Philips Videopac G7200 General Maintenance
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The Philips Videopac G7200 combines a Videopac game board with a 9-inch black and white monitor and a mains power supply in one case.[1][2] It has no battery. Its care covers the controls, the ventilation of the monitor, the power switch and its lever, the keyboard foil and the hand controls. Fault-finding is on Philips Videopac G7200 Troubleshooting Guide.
Warning: the monitor board carries mains voltage and the tube's high voltage, and the tube can hold its charge after the set is unplugged. Discharge it as described in CRT Discharge Procedure before touching anything near the tube or the line output transformer.[3][4]
Identify your console
[edit | edit source]Check which of the four 7200-series versions you have: Philips G7200 (most of Europe, including the UK), Philips G7200 for France, Schneider 7200 or Radiola Jet 27.[5] The French Philips version starts with QUEL JEU? instead of SELECT GAME, and the keyboard legends and mains plug differ between versions.[6]
Philips's care instructions
[edit | edit source]The French instructions give these points:[2]
- Do not block the ventilation openings above and below the set, and do not stand it on a soft surface such as a thick carpet.
- Videopac cartridges contain delicate electronics; put each one back in its box after use.
- Do not leave the same picture on the screen for several hours, which can mark the screen.
In the UK the G7200 was supplied without a mains plug; check that a fitted plug is wired correctly and carries the right fuse.[1]
Controls and their settings
[edit | edit source]| Control | Use |
|---|---|
| On/off switch | Pushed inwards from left to right |
| Brightness | Set after SELECT GAME appears |
| Volume | Loudspeaker volume |
| Special contrast control | Seven positions; reverses the contrast between positions 7 and 1. Philips gives the best position for each cartridge from 1 to 43; later cartridges give it in their own instructions |
All Videopac cartridges produce colour pictures, which the G7200 shows as shades of grey. The contrast control lets you set it so that the important symbols can be told apart.[1] If the symbols in one game are hard to tell apart, try the contrast position from Philips's table before suspecting a fault.[1]
Power switch and lever
[edit | edit source]The red lever of the power switch is a long sliding plastic part under the tube, and it is often broken or missing. Owners have drawn a replacement that can be 3D printed. The red knob from a G7400 does not fit.[7][8]
A switch that will not stay on can be replaced. On a Radiola Jet 27 gertk fitted a new switch in the original holder, trimming the plastic posts slightly and holding the switch in with a cable tie; the same method suits the Philips and Schneider versions.[9] The switch carries mains voltage. Use a part rated for mains.
Keyboard
[edit | edit source]The keyboard is a membrane on a foil tail that plugs into the game board. When the keys 0 to 7 stop working together, the silver track to pin 16 of the keyboard connector has usually cracked at the bend of the foil. gertk bridged the crack with a strand of wire held by superglue and rubber cement; other owners use conductive silver glue.[9][10] Fold the foil as little as possible when the case is open.
Hand controls
[edit | edit source]The hand controls plug into sockets in a recess below the keyboard.[1] They are serviced in the same way as other Videopac and Odyssey² hand controls; see Magnavox Odyssey² General Maintenance#Hand controls.[11]
RGB output
[edit | edit source]The eight-pin DIN socket at the back gives red, green and blue at 0.7 V into 75 Ω, sync at 0.3 V, sound and two SCART switching signals, so the game can be played in colour on a television with a SCART socket. The wiring is on the main page.[1] The socket is also a way to check the game board when the monitor has failed: one owner with a dead tube played games through it.[12]
Capacitors
[edit | edit source]What is known about the G7200's electrolytic capacitors is on Philips Videopac G7200 Capacitor Replacement Guide. For general failure signs see Capacitor Failure Symptoms.
Preventive maintenance checklist
[edit | edit source]- Check the mains lead, plug and fuse.[1]
- Make sure the ventilation openings are clear.[2]
- Check that the power switch latches and that its lever is in place.[7]
- Test every key; a dead group of keys means the keyboard foil.[9]
- Test both hand controls in every direction.[11]
- Check the picture with a cartridge from 1 to 43 and the contrast position Philips gives for it.[1]
- If you have a SCART television, check the picture through the DIN output as well.[1]
Related pages
[edit | edit source]- Philips Videopac G7200
- Philips Videopac G7200 Troubleshooting Guide
- Philips Videopac G7200 Capacitor Replacement Guide
- Philips Videopac G7200 Documentation
- CRT Discharge Procedure
- Recommended Tools
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 Philips, Videopac G7200: Instructions for Use / Gebrauchsanleitung, English section, pp. 2 to 4 (retrieved from the Internet Archive): the G7200 as a self-contained game computer with keyboard, two hand controls and a black and white monitor with loudspeaker; it accepts all Videopac cartridges including the C7010 chess module; numbered parts (9-inch black and white monitor, on/off switch, special contrast control, volume control, brightness control, loudspeaker, mains flex, DIN output socket, slots for the C7010); in the UK the set is supplied without a mains plug; switching on by pushing the power switch inwards from left to right; the seven-position contrast control and its setting for cartridges 1 to 43; the eight-pin DIN output socket and its SCART wiring. Hosted as File:Philips Videopac G7200 Instructions for Use.pdf.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Philips (S.A. Philips Industrielle et Commerciale), Videopac G7200, French instructions, document 3111 106 67350, pp. 2 and 3 (retrieved from the Internet Archive): 23 cm black and white screen, built-in stabilised power supply, alphanumeric keyboard and two hand controls; black and white video system, 49-key keyboard, 25 Ω loudspeaker, video output with SCART cable; mains 220 V 50 Hz, 15 W consumption, 20 mW sound output, dimensions 370 × 230 × 410 mm, weight 6.5 kg; the DIN to SCART pin table; the advice not to obstruct the ventilation openings above and below the set. Hosted as File:Philips Videopac G7200 French instructions.pdf.
