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Super Famicom Capacitor Replacement Guide

From RetroTechCollection
SVHC-CPU-01 (1990)
SHVC-CPU-01 mainboard with the sound module removed (Wbpool01, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Capacitor lists for the Super Famicom, by mainboard revision. The first Super Famicom board is the SHVC-CPU-01; later consoles use SNS-CPU boards, the same board numbers as the North American Super NES.[1][2] Read the revision from the board silkscreen before ordering. The Super NES and SNES Jr lists are in the Super Nintendo Capacitor Replacement Guide.

RetroRGB, writing about the Super NES, which shares its later boards with the Super Famicom, notes that the console is not known for leaking capacitors, though it has seen it happen. Corrosion under a surface-mount can may not show until the part is removed, so open the console and look.[3] On a console that will not power up, check the adapter, the fuse and the 7805 on Nintendo's power circuit before the capacitors; see Super Famicom Troubleshooting Guide.[4]

Discharge C67 first

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Nintendo's first disassembly step: with the AC adapter disconnected, switch the console on to discharge C67, which, the manual says, is known to discharge during servicing and damage components.[5] On the SHVC-CPU-01 and GPM boards C67 is the 1000 µF reservoir on the DC input, after the series diode D1; the RGB, APU and 1CHIP boards number it C58.[2][6]

Sources

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The lists below come from Console5 and Altomare, both compiled from boards. They agree with each other on every shared position. Two documents check them:

  • Nintendo's parts list in Playtronic's manual gives the first board's chip electrolytics by quantity, without designators: three 10 µF 16 V, two 33 µF 25 V and one 2.2 µF. Those counts match C61, C65 and C66, C63 and C64, and C62 on the SHVC-CPU-01. The list has no 100 µF part to match C57 to C60 and lists no radial electrolytics.[5] Nintendo rates the 2.2 µF part at 25 V; Console5 and Altomare record 50 V at C62. Fit 50 V.
  • The SNES schematic redraw agrees with Console5 on every SNS-CPU-GPM position it shows, except that it labels C73 10 V where Console5 and Altomare give 16 V.[6][2]

Console5 and Altomare give values only, not what each position does.

SHVC-CPU-01

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SHVC-CPU-01 (1990)
Designator Value Voltage Package Note
C50 47 µF 10 V Radial, 6.3 mm On the SHVC-SOUND module
C51 47 µF 10 V Radial, 6.3 mm 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, 5 mm pitch, 25 mm tall DC input reservoir

Thirteen electrolytics.[2][1]

C50 and C51 are on the SHVC-SOUND module. Altomare measured only about 8 mm between the module board and its shield; the original parts were about 5 mm tall, on 2 mm pitch with the legs bent out to the 5 mm footprint. A standard-height 47 µF part will not fit under the shield.[1]

C67 sits on the unregulated input ahead of the 7805, which Nintendo draws with 13–14 V on it.[4] Keep its replacement at 25 V.

SNS-CPU-GPM-01 and -02

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SNS-CPU-GPM-01, SNS-CPU-GPM-02
Designator Value Voltage Note
C57 220 µF 6.3 V Radial on GPM-02 (Altomare)
C59 220 µF 6.3 V Radial on GPM-02 (Altomare)
C61 10 µF 16 V
C62 2.2 µF 50 V
C63 33 µF 25 V
C64 33 µF 25 V
C65 10 µF 16 V
C66 10 µF 16 V
C67 1000 µF 25 V Not fitted on North American boards
C73 47 µF 16 V

Sources: Console5 (GPM-01, GPM-02) and Altomare (GPM-02, from a Super Famicom).[2][1] Playtronic's manual says C67 was removed on the GPM board; that is the Brazilian board, which, like the North American one, lacks it.[5] The sound circuit is on the mainboard, so there is no SHVC-SOUND module and no C50 or C51.[5]

Later boards

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The SNS-CPU-RGB, -APU and -1CHIP boards renumber the capacitors (C9 to C19, with the input reservoir at C58). Console5 marks that 1000 µF 25 V reservoir as absent on North American units.[2] On an SNS-CPU-RGB-01 photographed in a Super Famicom, C58 is fitted and the silkscreen beside it reads "(SHVC)", the Super Famicom's model prefix.[7] On a North American SNS-CPU-APU-01 the same position, also marked "(SHVC)", is empty.[8] The full lists are in the Super Nintendo Capacitor Replacement Guide.

