Odyssey 2 Broken!

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VideoGameCritic
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Odyssey 2 Broken!

Postby VideoGameCritic » January 6th, 2017, 5:19 pm

Just when I get a deluge of new Odyssey 2 home brews to review, my system dies. Turn it on and nothing happens. It was working fine last week.

My first assumption was that the power supply died. It's 40 years old for Pete's sake, and I seem to recall it feeling warm. So I get on ebay and purchased a replacement. Tried that and same thing. Granted, it's possible both are dead but impossible to know for sure at this point.

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. If not I guess I'll have to get a new system. Help!

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Retro STrife
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Re: Odyssey 2 Broken!

Postby Retro STrife » January 6th, 2017, 6:04 pm

I wish I had some ideas for you, but I'm not too handy with electronics unless it's an obvious issues... My advice is just be thankful you broke one of your cheapest systems!

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Rookie1
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Re: Odyssey 2 Broken!

Postby Rookie1 » January 6th, 2017, 6:44 pm

I have seen a few blog posts about people with this issue. If you wiggle the power cable around while its turned on, does it power on when wiggled to a specific spot? Seems like the power ports loosen after time and need to be re-soldered.

Robotrek
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Re: Odyssey 2 Broken!

Postby Robotrek » January 6th, 2017, 7:42 pm

Check inside and look for busted capacitors. It's extremely rare, but I've had pre-85 systems blow a few caps on me. If they're busted, it's a simple replacement.

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scotland
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Re: Odyssey 2 Broken!

Postby scotland » January 6th, 2017, 8:29 pm

Sorry to hear about the O2.

I think you might want to open it up and have a look see. I have experienced the power port issue on a SMS, so it could be that. May as well try. I would open it up, blow out the dust, look at the solder joints, etc, but I think the round tin can looking caps might be worth inspecting. There is a tall one in one corner that is part of the power supply, I think.

If the caps look bulging, they probably have gone south on you. Place like this https://console5.com/store/magnavox-odyssey2-cap-kit.html sell replacement cap kits that are pretty cheap. In fact, my O2 voice unit is nonfunctional, so I should probably do the same thing for her caps.

Alucard1191
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Re: Odyssey 2 Broken!

Postby Alucard1191 » January 6th, 2017, 9:06 pm

While this isn't specific to the odyssey, I've have many computers/systems that cease functioning because of loose wires and dust all over the place. I have many, many animals and I have to vacuum my stuff out (with the brush part!) often to keep it all working well.

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Re: Odyssey 2 Broken!

Postby VideoGameCritic » January 10th, 2017, 7:46 pm

Thanks for all the advice guys! I had my "fixer" friend Brent take a look and he's 99% sure it's the power supply (apparently the one I got off ebay was dead too). The caps looked fine from what he could see.

So... I just ordered a refurbished Odyssey 2 for about $50. Not only will this give me a working system but it should also allow me to narrow down what was wrong with the old one. Stay tuned.

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Re: Odyssey 2 Broken!

Postby VideoGameCritic » January 14th, 2017, 4:26 pm

Well the refurbished O2 worked but was a different model (hardwired controllers) with a different power adapter plug!

Today I stumbled across this helpful FAQ which suggested trying an Atari 2600 power adapter - and it worked!
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/odyssey2/f ... ntials/#12

I should have tried that in the first place.

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LS650
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Re: Odyssey 2 Broken!

Postby LS650 » January 14th, 2017, 4:33 pm

I'm glad you have a working O2, and I look forward to the reviews.

The O2 is not that well known, compared to other systems from its day such as the Intellivision or the Colecovision. Although it has a fair number of crappy games, it does have some real gems, like the two KC games, UFO, Turtles, Monkeyshines, etc. It also gets a few nice homebrew releases each year... and unlike a lot of other older 8-bit systems, it's still fairly affordable to collect for.


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