Back from the Grave: Atari Lynx II (No power, capacitor leak)

Released just two months after the Nintendo Game Boy, the Atari Lynx had all the makings of a clear winner in the portable console wars of the late 80s before it even began: a more efficient yet still familiar CPU; a backlit, colour display being driven by a 16-bit graphics chip capable of blitting and an extensive array of hardware manipulation; four channel, stereo, digital sound support; and support for up to 16-player gaming through link hardware. On paper, it left Nintendo's offerings for dead.

Unfortunately for Atari, Nintendo had three rather significant counter points in its favour: the Game Boy's launch price was only half that of the Lynx, Nintendo was able to focus on more than one device at a time, and they knew how to run advertising campaigns. Despite its clear shortcomings this meant that the Game Boy would go on to enjoy far more success simply by virtue of market penetration, rather than any actual merits.

Towards the end of the Lynx's lifetime a second model - known as the Lynx II - was released. This version, like modern "slim" consoles, was aimed to reduce costs and power usage, thus improving battery life. But it would prove to be too little too late as Atari would very shortly afterwards shift their focus entirely to the ill-fated Jaguar. This single-minded approach ultimately heralded the end of the Lynx, and of Atari itself as a hardware company when the Jaguar failed to compete with the PlayStation and Saturn.

This particular Lynx II belongs to my other brother. I don't know much of its history, though I do know it was purchased second hand and working quite a few years ago. After deciding to replace the ageing, low-quality display, it was determined that the console would no longer even attempt to power on.

As is common for older hardware, the electrolytic capacitors were deemed the most likely cause of fault. These capacitors can generally only be relied upon for around 10 to 15 years, and even their modern counterparts rarely go five to ten years over that much. Sometimes, of course, they can work for much longer (or significantly shorter) but that should be considered an exception, rather than the norm. It's also a very simple job despite how worth it is doing, and the only complication was the presence of a copper sheet across the back of the board for EMI purposes which blocked access to once cap's legs.

In the process of replacing the capacitors (20 in all, for which kits are available) we were able to establish more precisely the issue. The two largest capacitors, which aid in power filtration for the 9v to 5v conversion stage, had leaked. This not only rendered the capacitors useless (possibly not enough to prevent the system from working on their own), but had also damaged two nearby diodes used for reverse polarity protection, and a nearby MOSFET used for low voltage cut-off.

In the interest of finishing the job without delays we opted to use through-hole counterparts for the damaged components as we had those on hand. Rather fortunately the Lynx's shell is significantly larger than it needs to be, allowing plenty of room for "full sized" components. All that needed to be done in preparation was to clean up what remained of the pads, which a fibreglass pen dipped in IPA was able to do in short order.

The original MTD3055E MOSFET (a 40v, 8a offering in TO-252 package which has long since been discontinued) was replaced instead by a well-beyond-spec IRF1404 (40v, ~170a in TO-220 package) by simply shortening and bending the legs to fit in the confined space, though there was possibly enough room to fit it exactly where the old part was after removing part of the mounting tab. The 1N4001 diodes were replaced with two older diodes we had on hand, specifications unknown, mounted standing. I wouldn't trust thee mechanical strength of the joints, but these parts should never be subject to any direct, physical loads and should easily last long enough for the capacitors to destroy them again in a decade or so.

With that a nice, short BftG is over. The only thing left now is for the replacement screen to arrive and be fitted, but that's a simple job which I won't be involved in. For now I'm content in knowing that it works both from a DC adaptor and battery.

Remember that electricity can be dangerous to both property and life.  If you don't respect it you can wind up seriously hurting or even killing yourself or others, and chances are it's going to be painful while it's happening.  Unless you're sure of what you're doing, avoid tampering with any electrical circuit - especially when it's live or mains powered - and always ensure you have a nearby assistant who can contact emergency services.