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Grandstand Invader From Space Capacitor Replacement Guide

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Epoch Invader From Space, Made In Japan, Copyright 1980 (Electronic Handheld Game)
Epoch's own Invader From Space (photograph Joe Haupt, CC BY-SA 2.0). Grandstand sold the same game in the UK. No freely licensed photograph of its board has been found.

The electrolytic capacitors on the main board of the Grandstand Invader From Space, Epoch's 1980 VFD tabletop game sold in the UK by Grandstand.[1] No manufacturer's parts list or schematic has been published. The main board carries four electrolytics, at C07, C08, C10 and one position whose designator cannot be seen in any published photograph. One value has been published for a Grandstand unit: C07, 330 µF 10 V, found bulging and leaking on a dead game.[2] The other three come from the Korean collector analo9's 2023 video of an Epoch-branded Invader From Space, in which the four original capacitors are shown on the board and then set out beside it with their replacements fitted.[3] Faults that are not capacitors are on Grandstand Invader From Space Troubleshooting Guide; general signs of a failing capacitor are on Capacitor Failure Symptoms.

What the capacitors do on this board

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Four AA cells or an adaptor supply 6 V.[4] The NEC D552C 054 microcontroller needs a single −10 V supply, and its outputs drive the NEC FIP9AM18T display tube with lines pulled to −35 V.[5][1] A converter on the main board makes those voltages from the 6 V: an NEC D882 power transistor at S02 and a round TDK transformer marked TZ-91 at I01, with diodes S04, S06 and S07 beside them.[6][2] On a Grandstand unit whose display lit, an owner measured 9.8 V between the microcontroller's supply pins 21 and 41.[7]

The circuit has not been traced for this game, so which capacitor smooths which supply has not been shown. C07 stands next to the transformer and the D882.[2][3] Of the four, only the 47 µF part is rated at 50 V; the others are rated 10 V and 16 V.[3]

Capacitor list

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Positions are given with the component side facing you and the display tube lying along the top of the board, as in analo9's video. In that view the four electrolytics stand in a row below the tube, from C10 at the left-hand end to C07 at the right, with the transformer I01 below C07.[3] The Grandstand units photographed by exxos forum member Icky and by Foxes Den carry the same designators: C07 beside the TZ-91 transformer at I01, C08, C10 and the D882 at S02.[6][2]

Invader From Space main board: electrolytic capacitors
Ref Where it is Original value Voltage How the value is known Replacements fitted by repairers
C07 Right-hand end of the row, beside the transformer I01 and the D882 at S02 330 µF 10 V Read by Foxes Den from the removed part on a Grandstand unit; analo9 removed a 330 µF 10 V part from an Epoch unit and fitted his 330 µF replacement here[2][3] 330 µF 25 V (Foxes Den); Nippon Chemi-Con KMG 330 µF 25 V (analo9)[2][3]
C08 Left of centre; with C07, one of the two largest 220 µF 16 V Partly legible on the board in analo9's video; a 220 µF 16 V part was among those he removed, and his 220 µF replacement went here[3] Nippon Chemi-Con KMG 220 µF 25 V (analo9)[3]
Designator not visible Between C10 and C08, beside the wire link L07 47 µF 50 V By elimination: the one removed value left over once the other three are placed; analo9's 47 µF 50 V replacement went here[3] Samyoung SHL 47 µF 50 V (analo9)[3]
C10 Left-hand end of the row, a slim part 10 µF 16 V Legible on the board in analo9's video[3] A small black part whose marking faces away (analo9)[3]

analo9's frame of the removed parts shows four grey NTK capacitors marked 10 µF 16 V, 47 µF 50 V, 220 µF 16 V and 330 µF 10 V. The video does not show them coming out one at a time, so the table places each by what is legible on the board, by size, and by the replacement fitted in each position; check your own board.[3] The Foxes Den repair replaced all four but published only C07's value.[2]

A second Epoch unit filmed by analo9 later in 2023 has grey parts at C10, C08 and the unnumbered position and a black capacitor at C07 with "16V" on its sleeve, whose value cannot be read. Whether that part is original or a later replacement is not shown.[8]

The silkscreen marks the polarity at each position, for example "+" beside C07 and "−" beside C10.[3][8] The other capacitors visible on the board, among them the large disc C01 beside the tube and C03 to C06, are ceramic discs.[3]

Failure signs on Invader From Space

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  • Foxes Den's Grandstand game was dead. C07 had bulged on top and leaked underneath, leaving residue on the part beside it. All four electrolytics were replaced and the board reflowed, and the game stayed dead until the D882 at S02 was replaced.[2]
  • A Grandstand unit described on the Handheld Museum forum had battery leakage on its board. Every capacitor and transistor was replaced and the board cleaned; the display then lit brightly but showed only an "8", and the owner traced the fault to the microcontroller.[7]
  • analo9 replaced all four electrolytics on his first Epoch unit, and the D882 and a ceramic disc with them; his frames do not show what was wrong with the old parts.[3]
  • The dead game in StezStix Fix's video was cured by a new D882 alone.[9]

