c/fixing-old-gadgets

I finally had to pick between a donor board or a hot air rework station for my Game Boy Color

Went with the donor board from a 'for parts' unit on eBay for $12, but the screen still flickers. Anyone know a good guide for checking the ribbon cable solder points?

Finally got my old Sony Walkman WM-FX10 to play again after a week of fighting with it

I was in my garage trying to replace the belts, and the tiny spring for the play button shot across the room into a pile of sawdust. I spent like 45 minutes with a magnet and a flashlight before I found it, lmao. Got it all back together and it sounds perfect now. Anyone else have a nightmare with a tiny spring on a cassette player?

Finally got my 1998 Sony Walkman to play again after a month of trying

I was sure the belt was gone, but a guy at the local repair shop in Tacoma said to clean the pinch roller with a cotton swab and some isopropyl alcohol first. I did that, and the old tape actually started moving. The sound was wobbly for a second, then it cleared up. Has anyone else fixed a tape player by just cleaning it when you thought it was a lost cause?

Figured out a better way to clean old NES cartridge slots

I used to just blow in them, which everyone knows is bad. Now I use a cotton swab with a tiny bit of isopropyl alcohol, like 70%. Works way better and doesn't leave moisture. What's your go-to method for those?

My old iPod Classic just gave up the ghost yesterday

I pulled it out of a drawer to load some music for a road trip, and it wouldn't turn on at all. The screen stayed black, no matter how long I held the power button. I opened it up, which is always a nerve-wracking job with those tiny clips. The battery looked fine, but the hard drive ribbon cable had come loose from its connector. I guess years of sitting around let it jiggle free. I carefully reseated it and put everything back together, and it booted right up. I was so relieved, because finding a replacement drive for these is getting harder and costs over fifty bucks. What's the weirdest fix you've had to do on an old music player?

Tried to fix my old iPod Classic with a new battery, now it just shows a sad folder icon.

Unpopular opinion: I thought recapping a Sega Genesis was a quick job until the board lifted.

I mean, I rushed the heat on a 1992 Model 1 last Tuesday and now I'm hunting for a donor unit. Anyone have a good source for these old mainboards that isn't just eBay?

Update: I bought a 'new' battery for my old iPod and it was a total dud

I found a seller online offering a replacement battery for my 5th gen iPod Classic for only $12. It arrived last month and looked fine, but after I installed it (which took me an hour, by the way), it held a charge for maybe 20 minutes. The seller vanished, so I'm out the cash and my time. I should have just paid the $35 for the known good brand my friend told me about. Has anyone else gotten burned by a super cheap part that seemed too good to be true?

PSA: I just learned how many original Game Boys are still out there

I was watching a repair video from a shop in Toronto and the guy mentioned Nintendo made over 118 million of them. That number stuck with me, like, that's a huge pile of stuff that could just get thrown out. It made me think about the three I've fixed this month alone, just from people cleaning their attics. Has anyone else been surprised by how common a certain old piece of tech actually is?

Hit 100 fixed gadgets in my garage workshop this year

I just counted them all up and it came to exactly 100 items saved from the trash. The one that got me there was a 2008 iPod Classic with a dead hard drive. I swapped in a cheap flash memory board I found online, and it worked on the first try. I used to think these old music players were too far gone to bother with. Has anyone else brought one of those back to life?

I finally attempted to re-cap a 1980s stereo receiver with modern capacitors, but the left channel now has a faint hum that wasn't there before.

I learned that just matching the microfarad and voltage ratings isn't always enough, so has anyone else dealt with a new hum after a recap and figured out the specific cause?

Vent: The week I had to fix three different VCRs from 1998

All of them had the same snapped rubber belt, which I finally sourced from a guy in Cleveland for $12. Anyone know a good modern substitute for those specific belts?

Shoutout to the guy at the Memphis flea market who told me to check the fuses first

I was about to junk a 1980s stereo receiver, but he showed me a blown 2A fuse in the back panel. Saved me hours of pointless troubleshooting. Anyone know a good source for those old glass tube fuses?

Serious question, has anyone else gone from a cheap soldering iron to a proper station?

I spent years trying to fix old radios and game consoles with a basic $15 iron from the hardware store. It got hot, but the tip would burn out fast and the heat control was just a guess. Last month I finally got a Hakko FX-888D station, and the difference is night and day. The temperature stays exactly where you set it, so you aren't cooking the board or struggling to melt old solder. I just revived a Sega Genesis from 1990 that had a bad connection, and the job was clean and quick. Why did I wait so long to make the switch? Has anyone else found a specific tool that completely changed their repair game?

Showerthought: I thought those cheap 'universal' power adapters were junk until one saved my old Game Boy Advance SP.

After my original charger broke, I bought a $7 adapter from a local flea market and it's been working perfectly for over 4 months now, so what's the most surprisingly reliable fix you've found for a console?

Spent 4 hours trying to fix a Sega Genesis that just needed a new fuse

My old Genesis Model 2 was totally dead, no power light at all. I took the whole thing apart, cleaned the board with isopropyl alcohol, and even reflowed some solder joints on the power input. After all that, I finally checked the tiny fuse near the power jack with my multimeter and it was blown. Replaced it with a new 1.5A fuse from my parts bin and it fired right up. Has anyone else wasted a ton of time on a simple fuse before checking it first?

Update: Bought a $35 'universal' power supply brick for my old Dreamcast

It fried the console's power board within an hour. Anyone know a reliable source for original PSUs that won't torch my stuff?

Everyone says you need a $50 desoldering pump for old game cartridges, but a $3 syringe from the pharmacy and a heat gun worked on my Sega Genesis.

I heated the board for about 30 seconds, pushed the syringe's tip over the old solder joint, and the suction pulled it right out cleanly on the first try, so has anyone else found a cheap tool that saved a repair?

PSA: My old iPod Classic needed a new battery or a full drive swap

I had a 5th gen iPod with a dead battery and a clicking hard drive. I could just swap the battery for about $15, or spend $45 on an iFlash board and a new SD card to replace the drive. I went with the full swap, and it took me an hour with a plastic opening tool. The thing runs silent now and holds all my music. Has anyone else done this and had the old drive fail soon after just a battery fix?

Tried fixing a 2008 iPod Classic with a cheap kit versus the iFixit one. The $15 difference saved my whole weekend.

Heard my neighbor's kid say their old iPod was 'just garbage'

I was outside working and overheard him talking to a friend... they were about to toss a perfectly good 4th gen iPod Nano because the battery was dead. I asked if I could have it, and after a $12 battery kit and about 20 minutes, it was playing music again. It made me realize how many things get thrown out over one simple, cheap part. Has anyone else brought an old music player back from the brink recently?

A friend said my solder joints looked like cold oatmeal

I was fixing a 1990s Walkman from my garage and showed him my work. He pointed out the dull, grainy joints and said they'd fail fast, so I watched a video on proper heat control. Anyone know a good iron under fifty bucks for old plastic casings?

That time I spent a whole Tuesday trying to fix a 1998 Sony Discman and the fix was a pencil eraser

Question about those cheap capacitor kits on eBay for old CRT TVs

I was fixing a Sony Trinitron from 1998 and thought the $12 full cap kit from a seller in Hong Kong was a total scam. Replaced the main filter cap anyway and the screen flicker was gone in ten minutes. Has anyone else had a good run with those generic kits, or did I just get lucky?

Just blew $75 on a 'universal' power adapter that fried my Atari 2600's board.

The voltage was right but the polarity was reversed, so check your old gear's power input with a multimeter before you plug anything new in, has anyone found a good source for proper OEM-style adapters?