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Note: This is a repost of a blog that I wrote last year. I thought the members of this community would appreciate it. Enjoy. The blog can be viewed in its entirety at: http://zopingo.com/dans-blog/atari-2600-vcs-repairs As a kid, I grew up on the Atari VCS system (a.k.a. Atari 2600). I was fortunate that my Dad owned a hobby shop/toy store when this came out in 1977 and was one of the first of my friends to have one (along with many of the games that play on it). In 1985 when I was departing for my time in the Air Force I was unloading a storage unit of my things and the truck driver was very interested in my Atari so I gave it to him making for one very happy family. Here I am over 30 years later and interested in retro-gaming so I picked up an old Atari VCS from a seller on Ebay a year or so ago not knowing the condition. I actually only purchased it for photographs with my Mini Atari Project. The price was right for the gamble so I did it. As it turns out, it did not work (powered on but no picture) so I had been trying to decide what to do about it. One resource I found was at www.atari2600.com where they will repair any Atari 2600 console for $24.95 plus parts. I was considering this option but have always wanted to tackle a small-ish electronics repair job so I figured I would give that a try. After scouring the internet I found one YouTube video particularly useful. It is titled Atari 2600  Repair - No Power (Dead Voltage Regulator) and the author does an excellent job of explaining with high-quality video so you can really see what he is doing. Even though you can do your own repair with this information, the video only covers replacing the voltage regulator and I am going for a full refurbishment with a kit from www.console5.com. Please note that this link goes straight to the kit for my 'Light Sixer' unit, there is another page with a kit for the 4-switch units. The 'sixer' units come with 2 boards, a main board and a switch board. I will be doing modifications to both of them. I did not get pictures of the boards before removing components, but it will be clear what I replaced. My instructions assume that anyone attempting this repair knows how to remove the boards from the case so I will not go into that here. ---- MAIN BOARD REPAIRS NOTE: In some cases I am using radial in lieu of axial type capacitors because that is what came in the kit. It does not make any difference for functionality but do be aware of polarity on these capacitors when installing. Repair #1 - Replace the original axial type capacitor with a new 4.7µF 50V radial type capacitor at location C201. Repair #2 - Replace the original pair of styrene caps with 820 pF MLCC capacitors at locations C206 & C207. These capacitors are related to audio issues which I don't know if I have but since they are in the kit and I have all the soldering tools out I got them installed. Repair #3 - Replace original diode/capacitor assemblies with new zener diodes and .1µF capacitors at locations C236 & C237. Solder the capacitor across each diode as shown in the picture. Repair #4 - Replace the DC Power Jack. They tend to get broken, dirty, or lose tension over the years. (no picture needed) ---- SWITCH BOARD REPAIRS Repair #1 - Replace the original capacitor with a new 2200µF 16V axial type capacitor as shown. Repair #2 - Replace the original 7805 voltage regulator with a new unit rated for 1 Amp service. The originals were rated at 1/2 Amp and have been know to fail (mine was a failed unit). Remember to use new thermal compound (included in kit) to properly dissipate the heat generated by this unit. The repair kit even includes a bolt and nut for units that had the VR installed to the board via rivet. Fortunately mine was just a screw. Repair #3 - Replace the .22µF "chicklet" capacitor with a non-electrolytic type. The "chicklet" type sometimes cause 'sparkles' in the video when they fail. Repair #4 - Identical to repair #1 on the Main Board. Replace the original axial type capacitor with a new 4.7µF 50V radial type capacitor. Note polarity before removing old capacitor. SUMMARY In the end, this repair went quite well. Once I got all the components installed I was able to fire it up and have a working unit. After this repair I installed a composite video modification to get better quality video and eliminate the RF modulator.

