Retro Repair Tips 3: SNES Super Teardown!

       Hey there guys! Welcome once again to Retro Repair Tips blog post! This week we're getting a 16-bit overhaul! The SNES takes the stage this week, and we're going to rip it apart, and leave no stone un-turned.

        The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES, Nintendo 2, or whatever you want to call it, is the successor to the original NES. Featuring amazing 16-bit graphics, near CD quality audio,  and a wonderful Christmas library of vibrant and beautiful games, the SNES has a soft spot in my heart. It was my first video game system! It's the reason I'm here, right now! So let's get started!

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

Model 1 "Senior"

Complete Teardown

Tools Needed:

• Phillips Screwdriver
• 5mm security bit Screwdriver

        Let's start it off by saying forget blast processing! It's all about mode 7! First things first, let's flip that puppy over to expose the underbelly. There will be six Nintendo security bits to remove, which i will label in red.

        Once you've got those pulled out, put them aside and flip the SNES back over. Your SNES may look a bit different on the inside, but they are mostly the same. As you can see, there is a lot going on here, but just take your time, and it will go smoothly!

        First, we're going to focus on removing the 'Eject' button assembly. It is made up on 3 pieces; the plastic button, a metal bar, and a metal spring. What you'll want to do here, is lift up on the bar on the right side of the console, like so.

        Next, pull the bar out, to the right, and the assembly will come apart. take the 3 pieces, and set them aside.

        Next you need to remove the ribbon cable that connects the controller ports to the main motherboard, just pull on it a bit, and it will slide right out.

        Now let's start on removing some of those 16-bit screws! Well, they're phillips but...you know what I mean! Remove the two screws in orange that are holding the power switch in place.

         To remove the power switch, just lightly pull the plug out of the back of the board. Now go ahead and remove the 3 screws in Yellow, and the two screws in Green. Set them aside separately.

       
        There are two more screws hiding up at the top of the board, near the AC adapter, and video output area. I have marked these in Light Blue.

        Once all of those seven screws have been removed, you should be able to lift the motherboard right out!

        First, lift the metal shielding in the front off, like so.

        Next we need to remove the heatsink in the back of the motherboard. start by taking a look at the 7805 5v regulator. There will be one screw holding it on, that I will mark in Navy Blue.

        Flip the motherboard over, and you will see a total of 5 screws. You are only going to be concerned with 4 of them, that I will mark in Violet.

        You should be able to lift the heatsink right off, now!

        Turn your attention now to the top half of the SNES shell. There's a lot going on here, believe it or not. Begin by removing the seven screws both above, and below the cartridge slot, marked in pink.

       

        Once you remove those seven screws, zoom in a bit to the bottom left side, notice that spring? That's what keeps the reset button coming back down after every time you push it up. To remove the assembly, simply use something like a thumb tack, or needle to pull one end of the spring off.

        Now when you lift away that assembly, you will see the undersides of the Power, and Reset buttons.

        To remove the buttons, simply push the the four tabs in on either switch, and pop them out. Take a look above the cartridge slot, and notice the two tabs on either side. Use a small object (I used the metal pin from the eject button) to push the tabs in, and flip the SNES over to pull the plastic cover off.

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        Note, that when you remove this plastic cover, the cartridge slot cover will become loose, simply put it to the side to complete the teardown! Now take a look at the entire lot of SNES parts, and pat yourself on the back, because you're super. Super NES that is!

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YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

        Once again, here is a visual picture of all the hardware present, along with the color for their respective location.

        Well that's all for this week guys, I hope you enjoyed the teardown, and hopefully it will be helpful to you in your future projects! As always please give me some feedback so I know what you guys like, and what you don't. Stay tuned, I think next week I'm going to start doing my blog in video format, so who knows what is going to happen. Thanks for reading guys!

-Cody

Retro Repair Tips Mini 1: N64 Joystick Repair!

        Welcome to my first RRT Mini! These are quick little write-ups that I plan on doing in my spare time, for things that don't require too much effort, or aren't that difficult.

        Today I will be detailing the process of replacing the joystick on the N64 controller. All too often you find that most N64 controllers have loose, or faulty joysticks, be it because of regular use, or abuse. Luckily, replacing the joystick is a quick and easy process that anyone can do!

Nintendo 64

Controller

Joystick Replacement

        Tools Needed:

• Small Phillips Screwdriver

        Parts Needed:

• One(1) Replacement Nintendo 64 controller Joystick from Repairbox

        To start this repair off you're going to need to flip over that bad boy and have a look at the back. There are a total of nine(9) Phillips head screws that you need to remove. Eight(7) larger screws that I will circle in red, and two(2) small screws located in the rumble pak/controller pak slot that I will mark in orange.

        Once you've removed those, just left the back of the controller off. I tend to leave all the screws in place, especially the two in the expansion slot, because those are hard as heck to get back in sometimes. Set that aside, and take a look at the guts. You want to remove the three(3) Phillips screws that I will mark in yellow. Be careful not to remove the screw immediately above the bottom of the three screws, as the joystick will spring open and fall apart.

        Once you have those screws removed, you'll want to move the contact for the Z button, like so.

        Finally, remove the cable that plugs into the controller's motherboard, and pull the old joystick out. Go ahead and install the new joystick, making sure to properly replace the Z button contact, and connect the cable to the motherboard, the white wire will be facing left.

