This order was for a black Sega Saturn VA PAL SD TLC, recap, region-free BIOS and FRAM mods. Customer also asked for two controllers to be TLC’d. The console was tested and worked well. First task was to wash the shell and do the recap
The next step was to replace the BIOS and the FRAM module. The BIOS requires the bottom two pins to be connected to ground, and the top two connected to VCC. For the FRAM, pin 28 needs to be connected to 5v, and pin 22 to ground. The chips were removed with hot air taking care of a small amount of epoxy gluing the chips to the motherboard.
The optical unit was also cleaned and lubricated. The console was then tested and shown to boot up properly.
The PSU was then recapped but after a couple of boots it seemed to stop working. Sometimes a solid red lit would be shown, sometimes not light. Testing with the multimeter shows 5v and 3.3v working but not 9v. Testing further, the F8P04Q MOSFET seems faulty (this sometimes happens in these old PSUs due to age and fatigue). This components is no longer made, but there are modern replacements. I am going to try to replace for a STP75NF75.
After further investigation the MOSFET wasn’t faulty and one of the solder joints just required a reflow. The PSU now works well.
The two controllers were also subsequently cleaned up and refurbished
While the new FRAM doesn’t need battery to keep saved games, the battery is still required to keep the clock. The battery was replaced for a new one and the console testes with both PAL and imported games.
Finally the console was given a wipe with plastic enhancer to make it look as good as new 🙂
