Tips for repairing select/reset buttons of Atari 2600 Jr?

[+nanochess]

Hi everybody, just after a while I discovered that Select/Reset buttons of my Atari 2600 Jr aren't working, there is an easy way of repairing them?

Thanks in advance.

[alex_79]

There's a flex mylar circuit under the switches that connects to the motherboard. You can try to clean it, but if the traces are worn out you'll need a replacement.

A much simple solution, if you don't mind about originality, is to install two pushbuttons somewhere on the case and solder wires directly on the board.

You can see a couple examples in this thread.

[+nanochess]

There's a flex mylar circuit under the switches that connects to the motherboard. You can try to clean it, but if the traces are worn out you'll need a replacement.

A much simple solution, if you don't mind about originality, is to install two pushbuttons somewhere on the case and solder wires directly on the board.

You can see a couple examples in this thread.

I was thinking about pretty complicated ways to repair the Select/Reset buttons (doing drilling and putting some buttons, using SMD buttons, putting wires with stick and others).

I asked for some help from my father, he used to repair electronics, and he came out with a novel way to repair Select/Reset buttons, as the buttons strip had one part uncovered and with very bad conductivity (oxide?, maybe because of environment and/or time), and the other covered part had very good conductivity, he raised slightly the cover and inserted three cables that then were soldered to the PCB, the buttons works great now! 8-) and I didn't had to drill the case .

Find annex some pictures if someone wants to do the same .

[alex_79]

Nice work!

I'm glad you were able to fix your console. I'll try that method if I come across another junior with non-working switches.

[ApolloBoy]

Just wanted to bump this thread with one way of fixing the select and reset buttons. The flex circuit on mine was totally shot and attempting to repair it proved futile, so I decided to do away with the flex circuit entirely by replacing it with tactile switches similar to these. What I did was drill a hole on the mounting plate for each button (where the flex circuit would rest), bent the legs on the switches so that the reset and select buttons wouldn't be pushed down on them, and hot glued the switches in place. Wiring up the switches was very easy, if you trace out the flex circuit to the connector it should be very obvious. I also used a wire header so that I can still easily remove the top half.