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Grandstand TV Game 2600 Mk II Capacitor Replacement Guide

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Adman Grandstand 3600 MK II Colour (14)
The board of a colour 3600 Mk II, the 2600 Mk II's colour counterpart with the same panel; this is not a 2600 Mk II. The 4.433618 MHz crystal, green trimmer and small light-blue electrolytic at top right belong to the colour circuit, which a black-and-white console does not need. No photograph of a 2600 Mk II board has been published.

The Grandstand TV Game 2600 Mk II (Adman Grandstand TVG-2600 Mk II) is a black-and-white Pong console with a light gun, dated 1977 by the Centre for Computing History.[1][2] Only one example has been described in public, and nobody has published a photograph of its inside, a parts list or a schematic, so not one of its capacitors is known. The museum's photographs show the same panel, hand controllers and Thundercolt gun as the colour Grandstand TV Game 3600 Mk II, without the COLOUR legend,[3] and the 3600 Mk II's board has been photographed. Below are what that board shows, which of its parts a black-and-white console should not need, what General Instrument's black-and-white reference circuit uses, and how to record and recap a 2600 Mk II when one is opened.

Care is on Grandstand TV Game 2600 Mk II General Maintenance; symptoms are on Grandstand TV Game 2600 Mk II Troubleshooting Guide.

What has been published about the 2600 Mk II

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  • A Pong-style console of 1977 with tennis, football, squash and target shooting, two hand controllers and a Thundercolt Super Marksman 304 light gun; the museum's example has serial number 93097.[1]
  • Panel: POWER, BALL SERVE, BALL SPEED, BALL ANGLE and PLAYER SIZE switches, GAME SELECT switches A/C and B/D, orange RESET and blue SERVE buttons, LEFT PLAYER and RIGHT PLAYER sockets, and no COLOUR legend.[3]
  • Wikipedia's list of Grandstand consoles gives it as black and white with six games, made in Hong Kong.[2]
  • Nothing has been published about its power supply, base label, chip or board.

The 3600 Mk II board, for comparison

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Electrolytic capacitors on one photographed colour 3600 Mk II board (not a 2600 Mk II)
Position on the 3600 Mk II board (switches along the top) Capacitance Voltage Part of the colour circuit?
Top edge, above the second and third slide switches 220 µF Not legible Not known
Left end, above the 2.000000 MHz crystal (two parts) Not legible Not legible Not known
Bottom left corner, below the crystal Not legible 10 V Not known
Top right, beside the green trimmer and the 4.433618 MHz crystal Not legible Not legible Probably: it stands beside the colour crystal and trimmer

Read at full size from File:Adman Grandstand 3600 MK II Colour (14).jpg.[4] The 3600 Mk II's own guide is Grandstand TV Game 3600 Mk II Capacitor Replacement Guide.

GI's application notes for PAL colour on the AY-3-8500 build the colour encoder round a 4.43 MHz crystal subcarrier oscillator,[5] and the 3600 Mk II has such a crystal with a trimmer beside it.[4] A black-and-white console has no use for one. So if the 2600 Mk II is built on a version of the same board, expect the colour section, with the electrolytic beside it, to be missing or unpopulated; if it is built on a different board, none of the positions above apply. Neither has been confirmed.

General Instrument's black-and-white circuit

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The 2600 Mk II's six games (tennis, football, squash, practice and two target games) are the six that GI's AY-3-8500 plays, and the 3600 Mk II with the same panel uses that chip.[2][6][4] GI's System Diagram 1 shows a black-and-white console built round it:[6]

  • A single 10 µF electrolytic across the supply, between VCC and VSS. This is the only electrolytic in GI's diagram.
  • A 0.1 µF capacitor on each bat input, charged through the bat potentiometer.
  • 0.2 µF in parallel with 15 kΩ feeding the 2N2222 that drives the speaker.
  • Two 75 pF capacitors in the 2 MHz oscillator, and 0.01 µF on the reset input.
  • The video signals combined through a 4072 OR gate and a resistor network before the modulator, with no colour encoder.

A manufacturer's board may add more parts than GI's diagram, around the supply and the modulator in particular, so treat this as the minimum to expect.

