My Atari 2600 Light Sixer Goes B&W When Tapped

[My Atari 2600 Light Sixer Goes B&W When Tapped]

17 hours ago, ApolloBoy said:

It could just be that the color/B&W switch is dirty, not an uncommon problem. What game(s) did you try? Some games don't switch color modes with the color/B&W switch so you may want to try other games to rule it out.

I used contact cleaner to ensure the switches were smooth and they seem to be ok. They were decent when I got it.

 

I tested several games that will go B&W on my other consoles (Jr. Gemini).

 

Sometimes when I turn the console on with the switch on Color, the games start up in B&W and vice versa. If I tap the console gently pretty much anywhere, it goes back to color.

[My Atari 2600 Light Sixer Goes B&W When Tapped]

My Atari 2600 Light Sixer Goes B&W When Tapped or slightly moved. 

 

Sometimes, if I toggle the B&W/Color switch, the color comes, back. Other times it doesn't.

 

Sometimes will go to color if I toggle the switch from color to B&W, indicating that it seems to be more something loose/failing on the PCB rather than the toggle switches themselves.

 

Any suggestions at what I should be looking at first?

 

Thank you.

[Looking for Help Fixing a Coleco Gemini]

Hi,

I've recently come across two Coleco Gemini consoles. I got one working no problem, but the second won't display any Picture. Powers on as my TV goes to a solid grey screen.

 

Known good power supply.

Known good game

Known good AV Chord.

 

Tested all the above with a working Gemini and it works very best, so the problem is isolated to the guts of this console.

 

I checked the power input and reinforced the solder on it. I checked the voltage regulator and it seems ok.

 

I've also re-flowed the solder to the cartridge slot and all the chips. I think the RF Modulator is bad but I'm not sure how to test it with my multimeter? I removed the shielding from it to get a good look inside and re-flowed all the joint to all the components but nothing has changed. Also, is there a way to confirm if a chip is bad with a multi-meter? 

I searched on here to find any threads with a similar issue and there's not much for this console. What I've dug out was some people mentioned that its made with off the shelf cheap parts and the solder is notorious for failing. So those are the issues I tackled first but still the same grey output on the screen.  

When I wiggle the channel select it does have a effect on the screen though. 

At this point my guess is bad chip(s) or bad RF Modulator. I guess it would make a good candidate for a Composite mod, but I've never done it before and not even sure if the kits for a 2600 would work on this thing. I've searched for anywhere that would sell parts for this thing (especially the chips) but that too seems pretty hard to come by.

 

I can provide photos if anyone wants to take a stab at it.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

Thank you.