Help needed to repair a Fairchild Channel F controller

[Mikebloke]

Hi guys, I recently picked up a "found in the loft" ebay sale for a Fairchild Channel F, with the last remaining UK released games I needed and a bunch of games I needed boxed.

 

Games all seem to be working well, the console... not in the best condition but functioning alright. Unfortunately one controller has an issue, and its with the "up" key (thats D pad up, not pull). I've tried it in another port / switched controllers and can confirm its the controller only.

 

I opened it up, tried to figure out if it was something really simple like some food (ugghhhhhh was not in good condition) or something preventing contact. After 20 minutes messing around playing the Hockey game nothing I could do with my limited experience could get it to work.

 

Has anyone got any experience with these things? to confirm, all other keys work (twist left right, down left and right, pull and push) and attempting to make a contact made no difference. Yellow wire which I can only presume is the right wire in my addled Ramadan fasting brain, appeared fine. The only thing I could think of in my have-no-experience-of-these-things-mind is that maybe the port pin isn't making a connection when its inserted. into the console To reiterate: totally out of my depth here, my tools consist purely of a screwdriver, the most complex thing I've done is NES pin connector boiling (which worked for me!) and never modded a console (but want to, hence buying a second Fairchild Channel F).

 

I suppose I could just try and buy a spare controller if one ever pops up, but wanted to fix these rare bits if I can.

[the_crayon_king]

get a multimeter and test for continuity between the end and the beginning of the wire in question. If you don't hear a tone you know you have an open inside of the cable.

[+Stephen Moss]

Has anyone got any experience with these things? to confirm, all other keys work (twist left right, down left and right, pull and push) and attempting to make a contact made no difference. Yellow wire which I can only presume is the right wire in my addled Ramadan fasting brain, appeared fine. The only thing I could think of in my have-no-experience-of-these-things-mind is that maybe the port pin isn't making a connection when its inserted. into the console To reiterate: totally out of my depth here, my tools consist purely of a screwdriver, the most complex thing I've done is NES pin connector boiling (which worked for me!) and never modded a console (but want to, hence buying a second Fairchild Channel F).

I have no experience of these but with only a screwdriver there is not much you can do, however if you can reach the switch contacts or terminals and short them out with your screw driver and still get no response that would suggest a wiring fault, if it reacts then it is a switch fault.

From the images it looks like it is making connections between bare metal contacts, so if it is does look like a switch fault it could be that either they are not physically making contact (bending or adding a little solder my re-establish) or that the contact points have become dirty/oxidised in which case some switch/contact cleaner or light sanding may help.

 

As the_crayon_king said get a multi-meter, it helps a lot with tracking down faults and modding, although a soldering iron & solder, de-solder pump or solder wick and a small pair of pliers & side cutters will also be require as a minimum for modification to the circuit.

[Mikebloke]

Thanks both of you, going to be a bit of a project for me it seems, but I need to learn this stuff going forward anyway. I'll let you know (in the distant future!) if I get it working again!

[Middleway]

I have a Channel F model 1 (hardwired controllers) and both controllers have the same problem as yours -- everything works except 'up'.  I did some continuity troubleshooting and it appears the yellow wire is broken somewhere in the controller cable.  The controller wires are very thin/fragile and seem to be prone to this.  Still trying to figure out the best way to fix it with minimal cutting and patching.

Edited June 24, 2019 by Middleway

[goodtofufriday]

Hey i made a guide on repairing these on assemblergames, but ill copy paste it here. the wiring colors are the same between hard wired and plugged. @Middleway

 

Quote

The good news is that Ive mapped the color pinout to the controller port for you. UP direction is the yellow wire. Bad news is that it seems the yellow wire is not the same as the other wires. It is quite a bit thinner and prone to breaking.

More bad news is that you WILL need to desolder all of the wires from the contact points on the the inside of the controller. TAKE A PICTURE OF THE WIRE LOCATIONS. You then need to thread the black cable out of rubber protector at the bottom.
The break in the yellow wire from my experience is always be from 1 to 2 inches down from where the cable was entering the controller. Cut the cable 2 inches down and yank out the yellow wire. From there snip it and test continuity from that point to the corresponding controller port as seen above.

If its good then cut the cable there, if not then try a bit lower. If you're lucky you will have enough cable to just reuse it. If you're unlucky and the break is somewhere near the bottom then you will need a donor from somewhere else.
From here strip the cable a bit, and strip all 9 wires. Thread it back through the rubber protector at the end of the controller, and resolder all the wires to their correct positions.
 

 

 

Edited August 19, 2019 by goodtofufriday

[Mikebloke]

Thanks for this information goodtofufriday, good to know this is a common issue with potential remedies. I haven't looked at my own controller yet, but it gives me some hope of reviving it!

[Middleway]

Thanks @goodtofufriday, I found your post on assemblergames a little while back and quickly bookmarked it, very helpful! 

[Mikebloke]

Just an update, I sold the console with. Controllers as is, so I never got a chance to fully fix it, it went with some doubles of mine (few early numbers and some unboxed rares such as bowling and Hangman). 

 

Maybe they'll see this post when they try to work out how to fix it themselves