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        You may have a bit of trouble closing the case, because of the wire length, finding a comfortable position can be hard, but you'll find one after trying at it for a bit. It's much easier on see through controllers.

        Once you've got it all sealed up, try it out, and see how good a newer joystick feels after playing with a shoddy loose one! Damn Mario Party mini games...The final step is to THROW THE OLD LOOSE ONE AWAY. VIOLENTLY.

WHY DID YOU BETRA-

Sorry. Don't do that. You're done! Give yourself a pat on the back!

        I hope you liked this mini tutorial, and I will definitely be putting these out as often as possible. Thanks for reading! Leave me some positive, or negative feedback in the comment section here, or on Facebook!

-Cody

Retro Repair Tips 1: NES Tear down!

        Hey there guys! Thank you for joining me for the very first Retro Repair Tips Blog! First a little introduction is in order, I suppose. My name is Cody Thomas, I'm 20 years old, and I work at a mom 'n pop video game store in my local mall, repairing and modding video game systems from the Atari 2600 and up! I've been working on video game systems and electronics in general since I was about 12 years old, so I have a few things under my belt. But enough about me, let's get to the reason you decided to read this blog!

        The Nintendo Entertainment System, NES for short, was the american version of the Nintendo Family Computer, a game console made in Japan in 1983. Nintendo saw the failing video game market of the early to mid 1980's and thought that bringing the NES to America was the proper thing to do! The NES went on to save the video game market here in america, selling a huge total of over 34 million units in america alone, and nearly 62 million units world-wide! So they are pretty abundant. You may find yourself needing to repair one now, or in the future, so let's get started on my series of NES repairs, with a complete tear down and parts guide!

Nintendo Entertainment System

Model 1 "Toaster"

Complete Tear down

                    Tools Needed:

• Standard Phillips screwdriver           
• Small Flat-Head screwdriver  

       Let's begin! Here she is, that familiar gray box we all know and love.

        Let's start by flipping the system over, to have a look at the underside. There will be six(6) Phillips screws for you to remove, 4 in each corner, and 2 on both the front and back centers. I have outlined these in red.

        Great! So now that you've removed those screws, flip the system back over, and you should be able to remove the top half. Set it aside. Now looking into the guts of the system you will see a big metal shield that is screwed to the rest of the system. There are seven(7) Phillips screws for you to remove here, which I have outlined in Orange.

        Next, turn your attention to the upper right hand corner of the case. You will be looking at the AC/RF box. This is where the system takes in the AC from the wall, and converts it to DC. Odd, I know. Most newer systems used DC Voltage from the wall adapter, but not the NES! Video also comes in from this location, so it's common for power issues, and video issues to arise from here! I have outlined the two(2) Phillips screws here in Yellow.

        You're almost there! Now the only thing holding this board inside is the screws on the cartridge slot. There are a total of four(4) screws that you need to remove, but there are two different types, so I will outline the first in Green, and the Second in Light Blue.

        That's it for screws holding down the motherboard, but don't pull that thing out just yet! There are three(3) connectors that will need to be removed. One connector is for the power and reset buttons, while the other two are for the controller ports. the power/reset connector I will outline in red, player 1 port will be orange, and player 2 port will be yellow. 

        It shouldn't take to much force to free there cables, though the power/reset cable might give you the most trouble. 

        Great, look what you've done, the NES is feeling all empty inside! For shame...Oh well let's take advantage of this, and continue with the tear down! Let's have a look at that motherboard...

Flip that puppy over, and remove the other shielding, like so.

You should have this:

        Sweet! Check out all that techno-garbage! Flip it back over, so we can begin to remove the Cartridge slot assembly. There are two(2) more Phillips screws to remove so that you can take the lowering assembly off. I will outline them in Navy Blue. 

        Now all you need to do is slide the assembly forward, and lift it right off! 

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Freedom!

        Now we have to get the actually 72-pin connector free from the motherboard, to complete this tear down! Just wiggle it back and forth on either side, and it should come free. It might take a bit of force!! 

        Once that's free, you've completely disassembled the motherboard, now to take the the case apart.

To start, you need to remove the power/reset switch. There are two(2) screws that I will outline in Violet.

        

        Now that should pull free easily. The controller ports are next, flip the NES over, and notice the two(2) Phillips screws holding the black plastic cover on. I will outline them in pink. Remove these two screws, and the the cover should lift right off. 

...flip it over...

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        You've got it! Keep in mind that the first controller port has a shorter cable than the second controller port. Last on our list is removing the cartridge slot lid. Take the top of the NES, and flip it over. You will see a set of three(3) Flat-head screws on the left bottom, and one Flat-head screw on the right bottom. Unscrew these all. I will mark them in Black.

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Now Just flip the top of the NES over, and remove the black plastic cover, and the cartridge door lifts right out! 

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        And with that you are completely finished! You can also remove the other black plastic cover on the back of the NES top, the same way you just removed the one in the front, but it doesn't hold anything down, so it would only be necessary if you are doing to either clean or paint the system.

        Take a look at all those parts! 

       Here is a hardware guide, each with their respective color, in case you don't know what goes where.

        Your NES is now completely torn down!!

        Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this guide, and will come back and read more of my future blogs. I really enjoyed making this, and I can't wait to continue this. I am going to try to produce a blog every week. Eventually I will be moving to a video format, and this blog, and all future ones will be recorded for those TL;DR people out there. Next week I will be addressing common NES issues! Stay tuned!

-Cody