People have wanted it, I am finally posting it. I made a huge guide on how to repair and refurbish your Atari 2600. So, finally, I'm copy/pasting the post, onto here. Enjoy! Atari 2600: Believe it or not, this beast of a console, very rarely, dies. Its like the annoying brother you kick in the pants, and he still comes back. Anyways, here's some notes to keep your console looking fresh, clean, and working perfect. Don't forget, you need to use either the rf box that comes with the atari, or you can buy an RCA to Coax adapter. An automatic rf switching box will *not* work, the atari signal isn't strong enough. Cleaning the cartridges: There are several ways to clean the cartridges, if one doesn't work, then go to the next one on the list. I have only ran across one dead board, in which the ROM itself died. 1. Rubbing Alcohol and Q-Tips. Soak the q-tip with rubbing alcohol, squeeze it out, and use it to rub both sides of the cartridge connectors. If its an atari cartridge with the dust cover, you can take a small screwdriver, there are two holes on the left and right side, use a screwdriver, gently push it in, then you can push the dust cover down. Let dry, and play. This will work 80% of the time. If you had your cartridges in a damp, dusty attick, then you may need to resort to #2, if the game does not work. 2. 2000 Grit Sandpaper Its a very fine sandpaper, and when used, it will polish the cart connectors to a perfect shine, with minimum damage to the PCB. Fold the sandpaper in half, and use a corner of it to polish the connectors. Take a credit card, EB games card, whatever, and take the folded sandpaper and slide it into the card, where you folded it. Sand with the corner of the card, lightly, until you see shiny connectors. Then, do the other side. If light isn't working, then apply a little bit more pressure. Once the contacts are shiny, it *will* work, unless the ROM chip inside has gone bad, or the atari cartridge slot itself needs to be cleaned. Which, I will cover next. Cleaning the Cartridge Slot: Cleaning the cartridge slot, is pretty easy for the Atari 2600, and you can actually kill two birds with one stone. The easiest way to clean the cart slot, is to do it when you clean a game. Clean the cartridge slot with rubbing alcohol as above, but don't let it dry. Insert it into the cart slot, 10 or so times, while the cart is wet with the rubbing alcohol. Clean the cartridge again with rubbing alcohol, repeat 2 more times. The final time, let the atari sit for a bit, as well as the cartridge slot. It should work now. Now you're good to go, you flip on the on switch, sit down, ready to play River Raid... but it doesn't come on! Well, several problems can be with this. Power Issues: Your Atari won't turn on. It can be one of three things, the first one being the biggest curprit. 1. AC Adapter doesn't work anymore. There's two ways to check this, but I would recommend using just number 1, unless you have a multimeter. Plug in the AC Adapter in for a few hours. If the adapter gets warm, then its converting AC to DC. If its still cold, then the adapter is broke. You can get a multi voltage AC adapter at radio shack, with multiple jacks, and make sure it has the headphone jack add on. The second way is, if you have a multimeter, the tip is hot, behind the line on the jack, is ground. See if you're getting voltage. If not, its dead. If so, then its a different problem. The second most common problem to atari's not working is... 2. Power jack solder points broke off. This is an easy fix, you need a soldering iron. Don't worry about breaking anything, the contacts are *huge*. Unless you literally drag it while the solder joints are hot, across the board, then you're fine. All you're doing is reheating the solder, to rejoin the contact to the pin. Depending on the model, there's either 4 or 8 bolts. Take out all the bolts, and open up the atari case. You will see the board, and the jack. If the jack wobbles, its the solder joints. Flip it over to the back side, and you will see the two joints that the power jack is connected to. Plug in your soldering iron, let it get hot. Go drink a beer, if you are of age, of course. Give it about 5 min or so, then it should be hot. Basically, all you are doing, is holding the soldering iron on the solder joint, until it melts, remove the soldering iron. Do the same with the other really big solder point that's below from it. Basically, over time, the hard solder just cracks. You're removing the crack by refilling it up by remelting the solder. If it still doesn't work, there's one more thing you can try. 3. Power switch solder joints broke. Same thing as above, but where the 4 or 6 switches are at, depending on the model, on the underside, you will see six solder points per switch, can't miss them, its a rectangle of 6 square connectors. Those solder points broke off. Same as the power jack, and honestly, if you are having that problem with the power switch, you might as well do it to all the switches. Heat the soldering iron up, melt the solder, once it melts, remove the soldering iron. This also cures up what I am about to explain next. Ok, so, now you have power to the Atari. You plug in River Raid, and you want to start your game. You hit select for two players... and