RF Generation Message Board

I have a Sega Master System which seems to be... touchy.  I will be playing a game and you hear a "squelch" and the system will just go off!.  Loose solder joint maybe where the power plug goes in?  Any help will be appreciated!

My guess would be the power plug on the back of the console.  I know mine is kinda touchy but doesn't sound as bad as yours.

You mean where the power plug goes into in the back of the console, not the power plug itself, correct?

Yeah were the wire goes into the console.  For some reason mine requires the plug to be just in the right spot.  I think it's just a worn port though not the solder points on the board.

Woo hoo! One is fixed!  It was the power supply.

Now, if only you could combine the working card slot on one of my SMS consoles with the working cartridge slot on the other...

You've already tried cleaning the slots?

SMS have a known capacitor problem. If you have great soldering skills its an easy fix. There are multiple YouTube videos and instructions floating around online on how to fix it.

What will eventually happen is the system will not power on at all, anymore.

It's not necessary the slots themselves that are the problem, the solder joints for both slots tend to crack and need to be reflowed. It's a very common issue with the later SMSes because the motherboard only has single-sided holes (meaning the solder joints are all on one side).