]

I'm by no means an expert but i think just jumping the gaps with solder wouldn't last as long as wire. The plastic case digs in to the solder as you showed so this could cause the small gap to crack over time.

[@mattigins]

@Ellis The DJ yeah i though about this after commenting. Maybe shaving the casing a little so it doesn't rub as much

[@6vibe150]

You're too good my dude. Nice repair work and diagnostics!!

[@andyroberts9562]

Cracking game castle of illusion is on the megadrive completed it again just the other day on the raspberry pi, believe the micro machines cartridges were called 'j carts' as they had joystick ports, great video

[@TheSkaldenmettrunk]

Part 1 was succesfull. Looking forward for part 2.

[@mirage8485]

Hi vince for me the idea is good but instead of use lead solder try with unlead its more elastic or use some conductive paint its work very well and apply solder mask on it the pcb fit much better with this in the cartridge

[@Old_Man_Pete]

Bridging the break with solder looks better than a million wires everywhere.

[@bigsterex3152]

Vince saving retro games can’t wait for part 2

[@pourgoi_6100]

that rainbow like screen and buzzing on caslte of illusion was the cartridge attempting to fry itself, im extremely suprised you got it working again after cuz that usually toasts them into never working again

[@PrawnCocktailBro]

Awesome job spotting that mickey fault. Its crazy how far you have come since the first trying to fix videos 😊

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks Prawn C :-) This was a little easier for me as I have done these a couple of times in the past already. I have some NES faulty games to look at so I am sure I will struggle on them big time :-)

[@PrawnCocktailBro]

@@Mymatevince Nothing wrong with a challenge. I look forward tot he video :D

[@1up_Gaming]

@@Mymatevince Can't remember with the NES ones, BUT.... check the region of them, you have PAL A, PAL B and then international stuff, from memory, PAL B won't work in a standard UK NES console, you might have to mod your NES to get them to play ( it's a dead easy mod, lift a leg, fit a rocker switch, add a wire ). I tested them out on the Retro Freak, a little emulation box that has cartridge slots, and thus is already region free, didn't bother opening those up, so who knows what you'll find in side :)

[@Mymatevince]

@@1up_Gaming Cheers Mike :-)

[@Lawry200]

Can’t wait for part 2 enjoyed the video buddy👍

[@johnroughead4094]

Sometimes I lay in bed at night and wonder how many random games consoles vince owns

[@hullebikerfishing]

Would conductive paint do the bridge? may be worth a try. Great video as always.

[@taylty]

I did not think solder bridges without wire would work. Great job!

[@MadManMcGirt]

there are pens with nichole or silver that you can use to "draw" the tracers and connect them. MG Chemicals 841AR-P Nickel Conductive Pen, 7.5g MG Chemicals 838AR-P Total Ground Carbon Conductive Pen, 4g, Carbon Black MG Chemicals 841AR-15ML Nickel Print (Conductive Paint)

[@DJ-SPARKY-REACH-ON-AIR]

Nice bit of work but I would always recommend this use a fine copper wire or tracer wire and then that is designed to to be heated up to high temperature but what you're working on it needs a low temperature and I would also put a very streamly fine-tip and put flux where you are soldering

[@sugarchunks12]

Hi vince I’m in the south east of the uk and I’ve been watching your videos for a few years now and I thoroughly enjoy watching you I am 47 years old and I can’t stand to throw stuff away I always try to repair what I can I’m a welding engineer and tool maker by trade so I try my hand at anything other than gas works Anything els goes lol You have come such a long way I just wish I had the balls to do what you do Keep up the good work

[@Mymatevince]

Thank you! :-)

[@UltimatelyEverything]

I love the Sega mega drive videos they're great i'm happy you got two of them working after a lot of hard work.

