Audio problem on Sega Megadrive

[bumblebeemouth]

I recently picked up an extremely cheap megadrive 1 and it is working fine except every now and then a very audible hum appears in the background.  Anybody have the same experience or know what to do to get rid of it?

[l_oliveira]

How about replacing old/dry electolythic capacitors ? Replacing them usually causes the machine to go back to it's original specs.

[kendrick]

The manner of output is also important. Are you taking stereo audio from the headphone jack, or mono only from the A/V socket? Worse, are you just using the RF output? If you're getting interference in one you'll likely have it in all, but you might be able to minimize it with some higher-quality cables if you're not brave enough to do repair work yet.

[bumblebeemouth]

The same problem comes from all outputs.  I'm brave enough for some repair work, where should I start?

[l_oliveira]

Open the unit up and check all the capacitors close to the power switch.  Write down their values, go to some electronics shop like for example Radio Schack and buy replacements. Replace them (pay attention to polarity)
and your system will be playing fine again.

My Mega Drive is showing signs of aging, too. It's video has been pretty crappy recenty and I'm thinking about replacing ALL capacitors on it's board.

[Drakon]

I recently picked up an extremely cheap megadrive 1 and it is working fine except every now and then a very audible hum appears in the background.  Anybody have the same experience or know what to do to get rid of it?

I had the same problem.  Turned out I had a crappy scart to rca audio adapter.  It's usually caused by bad wires/connections somewhere.  Especially if it's the genesis/megadrive 1....then you're almost gauranteed it's some problem with the wire and not the system.