New capacitors alone have not been shown to revive a dead Invader From Space. Replace C07, or any capacitor, that bulges, leaks or measures low, clean the board under it, and then test the D882 out of circuit.[2][9] Check the adaptor socket's battery contact first if the game is dead on cells: it was the fault in three published repairs.[10][11][9]

Reading and recording your own board

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  1. Photograph the component side square on before removing anything. Note the board's printed number (96019 on analo9's Epoch main board; its control board is printed 36010-B, and MAME gives the board labels as 36010 A and B).[3][1]
  2. For C07, C08, C10 and the unnumbered capacitor next to L07, write down the value and voltage printed on the sleeve, the maker, the height, and which way the stripe faces. If your board matches analo9's, expect 330 µF 10 V, 220 µF 16 V, 10 µF 16 V and 47 µF 50 V; if it does not, record what you find.[3]
  3. Look under and around C07 for residue, and at the board near the battery holder for leakage.[2][7]
  4. Measure each part once it is out; a meter that reads capacitance and ESR shows a dried-out part.

Replacement procedure

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  1. Take out the four AA cells and unplug any adaptor. Turn the game face down on a soft cloth.[4]
  2. Remove the four cross-head screws in the back.[10][12]
  3. Sticky pads at the display still hold the two halves together. Free them slowly with a thin pry tool; do not pull the halves apart.[10][11] Lift the front cover off and collect the buttons, which can drop out of it.[11]
  4. The boards stay in the rear half. The battery holder, the DC socket and the 36010-B control board are wired to the main board, and the control board joins it through the bare four-wire link L05.[6] analo9 lifted the main board out with the control board, the socket and the piezo speaker still attached to it.[3] Do not flex L05: one of its wires had broken on the Foxes Den unit.[2] The full sequence is on Grandstand Invader From Space General Maintenance.
  5. Note each capacitor's polarity against the silkscreen, then remove it. Keep the iron off the display tube's glass, which lies along the board just above the row of capacitors.[3]
  6. Clean away any residue round C07 with isopropyl alcohol, check the tracks, and seal any copper you have exposed; Foxes Den used conformal coating.[2]
  7. Fit new radial electrolytics of the same capacitance and the same or a higher voltage, the right way round, and no taller than the originals. Both repairers used 25 V parts at C07, and analo9 also at C08.[2][3]
  8. With the board out, test the D882 at S02 out of circuit as an NPN transistor and check the joints on L05.[2][9]
  9. Refit the board and the front cover, replacing the foam pads with thin double-sided foam if the old ones have perished.

After the work

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Checks after recapping
Check Expected Source
Battery holder, fresh cells About 6 V (6.7 V on one unit) [4][9]
Game side of the adaptor socket, no plug inserted The same as at the holder [10][9]
Microcontroller pin 21 to pin 41 About 10 V (NEC specifies −10 V; 9.8 V measured on a unit whose display lit) [5][7]
At switch-on A short tune, and the score readout shows "1" (Level 1) [13][4]
LEVEL, then START LEVEL steps to 2 and 3; START shows "5" and one invader and one UFO appear [4]

No display supply voltages have been published for this game. Keep fingers off the transformer while the game is on.

