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Philips VG-8010 General Maintenance

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Philips VG-8010 inside
VG-8010 with the top removed: UHF modulator and PAL encoder board at the left, main board at the right

The Philips VG-8010 has no power supply inside the case: it runs from the external VU-0022, which also powered the VG-8000 and the Philips VG-5000.[1] Philips's service manual gives five adjustments, one in the supply and four in the computer. Repairers have reported a failed output capacitor in the supply and corroded tracks in the computer's reset circuit.[2][3][4]

Safety

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The VU-0022 is a switch-mode mains supply. Its reservoir capacitors charge to about 310 V, and the hatched printing on its board marks the parts connected directly to the mains.[2][5] Unplug it and give the reservoirs time to discharge before opening it. The computer itself only receives +5 V, +12 V and -12 V.

Opening the computer

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Philips VG-8000 and VG-8010 exploded view (service manual)
Exploded view from the service manual

The top case and keyboard are one assembly (item 1 in the service manual's exploded view), screwed to the bottom case from underneath. Inside, the encoder board and UHF modulator sit at the left and the main board at the right, with the cartridge sockets, IC sockets and rear connectors on the main board.[6]

  1. Unplug the supply from the computer. Remove any cartridge.
  2. Turn the computer over and remove the screws in the bottom case.
  3. Lift the top case and keyboard away carefully; the keyboard is joined to the main board by its connector (an 18-way socket).[6]
  4. The mechanical parts list includes 28-pin and 40-pin IC sockets, so some of the large chips can be lifted and reseated without soldering.[6]

The main board and the encoder board are joined by a row of pins. A VG-8010 that had lost its colour had broken pins at that joint, so check them whenever the boards are separated or the colour is wrong.[7]

VU-0022 power supply

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The procedure below is from the VG 5000 Bazar repair notes for the same supply.[3]

  1. Unplug it. Turn it over and remove the four cross-head screws in the wells at the corners, then lift off the light grey cover.
  2. Unplug the lead from the on/off switch (spread the horseshoe-shaped catch and pull the grey plug) and lift the switch out of its housing. The board can then be lifted out.
  3. Check the fuse (VL213, 630 mA slow-blow) and the switch for continuity.[8]
  4. Look at the board for darkened resistors, domed capacitors and loose leads. In the Bazar notes, one lead of the large blue capacitor beside the output cable could be pulled out of the board without desoldering on two of three faulty supplies.

There are two versions of the board: the earlier one has two large reservoir capacitors, the later one, made from mid-November 1984, only one.[3]

The supply's only adjustment is R168, a 47 Ω trimmer, set for 5 V across the output capacitor C201.[2][8] A working supply measures about +5.2 V, +11 V and -11.4 V off load.[3] Capacitor work on the supply is on Philips VG-8010 Capacitor Replacement Guide.

Adjustments in the computer

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VG 8000 / VG 8010 adjustments (service manual)
Adjustment Versions Method
PAL colour clock /00 Frequency counter on pin 3 of IC721 (TDA2501); adjust C900 for 4.433619 MHz
Modulation depth /00 Adjust C901 for the best picture and sound
UHF channel /00 The modulator U101 is set to channel 32 in production; L650 moves it between channels 31 and 33. Leave the other coils of U101 alone
RGB encoder voltage /19 Adjust R576 for 2.5 V at the junction of R557 and R558
Supply voltage All R168 in the VU-0022, 5 V across C201

[2]

Some VG 8000 and VG 8010 encoder boards have an oscillator circuit in place of crystal X871; Philips's Service Information sheet of February 1985 shows the replacement layout.[9]

Things that are not faults

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  • The GRAPH and CODE keys work as toggles on both versions, like the KANA key on Japanese MSX machines.[10] The green code LED shows the CODE state.[6]
  • There is no printer port. A printer needs the VU 0040 cartridge.[10]
  • The /00 has no RGB output: its monitor socket carries composite video. The /19 has RGB instead.[10][11]
  • The picture is noisier than on most MSX machines. An experienced MSX repairer who has seen several VG-8010s describes poor video as a design issue common to the VG-8000 and VG-8010, and another member found that leaving a machine switched on for a few hours improved it.[4]

Spare part numbers

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Selected VG 8010 part numbers (service manual)
Item Philips part number
Cabinet and keyboard, /00 and /20 4822 432 30214
UHF modulator, /00 4822 212 10204
PAL encoder board 4822 212 10206
RGB encoder board 4822 212 10207
32K RAM board (VG 8010 only) 4822 212 10213
Power supply board (VU-0022) 4822 212 10205
Supply fuse VL213, 630 mA slow-blow 4822 253 30018
Reset push button 4822 410 23622

[6][8][12]

