This page will detail different console modding and repair projects.
Listing this stuff now so I don't forget
AV Famicom, Atari 2600, Famicom Clone, 3BP Genesis
Just gonna dump text here, will clean up later.
I like to think of myself as a relatively competent modder and repair "tech". I don't know jack shit for the most part about electronics on a technical level beyond the very rudimentary basics (if that). I know to avoid shorts, I know that steady, reliable ground and voltage is important, but if you think I know literally anything about what a specific resistor does unfortunately I have some very bad news. I am, however, very good at following directions, and in doing so I'm able to stare at or study the work of much more experienced or proficient modders in order to copy and complete projects that are even considered expert level (the kind that e-celebs urge you to send your game systems out to have done instead of doing it yourself). So in that vein I feel kinda proud of myself and happy that I can do these things.
On the other end of the stick, I make mistakes. A lot. Almost every single project I complete involves at least one mistake that I learn and then seal away in my memory going forward in an effort to never repeat it. A lot of these "mistakes" aren't mistakes at all, just examples of me being meticulous and neurotic and getting hung up on very minor nitpicks regarding my own work. But I'm going to chronicle them here anyways both as a reminder to myself and as a guide to anyone who might not be familiar with these situations.
The AV Famicom was the revised 90s re-release of the original Famicom. It has an updated smaller (boxier) design with NES controller ports and composite video (as opposed to the RF-only original Famicom). Like the original Famicom it lacks a power LED. It uses the same "multi-out" style of port on the back for AV that the SNES, N64, and GameCube later would.
This is an example of a really stupid "mistake" that's, once again, an example of my extreme neurosis. I make mistakes when frustrated, I become desperate and afraid and I want a solution immediately. A smart man would get up, walk away, and think, but like a deer caught in a metal fence I freak the fuck out and injure myself in a bid to try and resolve it that very instant. I need it fixed. I need it fixed now.
There are several components on the AV Famicom that are not available in the modern parts market. One of those parts is the choke located at T1 on the board underneath the heatsink. My understanding of this part is that it's only really relevant if the system itself is being powered by AC (like with an NES AC adapter, which you shouldn't use on the AV Famicom regardless as far as I know) but beyond that I'm not totally familiar with how this works. The choke I guess provides a very basic level of surge protection. It's also no longer available in any capacity, it's entirely unique to the AV Famicom and NES Toploader. It's a 08RB01 by Taiyo Yuden and there are no suitable replacements whatsoever with the exact same footprint and specs as the original part so if you lose the original you are completely fucked.
I did not lose the part. I trimmed the leads because they were sticking out really far and I couldn't get the motherboard to sit flat. This does not affect functionality and yet I'm pissed at myself because, uh, EARTH TO MAJOR DUMBASS, why the FUCK would the leads be the issue??? This console was completely fine since it left the factory with the long leads!!! The board sat flat inside the shell for decades, of course the issue ISN'T the leads!!! But beyond that I just shortened the legs permanently on a part that you can't get anymore! Cool! Great! Does it matter functionally! No! But I care! Because I hate irreversibly changing or damaging things that are no longer in production!!! It greatly upsets me and makes me very, very fucking mad at myself!! Yay!
When replacing the LED on a Genesis do not mangle the fuck out of the LED leads. This is easier said than done because they bend and crumple up like crazy if you're not extremely careful. The ideal "leg shape" is something like an upside down W with the inner point of the W being the LED itself. If the leads are reaching too far inward you risk touching the RF shield and subsequently grounding the LED, basically shutting it off. For a recent LED repair I learned all of this basically in real time but opted to trim the LED leads as short as possible while maintaining connection and then bending the positive leg 90 degrees to "lock it in". Nothing really wrong with this since it works and it has no chance of ever shorting out now but I still wish I did the W shape method instead. I really dislike how this tiny part that nobody will literally every see ever looks. It bothers me. It doesn't look as nice as it could. Y'know? This part no one is ever going to see ever.