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References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 MAME source, hh_ucom4.cpp at commit d404316 (retrieved 2026-10-18). Driver notes for Epoch Invader From Space, written from a real board: made in Japan; PCB labels 36010(A/B); NEC uCOM-44 microcontroller labelled D552C 054, 1-bit sound; cyan VFD NEC FIP9AM18T, tube no. 0D; colour overlay making alien rows 1 and 2 blue, 3 and 4 yellow and row 5 red; releases by Epoch (USA) and Grandstand (UK); the file's chip list dates the D552C 054 to 1980. The 1 KB (0x400) program dump is read from the D552C 054 itself. The file header explains NEC's FIP part numbers (the first figure is the number of grids) and notes that VFD colours fade after decades.
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 Balders, "Grandstand Invaders from space game", Foxes Den (repair blog), 15 March 2025 (retrieved 2026-10-18). A Grandstand unit bought dead on eBay, without its battery cover: C07 bulging on top and leaking underneath, with residue on the part beside it; C07 is "a 330uf 10v electrolytic capacitor"; the photograph captioned "New capacitor here" (img_0095, looked at 2026-10-19) shows a blue replacement marked 25 V and 330 µF; the three other old electrolytics were replaced too; still dead after that; most of the board reflowed for dry joints; one wire of the link from the control panel to the main board had broken and was resoldered; the D882 power transistor gave readings "all over the place" and a new one brought the game back; conformal coating put on tracks with exposed copper after cleaning; a cracked case surround glued and reinforced with nylon and superglue; a 3D-printed battery cover needed minor adjustment. Photographs, examined at full size: the base label ("GRANDSTAND ELECTRONIC GAME. Uses 4 Penlight Batteries. Alkaline type recommended. For mains operation use a GRANDSTAND Universal Mains Adaptor. Negative Polarity. Made in Japan."); the front with "GRANDSTAND ELECTRONIC GAME" on the screen surround; the opened game; C07 beside the TDK transformer at I01; the NEC D882 in position S02 (pads E, C, B); the four-wire link L05. The post also says the game used a "Grandstand 5.5V@300mA power adapter", without giving a source.
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 analo9 (analo9 life), "1979 에포크 디지콤 베이더(EPOCH Invader from Space)", YouTube, 11 January 2023 (description read and frames from about 0:08 to 0:34 looked at at full size, 1080p, 2026-10-19). An Epoch-branded unit. The description (in Korean) calls it Epoch's Invader From Space, known in Korea as Digicom Vader, with a single-colour VFD under coloured film, three levels, and the game ending at 1,000 points. The frames show: the board in the rear half of the case with the tube along it, the battery holder, the DC socket and the control board printed 36010-B on the four-wire link (about 0:12); the main board lifted out with the control board, socket and piezo speaker still wired to it (about 0:14); the main board marked 96019 on its component side (about 0:18); the original grey NTK electrolytics in place, C10's sleeve legible as 10 µF 16 V and C08's partly legible as 220 µ... 6V, beside the new parts laid out: a Samyoung SHL 47 µF 50 V, a small black Nippon Chemi-Con part with its value turned away, Nippon Chemi-Con KMG 220 µF 25 V and KMG 330 µF 25 V capacitors, an NEC D882, a small ceramic capacitor and an axial diode (about 0:16); then the removed parts set out below the board, a brown ceramic disc, an NEC D882 Q and four NTK capacitors marked 10 µF 16 V, 47 µF 50 V, 220 µF 16 V and 330 µF 10 V, with the replacements fitted: the KMG 330 µF 25 V at C07 beside the TDK transformer marked TZ-91 at I01, a KMG part at C08, the Samyoung part at the position between C08 and C10 beside the link L07, whose designator is not visible, and a slim black part at C10 (about 0:17). Silkscreen also visible: C01 and C03 to C06 (ceramic discs), S02 to S09, R01 to R16, L04, L06, L08, "+" at C07 and "−" at C10. The written account is on Naver, which could not be opened for this page.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Epoch Co. Ltd, Epoch's Invader From Space: The Game of Cosmic Combat, instruction leaflet, copyright 1980, made in Japan (Epoch Corporation, Englewood, New Jersey). Hosted here as File:Epoch Invader From Space Instructions.pdf: p. 2, power switch ("After each game turn switch to OFF and then back to ON to reset for a new game"), Level button (three speeds; the game starts at Level 1 and shows "1"), Start button, Intercept Control Lever; p. 3, Fire button, the four display zones, digital score readout, "Insert 4 AA batteries", the note that the game "will not operate properly if batteries are weak", that an erratic game or display means the batteries should be checked or replaced, and that they should be removed for long periods, and the A/C-D/C adapter drawing captioned "6-Volts DC, 200 ma" with no polarity shown; p. 5, game ending and scoring (1,000 points shown as three bars).
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 NEC Electronics USA, 1982 Microcomputer Catalog, data sheet "μPD552/μPD553 4-bit single chip microcomputers with vacuum fluorescent display drive capability", p. 165; Bitsavers copy on the Internet Archive (retrieved 2026-10-18). The μPD552 has a 1000 × 8-bit ROM and 64 × 4-bit RAM; it is a PMOS part in a 42-pin DIP running from "a single −10 V power supply"; 27 of its port lines "are capable of being pulled to −35 V in order to drive Vacuum Fluorescent Displays directly"; pin 21 is VSS (supply positive) and pin 41 VGG (supply negative). The family's clock is a ceramic resonator and two capacitors on the CL0 and CL1 inputs (p. 145).
