Super Famicom Capacitor Replacement Guide

Super Famicom

Capacitor lists for the Super Famicom and its Super Nintendo siblings, by board revision. Most of the electrolytics on these machines are surface-mount parts, and the board revisions differ enough that a list for the wrong revision will have you looking for capacitors that are not there. Read the revision off the PCB silkscreen before you order anything.

The Super Famicom is not a machine with a reputation for leaking capacitors — unlike the Game Gear or the PC Engine Duo, where recapping is effectively mandatory. The usual advice from restorers is to open the console and look rather than to recap on principle. The catch with surface-mount electrolytics is that early leakage hides underneath the can, so a board can look clean and still be quietly corroding.

Discharge C67 before you start

Nintendo's own first step in the console disassembly procedure is not about screws:

Before disassembling, switch the console's power supply ON with the AC adapter disconnected, in order to discharge capacitor C67. This capacitor is known to discharge during maintenance, causing damage to components.

C67 is the main reservoir on the DC input and it holds its charge after the adapter is out. Flicking the power switch on with nothing plugged in empties it through the console's own load. It costs nothing, and it is the difference between a clean recap and a damaged board.

How solid are these numbers

Four sources agree on the Super Famicom and SNES capacitor lists where they overlap — including, unusually, a Nintendo document:

• Nintendo's own parts list, in the Playtronic Manual Técnico do Super NES. Its console parts list gives the chip electrolytics as 10 µF/16 V ×3, 33 µF/25 V ×2 and 2.2 µF ×1 — which is exactly the SHVC-CPU-01 complement of C61/C65/C66, C63/C64 and C62, in the right quantities.
• The SNES schematic hosted on this wiki, drawn for the SHVC-SOUND, SNS-CPU-GPM-01/02 and SNS-CPU-RGB-01/02 boards.
• Console5's TechWiki, a secondary source whose lists are compiled from physical boards.
• Altomare's capacitor list, compiled from boards the author repaired personally, which adds can diameters, lead pitch and heights.

On the SNS-CPU-GPM boards the schematic and Console5 agree on every shared designator and value. The one designator Console5 lists that the schematic does not show is C67, which Console5 records as "not present on North American units" — and the schematic is a North American drawing. The two sources are consistent even in what they omit, and Nintendo's own description of the GPM redesign says C67 was one of the parts removed.

One disagreement, and it is in the safe direction. Nintendo's parts list specifies the 2.2 µF chip electrolytic at 25 V; Console5 and Altomare both record the part fitted at C62 as 50 V. Since C62 sits in the same circuit either way, and a higher voltage rating is never a hazard, fit 50 V and the question does not arise. It is noted here only so that a reader comparing the manual against the community lists is not left wondering which is wrong.

SHVC-CPU-01 — the original Super Famicom board

SHVC-CPU-01 (1990)

Designator	Value	Voltage	Package	Note
C50	47 µF	10 V	Radial, 6.3 mm can	On the SHVC-SOUND module
C51	47 µF	10 V	Radial, 6.3 mm can	On the SHVC-SOUND module
C57	100 µF	6 V	SMD, 6.3 mm
C58	100 µF	6 V	SMD, 6.3 mm
C59	100 µF	6 V	SMD, 6.3 mm
C60	100 µF	6 V	SMD, 6.3 mm
C61	10 µF	16 V	SMD, 4.0 mm
C62	2.2 µF	50 V	SMD, 4.0 mm
C63	33 µF	25 V	SMD, 6.3 mm
C64	33 µF	25 V	SMD, 6.3 mm
C65	10 µF	16 V	SMD, 4.0 mm
C66	10 µF	16 V	SMD, 4.0 mm
C67	1000 µF	25 V	Radial, 13 mm can, 5 mm pitch, 25 mm tall	Main reservoir on the DC input

Thirteen electrolytics in total.