[@TheCod3r]

Vince: Completed it Remind you of anyone 🤔 #Inbetweeners 🤣

[@Mymatevince]

Haha. He has his own YT channel called that :-)

[@TheCod3r]

@@Mymatevince haha yeah he games on it I'm subbed lmao 🤣

[@joseluissertajeperez4980]

🔧🧰⚙️

[@manueldi_77]

The best part always is when VInce is celebrating a successful fix. Its like watching a soccer game and your team is scoaring a goal. 😎

[@mattbettany1174]

I guess the answer depends on if you’re doing that repair as a chargeable service or if it’s for yourself. If it’s for someone else you’d want to make sure it was a proper lasting repair. If it’s just for yourself then a quick bodge seems perfectly acceptable to me

[@Crazylogix007]

Love the videos Vince. Yes the solder bridges are not a viable repair (low temp to get to bridge=cold solder joint that will crack), but they are a viable trouble shooting technique to insure it is worth the bother to do the repair correctly, in this case to insure the cartridge chips are not also faulty.

[@Mymatevince]

Thank you :-) I understand, that makes complete sense. Thanks for sharing it :-)

[@shadowtheimpure]

If you use that solder mask a lot I recommend getting a curing box with powerful UV lamps in it.

[@danbrittain9530]

You're remembering playing micro machines on multiplayer. The person who fell behind lost because they can't control their car once they're no longer displayed on screen. On single player though, it didn't matter, so it's just a regular race instead.

[@burnutec3]

Eighter way is ok, as long as its stable enough to not fall off of the wear.

[@andyroo8uk685]

that 6-1 catridge came with the sega when i had mine as a child.. shame u got 2 the same games there lol.......but that 6-1 had 2 verison a yellow label and red

[@nakedbeekeeper9610]

I always clap along with the MMV Massive segment lol

[@welshtony1]

This has brough back so many memories. I spent many house playing this on the Mega Drive :D

[@jamesscott220]

For cart repairs can you use clear nail polish to cover the soldering?

[@Mymatevince]

I have been told in the past that you can just use nail polish.

[@adrianpearce5214]

Great video Vince I love watching your videos I’m learning a lot from you Looking forward to part 2

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks Adrian :-)

[@Boogie_the_cat]

M. Mouse: Castle of Illusions was a good game. Did you ever play Kid Chameleon? There were 100 or so levels on that one, and you picked up different helmets to change your character and special abilities. There was also a cool warp trick built into the end of the first level (it was a hidden cheat) to transport you to the final boss. The boss had about 30 eyes, and you had to jump onto his head to pop out all of his eyes. That game had TONS of replayability. I probably rented it 4 times before I finally bought it.

[@kazarenko6300]

Just got flashback to dual-in-line chip leg straightening tools!

[@MrGeezered]

love it, takes me bk to the old days lol

[@malibuman792004]

Another great video Vince.

[@Driv3r96]

To be honest I don't think it's a bad job. I'm only concerned about the fragility as I think traces or routed wires would be more flexible as well as thinner, with the thicker and stiffer solder I can imagine cracks forming in the bridges as the plastic in the cartridge rubs against them.

[@realmachine]

You really made my day! The moments of truth, the suspence.. 2 times, wel done. I have a good laugh everytime it works, it's like drum roll............ YES! keep up the good work!

[@Mymatevince]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@kirosun]

bridging is easier if you don't keep adding more flux(the flux that is in the solder)

[@CLC-1000]

Congratulations Vince. 👏👏👏👏👏

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks CLC :-)

[@CLC-1000]

@@Mymatevince Anytime 😊

[@marcdmv]

I would be terrified to insert and test faulty games on my console

[@stuart7999]

Copper tape and a stanley knife / Scalpel is how we replace damaged tracks would have made it so much faster and a nice tidy job :)

[@technixbul]

Nope, join 2 broken sides with thin strand of wire is faster and more reliable way, and will look better if you can use your hands proper.

[@Vermilicious]

Considering the amount of traces, and their sizes, I would have to disagree. I think there are times when such a technique is in order though.

[@markvandesande8855]

Nice old school and you use to get the track repair kits with all the right size gauges and pads as well. One thing though they could be tricky to use.😁

[@Mobin92]

I assume the flux made it harder for that solder to create a bridge?

