Need sega gamegear help

[Tr3vor]

My grandma's game gear died, right when i wanted to play pac man on it.

 

i plug it in to play it (well, i dont want to feed it 6 AAs) and when i turn it on, it turns on for like less than a second, then it turns itself off, and it wont do anything untill i switch it off then on again, then it does it again. any suggestions on how to fix it?

 

me and my grandpa checked the AC adapter with a multimeter and it works. we tried putting 6 AAs and that didnt work either. i tried whacking it against the couch (hey, it works with some stuff) and that didnt work either.

[BDW]

My grandma's game gear died, right when i wanted to play pac man on it.

 

i plug it in to play it (well, i dont want to feed it 6 AAs) and when i turn it on, it turns on for like less than a second, then it turns itself off, and it wont do anything untill i switch it off then on again, then it does it again. any suggestions on how to fix it?

 

me and my grandpa checked the AC adapter with a multimeter and it works. we tried putting 6 AAs and that didnt work either. i tried whacking it against the couch (hey, it works with some stuff) and that didnt work either.

This happened to my GameGear. I did a few experiments, and it only turned off when the backlight was on its brightest setting. So, I did the LED mod, and the Gamegear now works fine. I dont mind the 9 hours of battery life either.

[Tr3vor]

My grandma's game gear died, right when i wanted to play pac man on it.

 

i plug it in to play it (well, i dont want to feed it 6 AAs) and when i turn it on, it turns on for like less than a second, then it turns itself off, and it wont do anything untill i switch it off then on again, then it does it again. any suggestions on how to fix it?

 

me and my grandpa checked the AC adapter with a multimeter and it works. we tried putting 6 AAs and that didnt work either. i tried whacking it against the couch (hey, it works with some stuff) and that didnt work either.

This happened to my GameGear. I did a few experiments, and it only turned off when the backlight was on its brightest setting. So, I did the LED mod, and the Gamegear now works fine. I dont mind the 9 hours of battery life either.

 

 

you mean the contrast? what mod?

[BDW]

My grandma's game gear died, right when i wanted to play pac man on it.

 

i plug it in to play it (well, i dont want to feed it 6 AAs) and when i turn it on, it turns on for like less than a second, then it turns itself off, and it wont do anything untill i switch it off then on again, then it does it again. any suggestions on how to fix it?

 

me and my grandpa checked the AC adapter with a multimeter and it works. we tried putting 6 AAs and that didnt work either. i tried whacking it against the couch (hey, it works with some stuff) and that didnt work either.

This happened to my GameGear. I did a few experiments, and it only turned off when the backlight was on its brightest setting. So, I did the LED mod, and the Gamegear now works fine. I dont mind the 9 hours of battery life either.

 

 

you mean the contrast? what mod?

Let me Google that for you!

 

Sure, whatever it is called. In short, I determined that the backlight was sucking too much juice. I was too lazy to hunt for the bad cap, so I just did the LED mod.

Edited March 31, 2010 by brandondwright

[Tr3vor]

Let me Google that for you!

 

 

yes, thats very hard. im allergic to google. i bing things.

 

is there a way of fixing it that doesnt include modding, cuz i like to keep stuff as normal as possible

Edited March 31, 2010 by Tr3vor

[BDW]

Let me Google that for you!

 

 

yes, thats very hard. im allergic to google. i bing things.

 

is there a way of fixing it that doesnt include modding, cuz i like to keep stuff as normal as possible

Then, I suggest to replace the capacitors.

[Tr3vor]

Let me Google that for you!

 

 

yes, thats very hard. im allergic to google. i bing things.

 

is there a way of fixing it that doesnt include modding, cuz i like to keep stuff as normal as possible

Then, I suggest to replace the capacitors.

 

 

which ones, were at?

[BDW]

Let me Google that for you!

 

 

yes, thats very hard. im allergic to google. i bing things.

 

is there a way of fixing it that doesnt include modding, cuz i like to keep stuff as normal as possible

Then, I suggest to replace the capacitors.