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References

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  1. ↑ Philips VU 0022, MSX Resource Center wiki, 21 February 2024—link(accessed 2026-10-21) The VU-0022 was supplied with the Philips VG-8000 and VG-8010 (and their Phonola, Radiola and Schneider versions) and with the VG-5000; proprietary DIN connector; input 220 V 50 Hz; outputs 5 V 1.55 A, +12 V 100 mA, -12 V 100 mA.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Philips, Service Manual, Home computer VG 8000/00/19/20, VG 8010/00/19, PDF page 2. Notes: hatched printing on the supply board warns of parts connected directly to the mains. Warning: switch the set off before exchanging cartridges. Adjustments: clock frequency (/00 and /20), counter on pin 3 of IC721, C900 for 4.433619 MHz; modulation depth (/00 and /20), C901 for best picture and sound; voltage (/19), R576 for 2.5 V at the junction of R557 and R558; UHF (/00 and /20), U101 set to channel 32 in production, adjustable from channel 31 to 33 with L650, other coils of U101 unchanged; power supply voltage, R168 for 5 V across the output (C201). Hosted as File:Philips VG-8000 VG-8010 Service Manual.pdf.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 VG 5000 Bazar, "Dépanner une alimentation VU-0022", version 1.0 of 17 March 2018, revised 3 February 2025. http://vg5000bazar.free.fr/html/depannage/vu0022.htm In French. The supply runs at over 350 V inside; opening it: four cross-head screws in the corner wells, lift off the grey cover, unplug the lead from the on/off switch and lift the switch out; two versions, the later one (from mid-November 1984) with one large reservoir capacitor instead of two; output voltages of a working supply about +5.2 V, +11 V and -11.4 V; in three failed supplies the +5 V output was erratic, the +12 V below 7 V and the -12 V normal, and the large capacitor beside the output cable (4700 µF 10 V, axial, 16 mm by 32 mm) was hot and short-circuited; replacing it repaired all three; a dim power LED that slowly brightens at switch-on points to an ageing capacitor; the wavy picture some supplies cause on monitors is not cured by the repair.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 VG8010/00 - Video noise and power up trouble, April to November 2023—link(accessed 2026-10-21) emilen72: a VG-8010/00 stays on a black screen at switch-on and starts after a reset, and has noisy RF and composite video; recapping the VU-0022 reduced the noise; with an ATX-based supply the noise remained. sdsnatcher73: of up to five VG8010s he has seen, all had relatively bad video; one had the reset problem, fixed by Alexey, caused by corroded tracks in the reset circuit; video quality is bad on all VG8000 and VG8010 models, a design issue and not only capacitors. Jipe: the reset control is near the Z80 (IC652), with TS400 (BC548B), IC670-2 and IC670-3 (74LS04) and IC673-4 (7406N). Manuel: leaving a machine on for a few hours greatly improved the picture.
  5. ↑ Philips, Service Manual, Home computer VG 8000/00/19/20, VG 8010/00/19, PDF page 11, external power supply unit circuit diagram: 310 V across the reservoirs C196 and C197 after the BYW55 bridge; ground symbols marked "not isolated from mains" and "isolated from mains". Hosted as File:Philips VG-8000 VG-8010 Service Manual.pdf.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Philips, Service Manual, Home computer VG 8000/00/19/20, VG 8010/00/19, PDF page 15, mechanical parts list and exploded view (36 488 D12): 1 cabinet/keyboard (4822 432 30214 for /00 and /20, ordered locally for /19); 2 UHF modulator cable; 3 UHF modulator 5.5 MHz /00 (4822 212 10204); 4 LED holder; 6 keyboard socket (18 pins); 9 cartridge socket cover; 11 to 13 power LED (red), caps LED (yellow) and code LED (green); 14 audio/video connector (8 pins); 16 and 17 left and right hand-control connectors (9 pins); 18 reset push button; 19 cassette recorder connector (8 pins); 21 power supply connector (5 pins); 22 cartridge socket 2 × 25; 23 and 24 IC sockets (28 and 40 pins); 26 cassette recorder cable. Hosted as File:Philips VG-8000 VG-8010 Service Manual.pdf.
  7. ↑ Philips VG-8010 with bad video quality, November and December 2023—link(accessed 2026-10-21) mjnman: a VG-8010 with a shaking picture; after replacing all the electrolytic capacitors in the supply, the main board and the PAL encoder board the picture was steadier but colours were wrong; replacing the TDA2501 left a black-and-white picture, as did refitting the old one; solved: some pins between the main board and the PAL encoder board were broken, and with the R-Y signal interrupted the picture loses its colour.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Philips, Service Manual, Home computer VG 8000/00/19/20, VG 8010/00/19, PDF page 12, external power supply parts list: VL213 630 mA-T (4822 253 30018), R168 47 Ω trimming, C196 and C197 22 µF 385 V, C200 330 µF, C203 4700 µF 10 V, IC192 TEA1039, TS190 BUX84, U191 CNX62, TS211 transformer. Hosted as File:Philips VG-8000 VG-8010 Service Manual.pdf.
  9. ↑ Philips, Service Information CT85-2, 7 February 1985, VG8000/VG8010, PDF page 18 of the service manual: in some versions crystal X871 on the PAL/CVBS encoder has been replaced by an oscillator circuit (IC672, X872, trimmer C903). Hosted as File:Philips VG-8000 VG-8010 Service Manual.pdf.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Philips VG-8010, MSX Resource Center wiki—link(accessed 2026-10-21) GRAPH and CODE keys work as toggles; no Centronics port, no expansion bus, no separate audio out, non-standard PAL connector; printer through the VU 0040 cartridge; no RGB on the /00.
  11. ↑ Philips, Service Manual, Home computer VG 8000/00/19/20, VG 8010/00/19, PDF page 1, specification and versions. Hosted as File:Philips VG-8000 VG-8010 Service Manual.pdf.
  12. ↑ Philips, Service Manual, Home computer VG 8000/00/19/20, VG 8010/00/19, PDF pages 13, 14 and 16: PAL encoder U100 4822 212 10206, RGB encoder U100 4822 212 10207, 32k RAM 4822 212 10213, power supply (board) 4822 212 10205. Hosted as File:Philips VG-8000 VG-8010 Service Manual.pdf.



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