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> I'm not sure what voltage the red LED inside the NES is rated at. I'd
> assume +5v because that's pretty standard for circuits with ICs. The
> blue LED I put in is rated at +6v. So, running +5v into it should be
> fine. There could be amperage issues. I guess it's possible that the
> new LED could be trying to pull too much juice, but I doubt it.
> assume +5v because that's pretty standard for circuits with ICs. The
> blue LED I put in is rated at +6v. So, running +5v into it should be
> fine. There could be amperage issues. I guess it's possible that the
> new LED could be trying to pull too much juice, but I doubt it.
Actually standard red LED are around 2v not 5v. Generally LED uses a resistor in line to drop the voltage and limit current to about 20mA. Blue (and both purple and white LED) have higher voltage and current requirement. Usually 3.5v but varies with the specific type. There are 5v LED but it often have built in resistor.
Normally LED (even blue) shouldn't draw too much and when you use blue LED without changing the resistor value, it'll be drawing a bit less than optimal and will glow a bit dimmer but won't cause problem. I'm more inclined to think a wire got crossed somewhere, a blob of solder dripped somewhere or something that is causing the short.
> I've had my NES since around 1990, and it's got tons of hours on it.
> So, dirty contacts and general wear and tear are probably issues,
> too. In any case, I disabled the lockout chip on the NES and now
> everything works fine. Actually, I'd say everything works great.
> Disabling the chips is probably the single greatest thing you can do
> to a Nintendo.
Great but not all grreat as there's very few 3rd party unlicensed games that won't work at all without the lockout chip. Those are the same games that won't work with top loading NES either. Other than that, 99.9% of the games will work fine and no more blinking even if the screen is not scrambled or blank.
To disable the lockout, you need to snip pin 4 of the lockout chip. On the bottom side of the mainboard (compoment side), look near the connector for a small chip with the silkscreen CIC next to it. Pin 1 starts counterclocwise from the notch or dot on the chip as illustrated below:
-------------
) |
-------------
1 2 3 4 5 ...
1 2 3 4 5 ...
4th pin is the one you want to disable. Although there are many way, a small flat screwdriver (like glasses repair screwdriver) can be used to force pin 4 out of the chip. This mod is permanet and if you accidently break the wrong pin out, it's ruined. If you are not sure or not comfortable with the instruction, use Google for more detailed instruction and maybe picture or 2.
It should be noted that Rev 11 of the board has additional change that prevents some unlicensed games from working. The remedy was to cut out a 1 megaohm resistor that is soldered next to the lockout chip but it has been a while so someone will need to verify that first. Board revision can be found on the compoment side of the board. I have seen rev 04 through 11 but never 03 or older.
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