Signs of trouble

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  • Swollen, split or leaking capacitors, or deposits round their leads. The 3600 Mk II's board shows light-coloured deposits in the corner beside its "SE 10 V" capacitor.[4]
  • A rolling picture, hum bars, or a picture that holds only on cells or only on an adaptor, once the supply, the switches and the television's tuning have been checked. See Grandstand TV Game 2600 Mk II Troubleshooting Guide and Capacitor Failure Symptoms.
  • A console that will not power up is not proof of bad capacitors. A 3600 Mk II sold as having no power was repaired with a new transistor, wiring repairs, controller-jack repairs and switch cleaning, according to the chapter list of the repair video; no capacitor work is listed.[7]
  • Leaked cells: see Battery Explosion, Capacitor or Corrosion Damage.

Recording a 2600 Mk II board

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A 2600 Mk II board has never been described in public, so whoever opens one first can fill the gap:

  1. Photograph the base label before opening the console. Its supply rating and any polarity marking are unknown.
  2. Photograph both sides of the board, square-on and in good light.
  3. Write down the game chip's full marking, and whether there is a 4.43 MHz crystal or an empty space where the colour circuit sits on the 3600 Mk II.
  4. For every electrolytic, record its position, capacitance, voltage, maker, size and stripe side; measure each one you remove with a capacitance or ESR meter.

Opening and recapping

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No account of opening a 2600 Mk II has been published. The 3600 Mk II, with the same panel and controls, opens like this:[8][9]

  1. Take out the cells, and unplug the adaptor, both hand controllers and the gun.
  2. Remove the four screws that hold the base, and lift it off.
  3. The back of the board is now visible, held to the upper case by two screws; the RF lead is held to the case by a clip. The slide switches and the controller sockets are soldered to the board, so lift it out gently.
  4. Change the capacitors singly. Record each one, remove it, clear its holes, and solder in a 105 °C part of equal capacitance, equal or higher voltage, the same pitch and the same polarity.
  5. Refit the board with the switches in their slots, then the base.

If your 2600 Mk II differs from this, photograph each step and record what you find.

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  • A temperature-controlled iron, solder wick or a pump, flux, and isopropyl alcohol for the board.
  • A multimeter for the supply checks and an ESR or capacitance meter for the old parts.
  • Radial electrolytics from a current maker (Nichicon, Panasonic, Rubycon or similar), 105 °C, in the values read from the board.
  • A current-limited bench supply. Read the voltage and polarity from your console's own label and socket first: no source gives them for the 2600 Mk II. The 3600 Mk II's label asks for 9 V at 100 mA, and its owner gives its socket as centre positive.[10][8] See also Recommended Tools.

