Recap guide
Recap the Mattel Intellivision
We have no capacitor list or tips of our own for it yet.
Open the interactive checklist Tick off each capacitor as you replace it. It saves in your browser.
Difficulty: Not rated yet
Where to start
We did not find a clear list of what fails first on this machine, so we are not guessing. Read the guides below, check the board for leaks, and replace what you can see.
Before you start
- Boards changed during production. Check your board number against the guides before you order parts.
Manuals and technical documents
Service manuals, schematics and datasheets for this machine, kept in our own library. Check your own board and part numbers against them.
- Intellivision Hand-Controller Service Flyer (Service manual)
- Intellivision II Service Manual, Model 5872 (Service manual)
- Intellivision Service Manual, Model 2609 (Service manual)
- Intellivision Subassembly Service Manual, Model 2609 (Service manual)
- Intellivoice Service Manual (Service manual)
- Sylvania Intellivision Service Manual (Service manual)
All 8 documents for Mattel Intellivision in the library
Circuits 1
Circuits we redrew in one plain style, with the parts listed. Our own drawing from the source diagram, so check it against the original before you build anything.
The transformer comes in on J2 and P2. Pins 2, 3 and 1 are a centre-tapped winding, with pin 3 at ground and a 0.1 µF capacitor from each end to it. CR1 and CR2 take the positive half cycles into C1 (10,000 µF). CR3 and CR4 take the negative ones onto the −2.1 V line, where C2, R1, the 2.1 V zener CR9 and C5 smooth and set the level. Pins 4 and 5 feed a bridge, CR5 to CR8, into C3 (2200 µF), which makes the unregulated +16 V on J3 pin 3. That rail also goes through U2 for +12 V on pin 2. The +5 V from C1 goes through U1 to pin 1. R2 hangs off the +5 V input side and goes to the P5 connector, which is marked TP6. That is our reading of the drawing, so check it against Console5's page before you build anything.
| Qty | Part |
|---|---|
| 8 | Diode CR1 to CR8. The drawing gives no type. |
| 1 | 2.1 V zener diode CR9, on the −2.1 V line. |
| 2 | Voltage regulator U1 for +5 V and U2 for +12 V. The drawing gives no type. |
| 1 | 10,000 µF 16 V electrolytic C1. |
| 1 | 100 µF 16 V electrolytic C2. Its minus end is on the −2.1 V line. |
| 1 | 2200 µF 25 V electrolytic C3. |
| 7 | 0.1 µF capacitor C4, C5, C6, C7, C8, C9 and C10. |
| 2 | 0.22 µF capacitor C11 and C12. |
| 1 | 220 Ω ½ W resistor R1. |
| 1 | 12 Ω 3 W resistor R2, to the P5 test connector. |
The source drawing also has a Detail A with three diodes in a row, CR10 to CR12, and a circled 3 beside CR9. The note that goes with that mark is not in the image we have, so we haven't drawn Detail A or said how it relates to CR9. The part names and values are the ones printed on the drawing.
Redrawn by us from the Intellivision power supply schematic on Console5, taken from the subassembly service manual.
Intellivision main board (Model 2609, System III, Super Pro System)
Five capacitors. C26 is a bipolar part that Console5's kits replace with a ceramic.
| Part | Value | Volts | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| C26 Bipolar. Console5's kits use a ceramic here. | 1 µF | 50 V | check your board |
| C27 | 10 µF | 25 V | check your board |
| C28 | 10 µF | 25 V | check your board |
| C30 | 10 µF | 25 V | check your board |
| C40 | 47 µF | 16 V | check your board |
Intellivision power board (Mattel C1 to C3, Sylvania C501 to C503)
Three capacitors. Console5 notes the Mattel numbers C1, C2 and C3 are C501, C502 and C503 on the Sylvania board. The big 10000 uF part is axial, and Console5 shows a way to swap it for a radial one. Mains-fed supply: unplug it and let it discharge first.
| Part | Value | Volts | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| C1 C501 on Sylvania boards. | 10000 µF | 16 V | check your board |
| C2 C502 on Sylvania boards. | 100 µF | 16 V | check your board |
| C3 C503 on Sylvania boards. | 2200 µF | 25 V | check your board |
Shopping list
8 capacitors in all, grouped by value. Buy a few spares.
