parkfun101

In this example I have connected 1 end of each wire to the points circled in red. One is for Ground (near the top of the picture), the other is for "Wait" or Pause. During gameplay, if you touch these 2 wires together, it should pause the game (but not the sound). There are other locations that you can try for the Pause feature, see my gallery for more options. I cannot take credit for figuring out this mod, it has been done by others for years, I just wanted it to be easier for someone to tinker around and do it on their own.

Here are 3 locations I have tested to create a Pause during the game on a Colecovision. There are probably more, but this should help others get started. Connect a wire to one of these points and then the other end to ground and the game should pause. However, I have not documented how to disable the sound when it is paused....still working on that. I cannot take credit for figuring out this mod, it has been done by others for years, I just wanted it to be easier for someone to tinker around and do it on their own.

If all else fails with your Colecovision Fire button and it still won't work, try this way out. I thought of the idea at 2 in the morning! Assuming you have already opened your controller: 1) Solder a wire to the board 3rd pin in under the button's switch. 2) Make an aluminum foil sandwich with the wire in the middle using super glue (foil / wire in middle / foil). 3) Glue foil to the inside of the button so it covers the hole. 4) Puncture the hole in the foil with a needle or paperclip. Test to see that the button slides like normal. NOTE: Make sure the wire you use is a threaded wire (not solid) and that you give it some slack by putting some inside of the button. Try it out and let me know if it works for you.

(NOTE: I have a newer fix using aluminum foil instead) http://atariage.com/forums/gallery/image/10312-colecovision-fire-button-fix-mod/ My right fire button would not work on my Colecovision controller. I flipped the board of the controller over and, during a game of Mr.Do's Castle, I touched a wire to 2 points under the switch to see if it activated the fire button. It did!!! That means the wires and board are fine, but the switch is messed up. I heard that this type of switch can get dirty and you may have to de-solder the switch, pry the metal that holds it together back, clean the switch and re-pry the metal things back and re-solder the switch together just to get it to work.....That is way too much for a switch that my stop working again in another 3 years. My Controller Mod/Fix: 1) Find a piece of metal that won't get in the way of the little black square piece that holds the grey plastic button on. 2) Solder a piece of wire to the piece of metal. Make sure the wire has some slack so it be tucked into the button a bit. (use skinny threaded wire) Test to make sure the wire you are going to use is small enough so it doesn't get smooshed when the button is pressed. 3) Hot glue the metal to the inside of the plastic button so that you don't cover the hole for the black square piece (so the grey button can still go on fine). My piece of metal wasn't the best choice....it would be best if you find a piece that goes all the way across the inside of the grey button to keep it even when pressed. You could just glue the wire itself on, but I'm not that great with hot glue as you can see from the pics. 4) Finally, solder the other end of the wire to the back of the controller board under the switch. It should be the 3rd pin towards the middle of the board. (see pic 2 of 2) Put it all back together and try it out. Surprisingly, the Box of the switch itself can be touched with the metal and complete the switch. I thought I would have had to solder 2 wires, but nope, just 1.

(NOTE: I have a newer fix using aluminum foil instead) http://atariage.com/forums/gallery/image/10312-colecovision-fire-button-fix-mod/ My right fire button would not work on my Colecovision controller. I flipped the board of the controller over and, during a game of Mr.Do's Castle, I touched a wire to 2 points under the switch to see if it activated the fire button. It did!!! That means the wires and board are fine, but the switch is messed up. I heard that this type of switch can get dirty and you may have to de-solder the switch, pry the metal that holds it together back, clean the switch and re-pry the metal things back and re-solder the switch together just to get it to work.....That is way too much for a switch that my stop working again in another 3 years. My Controller Mod/Fix: 1) Find a piece of metal that won't get in the way of the little black square piece that holds the grey plastic button on. 2) Solder a piece of wire to the piece of metal. Make sure the wire has some slack so it be tucked into the button a bit. (use skinny threaded wire). Test to make sure the wire you are going to use is small enough so it doesn't get smooshed when the button is pressed. 3) Hot glue the metal to the inside of the plastic button so that you don't cover the hole for the black square piece (so the grey button can still go on fine). My piece of metal wasn't the best choice....it would be best if you find a piece that goes all the way across the inside of the grey button to keep it even when pressed. You could just glue the wire itself on, but I'm not that great with hot glue as you can see from the pics. 4) Finally, solder the other end of the wire to the back of the controller board under the switch. It should be the 3rd pin towards the middle of the board. (see pic 2 of 2) Put it all back together and try it out. Surprisingly, the Box of the switch itself can be touched with the metal and complete the switch. I thought I would have had to solder 2 wires, but nope, just 1.

The aluminum disks that Colecovision controllers have wear very easily. I decided to go a different route and put a 1" chrome hole plug in its place. These only cost less than $2 at Lowes and look really nice if you want to keep a classic style look without the worry of it fading.

The aluminum disks that Colecovision controllers have wear very easily. I decided to go a different route and put a 1" chrome hole plug in its place. These only cost less than $2 at Lowes and look really nice if you want to keep a classic style look without the worry of it fading.

This was an addition I added to the controller mod to give it a more authentic colecovision feel since the spring has to be removed for the microswitches to work properly. I have since added a single rubber washer where the spring used to be to eliminate the plastic on plastic sound. Rubber Washer 7/16 x 1 x 1/16 Part:880372 - 2 for ($0.92) from Lowe's This will go in the place where the spring used to be. Both of these changes help center the controller like the spring used to.

The old controllers have little metal brackets used as switches that eventually break. I saw ArcadeUSA's mod on YouTube and had to do it myself. It worked great.

This fixes lots of problems with Colecovisions. Every old switch I take out falls to pieces in my hands. These newer Toggle switches really look nice and fit perfectly in the spot where old switch was. I showed my friend who had never seen a Colecovision and he thought it came like that. This is not a new fix, you can find out how to do this mod by searching for colecovision mods. I have resurrected many systems with just this one mod. Not bad for less than $5.