Replacement procedure

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  1. Discharge C67 as above.
  2. Open the console: six security screws in the lower case, removed with the larger end of Nintendo's LH driver. On an SHVC-CPU-01 board, the sound module comes off with two screws on its far side and lifts straight up.[5]
  3. Remove the RF shield and lift the mainboard out of the lower case.
  4. Photograph the board before removing anything. Polarity on surface-mount electrolytics is marked by a stripe or bevel on the can.
  5. Remove surface-mount capacitors by heating both ends together, with hot air or with fresh solder and flux on both terminations. Do not lever a capacitor off; the pad comes with it.
  6. Clean the pads with isopropyl alcohol and a nylon brush, and check under magnification for lifted pads or eaten traces.
  7. Fit the new parts with the right value, voltage and polarity, tacking one end before soldering the other.
  8. Check for bridges before powering up.

Through-hole positions (C50, C51 and the reservoir) come out with braid or a pump. Mind the height limit under the sound module shield.

Parts

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  • 105 °C capacitors from a reputable maker, at the original voltage rating or higher.
  • The 25 V positions are on the unregulated side and need 25 V.
  • Surface-mount positions can take leaded radial parts if the height and clearance allow; Console5 sells kits of both kinds.[2]

See Recommended Tools and Capacitor Failure Symptoms.

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References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Altomare, snes-capacitors, GitHub. Lists compiled from boards the author repaired: SHVC-CPU-01 and SNS-CPU-GPM-02 under "Super Famicom (NTSC)", with package, diameter, pitch and the SHVC-SOUND notes.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Console5 TechWiki, "SNES" (retrieved 2026-10-01). Capacitor lists by board revision, compiled from boards.
  3. ↑ Bob, "Restoring A Super Nintendo", RetroRGB, 31 May 2020: the SNES not known for leaking capacitors; damage hidden under surface-mount parts.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Nintendo, ファミコン・スーパーファミコン・ゲームボーイ サービスマニュアル, 1992, hosted at Nintendo Famicom Service Manual, SHVC power circuit, p. 12; HVC-002 adapter 13.5 ± 1.5 V off load, p. 2.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Playtronic / Nintendo, Manual Técnico do Super NES, Rev. 01/94, hosted at Nintendo Super NES Technical Manual (Playtronic, Rev. 01-94). p. 2-7 (parts list for the first board: chip electrolytics 10 µF/16 V ×3, 33 µF/25 V ×2, 2.2 µF/25 V ×1, quantities only, no designators); p. 2-14 (disassembly: C67 discharge, six security screws, sound module); p. 3-1 (GPM board).
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 SNES Schematic, Jonathon W. Donaldson, rev. 1.5, 2014, hosted at SNES Schematic. Community redraw of the SNS-CPU-GPM and -RGB boards: C57 and C59 220 µF, C61 10 µF 16 V, C62 2.2 µF, C63 and C64 33 µF 25 V, C65 and C66 10 µF, C73 47 µF 10 V, C67 1000 µF 25 V (drawn in brackets) after D1 on the input.
  7. ↑ Yaca2671, "SNES-CPU-RGB-01 motherboard.jpg", Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, described as a Super Famicom board; SHVC-LC RF modulator, C58 fitted and silkscreened "(SHVC)".
  8. ↑ Evan-Amos, "Nintendo-Super-NES-Mk1-Motherboard-Top.jpg", Wikimedia Commons, public domain. North American SNS-CPU-APU-01 mainboard: C58, D1 and D2 silkscreened "(SHVC)" and not fitted.
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