Atari 2600:Jailbar Fix

The six and four switch Atari 2600 units are prone to having vertical line artifacts (jailbars) on screen. This can be mostly fixed by replacing various capacitors in it as detailed on this page, but you may also find further improvement by looking at suggestions on the Atari 2600:General Troubleshooting page.

This page originated as a distilled version of this guide by mojoatomic on the Atari.io forums.

Keep in mind with all capacitors, you can replace them with a higher voltage rating capacitor than specified, but you should stick to the same capacitance value.

Heavy Sixer

Switchboard

1. Replace C103 & C104 with a 0.22µF 100v or better mylar cap - regardless of what you find there.
2. Replace C106 with a 2200µF 16v or higher electrolytic cap.
3. Replace A101 with a 7805 voltage regulator.
4. Replace C105 with a 4.7µf 35v or higher electrolytic cap.

Mainboard

1. Replace C201 with a 4.7uf 35v or higher electrolytic cap.
2. Replace J201 with a Switchcraft jack.

Light Sixer

Switchboard

1. Replace C103 with a 0.22µF 100v or better mylar cap - regardless of what you find there.
2. Replace C106 with a 2200µF 16v or higher electrolytic cap.
3. Replace A101 with a 7805 voltage regulator.
4. Replace C105 with a 4.7µF 35v or higher electrolytic cap.

Mainboard

1. Replace C201 with a 4.7uf 35v or higher electrolytic cap.
2. Replace J201 with the Switchcraft jack.

4-Switch Units

Applies to both woody and Vader variants, rev 1-16.

1. Replace C241 & 242 with a 0.1µF 100v or better mylar cap - regardless of what you find there. Versions 8's will almost always have ceramic disk — replace them with mylar.
2. Replace C243 with a 2200µF 16v or higher electrolytic cap.
3. Replace A203 with a 7805 voltage regulator.
4. Replace C201 & C214 with a 4.7uf 35v or higher electrolytic cap.
5. Replace J201 with a Switchcraft jack.
6. If you have a 4-switch unit AND your board revision level is LESS THAN version 16, install a 820ohm resistor between pin 6 and pin 9 of the TIA chip on the SOLDER SIDE of the circuit board.