Sega Saturn - black screen

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bacardi
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Joined: Mon May 04, 2015 9:00 pm

Sega Saturn - black screen

Post by bacardi »

Hey Guys,

Got a Skeleton Saturn that unfortunately boots with a black screen. I tried without and with the battery, same. The TV detects the signal, however nothing appears. I'm thinking that the caps need to be replaced... here's a few shots of the PCB and the PSU - can anyone spot anything here? Doesn't look bad i think but I can't trace what's causing the problem.

https://imgur.com/a/OwrUoNG
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citrus3000psi
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Location: Indiana

Re: Sega Saturn - black screen

Post by citrus3000psi »

bacardi wrote:Hey Guys,

Got a Skeleton Saturn that unfortunately boots with a black screen. I tried without and with the battery, same. The TV detects the signal, however nothing appears. I'm thinking that the caps need to be replaced... here's a few shots of the PCB and the PSU - can anyone spot anything here? Doesn't look bad i think but I can't trace what's causing the problem.

https://imgur.com/a/OwrUoNG

So, I'd first verify the AV Connector is making good contact. Maybe the pin is bent/corroded. 100% verify you have a proper wire going to the saturn from the TV.

Now, I'd touch every IC in on the motherboard lightly with my finger to see if any are "hot". If something is hot, then something in that IC is shorted. (This is just a quick easy test)

Past this, you are going to need to start tracing back from the AV end and start inspecting voltages and signals with a scope. This will not be an easy task.
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Syntax
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Re: Sega Saturn - black screen

Post by Syntax »

If you have sound but no picture it should just be a cap replacement to fix.
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FBX
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Re: Sega Saturn - black screen

Post by FBX »

Syntax wrote:If you have sound but no picture it should just be a cap replacement to fix.
It can even get so bad with dried out caps that you get neither video NOR sound. I did a cap job for a fella that had both video and audio completely dead. Cap job fixed it. Seems a lot of these Saturn consoles are hitting the expiration date on the cap lifetime.
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