KevinsHope Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 So, I got two intellivisions this weekend at a garage sale and I was stoked. I would keep one and flip the other. However, the one I plan on selling is doing something really strange. At first, it worked great...then, after switching cartridges several times, it stopped reading the cartridges and just kept giving a black screen or a screen with jacked up data. So....I cleaned out the cartridge slot using pipe cleaners and rubbing alcohol. Now, it reads the cartridge, boots up with the title screen, but...for the first 5 seconds, the screen is black and white (no color). After that first 5 seconds, the color kicks in and everything is fine after that. Any ideas on what is causing this, and how to fix it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KylJoy Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Not sure if this info will help at all... I usually use the credit card trick to clean cart slots. I take an old credit card (or something similar like a grocery store savings card, Sam's club card, etc.) and cut it to fit the width of the slot. Then I take a piece of thin lint-free cloth, get some alcohol on the cloth (as close to 100% pure as possible) and fold it over the credit card, and then insert the card and cloth into the slot repeatedly. I move the cloth around on the card occasionally to keep getting a clean spot to insert. I've never used a pipe cleaner to clean a video game slot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+intvsteve Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 It could be some solder points need to be reflowed. I've had a number of consoles whose behavior changes after they "warm up". Luckily the Intellivision II doesn't have a steel sarcophagus hiding its guts. There likely won't be anything easily visible, though, if it's that kind of problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_me Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 It could be some solder points need to be reflowed. I've had a number of consoles whose behavior changes after they "warm up". Luckily the Intellivision II doesn't have a steel sarcophagus hiding its guts. There likely won't be anything easily visible, though, if it's that kind of problem. Maybe between the ay-3-8915 and the rf modulator. There's four connections including a bunch of resistors between them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intvnut Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 So, I got two intellivisions this weekend at a garage sale and I was stoked. I would keep one and flip the other. However, the one I plan on selling is doing something really strange. At first, it worked great...then, after switching cartridges several times, it stopped reading the cartridges and just kept giving a black screen or a screen with jacked up data. So....I cleaned out the cartridge slot using pipe cleaners and rubbing alcohol. Now, it reads the cartridge, boots up with the title screen, but...for the first 5 seconds, the screen is black and white (no color). After that first 5 seconds, the color kicks in and everything is fine after that. Any ideas on what is causing this, and how to fix it? Hmm... No color at first, and then color after it heats up? That suggests the oscillator isn't at quite the right frequency. One common cause is capacitors. They dry out over time. Also, you might just try cleaning the whole board. Dust and grime can add stray capacitance and leakage paths, and the capacitances involved in the video circuitry are tiny. Just pop the board out of the Inty and give it a nice sponge bath in 99% isopropyl alcohol. The solder side is where all the fun stuff likes to live, like insects that think your Intellivision makes a nice home. So, be sure to get both sides. IIRC, Lathe26 had an Intellivoice that was messing up his system, and so far as we could tell, it came down to dust building up on a couple pins in the SPB640 buffer chip. Cleaning that fixed everything. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunterZero Posted August 24, 2016 Share Posted August 24, 2016 +1 I am thinking capacitors. 9 times out of 10 they seem to be the culprit - Well, when the IC's in the Intellivision aren't dead, anyway... - J 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clramsey75 Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 I have just moved back to the UK after 9 years in the US and have finally got round to getting my Intellivision out and ready to play. I connected it to the back of the TV via the ANT but nothing happened. I tried it on another TV and after tuning the TV channels I got it to work but the display was black and white. Is there a better way to connect it to my TV? I apologise in advance now but I'm not very tech savvy. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am due to have an op on January 10th and I NEED my Intellivision to help keep me sane by keeping me away from daytime TV.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunterZero Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 I have just moved back to the UK after 9 years in the US and have finally got round to getting my Intellivision out and ready to play. I connected it to the back of the TV via the ANT but nothing happened. I tried it on another TV and after tuning the TV channels I got it to work but the display was black and white. Is there a better way to connect it to my TV? I apologise in advance now but I'm not very tech savvy. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am due to have an op on January 10th and I NEED my Intellivision to help keep me sane by keeping me away from daytime TV.. Hope your op went well. What model is your Intellivision? Is it a model 1591 or 2609? Regarding connecting the Intellivision to the TV... If you have the means, eg TV with analogue tuner or VCR with analogue tuner with AV out, RF is still just about the best way to get a picture out of the Intellivision. The Intellivision RF signal is remarkably clean. If using the stock RF really isn't an option, to get any other kind of output, you'll need to modify your unit, and that will require soldering. Do a bit of searching on the forums for Inty composite AV mods. There are a few options, including a few kits that cost around US$20. - James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Hope your op went well. What model is your Intellivision? Is it a model 1591 or 2609? Regarding connecting the Intellivision to the TV... If you have the means, eg TV with analogue tuner or VCR with analogue tuner with AV out, RF is still just about the best way to get a picture out of the Intellivision. The Intellivision RF signal is remarkably clean. If using the stock RF really isn't an option, to get any other kind of output, you'll need to modify your unit, and that will require soldering. Do a bit of searching on the forums for Inty composite AV mods. There are a few options, including a few kits that cost around US$20. - James I believe Joe Zbiciak has replacement original RF modulator units in stock for the Intellivision. You may want to check with him. Personally, I connect mine through an old VCR and it works beautifully. -dZ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfy62 Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Great ideas here for cleaning and connecting the Intelliivision, thanks guys!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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