smokexx Posted August 12, 2005 Share Posted August 12, 2005 I just found a game gear at a pawn shop up the road.....he said it has a great picture but no sound.....so I wheeled and dealed with him and when I got it home you can hear the sound if you hold it real close to your ear...also if you use headphones the sound is crystal clear......can anyone help me out with how to fix this problem......thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicgamingguy Posted August 12, 2005 Share Posted August 12, 2005 Do you feel comfortable opening the unit? It sounds to me like a loose connection...since you're getting headset sound, anyway. Just my IMO...if you are comfortable with opening it up, you can see for yourself what's going on. Or, perhaps your speaker is bad.. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadtower Posted August 12, 2005 Share Posted August 12, 2005 On the sound board there is a small capacitor that goes bad in most Game Gears. It will need replacing. I forget which, but replacing that cap nearly always restores full sound operation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokexx Posted August 13, 2005 Author Share Posted August 13, 2005 thanks for the help guys....I had my game gear ripped apart(had to use needle nose pliers to get that top screw out) and changed speakers in it but still no luck.....I still have sound in headphones and still can hear sound if you hold it right up against your ear.......do you need a soldering(sp) iron to change the capacitors......if it is too much work I might just go and try to find a new game gear and hope the sound works.....I see on ebay they have instructions you can buy to fix the sound problem but I will keep checkin google hoping to find a link that works.....once again thanks guys for the help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadtower Posted August 15, 2005 Share Posted August 15, 2005 do you need a soldering(sp) iron to change the capacitors...... Yes, you do. It is literally a 10 second swap, though, if you know how to solder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adonick Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 do you need a soldering(sp) iron to change the capacitors...... Yes, you do. It is literally a 10 second swap, though, if you know how to solder. 911600[/snapback] I dont know how to, but I dont see how soldering can be that hard. Where can you buy the capacitor? I have a game gear with the same issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Famicoman Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 Soldering is pretty easy, but you should practice first, and a second set of hands may also help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabio_figo71 Posted August 27, 2005 Share Posted August 27, 2005 I found the manual for free to solve the problem... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hex65000 Posted August 31, 2005 Share Posted August 31, 2005 Audio problem manual: do you have a Link? I've got a couple that are hosed like this too. It'd be nice to save time by knowing what I'm looking for. Hex. [ About to spend more quality time with the 'temp. chamber' <sigh> ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shining slade Posted August 31, 2005 Share Posted August 31, 2005 How about a blurry screen problem? Can that be fixed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabio_figo71 Posted September 1, 2005 Share Posted September 1, 2005 I've attached the manual to fix the sound problem to this message... This iks exactly the same that people sell on ebay (but I got it for free ).. I don't remember the site where I got it, but doesn't matter since the file is here... Grab it here for free.. In the manual is written how to open the game gear, what capacitor pull off and what capacitor you should buy to replace the broken one... I followed the manual step by step and IT WORKED!! Now the sound is again as crisp as when I bought it.. I've heard that the sound problem is very common on the game gear.. About the blurry screen, I don't know what are you talkin' about.. Could you explain the problem, please? thanks, and I hope it will help some1 Fabio GGFix.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classics Posted September 1, 2005 Share Posted September 1, 2005 I've attached the manual to fix the sound problem to this message... This iks exactly the same that people sell on ebay (but I got it for free ).. I don't remember the site where I got it, but doesn't matter since the file is here... Grab it here for free.. In the manual is written how to open the game gear, what capacitor pull off and what capacitor you should buy to replace the broken one... I followed the manual step by step and IT WORKED!! Now the sound is again as crisp as when I bought it.. I've heard that the sound problem is very common on the game gear.. About the blurry screen, I don't know what are you talkin' about.. Could you explain the problem, please? thanks, and I hope it will help some1 Fabio 923312[/snapback] Thanks for posting it. Here it is is a slightly more web friendly format. Steve GGFix.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sularias Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 I've attached the manual to fix the sound problem to this message... This iks exactly the same that people sell on ebay (but I got it for free ).. I don't remember the site where I got it, but doesn't matter since the file is here... Grab it here for free.. In the manual is written how to open the game gear, what capacitor pull off and what capacitor you should buy to replace the broken one... I followed the manual step by step and IT WORKED!! Now the sound is again as crisp as when I bought it.. I've heard that the sound problem is very common on the game gear.. About the blurry screen, I don't know what are you talkin' about.. Could you explain the problem, please? thanks, and I hope it will help some1 Fabio <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Thanks for posting it. Here it is is a slightly more web friendly format. Steve Thanks for that!!!!!!!!!!! My wife got me a game gear package from ebay for my birthday not seeing the "I'm not sure if the game gear works I haven't played it in years" uh yeah buddy, I always sell stuff without plugging it in. Predicting that it would arrive completely useless I grabbed one out of a dirty ol pawn shop for $15 and yeah it worked but the sound was out. I'm hoping this will be the issue. The screen on the one from ebay seems shot, all the graphics show is lines. But there's no sound on that one either so I doubt the capacitor on that one will be any good either. Oh well at least I got a big stack of games and accessories from the ebay auction. Again thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Montana Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Hey guys, It seems the majority of problems with the Game Gear lie with faulty capacitors. From sound problems to screen problems. Theres a load of capacitors on the GG motherboard that can all be replaced, solving most problems. Here is a most useful link that lists the capacitors to replace and what kind to replace them