FAULTY PANDORA'S Box from eBay | Can I FIX It?

I paid £58 for this generic clone of a Pandora's Box from of on off eBay. It was listed as broken, powers on, but joystick, lights and buttons don't work!
Let's try and fix it!
Hope you enjoy!
Steve
PS. I'm not an expert in repairs at all. I do this for fun, and it may not be the best or safest way to go about repairing broken stuff. I'm pretty good at melting plastic though. Please don't copy me - I'm an idiot.
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[@kiphakes]

As someone who used to own, restore and repair arcade machines - you were right about the buttons - earlier arcade machines used leaf switches, newer ones used micro switches. Leaf switches were great, but sometimes needed adjustments as the ‘leafs’ would get too close together meaning there wasn’t enough travel in the buttons or joysticks

[@StezStixFix]

Ah thanks Kip! That makes sense. I've just ordered some Sanwa buttons from Amazon... hopefully they'll be genuine and the leaf-y kind! 😁

[@BuyitFixit]

Interesting to know Kip Hakes. I used to work in arcades for years repairing video games and fruit machines, pinball machines etc. I've still got a box of old boards somewhere, and I think an original space invaders pt ii board too! Yes the old games like space invaders, galaxian etc used leaf switches I remember trying to clean the contacts on them!

[@kiphakes]

@@BuyitFixit I used to have them in my house.. had 15 at my best / worst 😅

[@BuyitFixit]

@@kiphakes Wow 15! I had a super nintendo arcade cabinet with 3 games on it for years and made a loom so you could plug jamma pcbs into it. It was slightly unusual as it had joysticks and not the snes pads. Sold it a few years back now, but still got a box full of jamma boards somewhere.

[@Tim_3100]

​@@spikey911usasuppose when leaf switches are hard to find sanwa is next best option but see your view

[@TheVintageApplianceEmporium]

"It's bent, it's not straight and someone has been too vigorous with the knob" - summed me up perfectly 😅

[@streetlightingcollector9343]

Ayo wtf 🤨🤨🤨📸

[@BelladonnaPup]

😂 nice.

[@rich8761]

ooooh matron

[@KiraSlith]

The internals on these Pandora sets are always so lovely to work on. Yeah they're cheaply made, but it's all bog standard pinnings and software, and there's nothing going on you can't understand by simply looking at it. The fun part is putting what you like in place of the cheap stock parts.

[@lookitskazzy]

Those buttons are standard 30mm. Anything will work (try Sanwa, Seimitsu, or equivalent clones). Terminal orientation doesn't matter, you can connect the buttons either way. The clear part for the stick you kept calling the gate is indeed the gate. :) If you want to add more strength to the PCB repair, desolder the micro switches and add epoxy across the top of the cracks. Great work!

[@BigEpinstriping]

well, sort of. The clear part is the base plate, the center part of that base plate should have a removable round gate, they make hexagonal 8-way, circular and square gates, If you remove the base plate, you can push/turn the gate to remove it. The square gate has the added bonus of being able to rotate 45 degrees to switch from square (8-way) to diamond (4-way) operation, which comes in handy for old games that used a 4-way like Pac-Man. any sanwa-style gate will work, or you can 3D print gates as well. Some of the knock-off joysticks have a one-piece baseplate/gate. Even on my personal pandora clone, the gates can be replaced. One last tip: replace the screws holding he lid closed with thumbscrews; makes it easy to open and change gates, bad buttons, etc. These are easy to mod.

[@PoutingTrevor]

'I don't know much about anything.' Oh Steve, you are my spirit animal.

[@phoenragon]

I love these vids where you're repairing a cracked board. One of your vids like this was the "Ah-ha" moment for me. I finally felt like I understood enough to try my hand at these kinds of repairs. Just resurrected a cracked PCB :) My first of (what I hope to be) many. Thanks so much, Steve!

[@TheCod3r]

You've really opened up Pandora's box on this one Stez 😂

[@StezStixFix]

😂😂

[@Crispy_Bee]

I have to say I really appreciate the fact that you clean the flux after soldering - it always bothers me when people leave the dirt and gunk on the boards and yours looks so much better. My OCD is satisfied.

[@JomasterTheSecond]

You turn it on and immediately one starts hearing Eurobeat. Already this is good.

[@jasonpoletta1797]

This is one of your best videos. Fixing mechanical along with electrical is awesome.

[@nettack]

Steve, these fixes are getting really advanced and complicated. I hope not only your audience sees you improving. This went into Vince territory

[@patrickwrx]

I love that the sneeze made it into the final cut.

[@infin1ty850]

Hey Steve, I am so happy that you were able to work out whatever issue was preventing these videos from not showing up earlier in the week!