- ↑ Videopac / Odyssey2 forum (videopac.nl), Hardware board, "Squeezed G7200 image, Caps to replace?", posts by blanka, Rene_G7400 and gertk, 23 to 25 August 2015 (retrieved 2026-10-21): a G7200 picture shrunk to about 1 cm high; Rene_G7400 suggests the height control R25; gertk gives the TEA1011 supply voltages (24 V at pin 2, 11 V at pin 12), suggests replacing C49, C50, C51 and C52 and checking every resistor round the TEA1011, especially the fusible resistor R23, and warns of dangerous voltages inside a G7200.
- ↑ Videopac / Odyssey2 forum (videopac.nl), Hardware board, "G7200 Repair Help", posts by Konsole4us, Rene_G7400 and VideopacBelgium, April and May 2016 (retrieved 2026-10-21): a repair shop fixed a G7200's power unit but found its line output transformer, marked 11 SF 107 11720 No 133840, defective; Rene_G7400 says a replacement must be the same type, from another G7200, an N60 or a Minitel 1, because of the very high voltages; VideopacBelgium replaced half of a G7200 power supply with half of a Minitel power supply.
- ↑ Videopac / Odyssey2 forum (videopac.nl), Hardware board, "VIDEOPAC 7200 series", posts by VideopacBelgium, February 2019 (retrieved 2026-10-21): four versions of the 7200: Philips G7200 for Europe, Philips G7200 for France, Schneider 7200 for France and the Radiola Jet 27.
- ↑ Videopac / Odyssey2 forum (videopac.nl), Hardware board, "UK G7200 vs FR G7200", posts by VideopacBelgium, Rene_G7400, Define and grips03, December 2013 and January 2017 (retrieved 2026-10-21): all G7200 consoles have the RGB output; the versions differ in the start-up screen, the keyboard language and the mains plug; DIN pin 4 (sync) goes to SCART pin 20; there is no composite video signal inside a G7200, and DIN pin 6 'status CVBS' is a 12 V switching signal.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Videopac / Odyssey2 forum (videopac.nl), Hardware board, "[Need Help G7200 Power button"], posts by Mmm, gertk and VideopacBelgium, December 2015 to June 2016 (retrieved 2026-10-21): the red plastic lever of the G7200 power switch is often missing; the switch is a long sliding plastic piece below the tube that can break at the top; VideopacBelgium shared a 3D-printable STL file of the part.
- ↑ Videopac / Odyssey2 forum (videopac.nl), Hardware board, "Missing Power Button - Schneider Videopac 7200", posts by ManuTD, Spacemonster and VideopacBelgium, July and August 2026 (retrieved 2026-10-21): the red knob of the G7400 does not fit the 7200 series.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Videopac / Odyssey2 forum (videopac.nl), Hardware board, "Radiola JET27 powerswitch and keyboard mod", posts by gertk, 13 and 14 March 2012 (retrieved 2026-10-21): replacing the power switch of a Radiola Jet 27, the same on a Philips G7200 or Schneider: the plastic switch holder is trimmed and a cable tie holds the switch; keys 0 to 7 dead because the silver track to pin 16 of the keyboard connector had broken at the bend of the foil, bridged with a strand of wire fixed with superglue and rubber cement; conductive glue as an alternative.
- ↑ Videopac / Odyssey2 forum (videopac.nl), Hardware board, "G7200 keyboard flexcable", posts by Joletaxi and VideopacBelgium, May 2020 (retrieved 2026-10-21): a G7200 with the 0 to 7 keys and some letter keys dead, thought to be the keyboard flex cable, which owners repair with silver glue; RGB cables need a DIN plug of the 'C' pin layout.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Videopac / Odyssey2 forum (videopac.nl), Hardware board, "Repair/Servicing Odyssey2/Videopac Controller", posts by Blueleader (30 June 2014), Sweersa (1 July 2014) and Rene_G7400 (21 July 2015) (retrieved 2026-10-21): dismantling and cleaning the Odyssey² and Videopac hand control, cleaning film contacts with a glass fibre eraser and mechanical switches with P180 abrasive paper.
- ↑ Videopac / Odyssey2 forum (videopac.nl), Hardware board, "G7200 screen replacement", posts by BorisBecks and gertk, May 2023 (retrieved 2026-10-21): the G7200's monochrome tube is driven from the TTL RGB signals of the Videopac main board; the rear DIN connector carries RGB and sync in a SCART-compatible form; BorisBecks found 5 V and 12 V supplied to the main board.