nothing happens. All the other switches work. At this point, you have the worlds cursed Atari, but, you can still fix it. Here's how. Fixing the Switches: 1. Clean the switches themselves. The easiest way to clean those dirty switches, is to take a Q-Tip, soak it with rubbing alcohol. Once again, take apart the Atari. You will see the switches on the cartridge side of the board. You will see a small gap when you turn the atari on its side, where the switch is. Take the soaked Q-Tip, and squeeze it inside of the gap in the switch. Work the switch up and down 20 or so times, and add more rubbing alcohol. This will also clean jittery buttons. If that does not work... 2. Switch solder joints work. Follow the above step 3. Power switch solder joints broke. Everything is now working, you hit reset, your game is ready to go, you hit the fire button... nothing happens. I know, you're about ready to throw the atari out the window, but its still fixable. It can be two things, 99% sure its the first thing, if not, its the second thing. Fixing your joystick: The contacts on the joystick, the little pieces of metal that you push down to make a connection, have worn out. They do that, and unfortuately, there isn't a 100% fix, other than buying a new joystick, or finding an Atari Flashback 2, and use those joysticks. I fully recommend doing that, their joysticks are amazing, it feels like the original stick, with the connections like the current consoles, with the rubber contacts. 1. Rebend the metal contacts. This is easier to do than you think. Unscrew the 4 screws on the bottom of the joystick. Open the top up, and you will see the metal contacts. The easiest way to do this, is press down on every metal contact. If you don't get a nice springy feel to it, it needs reshaped. Remove the tape that is around the switch and remove the switch itself. Gently bend the 3 wings, so it has more spring, like the others. Now, on the switch that you removed, the center where it pushes down, goes onto the center dot, while the wings touch the other contacts around it, the ground. Line it up just like that, then take a piece of scotch tape, and tape it down. Might want to use a couple pieces, as its gonna be used a lot. Once all the switches feel the same, put the stick back together, and test it. Adjust accordingly to feel. If that does not work, and when you put in the joystick, if the whole plug feels like its moving, the solder points went on it. 2. Resolder the joystick pins. Its exactly the same as the 3. Power switch solder joints broke, but, smaller contacts, and the 9 pins where the joystick is at. Ok, so now you have a fully working Atari 2600... but now it looks like it just got hit by a dust bunny. Every little crack has dust in it, and you want it to look new again. How do you clean it up? Cleaning the Atari: The easiest way, is to tear it apart, use an old toothbrush, or get one at the dollar store, the coarser, the better, spray down the whole machine, of course the guts taken out, with Windex, and scrub away. Wipe with a damp cloth, let it dry, and put your atari back together. You now have a perfect working atari, looks immaculate, runs like a dream... now you pop in my favorite game, Kaboom! You need Paddle controllers to play these, but when you move the paddle controller, it jumps like mad, and you can't control it at all. Here's how to fix it. Fixing a Paddle Controller: There are two ways to do it, a temporary way, and a pernament way. The temporary way will work when you have some friends over for a quick game, but it will happen again, in about a week. The pernament way will get a set working perfect for another 10 years. 1. The temporary way Unscrew the two screws in the back of the controller, and take off the back. You will see the potentiometer back there, the thingy that turns. You can either use TV tuner spray, like for the old tv's, to fix bad knobs, or when the sound get staticy when you move the knob, or WD-40, the TV Tuner spray preferred. That's it. Spray some in, work it in, turn it on, see if it went away. If not, add more. As I said, this is for a pinch that you need to get your set working only one time. The pernament way is much more involved. 2. The pernament way This takes a bit of time to do, but it will work for another 10 years. You're looking about at a half hour's worth of work, per paddle. Tools you need: Pliers, rubbing alcohol, q-tip, screwdriver. First, pull off the knob. Don't worry, it comes off, tug. Unscrew the nut you see that is there, so that it is off. Unscrew the two bolts in the back of the controller. Pull out the pot, and look at the stem side, you will see 4 little tabs bent across. You need to pry those open. From there, you can take the pot apart. The pain parts, are the black round strip you see, and the two pieces of metal that bends out, and are almost touching. You need to clean both the black strip, and the contacts. BE SURE TO NOT BEND THE CONTACTS. Clean them VERY gently. Make sure that you do not get any cotton onto the contacts. Once that is done, put it together just like how you took it apart, bend the tabs in, put it all together, and play. That's it, I covered everything, if you do every single step, you would have completely refurbished an Atari 2600.