[@StezStixFix]

Yey! Glad it's now working and you get the early access! 👍

[@infin1ty850]

@@StezStixFix I just need to decide if I want to watch early or wait until the Saturday release to keep up my usual Saturday routine, lol.

[@videoaccount4323]

@@StezStixFix did you need to solder anything to get them showing up again?

[@bobskibob8870]

Just watched my first Stez video and I was thoroughly entertained. Thank you, sir.

[@techrestoread]

Great job Steve glad you got it up and running again keep up the good work and looking forward to seeing what you got up next 👍

[@zillzultraboy]

Being honest, this channel is really to push your singing/rap career, isn't it? You just fix stuff for fun. 🤣😂🤣 Great video, as usual!

[@sdjmchattie]

Loved the multiple fixes here. Good as new. I would love to see it when you get the switches replaced!

[@AppNasty]

I watch a bunch of repair channels but because of yours it inspired me to try repairing. Got my kit ready and am attempting to put a mod chip MM3 on a PS1. it was because you admit when you don't know the answer. I was like....wait...you don't have to be an ultra pro to solder? Lol. Also YOU. Brings so much personality to it all. Your existence will end up getting me in trouble as I spend 75% of my day watching you instead of working. Eventually ill be caught. Is what it is.

[@JSmith19858]

Sanwa buttons are great. I use them on machinery control panels as they're so much cheaper than dedicated industrial stuff and are equally as reliable.

[@Cobalt-Jester]

If you need to add extra strength to your superglue joins then add a small amount of baking soda to the glue. It adds structure to your mend and creates a solid chunk off matieral that is really strong

[@joaocpneves1]

superglue and baking soda mixed makes a strong cement that could help give sturdiness to the broken board

[@xXtelepatheticXx]

The stare after you said "bit to vigorous with the knob" priceless

[@mikehalford2356]

I can’t stop watching your videos Steve! You’ve inspired me, thank you 👍🏼

[@MGeniusNinja]

The new studio in the new house! Well done Stez, once again great content! Thanks a lot

[@StezStixFix]

Thank you! Much appreciated 😍

[@roy-wg7dz]

i miss the settee

[@AlwaysAwesome001]

I need to set up a Patreon account for my next house! 😳

[@chrisj2848]

Great to see your new shop/studio/fixing- place Steve! 👍 😁

[@StezStixFix]

Cheers Chris! 👍

[@gregyotz777]

The joystick board should be fine as long as the clear plastic joystick cage at the bottom stays in place. The reason the board broke was because the clear plastic part came off, it limits the travel of the joystick and if it isn't there, the player can over drive the stick and over travel the micro switches. This puts force and strain on the micro switches and PCB.

[@jeffredd9965]

Appreciate the musical effort. Top notch. The repairs are appreciated as well as Gordon

[@RickSlick7270]

gosh this one was so satisfying to watch - wow - best vid yet - thanks Steve

[@OBMStudios]

Great video, new gaff looks fantastic love the TV on the wall and the 100k YT subscribed badge shows all ur hard work is worth it, thanks bud!!

[@StezStixFix]

Cheers OBM! Much appreciated 👍

[@01Hudesohn]

Everything found and repaired. I really like that no new Controllerboard was bought, but this broken one was repaired.

[@johnmuff1348]

Your a genius for fixing things thats why i enjoy your videos

[@jonnylonewolf1112]

Awesome fix there Steve love your work

[@daisyblonde87]

Thanks so much for singing a snippet of “Fill My Little World” by The Feeling! My fave band! Made my evening.

[@yaminogame8925]

I’m into arcade but i was never into watching how they are fixed till your channel showed up randomly, now I’ve watched all your videos 😂 i just love them, you are one of my favorite youtubers thank you for making my day’s

[@rurichan6009]

love your videos as always will you do a followup on the pandora with new switches and so ?

[@SparksNZeros]

those kind of breaks sadly come up often in old crt tv repair, if you're ever concerned about the ruggedness of a patched break just use some cut capacitor leg and scrape back more of the coating than you need, then solder the leg across to act as a brace on the repair, it'll always lookm a bit frankenstein but it'll last probably longer than the rest of the board.

[@trevorworrall1226]

I think any break should be bridged and the wire cut not wiggled , I could see one of the repaired track wires start to loosen as it was twisted , finally I'm sure there are more appropriate gauged wire for bridging .. very interesting channel !

[@nbaua3454]

❤ I always wanted to have one for myself but I guess I missed to have it while being a kid 😔.. still that nostalgic feeling for old consoles and games live inside me somewhere

[@Ste_365]

Great effort Steve!