 

 

which ones, where at?

Find out on your own. It's clear that your Grandfather owns a multimeter, have him help you. If you need anymore help on capacitors, use this huge resource called the internet.

[Tr3vor]

Let me Google that for you!

 

 

yes, thats very hard. im allergic to google. i bing things.

 

is there a way of fixing it that doesnt include modding, cuz i like to keep stuff as normal as possible

Then, I suggest to replace the capacitors.

 

 

which ones, where at?

Find out on your own. It's clear that your Grandfather owns a multimeter, have him help you. If you need anymore help on capacitors, use this huge resource called the internet.

 

I'll check it out then. and im typing at lightning speed right now, so...

[shadow460]

I suggest replacing the caps on the sound and mother boards. The LED backlight mod sounds like a good idea, too. Throw in some 2400+ NiMH cells and a good charger or maybe a rebuilt Sega battery pack and you'll be ready to rock!

[fiddlepaddle]

I suggest replacing the caps on the sound and mother boards. The LED backlight mod sounds like a good idea, too. Throw in some 2400+ NiMH cells and a good charger or maybe a rebuilt Sega battery pack and you'll be ready to rock!

Whoa there Tex! Twenty bucks will get you another one and save a lot of time.

[Tr3vor]

my dad has a desoldering station, soldering iron, capacitors, and junk like that. we hoard that kind of stuff. and i probably wouldnt be able to count how many LEDs we have. i'm sure finding the exact same caps that fried on it.

[NinjaWarrior]

Does the LED mod really saves on Battery Power??

[BDW]

Does the LED mod really saves on Battery Power??

Hell yes it does. I played my Game Gear for about 9 hours over spring break (1hour a day for 9 days). The batteries are still chuggin' away.

Edited April 1, 2010 by brandondwright

[shadow460]

I suggest replacing the caps on the sound and mother boards. The LED backlight mod sounds like a good idea, too. Throw in some 2400+ NiMH cells and a good charger or maybe a rebuilt Sega battery pack and you'll be ready to rock!

Whoa there Tex! Twenty bucks will get you another one and save a lot of time.

 

This is true, however, they aren't making Game Gears anymore. A good set of rechargeable batteries could cost you $20 also. So could rebuilding the external battery pack, but the cost includes someone else's labor.

 

For someone getting back into the Game Gear, with a working unit, good rechargeable batteries, power brick, repair parts, carrying case, and things I forgot, I'd say they could expect to spend $60 and a couple hours inside the unit before buying any games. With $5-a-pop games, though, it's not a bad investment, IMO.

[phaxda]

Thanks for the LED mod link! I did not even know that was possible!

[BDW]

Thanks for the LED mod link! I did not even know that was possible!

Yep, it's an amazing mod. For less than $5 of parts, save a whole bunch on batteries!

[shadow460]

On one of the sites listed, a comment was posted that a user had modded a Lynx the same way. He gets about 9 hours of battery life using 2650 mAh cells. I don't think that changing the backlight saves as much power as they say it does. Sure, it helps, but IMHO the jump to high capacity AA cells means the unit (no matter what portable it is) can run longer on a charge. I have the typical backlights in both Lynxes and both working Game Gears, and with the exception of the Lynx I (its batteries are fried), I get 10 to 12 hours of play time. I actually get more on the Lynx II that I do the Game Gear.

 

Don't get me wrong, though--this mod is a great idea. It's good for when the fluorescent tube dies or to get even more run time from the unit. I'm just sayin, though, that you gotta do more than just this to maximize the run time.

 

Heck after this you could throw in a video mod, two lithium polymer gel packs (3000 to 4000 mAh at 3.6 volts each), and a charging circuit, and then you'd be playing 20 or more hours on one charge. Plus you'd be able to hook it to the TV, too. It's even possible if you had a PSP-191 battery charger and the correct terminals that you could run a Game Gear using two PSP battery packs. It wouldn't matter if they were JigKick/Pandora or not. You wouldn't get the run time, though, that you can get from today's rechargeable AA cells.