Recap a Vectrex

[mathewbeall]

Hi Folks - I got a cap kit from console5 - and am going to recap my Vectrex to see if I can get the image a bit sharper.

Has anyone done this, and have any tips? I heard that in a lot of cases, its not a true "through hole" circuit board, so a lot of care needs to be taken when removing the old caps and soldering in the new ones.

Thanks for any tips!

Matt

 

[rewrite]

Definitely subscribing to this. Got a Vectrex myself a week or two ago. Mine runs well, but the controls don't work as you'd hope once I borrowed a controller! Figure a recap is due while I'm opening it up anyway.

 

[jamesv833]

I recapped mine about 5 years back and didn’t have any issues.
There may not be any through hole plating so it relies on the actual component legs to complete the circuit between each side of the pcb, I would just test continuity after each cap by testing to the next component on the trace since the cap won’t allow you to check the top once installed flush to the board.

 

[jamesv833]

Definitely subscribing to this. Got a Vectrex myself a week or two ago. Mine runs well, but the controls don't work as you'd hope once I borrowed a controller! Figure a recap is due while I'm opening it up anyway.

I’m not 100% certain but I think a Sega Genesis controller may work so you’d be able to rule out it’s not an issue with the Vectrex controller itself. I had to peel back the decal on both of mine and fiddle with the analog sticks to get them 100%, pretty sure I needed some new springs and used some out of a ball point pen after some slight modifications to them.