Goldstar GDO-101M Capacitor Replacement Guide

Community drawing of the GDO-101M power supply board 6870S-263AA, with measured voltages

The Goldstar GDO-101M has 48 electrolytic capacitors on four boards: the main board, the power supply board, the CD interface board and the CD drive board. The 3DO Development Repo lists all of them as a common failure on the GDO-101 and GDO-202. The values below are Console5's, read from production boards and listed by board number. GoldStar published no parts list for the console. The power supply values have been checked against a community drawing of the 6870S-263AA board.

Before you start

• Unplug the console. The mains goes straight to the transformer, and the POWER switch acts only on the regulators, so the transformer is live whenever the plug is in.
• Note each capacitor's polarity before removing it. Two positions on the drive board are non-polarised.
• Check the board numbers against the headings below. The lists are for the boards Console5 used; other production runs may differ.

Power supply board 6870S-263AA

Power supply electrolytics

Console5 ref	Ref on the drawing	Capacitance	Voltage	Position on the drawing
C2	C3	4700 µF	35 V	Reservoir after the bridge DB1, about 18 V
C4	C4	1000 µF	16 V	+12 V output of the PQ12RF2 (IC1)
C8	C9	1000 µF	16 V	+5 V output of the L4960 (IC2)
C10	C10	10 µF	50 V	L4960 soft-start pin 6

Console5 and the drawing agree on the values but number two of the positions differently: Console5 calls the 4700 µF reservoir C2 and the 5 V output capacitor C8, while the drawing calls them C3 and C9 and uses C2 for a 0.1 µF (104) capacitor across the AC input. Identify the parts by value and position before ordering. The L4960's soft-start pin is pin 6.

Main board 6870S-260AA (940914-1)

Main board electrolytics

Ref	Capacitance	Voltage
C3, C22, C35, C39, C78, C80, C91, C93, C111, C112, C120, C121, C124, C125, C127	100 µF	16 V
C32, C68, C73	470 µF	10 V

ConsoleMods reports cold-boot faults on the GDO-101M cured by replacing C123, beside the coin cell, with a 22–100 µF capacitor of 16 V or more. C123 is not on Console5's list, so check whether it is fitted on your board.

CD interface board 1EA4B11A09900

CD interface board electrolytics

Ref	Capacitance	Voltage
C809	100 µF	6.3 V
C814	470 µF	16 V
C816	470 µF	16 V

CD drive board 1EA4B11A09800

CD drive board electrolytics

Ref	Capacitance	Voltage	Notes
C401	470 µF	16 V
C403	1 µF	50 V
C404	100 µF	10 V
C501	10 µF	16 V
C504	33 µF	10 V
C507	100 µF	6.3 V
C508	100 µF	10 V
C510	33 µF	10 V
C517	100 µF	10 V
C518	10 µF	16 V	Non-polarised
C524	100 µF	10 V
C525	100 µF	10 V
C528	0.22 µF	50 V	Non-polarised, miniature
C530	100 µF	10 V
C535	0.47 µF	50 V
C540	100 µF	10 V
C542	22 µF	16 V
C548	33 µF	10 V
C701	100 µF	6.3 V
C707	100 µF	6.3 V
C901	470 µF	16 V
C903	470 µF	16 V
C909	100 µF	16 V

Console5's kit replaces the miniature 0.22 µF non-polarised capacitor with a ceramic capacitor.

Procedure

1. Unplug the console and open it. Lift the shield off the top of the drive to reach the drive boards.
2. Take out one board at a time. Unplug the drive's flexible cable gently: it is fragile and a common failure in its own right.
3. Photograph each board and mark the polarity of every electrolytic before removing it.
4. Remove each capacitor, clean the pads of any electrolyte, and fit the new part with the same polarity. Fit C518 and C528 either way round; they are non-polarised.
5. Use parts of the same capacitance and at least the same voltage rating, and of the same diameter where space is tight.
6. Refit the boards, reconnect every cable and check the supply before playing a disc.

After the recap

Measure the supply at the power board's output connector CON3 and compare it with the drawing:

Expected supply voltages (6870S-263AA drawing)

Point	Expected
Reservoir capacitor (4700 µF)	About 18 V
CON3 pins 3 and 4	11.88 V
CON3 pins 5 and 6	5.05 V
CON3 pin 7 (CTL), console on	4.80 V

Then load a game disc and an audio CD. A console that still loops at the logo after a recap usually has a drive cable or microswitch fault; see the Goldstar GDO-101M Troubleshooting Guide.

GDO-101 (Korea)

The Korean GDO-101 is the same design with a 220 V, 60 Hz mains rating. archive3do reports that the Korean consoles share the hardware revisions of their export counterparts, so use these lists where the board numbers match those above. Console5's power supply list is for the North American console's 6870S-263AA board, so check the number on the Korean console's power board before ordering.

Related pages

• Goldstar GDO-101M 3DO
• Goldstar GDO-101M General Maintenance
• Goldstar GDO-101M Troubleshooting Guide
• Capacitor Failure Symptoms
• Recommended Tools