[@obsidianpanther]

Love the new setup at the new house! And the 100k button from KZbin! Congrats!!! You deserve it :)

[@Jmcinally94]

You just know that the fact its Player 1 thats knackered that some kid absolutely rage quit when the lost to a younger sibling 😂

[@jasonpistorio3651]

I love the longer videos and the sneeze made the whole thing better 😂

[@BloedEnBodem]

There are a lot of Fixit youtube channels. But none with such a funny and charismatic person like you! I even whitelisted your channel for sponsorblock so i can hear your rap haha. Keep em coming and take care!

[@jimjimster6344]

Your videos make me simply happy.

[@mini_worx]

Your enthusiasm is energetic 😊

[@jefferystone1]

"in-built speaker" a.k.a. "built-in speaker" - enjoyable as always.

[@Eythor20]

Just wanted to let you know i enjoy the channel so much that I’ve been binge watching every video for about two weeks 😂 probably seen everything 3 or 4 times

[@MyRetroWatches]

That was a great watch. Love the dry humour. Solid!

[@adrianjohn8767]

well done steve i am going to buy one of these because i miss the old arcade shops back where you could go and play arcade games lol love the channel keep it up

[@jumpingmanjim]

It's good that Steve was able to buy a new house with his patreon money.

[@StezStixFix]

😂🤣

[@skunk2010]

Dolls house you mean😂😂😂

[@seanking7092]

I have a powkiddy x16 that is need of repair the reset button is broke I was wondering if I could send it to you to fix and you can fix it and keep it I just want to see a video with it being fixed it would be so cool

[@NowInAus]

Nice. Thought we were going to see you break a nail getting the button out. Thanks for brightening my day.

[@suleimanabutaha7935]

I own one of those Pandora boxes. Currently the best thing to buy are sanwa. Also you can connect USB joysticks to it and have three or four plates playing at the same time. Great video I really enjoyed it.

[@BrunakoPAO]

1st time winning at a game 😅 congrats Steve !!

[@StezStixFix]

🤣 I got beat in Round 2!

[@BrunakoPAO]

@@StezStixFix hahaha I knew you were hiding stuff from us 🤣

[@user-te1le7ck6b]

Great faults to fix , I would have used epoxy rather than super glue as it’s much stronger if you can brace it from back even better but I would have been happy with this as all faults easy to diagnose and sort , enjoy 👍

[@Nimmbin]

Great fix. Great video thanks for sharing 😁

[@Peter_A1466]

Play around with some baking soda and super glue, so you can add that reinforcing trick to your tool box! And using more substantial copper wire over a longer length also can add some structural support.

[@ncross1857]

Graphite powder with super glue is even stronger, though I'm not sure if it would present connectivity issues when working around circuitry.

[@Bloke-in-Stoke]

You beat me to it 🤣🤣🤣 I was shouting at the screen "Use longer/heavier wire... help spread the stress across the crack" 👍 And the baking soda tip is a must. I use it all the time and have even used a gob of it to replace nasty, broken, plastic, moulded stud posts. Works like a charm 🤛 Cheers 🍺

[@Peter_A1466]

​@@Bloke-in-Stokeold pieces of solder wick can also be very good for bridging wider tracks over a cracked board

[@Bloke-in-Stoke]

@@Peter_A1466 Perfect. Good call but I suspect some tracks SSF has done recently would be a tad to narrow; excellent for reinforced grounds though. I'll remember that one for the future. Cheers 🍺

[@james-5560]

Great episode, nice fix and loved the production and the music

[@OtaconEmmerich]

Joysticks/buttons are easy enough to replace but GJ repairing that PCB board.

[@daviddavidson1372]

Your video's are as funny as they are informative. Love each one.. trying to catch up on all your video's

[@mattymatt022000]

Just wanted to tell you I love your videos! I come down to my man cave every Saturday in hopes to watch a new vid from you! I watch your vids on my lg oled and have no way to comment. Today I watched this video and loved it. Went to my phone just to comment. I do tinkering just like you but love your videos and positive attitude! Much love from 🇺🇸

[@brandoncolemire4220]

14:45 you missed a perfect opportunity to make a Matchbox Twenty-Bent reference. I can picture that little plastic thing saying: “Can you help me I'm bent? I'm so scared that I'll never Get put back together.” I digress. Another brilliant video, Mr. Fix. Can’t wait for the next one!

[@pandymcCoCo]

Love your videos Steve! what did you do with the items once fixed?

[@GameRaveTV]

Happy new repair room! Great fix :D

[@andrewweller5119]

i find your videos incredibly hypnotic 😀

[@tpg6386]

Love the new digs!

[@evilmissf]

My source of weekend entertainment, keep up the good work x 😊

[@shady4422]

Great stuff as always bud

[@djevrek]

love the new camera setup 👍

[@andrewgilson5759]

I don’t know why there aren’t more comments on your dramatic sneeze 18 minutes in. I just about spit my bourbon out of my mouth laughing. 😂😂

[@Nobe_Oddy]

EXCELLENT WORK!!!!

