The service was for a recap and TLC (with retrobroighthing) of a PAL Super Nintendo. The console was very yellowed, and on testing, the console wouldn’t boot, or boot with video artifacts most of the time. The customer also reported issues with audio in one of the channels.
On disassembly, some substantial leakage was found around two of the capacitors, which had caused clear trace damage. This was reported to the customer who agreed for a repair to be carried out.
To fix the damage, an initial scrapping of the damaged trace mask was carried out. Two traces were found to be broken, one with a damaged via. Repair wire was used and then the exposed copper was covered with conformal coating. Finally, two new capacitors were installed.
The rest of the console was also recapped and the voltage regulator changed with new thermal paste. Initial testing of the console after the repair and recap showed no more artefacts and normal operation.
Moving to the TLC and retrobrighting, the plastic in this console was yellowed both inside and outside (so no UV light damage, but presumably aging and storage conditions). That makes both the retrobrighthing less effective, but also the plastic get’s more brittle as the customer experience when opening the console initially to read the motherboard revision and a post snapped.
The first step was a good clean with soap and water after full disassembly. After that, the shell and various plastic parts were put in the retrobrighting chamber for an initial 15 hours. After taking the first pass, the console yellowing was very much improved, but the plastic snapped easily, which was unfortunate but not much of a surprised given the experience from the customer and the state of the shell.
I replaced the top of the console shell with a spare one in a similar condition (in this case only external yellowing), while reusing all the other plastic pieces. I then put both pieces again in the retrobrighting chamber for another 12 hours. The results on the top shell were quite good, although the original bottom shell struggled to improve as much as the “new” top shell. As a result, there is a slight mismatch in colour between the top and bottom halves.
The console was carefully assembled and subsequent testing was successful.