- 3 x 10 µF, 25 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
- 1 x 1 µF, 50 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
- 1 x 47 µF, 16 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
- 1 x 100 µF, 16 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
- 1 x 2200 µF, 25 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
- 1 x 10000 µF, 16 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
Console5 capacitor kits for this machine
Console5 sells ready-made capacitor kits. Kits come in different versions, so match the board number in the kit name to yours and check the listing before you buy.
Skip the sourcing
While you are in there
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. These links only search by name. Disclosure
Step by step
- Photograph both sides of the board before you touch anything. Zoom in on every capacitor. The photo is your map when you are three hours in.
- Unplug it, take out the batteries and let it sit. Old power supplies and CRT parts can hold a charge. If your machine has a tube, leave the tube and its board to a professional.
- Open it up and keep the screws sorted. A muffin tin or an egg carton works. Different screws go in different holes, and the holes never forgive you.
- Look for leaks. Clean any sticky residue off with isopropyl alcohol and a soft brush. A leaked capacitor leaves brown crust and can eat copper traces. Look at the traces under it, not only the part itself.
- Mark the polarity of every capacitor on the photo before it comes off. On an electrolytic, the stripe marks the negative leg. The board usually shows a half-shaded circle or a bar for the same spot.
- Remove the old capacitors one at a time. Surface mount: add fresh solder to both ends and rock the part off, or use flux and a low-melt alloy. Through-hole: heat one leg at a time and clear the hole with wick or a pump.
- Clean the pads and check for lifted pads or damaged traces. Clean flux off with isopropyl. A bad pad needs a jumper wire, not hope.
- Fit and solder the new capacitor, matching polarity. Same capacity, same or higher voltage, and it has to physically fit. Work from the smallest parts up.
- Clean the flux off and look at every joint. A good joint is shiny and shaped like a tiny volcano. A dull blob or a ball is a cold joint: reflow it.
- With a multimeter, check for shorts across the power rails before you power it on. Use the continuity or resistance setting. A reading near zero means stop and look for a solder bridge.
- Power it up and test everything: video, sound, controls, the lot. If something is wrong, check polarity first. It is the most common mistake and the easiest fix.
Tools
- Temperature-controlled soldering station. Steady heat so you do not cook pads. Most recaps are done between 320 and 350 C. Top: Hakko FX-951 · Mid: Hakko FX-888D · Budget: Pinecil
- Good solder. Rosin-core 63/37 flows and looks right. It is cheap and it matters. Kester 44 63/37
- Flux. Flux is what makes old joints let go and new joints flow. MG Chemicals flux pen · Chip Quik flux syringe
- Low-melt alloy (for surface mount). Melts old solder on both ends of a surface mount part at once, so it lifts off cleanly. Chip Quik SMD1
- Desoldering tool. Clears the old solder out of through-hole pads. Top: Hakko FR-301 · Mid: Engineer SS-02 pump · Budget: Solder wick
- Fine tweezers. For holding small surface mount parts exactly where you want them. ESD-safe tweezers
- Board holder. A third hand for the board, so both of yours are free. PanaVise circuit board holder
- Magnification. You cannot fix what you cannot see. Surface mount parts are tiny. Top: Stereo microscope · Mid: Head visor · Budget: Lighted magnifier
- Multimeter. Continuity, shorts and rail voltages. The one test that saves boards. Top: Fluke 117 · Mid: Fluke 101 · Budget: AstroAI
- ESR and capacitor tester. Checks old capacitors and your new ones before they go in. Top: Peak Atlas ESR70 · Budget: LCR-T7
- Isopropyl alcohol (99%) and a brush. For cleaning leaked goo and flux. Use the high-percentage kind. MG Chemicals 99.9% isopropyl
- Brass tip cleaner. A clean tip transfers heat. A dirty one does not. Hakko 599B
- Fume extractor. Pulls the smoke away from your face. Hakko FA-400 · Budget: Small bench fan
- Precision screwdrivers. Most old gear uses a mix of Phillips, Torx and security bits. iFixit Pro Tech Toolkit
- Kapton tape. Heat-proof tape to protect parts that sit close to the one you are changing. Kapton tape
Safety
- Good airflow, or a fume fan. Solder smoke is not for breathing.
- Safety glasses on. Solder spits and clipped legs fly.
- Iron in its stand when you are not holding it. Know where the cord is.
- Touch bare metal first, or use a wrist strap. Static kills old chips.
- No tube, no mains power supply. Leave those to a professional.
- Wash your hands after, especially if you used leaded solder.
Values are shown as published in the guides above, and boards changed during production. Check the board in front of you. A recap involves hot tools and, on some machines, dangerous voltages. You do it at your own risk.