PlayStation Development Network

Hi everyone,

While doing a recap on my PS1, I accidentally lifted and removed the solder pad for capacitor C527.
Looking at the wiring diagram, what's the best way to make a jumper in this case?

Would it be viable to solder it together with C518 instead, since they seem to be connected?

Thanks in advance

Yep, if they are connected, a simple bodge wire is all that's required to fix that. The nearest point is always the best for reducing noise, and essentially you're just bridging it the exact same way it was done under the solder resist, but now above. Totally fine and acceptable repair.

From what I can tell from the diagram - which isn’t much - they do seem to be connected. I'll try to bridge them this weekend and post back here. Thanks

The diagrams are the PCB layout itself, namely the copper routing on the top layer (with some of the component shapes, so this might have been a screenshot from their CAD tool used). It's actually more than enough and quite detailed and good to have. You can even see the connecting trace in your own photo actually if you look close enough. On both connected pairs actually.

naytai wrote: April 24th, 2025, 4:28 am Would it be viable to solder it together with C518 instead, since they seem to be connected?

I don't see what makes you think that they are connected. The picture from the service manual is kinda useless, it's showing multilayer pcb wiring, without any indication which wires connect to which layer.
What you can see on that picture is that the upper pin of C527 seems to go to a via, that would be a very robust connection where you could connect to, without fearing to rip out the via.
At least it seems to go to the via. If you really want to know where it does connect to, then you must look at the schematic in the datasheet, not at that multiplayer pcb picture.

MasterLink wrote: April 24th, 2025, 10:18 am You can even see the connecting trace in your own photo actually if you look close enough. On both connected pairs actually.

Hmm, yes. That makes it look as if there is a horizontal wire between the upper pins of the capacitors.
I'd still use a multimeter to check if the ripped wire does really have a 0 ohm connection to the other capacitor.
The picture from the service manual looks kinda different, with vias at locations that don't seem to match up with pcb photos.

Well I just verified on my SCPH-5501 which has a PU-18, they are connected, and it's exactly as that scan shows. That scan is not useless, it's highly valuable in fact.
It said "Side A" which means it wasn't multiple layers in that scan, only one. The vias are actually very visible, but I think you're not understanding what the scan is, it's not going to show vias with holes. That's the copper fill and routing, the drilling coordinates likely are a different page (which wouldn't be in the service manual, they'd only need it for fab). So all the vias are exactly where they should be, and you won't be able to see the vias in the ground plane because there are no drill holes in that scan.

So as tested, and verified, it's connected as expected. FYI for those who don't know why it has two caps wired up in parallel, because of physical space limitations. The RF shield must fit on with enough tolerance and room. A larger capacitance capacitor would be physically larger and likely didn't fit, so they did this. Totally normal stuff.

Ah, okay, I didn't notice that it's only showing the Side A copper layer. Nonetheless, it is additionally showing the Side A text layer (or something similar to that, it doesn't exactly match up with text layer on the photos).

Most of the horizontal, vertical, diagonal and curved lines on the capacitors seem to be representing the capacitor symbol, not actual copper wires. I still think that's making it kinda useless : ) although, if you have the courage to look at it, then it might be helpful to make some guesses (or even good guesses) on which lines are wires and which aren't.

To be honest, the whole manual has scans that appear to be screenshots from their CAD software, and even worse, they aren't great scans, 1-bit monochrome. I have a good feeling these manuals were grayscale and did intend to show part placements (as I can see the outline of the capacitors, and they are correct).

Ok guys, sorry for the delay. I had some real-life issues to sort out these days.

Finally, this weekend I managed to work on it. I soldered the capacitors in parallel as MasterLink suggested, and everything worked perfectly. It was pretty straightforward.

Anyways, thanks for the insights.

You're very welcome, glad it worked out and all is good now! Enjoy your refurbished PS1.

MasterLink wrote: April 27th, 2025, 11:09 am To be honest, the whole manual has scans that appear to be screenshots from their CAD software, and even worse, they aren't great scans, 1-bit monochrome. I have a good feeling these manuals were grayscale and did intend to show part placements.

Someone in the 90's scanned the original schematics from Sony using a fax machine. That's why the resolution is terrible and it's monochromatic. It was probably the only way they could leak the schematics at the time quickly and discretely.