Hey guys,
Sadly my 2600 heavy sixer (Sunnyvale ca) randomly started having the fire button always on issue. It worked totally fine a few months ago and has been sitting in a box. I was getting ready to give it to a friend and I wonder if static shock killed the input chip. I did also find an iffy cap in there, does it look bad to y'all?
I read about testing pin 6, I need to get around to that..
This thing has been the most reliable console I've ever had other than this!
That green cap I think is a mylar capacitor and will cost you maybe 5 cents at retail (and .00001 cents in bulk).
That 4050 is also dirt cheap. Maybe 50 cents to $1 USD at retail. You'll pay more in shipping costs than for the part. Today's CMOS ICs are a bit more robust against static discharge than those made in the 1980s, but don't risk it when you do the replacement. Make sure you use a grounding wrist strap or the like when you desolder the old 4050 and put in the new 4050, partially to protect the 4050 but really to protect that CPU which will probably cost you closer to $11-$20 (just a guess) to replace if it dies.