Today we’re sneaking around inside a Super Nintendo. This one appears to be a PAL 1CHIP unit and we’re going to replace capacitors… because that’s what the cool thing is to do. Don’t get me wrong, being a sheep isn’t so bad when everyone is eating beef!

Unfortunately, this Super Nintendo isn’t producing any sound. I’m hoping that replacing the electrolytic capacitors might help, although I haven’t established what’s actually causing the fault. Another possibility would be swapping in a repaired Super Famicom board, but I’d rather see whether I can get this original one working first.

Once the motherboard was removed from the case, I had a closer look at the components. It’s a PAL 1CHIP-01 revision, which is rather interesting compared with the earlier Super Nintendo boards. There’s also an S-MIX chip involved in the audio circuitry, although this one doesn’t have the rather dramatic visible damage I’ve encountered on another board.

The capacitors looked physically present, which is a start, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re electrically healthy. I’ve already got most of the replacement parts on hand, so I decided to get on with removing the old ones. There were a couple of 33 uF capacitors still on order, which meant the job wouldn’t be completely finished today.

I had much better luck removing the surface-mount capacitors with the soldering iron set to around 300 degrees Celsius rather than 350. The pads came away looking surprisingly tidy, and I didn’t manage to turn any of the capacitors into tiny fireworks. Always a bonus!

There was also a large replacement capacitor that didn’t quite fit within the original board markings. Fortunately, there appeared to be enough clearance for it to sit without interfering with the surrounding components. I replaced the fuse as well while everything was apart.

By the end of the session, most of the capacitors were installed and the board was looking considerably better. The two missing 33 uF parts were still preventing me from completing the job, so there wasn’t a final sound test yet.

We’ll finish those remaining capacitors in the next part and see whether the Super Nintendo has anything to say for itself. For now, at least the solder pads survived the adventure!

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