Checks after recapping

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After recapping a 2600 Mk II
Check Expected Source
Supply As printed on your console's base label Not published for the 2600 Mk II
Game chip supply, if it is an AY-3-8500 (pin 4 to pin 2) +6 to +7 V; 40 mA typical, 60 mA at most at +7 V [6]
Game chip clock, if an AY-3-8500 (pin 17) 2.012160 MHz ±1% [6]
Picture A black-and-white playfield, bats and scores, steady on an analogue set [2]
Target games Need the gun plugged in and a CRT television [1][8]
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References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Centre for Computing History, "Adman Grandstand TVG-2600 Mk II", CH22783 (retrieved 2026-10-19): "a Pong-style game console from 1977. It includes Tennis, Football, Squash and Target Shooting with the supplied Light gun. Two handheld controls are also included"; serial number 93097; the light gun is a "Thundercolt Super Marksman 304"; manufacturer Adman.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Wikipedia, "Grandstand (game manufacturer)", table of integrated Pong consoles (retrieved 2026-10-18): "Adman Grandstand T.V. Game 2600 Mk. II", black and white, six games (Tennis, Football, Squash, Practice, Target 1 and Target 2), made in Hong Kong, 1977 to 1979.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 The console photograph on the Centre for Computing History record CH22783 (not freely licensed; examined 2026-10-19): a black panel with POWER (OFF/ON), BALL SERVE (MANUAL/AUTO), BALL SPEED, BALL ANGLE and PLAYER SIZE under AMATEUR and PROFESSIONAL, GAME SELECT switches A/C and B/D, the game key (TENNIS A-B, FOOTBALL A-D, SQUASH B-C, PRACTICE C-D, TARGET 1-B, TARGET 2-D), an orange RESET and a blue SERVE button, and LEFT PLAYER and RIGHT PLAYER sockets with two grey cylindrical hand controllers; no COLOUR legend.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Photograph by José Antonio Ortigueira Amor, File:Adman Grandstand 3600 MK II Colour (14).jpg (CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons), examined at full size (3720 × 1676 pixels): the component side of a colour 3600 Mk II board, with "GI AY-3-8500 7831 TAIWAN", Motorola "MC14075B", "CD4069UBE RCA 827", crystals "2.000000 K.D.S" and "4.433618 K.D.S", a green trimmer beside the 4.433618 MHz crystal, and five electrolytic capacitors: a blue one printed "220 µF" on the top edge, two blue ones above the 2 MHz crystal, a blue one printed "SE" and "10 V" in the bottom left corner, and a small light-blue one beside the trimmer; light-coloured deposits near the "SE" capacitor.
  5. ↑ General Instrument Corporation, GIMINI TV Game Circuits, January 1978, pp. 82-83, Figs. 9 and 10 of the application notes on PAL colour encoding for the AY-3-8500, PDF hosted by Pong-Story (retrieved 2026-10-19): a PAL colour encoder with a 2.00 MHz crystal oscillator for the game chip and a sub-carrier oscillator on a 4.43 MHz crystal; and an encoder built from 4075 and 4069 CMOS gates with a 4.43 MHz crystal, run from +6.5 V.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 General Instrument Corporation, GIMINI TV Game Circuits, January 1978, pp. 4-7, PDF hosted by Pong-Story (retrieved 2026-10-19). AY-3-8500: six games (tennis, soccer, squash, practice, rifle 1, rifle 2); pin 2 VSS, pin 4 VCC, +6 to +7 V; 40 mA typical, 60 mA maximum at +7 V; clock pin 17, 2.012160 MHz ±1%. System Diagram 1, "Black and white implementation" (p. 4): a 10 µF electrolytic across VCC and VSS; each bat input fed from a 1 MΩ potentiometer and 10 kΩ into a 0.1 µF capacitor; the speaker driven by a 2N2222 whose base is fed through 15 kΩ in parallel with 0.2 µF; a 2 MHz oscillator with two 75 pF capacitors; the video outputs combined in a 4072 OR gate and resistors (330 Ω, 510 Ω, 220 Ω) to the modulator. System Diagram 2 (p. 5): 0.01 µF from the reset input (pin 25) to VSS, beside the reset button.
  7. ↑ My Mate VINCE, "Repairing a Vintage 1977 TV Games Console with MANY FAULTS - Grandstand ADMAN 3600 MK2", YouTube, 18 June 2022 (description and chapter list read 2026-10-19): bought "sold as no power"; chapters for opening the console, replacing the transistor, wiring repairs, fixing controller jacks, cleaning switches, initial testing, the controller and light gun, and gameplay.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 José Antonio Ortigueira Amor, "Consola pong Adman Grandstand TV Game 3600 MK II Colour (1978)", Retro Ordenadores Orty (collector's blog, in Spanish), 23 November 2023 (retrieved 2026-10-19): on the 3600 Mk II, a socket on the left side for 9 V DC, centre positive; the light gun plugs into a jack and a mini-jack on the right side, and the target games appear only when it is plugged in; four screws hold the lower case, and removing it exposes the back of the board, held to the upper case by two screws.
  9. ↑ Photograph by José Antonio Ortigueira Amor, File:Adman Grandstand 3600 MK II Colour (13).jpg (CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons): the upper case of a 3600 Mk II from below with the base removed; the solder side of the board, held by two screws; the RF lead held to the case by a plastic clip and screw.
  10. ↑ Photograph by José Antonio Ortigueira Amor, File:Adman Grandstand 3600 MK II Colour (15).jpg (CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons): the base label of a 3600 Mk II, "BATTERY: UM-2 x 6 OR AC ADAPTOR (9V / 100 MA)", made in Hong Kong.


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