Sega Genesis model 1 recapping guide

Recently I’ve been doing many recapping guides for my consoles, and now it is time for the Genesis. My Genesis is model 1 with “High Definition Graphics” label which is considered the best ever version.

In this post, I will show the full procedure as well as other minor refurbishment touches which enhances the reliability and performance.

Complete video tutorial

Watch the entire video first then refer back to this article for further guidance.

Recapping guide

It is always a must that you read the recapping guide (and watch its video) so you get all the necessary information to proceed. You can check it here:

https://thundertronics.net/blog/recapping-electronics-ultimate-guide/

Tools, capacitor kit and other kits used

I used the soldering iron, desoldering gun, and solder wick to perform this job.

I used this cap kit: https://console5.com/store/sega-genesis-ic-series-cap-kit.html

You also need some good flux and cleaning alcohol if your console is dirty from the inside like mine.

Other things you need are thermal paste for the regulators and a new reset button, links are below:

Thermal paste: https://console5.com/store/high-performance-thermal-heat-sink-grease-compound-gd900-gray-1-gram.html

Reset button: https://console5.com/store/replacement-sega-genesis-master-system-reset-pause-button.html

Disassembly

Disassembling it is not hard, just normal screws then top shell can be removed. It is just that you need to also remove the metal shield which is screwed to the board.

One other thing is the heatsink which 2 of 7805 are screwed at, this thing must be removed since there are lots of caps under it in a way that it is impossible to remove them without getting the heatsink out.

Basically just use a screwdriver to get them off, then unscrew the heatsink itself. It is also recommended to clean the regulators and the heatsink using alcohol from the residual old thermal paste (if any).

Proceed next to do general cleaning of the board using alcohol by using a toothbrush and some tissues along with q-tips. Mine was very dirty from the inside but yours might be better, still full general cleaning is best practice.

Old capacitors marking

It is a nice practice to label the old capacitors by a marker so you keep following up nicely. This is essential step to prevent any mistake or negligence.

Tinning old capacitor pads

The first actual step we take is to put fresh new solder to all capacitor pads. This is for making desoldering them later on easier especially if there is flux.

Capacitors removal

Now use the available tools to do the removal, this is the most crucial step.

The obvious companion step to removal is cleaning the pad itself from both solder and flux. I use solder flux with wick then wipe it with alcohol.

Soldering new capacitors

Now since all pads are very clean and unclogged, I inserted the new caps, verified orientation, then bent the legs to stick them into place firmly without having excessive length on top side.

After that, the easiest step of just soldering all these legs and cut the excess legs.

Reset button replacement

Genesis model 1 is notorious for having a bad reset button which most of the time does not work, the new replacement button also from console5 is superior since it does not have a diaphragm but rather a traditional click type button.

Removing it is easy but requires more time and focus. I primarily used wick then finished it with the gun.

Then simply insert the new button and solder it. Just make sure it is flush with the board.

Adding extra capacitance

Old linear power supplies benefit from having extra capacitance, well, all power supplies do. I had extra 10uF caps remaining so I decided to put one for each of the 7805 outputs.

Another excellent step is to add a global input capacitor for the main 9v supply which will clean a lot of noise coming from the power supply especially if you use lower quality or third-party power supplies.

I had 220uF polymer capacitor which is very high quality and reliable, so I used it. Just make sure of where to solder it at the input jack mini board in terms of polarity.

Adding new thermal paste

Regulators are stuck to the heatsink firmly but to enhance thermal performance, new paste must be added.

The screw the regulators firmly and make sure to clean excess paste.

Re-assembly and final thoughts

Now go in reverse and assemble everything, make sure the diode is in its place and generally do a test before finishing everything.

This job needs quite a lot of time, so you need to be prepared. Having quality materials also help, like cap kit and reset button.