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Recap guide

Recap the ColecoVision

Worth doing mainly for the potted power supply and power switch, not the logic board. The PSU, VRAM and switch are the usual failures.

Open the interactive checklist Tick off each capacitor as you replace it. It saves in your browser.

Check first. A recap is not always the answer here, so look at the guides before you order parts.

Which board do I have?

Boards changed during production. These notes come from the linked sources, and many are only partly documented, so check the board in front of you.

  • Rev F board (Low confidence). How to tell: One owner notes its printed silkscreen schematic is shifted about an inch to the right, making parts hard to identify. Capacitors: No capacitor information found. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
  • Rev H2 board (possibly latest) (Low confidence). How to tell: Thread poster guessed this was the latest revision as of 2011. Capacitors: The thread says differences from Rev F are minor and gives no capacitor detail. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
  • CBS Electronics PAL and French AV variants (Low confidence). How to tell: PAL units carry a TV tuner daughterboard, wired in 1982 units and connector-based in 1983, and a French 1983 version has a SCART-capable AV output. Capacitors: colecovision.dk gives different power supply ratings for US, European and French units but does not mention capacitors. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source

Where to start

Clues from write-ups and forum threads, not a diagnosis. Low confidence means one thread or one repair; high means several write-ups agree.

  • Where faults really are (Medium confidence). colecovision.dk ranks the power supply, then VRAM, as the top failures. Source
  • PAL supply sagging (Low confidence). One PAL supply sagged to 4V because two 10nF (103z) ceramic caps failed inside the potting resin. Removing the resin was a hard repair. Source
  • Power switch (Low confidence). A companion page covers the power switch, a top failure, with no cap changes. Source

Tips, tales and maybes

Found in write-ups and forum threads. These are other people's reports, not tested by us. Check part references and values against your own board.

  • Tip: Ceramic caps across the supply for stability (Low confidence). An AtariAge poster blamed the ColecoVision's bouncing power switch and loose power connector for noise that stresses the TTL, and said adding ceramic caps across the supply greatly improved reliability on machines modified decades ago. This is one expert's opinion. Source
  • Story: Recapped but graphics still scrambled (Low confidence). One owner recapped, replaced VRAM and fitted a fast BIOS and AV mod yet still had scrambled graphics, with C70 and C106 suspected along the way. The real cause was a wrong VDP data line jumpered to U14 pin 14, so verify RAM to VDP wiring rather than assuming earlier work was right. Source
  • Watch out: RF board soldering (Low confidence). A poster chasing RF noise on a ColecoVision warned that they nearly toasted the console soldering the RF board, since some unsoldered pads are intentional and the original solder melts at a higher temperature. The advice was to avoid it unless experienced, and the fixes tried were reflowing cracked RF-board joints and cleaning the power switch. Source
  • Story: Something popped, all caps looked fine (Low confidence). After a ColecoVision popped and smoked near the RAM, with a faulty supply giving about 17V, the owner found no bulging caps. Swapping in an original supply showed the console still lived. Source
  • Tip: Opening the potted PAL supply (Low confidence). The PAL supply thread says the aged resin turns hard and cracked and can be chipped out with a hammer and tiny screwdriver, and that the clipped and glued case and the fragile 103z ceramics (any 10nF part works) make it delicate. The author added hot glue spots afterwards to replace lost resin support. Source
  • Watch out: Power switch wiring can fry the chips (Medium confidence). A switch-replacement page says the ColecoVision needs a double-pole switch for the +5V and +12V rails, and that mixing up the four wires can put +12V on chips that only take 5V. It also says to solder to the four holes furthest from the expansion connector, and it makes no cap changes. Source

Before you start

  • Boards changed during production. Check your board number against the guides before you order parts.
  • A mains power supply can hold a dangerous charge. If you are not trained to work on one, have a professional do it.

Guides we used

This page and the interactive bench are built from these. They have the photos and the full detail, so please read them and support their authors.

The capacitor list

We have not checked a capacitor list for this machine yet, so none is shown. Follow the guide above for your board, then add the capacitors in the interactive checklist and it builds a shopping list for you.

Skip the sourcing

While you are in there

Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. These links only search by name. Disclosure

Steps, tools and safety

The steps, the tools in top, middle and budget picks, and the safety list are the same for every machine, so they live on one page: How to recap, step by step.

Values are shown as published in the guides above, and boards changed during production. Check the board in front of you. A recap involves hot tools and, on some machines, dangerous voltages. You do it at your own risk.

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