[@Enjoymentboy]

I know it's been a while since you did this but I have had great success using JB weld to repair broken PCBs. It's not just a matter is gluing the split pieces back together but also reinforcing them. I'll often use a small aluminium washer and completely cover it with the JB weld. So far I've never had one break in the same place. With these joysticks being a heavy use part I can imagine those small sections are VERY high stress and prone to breaking.

[@pp3k07]

That look of fear when the music came on. xD I wasnt expecting that either!

[@heatonparkmassive]

I did enjoy this one Steve, cheers 🙂

[@Cablesmith]

Wonderful to see the silver play button in the background 👏🏼 well deserved

[@epicaction1755]

Great vid. Getting addicted to these, so watching some of the older ones. Dissolve some plexiglass in acetone, for the strongest superglue ever

[@SoundToxin]

Very nice repair. I didn't think you'd bother repairing that broken PCB but I'm very glad you did. Very satisfying to watch. Where do I go to get solder mask and the UV light to go with it? I have yet to add these to my arsenal as I don't usually attempt trace repair, though you made it look easy enough that I'm interested now.

[@BuyitFixit]

Great job Steve 👍Nice👍

[@foster86]

Love the new workshop/den/cave of broken stuff. As an idea would an additional small TV in front of you and a HDMI splitter work? We get to see the big telly behind you, you can watch the same thing on your small TV.

[@SixtyDoesStuff]

I wonder if something was dropped right on that joystick and smashed it through (and broken the button.) Or someone got REALLY mad and hit it a bit too hard....

[@StezStixFix]

Yeah, I'm thinking it was dropped/something dropped on it. It's possible that it was rage, but more likely it fell off the sofa!

[@piau9000]

It's probably rage induced.😂

[@mattymatt022000]

I was thinking it fell off a table and landed face down. Or someone at night stepped on it. Could also be rage.

[@mokkorista]

It was an attack of The Salty Monster 💀

[@ovalteen4404]

If it hit the floor upside down, that would likely do something horrible to the joystick.

[@Explore531]

thats so cool great work you have done since Id watched your video on this Im planing pick one up at Amazon hopefully they sell that, I wanna play Ms Pacman on it

[@DTGuitarTech]

Fantastic repair!

[@tundra678]

love the menu music on the console

[@acalavidyaraja]

nice fix, Steve

[@joshholbrooks1181]

Good fix enjoyable to watch😊

[@D...........33]

£50 😂😂😂😂love see you fix things out the bin. Keep doing it.😊

[@rebug5614]

Really good that! Watched a few of your videos & enjoyed them as well, liked & subscribed, SOLID 😉👍🏻

[@Triforce1985]

This was very satisfying

[@markray3263]

I was delighted that you chose to repair the joystick. Cyanoacrylate and baking soda can achieve wonders in repairing structural elements.

[@Belihah]

Another quality video. Great fix! Do you plan on keeping the device?

[@Rob_III]

I would've glued the PCB like you did, but I would've used a small piece of wire between the endpoints of the PCB traces instead of repairing the trace itself. The soldered repairpoint is under mechanical stress now and prone to breaking / microfractures. A wire between the points where you checked continuity will survive flexing of the PCB halves. Other than that: as always, enjoyed your video. It truly is something I look forward to each week! Keep up the awesomeness! Don't ever change Steve!

[@Bloke-in-Stoke]

oooo... really good point. Well done. Cheers 🍺

[@lindaorr1805]

Got to hand it to you, as usual you find or come up with that weird piece of technology that I had long forgotten or one I never looked at before 😎✌

[@simonolphin]

Hey Steve, the KZbin play button has changed you. 🤣🤣 New view? Love your stuff Steve! And Dave!

[@retrig202]

"Someone's been a bit too vigorous.... with the knob". LOL. It's always a great day and a joy when you post your videos.

[@cockneyb2k]

I remember back in the 80’s growing up. My parents would have fruit machines and arcade machines. The joy sticks lasted years and I don’t remember any drift. Now days things are made to fail.

[@Curious-Minds]

New graphics, new location, new everything, NICE!!

[@drakekay6577]

I love watching your video's dude! :D

[@HolyDemon1988]

we will get a Tour of the new "Studio" at some point aswell. Looks pretty neat now and much bigger than the old Setup.

[@13tazzftw]

18:18 love the pause from the music montage

[@SoSme]

love the vids keep it up

[@JT-bb9qe]

Hi, Steve, we were wondering if your store products would increase... some mugs? maybe some t-shirts?? Thank you... your work is great fun to watch!!

[@Charlie_Crown]

Nice repair 👍