[@MarioSanchez-fm1tf]

Great video. My favorite console. Eagerly waiting for part 2. Greetings from Argentina, sad day for football fans. RIP #10

[@aldo9923]

Rip goat

[@technixbul]

Well there is flux inside soldering wire, i don't even use flux with it. Yes it is ok to lower the temp as long as you can melt ot and connect 2 joints but i would put 0.02mm wires to all of the broken traces. There is a lot of corrosion on that first one, even under the ICs. Do not cut the strand before you tin it and solder it, it will be waaay easier to hold the whole wire and solder end of the strand to one side of trace then pull and solder to other side of the trace connection. On the second board, you should desolder the whole IC, clean and check the board then solder it cleanly, because heating the whole DIL40 package to 350C and pushing it to click while hot is very bad thing for chip. Buy a Automatic Desoldering gun. it wil make your live easier.

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks again for sharing your very helpful tips on here technixbul :-)

[@retractingblinds]

What's stronger? A blob of metal or a bit of rubber coated copper? I go with the solder. We adhere joints all the time and they stick but a wire right in line with that harsh plastic - something tells me the wire won't last without a lot of protection. In my repairs I'd do a little blob. I think you can do an even better job with adherence by using some coated copper wires to have a bridge to the gaps in the traces

[@Towersen]

Hi, I believe that you can repair it better with a "Conductive Pen", and tracks can be more thinner than solder. Good works at all!. Greetings from Spain.

[@Mymatevince]

Thank you :-)

[@TheCod3r]

#NoWhereNearFirst 🤣

[@RGD-Audio-Repairs]

in my eyes dude... "it aint a bodge, if it works" :D There is more than 1 tool for a job...

[@TechGorilla1987]

The solder will not bridge a gap unless you do NOT want it to. -- Tech Gorilla.

[@Mymatevince]

Haha, so very true :-)

[@joseluissertajeperez4980]

🏅🏆🎮

[@JasonSmith-tv2zw]

Thanks Vince really enjoyed the video, thanks My Mate Mike

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks Jason, glad you liked it and thank you for recognising My Mate Mike :-)

[@Marcel1984nl]

I think you have a better chance that after a while the solder contacts will come loose due to possible temperature fluctuations + moisture and thus corrosion or due to gradual play in the PCB. There is also the chance of a bad contact with the printed circuit board that sometimes works and sometimes does not. But you can be lucky, of course, given the thickness of the PCB. It can be compared to 2 wires that you twist together: after a while they lose contact.

[@TechGorilla1987]

Using solder as a trace is a perfectly acceptable practice for large current-carrying traces.

[@SproutyPottedPlant]

You don't have to mention the whole 'Genesis' aka Bible Compiter thing, alot of American KZbinrs don't bother saying Mega Drive so I wouldn't bother conveniencing them.

[@andrewlittleboy8532]

I have a feeling the solder bridges will easily break over time, especially with use where as a wire would be more robust.

[@DaveTheRetroGuy]

We need more people like vince

[@skins4thewin]

That solution works perfectly fine, although you really didn't need to do each and every pin. Just the ones that you can visually see to have broken traces would have been fine.

[@kranibal]

I got as excited if not more then you when you got those fixed! : )

[@HuntersMoon78]

Tinker Racers is the modern equivalent of Micro Machines in resolutions up to 4K.

[@masterbrown2002]

Copper tape would have worked well here Vince.

[@racer4200]

"Brilliant" Well done, Vince.

[@powerfantastic01]

Micro Machines!! In what other game can you play as Sinead O'Conner??

[@juanpi2693]

lOVE YOURE VIDEOS

[@davythedragon]

Great video mate! I always enjoy watching your vids, especially as a fellow uk resident! Lol if I ever find some old toy in my room or attic that’s not working I may send it your way. Btw could you tell me the name of the music at 10:00 please? It’s lovely! 😊

[@DisguisedPigeonLOL]

If it works, who cares what anyone else thinks? Imagine if you would have spent 20x more time on each of those traces with wires, only to discover it didn't work? What a colossal waste of time that would have been.