C50 and C51 are on the sound module, not the mainboard. The SHVC-SOUND daughterboard is where the S-SMP, S-DSP, audio SRAM and the µPD6376 DAC live, and it carries these two capacitors. The clearance between the module PCB and its shield is only about 8 mm, and the original parts were roughly 5 mm tall — do not fit a standard-height 47 µF part here, it will not go back together. The board footprint is 5 mm pitch but the original capacitors were 2 mm pitch with the legs bent out.

C67 is 25 V rated and must stay that way. It sits on the rectified DC input, upstream of the regulator, on a supply that is nominally 10 V but unregulated. A 16 V part in this position is under-specified.

Later Nintendo-16 boards

Console5's lists for the later revisions are labelled with the North American SNS- and European SNSP- board numbers. They are included here because a great many Super Famicoms in circulation have been compared against them and because the designator scheme is shared, but if your silkscreen does not say one of these numbers, the list does not apply to your board.

SNS-CPU-GPM-01 and SNS-CPU-GPM-02

SNS-CPU-GPM-01 / -02

Designator	Value	Voltage	Package	Note
C57	220 µF	6.3 V	Radial, 6.6 mm can, 2.5 mm pitch
C59	220 µF	6.3 V	Radial, 6.6 mm can, 2.5 mm pitch
C61	10 µF	16 V	SMD, 4.0 mm
C62	2.2 µF	50 V	SMD, 4.0 mm
C63	33 µF	25 V	SMD, 6.3 mm
C64	33 µF	25 V	SMD, 6.3 mm
C65	10 µF	16 V	SMD, 4.0 mm
C66	10 µF	16 V	SMD, 4.0 mm
C67	1000 µF	25 V	Radial, 13 mm can, 5 mm pitch, 25 mm tall	Not fitted on North American units
C73	47 µF	16 V	SMD, 6.3 mm

SNS-CPU-RGB-01, SNS-CPU-RGB-02, SNS-CPU-APU-01

The designators are renumbered entirely on this generation — nothing in the C57–C67 range carries over.

SNS-CPU-RGB-01 / -02 and SNS-CPU-APU-01

Designator	Value	Voltage	Note
C9	2.2 µF	50 V
C12	10 µF	16 V
C13	10 µF	16 V
C14	33 µF	25 V
C15	47 µF	16 V
C16	33 µF	25 V
C17	33 µF	25 V
C18	220 µF	6.3 V
C19	220 µF	6.3 V
C58	1000 µF	25 V	Not fitted on North American units

SNS-CPU-1CHIP-01, -02 and -03

Identical to the RGB/APU list above, including C58.

SNN-CPU-01 (SNES Jr / SNES mini)

SNN-CPU-01

Designator	Value	Voltage	Note
C9	2.2 µF	50 V
C14	33 µF	25 V	See note below
C15	47 µF	16 V
C16	33 µF	25 V	See note below
C17	33 µF	25 V	See note below
C52	1000 µF	25 V	Not fitted on North American units
C58	10 µF	16 V
C59	10 µF	16 V
C60	220 µF	6.3 V

Some SNES Jr units left the factory with 33 µF/50 V parts at C14, C16 and C17 — probably a part shortage during assembly rather than a design change. Console5 notes that the highest voltage anywhere in the machine is the supply coming in from the external transformer, so a 25 V part is correct and the 50 V parts were simply what was to hand.

PAL boards

SNSP-CPU-01 and SNSP-CPU-02

Designator	Value	Voltage	Package	Note
C59	10 µF	25 V	SMD, 6.3 mm	Fit a bipolar part here. Original on -01; already bipolar on -02
C60	10 µF	50 V	SMD, 6.3 mm
C61	10 µF	50 V	SMD, 6.3 mm
C62	2.2 µF	50 V	SMD, 4.0 mm
C63	33 µF	25 V	SMD, 6.3 mm
C64	33 µF	25 V	SMD, 6.3 mm
C65	10 µF	50 V	SMD, 6.3 mm
C66	10 µF	50 V	SMD, 6.3 mm
C67	2200 µF	25 V	Radial, 13–16 mm can, 25 mm tall	Main reservoir. The -01 is 16 mm / 7.5 mm pitch; the -02 board has multiple hole positions
C73	47 µF	16 V	SMD, 6.3 mm

The C59 position is a genuine Nintendo design fault rather than an ageing problem: the original polarised part sits where the polarity reverses. Nintendo addressed it in the SNSP-CPU-02 revision, and some consoles were retrofitted by Nintendo with a bipolar part — those carry a small round "C59" sticker on the underside. If you are recapping an SNSP-CPU-01, fit a bipolar capacitor at C59 whatever was there before.

