In his latest video, Jan Beta tackles a pair of severely damaged NTSC Commodore 64 motherboards in an ambitious NTSC C64 repair challenge. Donated by a viewer, both boards hail from mid-1983 and are in dreadful condition—missing chips, broken traces, scorched sockets, and the kind of DIY desoldering that haunts technicians in their sleep. Still, Jan’s goal is clear: combine the carnage into one working machine.
He chooses the lesser of two evils as the primary board and starts by harvesting usable parts from the other. From testing a VIC-II chip in a known-good system to tracking broken circuit traces with a multimeter, Jan demonstrates the kind of methodical wizardry that makes NTSC C64 repair such a satisfying blend of art and science. Using patch wires, nail polish for insulation, and a healthy amount of contact cleaner, he restores critical connections between the VIC-II, CPU, and color RAM.
One of the bigger mysteries—corrupted video output—is traced to damaged lines between the VIC-II and color RAM. Once repaired, the beloved blue BASIC screen appears. But Jan isn’t done. Joystick issues? Turns out a bad CIA chip is to blame. He swaps it with one from his parts bin, adds a missing KERNAL ROM, and retests. Bit by bit, the system comes together.
By the end of the video, the repaired board passes full diagnostics—minus some dirty ports, which Jan promptly cleans. This successful NTSC C64 repair results in a fully functional system, complete with audio, video, and working I/O. It’s a textbook example of turning two hopeless cases into one triumphant comeback.
Whether you’re into chip-level diagnostics or just like watching dead machines brought back to life, this is one fix-it journey worth watching.
