The Blog

Hakko 808 Desoldering Tool Demo

Nix McRetro // 22nd July 2013 // Repairs, YouTube

You can never have enough demos of this tool. It is by far my most valued for desolder work. Desolder braid doesn’t come close for through-hole work. Continue reading

Basic Testing of a 7806 Voltage Regulator

Nix McRetro // 22nd July 2013 // Guides, YouTube

Here’s just a quick test on some 7806 voltage regulators. The 78xx family contains fixed positive linear regulators; the last two digits conventionally indicate the nominal output voltage: 7805: 5 V 7806: 6 V 7808: 8 V 7809: 9 V 7812: 12 V 7815: 15 V A 7806 should produce... Continue reading

Aiwa Mega-CD Game Unit BIOS Socket Installation and Trace Repair

Nix McRetro // 18th July 2013 // Repairs, Sega, YouTube

Here we are with the Aiwa Game Unit again and we are onto attempting the repair. It actually turned out quite well. Took a while to trace back all the connections, but we got there! Continuity showed as good between all the points I checked, and none were reporting shorts,... Continue reading

Aiwa Mega-CD Game Unit BIOS Socket Preparation

Nix McRetro // 18th July 2013 // Repairs, Sega, YouTube

Well, the me of the past didn’t do such a good job of removing that BIOS chip… but the good news is, we can rebuild him! We have the technology! If only I had my Hakko 808 back then! :) The MPR-15768-T ROM had been removed for the earlier BIOS... Continue reading

Broken / Damaged Sony PlayStations First Look

Nix McRetro // 18th July 2013 // Repairs, Sony, YouTube

Picked up so many of the things, now I just need to give them a good cleanout and make sure as many of their innards as possible are working. Some have liquid damage but most seem to be OK. Compared with the Sega Saturn, these things are a breeze to... Continue reading