with. All of which are still readily available today. http://members.optusnet.com.au/eviltim/ggrgb/ggrepair.html Hope this is some help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kestra Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 (edited) I've attached the manual to fix the sound problem to this message... This iks exactly the same that people sell on ebay (but I got it for free ).. I don't remember the site where I got it, but doesn't matter since the file is here... Grab it here for free.. In the manual is written how to open the game gear, what capacitor pull off and what capacitor you should buy to replace the broken one... I followed the manual step by step and IT WORKED!! Now the sound is again as crisp as when I bought it.. I've heard that the sound problem is very common on the game gear.. About the blurry screen, I don't know what are you talkin' about.. Could you explain the problem, please? thanks, and I hope it will help some1 Fabio I see that this fix is listed for a game gear with DIM sound... Do you know if this fix works for a game gear with NO sound at all? I tried using headphones with the game and there was still no sound. Just wondering if it could possibly be the problem with the capacitor... Edited April 15, 2008 by kestra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Montana Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 (edited) I've attached the manual to fix the sound problem to this message... This iks exactly the same that people sell on ebay (but I got it for free ).. I don't remember the site where I got it, but doesn't matter since the file is here... Grab it here for free.. In the manual is written how to open the game gear, what capacitor pull off and what capacitor you should buy to replace the broken one... I followed the manual step by step and IT WORKED!! Now the sound is again as crisp as when I bought it.. I've heard that the sound problem is very common on the game gear.. About the blurry screen, I don't know what are you talkin' about.. Could you explain the problem, please? thanks, and I hope it will help some1 Fabio I see that this fix is listed for a game gear with DIM sound... Do you know if this fix works for a game gear with NO sound at all? I tried using headphones with the game and there was still no sound. Just wondering if it could possibly be the problem with the capacitor... Yes, replacing the capacitors on the sound board will fix all sound issues with the game gear. One capacitor is for the sound from the speaker and the other is for the sound for the headphones. I have done this quite a few times and it has always fixed the sound. Be it low sound or no sound. The capacitor with the red dot is for external speaker, Capacitor with yellow dot is for headphones Edited April 15, 2008 by Tony Montana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow460 Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 You sure on that, Tony? I thought that there was one cap for each channel in the headphones and the speaker was driven off the left channel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Montana Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 You sure on that, Tony? I thought that there was one cap for each channel in the headphones and the speaker was driven off the left channel. Well you could be right, I know that the red one fixes the external speaker, but i have never tested the headphones after replacing just that cap. If the game gear has no sound from the headphones, i only replace the yellow cap and it has always worked. Hmm, i will have to look into that in more detail.... Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fräulein Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 Okay I am not sure if this is maybe the right spot..but... I was playing my game gear the other day. Sound worked no problem. I could turn the volume up and down. Today I turn it on and the sound is faint and there is a static noixe when I turn on the game, but it fades as the title screens load. I turn up the volume as high as it can go and get sound, but it is like how an ipod has that "safe sound" mode. Would that capacitor thingy work in this instance? Ideas? My father in law is a sparky, so I would be willing to let him have a looksee. I am only comfortable with soldering larger items, not tiny little things in a game gear. (I haven't tried checking to see if headphones work or not..) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow460 Posted May 2, 2008 Share Posted May 2, 2008 It probably is a capacitor issue. The caps will dry out over time, and when they get to a certain point the next time they are used, they die. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hex65000 Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 I've got a couple of units with this problem... I wonder if I could mount a tantalum cap on those pads instead of another electrolytic and get away with it? More costly, but it will never dry out. Hex. [ Oh yeah, just what I need ANOTHER happy-fun project to distract me from my current goal of... Oh look! Dolphins! ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow460 Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 (edited) Not sure... are they polarized? Edited May 9, 2008 by shadow460 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hex65000 Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Yeah, tantalum caps are polarized. Really, it wouldn't matter a ton if they weren't. The only time you are really going to care is if it's polarized and you put it in backwards. You usually can't get the big capacitances that an electrolytic will give you The biggest tantalum cap I've seen easily available was I think 100uF, Typically I see 10-35uF in catalogs when I thumb through. The coolest cap I ever saw was a 12uF ceramic rated at about 100V. Imagine a 16-pin dip package with a surface mount cap in between stacked 3 high. It was neat, but those were exotic parts (about $70+ a pop. ) Hex. [ gonna play something fun before bed... ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thendakor Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 Hi all. I've been having the same problem with my GG and have been following your suggestions with great interest. I'm not very confident and clued up on circuitry so a friend of mine changed the offending capacitors on the sound board, however we've noticed that the cap on reference C8 on the board has dissolved away, possibly due to the leak from the faulty capacitor. Any idea what I can do now? Does this need replacing too? What is the spec for it so I can buy a replacement? Or is it ok for me to try putting the unit back together and testing the sound without it? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow460 Posted August 9, 2008 Share Posted August 9, 2008 SMSPower may have a photo of the sound board. You should be able to see the rating litho'd on the cap. It's been a while since I had a 'Gear open, but I'd say that it probably won't work (or hurt anything, for that matter) if you tried powering it up without C8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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