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Recap guide

Recap the GCE Vectrex

A CRT vector display with big analog boards. Cap kits are common, and one forum thread calls recapping easy.

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

Worth a recap. Reports say it is a common and useful fix on this machine.

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.

  • 2GE logic board (earlier) (Low confidence). How to tell: A poster says the revision can be read from a small sticker on the board; older units use a MC34002 dual op-amp at IC304. Capacitors: A poster says there are two different cap kits so you must know your revision before ordering. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: yes. Source
  • 3GE logic board (non-buzz) (Low confidence). How to tell: Sticker on the board; uses two MC34001 single op-amps at IC304 and IC306 instead of one MC34002. Capacitors: Another AtariAge poster says a few caps differ because the CPU board is quite different from the older models, with no part numbers given. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: yes. 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.

  • Wobbly vectors and buzz (Low confidence). One thread says the power board is delicate, and that C404 and C411 need solder on both sides of the board to prevent undulating vectors and buzz. Source
  • Kit symptoms (Low confidence). A kit seller lists flicker, crackle and no-boot as symptoms and says its kit contains all the electrolytics. It gives no count or table. Source
  • Factory glue (Low confidence). A service guide touches caps only briefly, noting that the large filter caps have factory glue. It gives no values. 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.

  • Story: Burned C404 and stripped through-holes (Low confidence). One Vectrex with wobbling vectors was traced to burned cap C404 and a blown fuse, plus plated through-holes stripped by earlier work. The owner restored contact with jumper wires from the top-side traces to the cap legs because through-hole repair kits were expensive. Source
  • Story: Wobble that outlasted a full recap (Low confidence). On a thread about a wobbling Vectrex, a full Console5 recap was applied and wobble persisted, though someone said some wobble is normal. The poster tuned DAC offset, high voltage and a timing pot and suspected mains voltage and a replacement transformer, and the thread is unresolved. Source
  • Tip: Missing -13V at cold start (Low confidence). A thread on a Vectrex lacking -13V at cold start lists C120, C121, C122, diodes D106 and D107 and zener DZ102 in the voltage doubler as suspects. One contributor warned that resoldering can leave vias without contact on the component side even when the solder side looks fine, so check both sides. Source
  • Tip: Shutting down seconds after power-on (Low confidence). On r/Vectrex (seen via the nyc1.lr.ggtyler.dev mirror) a buyer of a unit that cycled off with buzzing was advised to change the slow-burn fuse, then polystyrene caps, then the secondary-board high-voltage caps, then the rest. After opening it, the buyer found the high-voltage caps leaking. Source
  • Watch out: Lifted traces and brittle boards (Low confidence). A Vectrex thread says it is easy to overheat and lift traces when desoldering a cap, the double-sided boards lack proper plated through-holes, and old connector tarnish causes intermittent faults. It recommends pressing gently on chips and caps while powered to find bad contacts, and says the polystyrene caps in the integrator section are frequent culprits. Source
  • Tip: Dot only, sound still works (Low confidence). On AtariAge, a Vectrex with sound and only a dot got advice to try the brightness knob and resolder the 4-wire power connector before replacing caps, and a warning that high voltage persists even when unplugged. Source
  • Tip: Heatsink caps and the high-water method (Low confidence). The AtariAge recap thread says two power-board caps hide under the large heatsink, and suggests mounting caps slightly raised so both sides of the board can be soldered, applying solder to both sides of each lead, and even relocating the heatsink caps to the back for later access. It says bad grounding shows up as vector undulation, buzzing and overheating. Source
  • Watch out: Discharge the CRT first (Low confidence). The same thread says to discharge the tube before working and describes a grounded heavy wire on a screwdriver slid under the anode cap, expecting a large discharge and using insulated gloves. It is one poster's method, not a procedure to copy blindly. Source

Before you start

  • Boards changed during production. Check your board number against the guides before you order parts.
  • A tube and its high-voltage circuit can hold a lethal charge. Do not open the tube, and leave the analog board to a professional.

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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