The PAL reservoir is 2200 µF against the Japanese and North American 1000 µF because the PAL SNES takes a 9 V AC supply and has to rectify it, while the Super Famicom and the North American SNES take DC.

SNSP-CPU-1CHIP-01 and SNSP-CPU-1CHIP-02

Designator	Value	Voltage	Note
C9	2.2 µF	50 V
C12	10 µF	16 V
C13	10 µF	16 V
C14	33 µF	25 V
C15	47 µF	16 V
C16	33 µF	25 V
C17	33 µF	25 V
C18	220 µF	6.3 V
C19	220 µF	6.3 V
C59	10 µF	25 V	Bipolar
C71	10 µF	50 V
C72	2200 µF	25 V	Main reservoir

GPM boards

Nintendo's manual documents a later mainboard built by the "ground-plane method", which allowed the lower RF shield to be deleted. Two changes matter for a recap: C67 and the 4 MHz oscillator were removed, and the sound module circuitry was built directly onto the mainboard rather than on a daughterboard. On a GPM board there is no reservoir at C67 to discharge and no SHVC-SOUND module carrying C50 and C51.

Revisions with no published list

No per-position capacitor list has been published for the Japanese SHVC-CPU boards later than SHVC-CPU-01, or for the SHVC-1CHIP boards, as distinct from their SNS- and SNSP- equivalents. If your board carries one of those numbers, read your own board: the designators are silkscreened, and the value and voltage are printed on every can.

Replacement procedure

1. Discharge C67 as described above.
2. Open the console. Six security screws in the lower case, taking a 4.5 mm Gamebit driver. The sound module, where fitted, comes off with two screws on its far side and lifts straight up.
3. Remove the RF shield and lift the mainboard out of the lower shell, taking care with the cartridge connector and the sound module.
4. Photograph the board before you remove anything. Polarity on surface-mount electrolytics is marked by a stripe or a bevel on the can, and it is not consistent between positions.
5. Remove the surface-mount capacitors by heating both ends. Hot air at a moderate setting, or a fine iron with fresh solder and flux added to both terminations, then rock the can gently. Do not lever a capacitor off — that takes the pad with it.
6. Clean the pads. Old electrolyte is corrosive and will keep working on the traces if it is left. Isopropyl alcohol and a nylon brush, then inspect under magnification for pads that have gone dull or traces that have thinned.
7. Fit the new parts to the correct value, voltage and polarity, tacking one end before soldering the other.
8. Inspect for bridges under magnification and check for continuity between adjacent pads before powering up.

Through-hole positions — C50/C51 on the sound module and the main reservoir — come out with braid or a pump in the normal way. Mind the height limits noted above.

Recommended parts

• 105 °C rated capacitors from a reputable manufacturer.
• Match or exceed the original voltage rating. The 25 V positions sit on the unregulated input side and genuinely need 25 V.
• Fit a bipolar part at C59 on PAL SNSP-CPU-01 boards.
• Surface-mount positions can be rebuilt with leaded radial parts if you prefer, provided the height and clearance work out. Kits are sold in both forms.

See Recommended Tools and Capacitor Failure Symptoms.

Related pages

• Super Famicom
• Super Famicom Maintenance Guide
• Super Famicom Troubleshooting Guide
• Super Nintendo Entertainment System
• Nintendo Super NES Technical Manual (Playtronic, Rev. 01-94)
• SNES Schematic
• Battery Explosion, Capacitor or Corrosion Damage