Here’s the Aiwa Mega-CD CSD-GM1 that I’ll be attempting to repair over the coming weeks, months, or whenever I manage to find the time. I’ve actually ended up with two of these machines as a package deal. One is reasonably functional, but the other looks as though somebody has stepped on it. Repeatedly.

The better of the two powers up and the Mega Drive section works, although it has trouble reading CDs. I’m wondering whether the optical pickup might be responsible, but it still needs proper cleaning and testing before I start replacing parts. The other machine is considerably worse. It doesn’t power on at all, and a look inside reveals some spectacular damage to the circuit boards.

The Mega-CD board has a large crack through it and a triangular piece of PCB completely missing. Unfortunately, there’s an important connection on that board leading to the Mega Drive section, so I can’t simply throw it aside and forget about it. If I want the games to work, I’m going to have to deal with those broken connections. There are damaged traces everywhere, but at least some of the board looks repairable with a fair bit of careful soldering.

The main board for the radio, cassette and CD functions has suffered as well. There’s a warped, cracked section with broken tracks, although thankfully the affected area is fairly simple compared with the Mega-CD board. The smaller control board for the volume, tone and mode selection has a broken corner too. I’ve got the missing piece, but it needs to be secured so the switches can operate properly inside the case.

Then there’s the cassette mechanism and the cabinet itself. The tape deck isn’t quite as badly damaged, but the housing has separated in places, the front is mangled and there are some impressive dents in the metal grilles. Apparently these machines have had quite an adventure before arriving here. At least some of the cosmetic repairs should be manageable once I get the more serious electrical problems sorted out.

The first job is to repair the broken tracks and see whether I can get power back into the damaged unit. If that doesn’t work, I may need to investigate the transformer and possibly an alternative power arrangement. The CD mechanism is another project entirely, especially with so much PCB damage around its connections.

There are plenty of reasons to give this machine a chance. The CSD-GM1 is an interesting and rather unusual piece of Sega hardware, and I’d like to get at least one of these battered units working properly again. No promises about how quickly that’ll happen, but there’s certainly no shortage of things to do!

Don’t forget to check the photo gallery and my YouTube videos. Sometimes I forget to post individual updates for everything that ends up there!

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