Nobody likes a gaming console that can’t game. This time I’ve got an original Sony PlayStation power supply on the bench, and the figure-8 mains connector has developed a couple of nasty cracked solder joints. Time to see if I can make them a little more respectable!

The problem is where the AC connector joins the power-supply PCB. Over time, repeatedly plugging and unplugging the mains cable can put stress on the solder connections, eventually causing little cracks around the pins. They weren’t particularly obvious at first, but once I had a closer look underneath the board, there they were.

This is a 240 V supply that I was planning to use in an early SCPH-1001 PlayStation. That console ordinarily came from a 110 to 120 V market, and I really don’t enjoy having to use step-down transformers when I can avoid them. If I can fit a suitable local-voltage power supply instead, that makes life considerably easier.

Of course, the annoying part is that not every original PlayStation uses the same PSU arrangement. I’d also been looking at an SCPH-5502, which had a different connector layout with fewer pins. Apparently having a collection of PlayStations doesn’t mean the parts will all fit together however I please!

There was another area on this board that wasn’t looking quite so lovely. One component had some rather dark discolouration around it, and I made a note to investigate that later. The power supply I was replacing had been much cleaner, so it was a little disappointing to find that the one I needed had its own collection of issues.

For now, though, the cracked solder joints were the obvious repair. I wanted to clean up the connections around the figure-8 inlet and apply some fresh solder so they wouldn’t be left making poor contact whenever the cable moved.

Naturally, the Hakko decided that this would be a magnificent time to display a hardware error. Wonderful! Even my repair equipment was joining in. Eventually I got the iron heating properly again and could get on with the job.

Because this is a mains-connected power supply, I wasn’t treating it like an ordinary low-voltage console board. There’s dangerous voltage involved, and components can retain charge even after being disconnected. I was concentrating on the exposed solder connections rather than wandering around inside the rest of the PSU looking for something exciting to touch.

Once I had the iron working, I heated the cracked joints and added fresh solder. They absorbed rather more heat than some of the tiny connections I’ve been working on lately, but the new solder flowed into place nicely. I even managed to get the board back into focus for a moment. Bonus!

The two connections looked considerably better afterwards, without the obvious cracking I’d seen before. That takes care of the physical soldering problem I found, although the darkened area elsewhere on the board is still something I want to investigate.

You can see similar mechanical solder failures on other pieces of hardware too. The Mega Drive 2 is particularly good at developing cracked connections around its power socket, and I’ve seen the same general problem with assorted computers and consoles over the years. Anything that gets pushed and pulled often enough has the potential to cause trouble.

So there we go. A couple of repaired solder joints and one PlayStation power supply looking rather more respectable. Now I can get back to sorting out which of my consoles is going to become the next project!

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