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Icky, "Grandstand Invader From Space - Hand Held Game", exxos forum, 26 March 2024 (retrieved 2026-10-18). A boxed Grandstand unit that worked except for the sound; another member suggested a speaker wire had been pulled off. The photograph of the opened game (IMG_3640, 800 × 1067 pixels), examined at full size: the brown main board with the Epoch logo, the display tube lying along it with tape over its lower end; the TDK transformer marked TZ-91 at I01 with C07 beside it; electrolytics at C08 and C10; transistor S02 with diodes S04, S06 and S07 beside it; the piezo speaker disc at lower left on two leads; the FIRE button's coil spring and the intercept lever (J01) at the bottom of the main board; the battery holder along the right-hand side; the DC socket at the top right, wired with red and black leads; a small grey control board printed 36010-B carrying two pushbuttons and the battery leads' + and − pads, joined to the main board by the four-wire link L05.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Handheld Museum forum, "Invaders from Space repair", December 2019 (retrieved 2026-10-18). A Grandstand unit with battery leakage on the board: all capacitors and transistors replaced and the board cleaned, but the display, though bright, showed only an "8" at the top and there was no sound; 9.8 V measured between pins 21 and 41 of the microcontroller; the owner identified the 400 kHz ceramic oscillator/filter as a TDK FCR 400 and the round component as the TDK transformer; a Murata CSB400J 400 kHz part fitted in its place made no difference; the site administrator (Rik) noted that the display lighting at all meant the transformer was working and that each game's microcontroller is specific to it; unresolved.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 analo9 (analo9 life), "1979 에포크 인베이더 VFD게임기(EPOCH Invader from Space, Digicom Vader repair)", YouTube, 13 October 2023 (description read and frames from about 3:45 to 4:10 looked at at full size, 1080p, 2026-10-19). A second Epoch-branded unit, its main board out of the case with the control board 36010-B and the DC socket still wired to it: grey electrolytics at C10, C08 and the position between them beside L07, and a black capacitor at C07 with "16V" legible on its sleeve and its value not legible; the TDK TZ-91 transformer at I01; "+" printed beside C07.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 StezStix Fix, "A VIEWER sent me this Broken INVADER FROM SPACE Game | Can I FIX It?", YouTube, 30 September 2023 (watched through its transcript, retrieved 2026-10-18). A unit found dead in a loft: 6.7 V at the battery holder but not past the DC socket, whose contacts were cleaned rather than bypassed; an intermittent connection at the edge of a battery spring, secured with solder; then 6 V into the board but only about 0.5 V out of a small transistor that ran at 50 to 80 °C, its markings gone; the D882 beside it gave inconsistent diode-test readings in and out of circuit; with a new D882 fitted and the original small transistor refitted, the game ran from a 6 V bench supply and then reassembled; very loud.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Retro Tech Repair, "Grandstand Invader From Space Game Repair and Restore - Retro Games", YouTube, 15 January 2019 (watched through its transcript, retrieved 2026-10-18). Sold as working only from an adaptor; dead on batteries; four Phillips screws in the back, then sticky pads glued to the back of the display that had to be prised away; switch bridged with a jumper; about 5.5 V arrived on the red wire at the DC socket but did not pass through it; with no plug inserted the socket's insertion-detect contact should short to the sleeve and did not; the game came up on a 6 V bench supply with the centre pin negative plugged into the socket; the socket was replaced with one taken from a scrap Grandstand football game and the game then ran on batteries; no sound until the piezo sounder's dull, oxidised solder joint was cleaned with a fibreglass pen and resoldered with flux; case cleaned with a toothbrush and window cleaner.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Kip Hakes, "Repairing a Grandstand Invader from Space from eBay! - Fix it Friday", YouTube, 18 August 2023 (watched through its transcript, retrieved 2026-10-18). Reads the base label ("uses four penlight batteries, alkaline type recommended; for mains operation use a Grandstand Universal Mains Adaptor, negative polarity"); sticky pads hold the front after the screws are out; the power switch is a slider over two contacts; dead on batteries; with 6 V from a bench supply he traced the fault to the DC socket and bypassed it by soldering the positive lead past it; the socket had the negative wires on its centre terminal and the positive wires on its outer terminal; black staining on the board of unknown cause; "very loud"; the camera shows the display flickering, the eye does not.
  12. ↑ Glen's Retro Show, "Invader From Space", YouTube, 26 August 2016 (watched through its transcript, retrieved 2026-10-18). An Epoch-branded unit; the owner's childhood game stopped working when he used a Radio Shack adaptor with the polarity set wrongly ("it popped something"); four screws in the back; old foam inside was stuck so firmly that he opened the case only far enough to clean the contacts; switching on and off was "a little finicky" until he cleaned "the power connector".
  13. ↑ ArcadeUSA, "Epoch's Invader From Space!", YouTube, 9 February 2019 (watched through its transcript, retrieved 2026-10-18). An Epoch-branded unit: four AA cells behind the back; it plays a tune when switched on; LEVEL selects the difficulty before START; "freaking loud".


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