A suspiciously cheap gaming console for sale popped up on my social media news feed. The listing caught my attention because the seller was located not far from our home in Budapest.

Curious about the low price, I messaged the seller to ask what was wrong with the console. He explained that it had been damaged by a lightning strike. I know how devastating lightning damage can be to electronics—especially gaming consoles—but the price was so low that even if it was only good for spare parts, it would still be a great deal.

Once I got my hands on it, I disassembled the console and visually inspected the mainboard. Seeing no obvious signs of damage, I moved on to testing the usual suspects that tend to fail in such incidents. Surprisingly, the USB controller, Ethernet controller, and HDMI circuit all seemed intact. I even checked the 12V rail, but there was no short circuit to be found.

That's when I knew I had to investigate the power supply. After disassembling the SMPS (Switched-Mode Power Supply), the problem became clear—a varistor, designed to protect the circuit from such surges, had blown, along with a fuse. The damage was severe enough that some traces on the board were charred. I carefully cleaned out the burned area, repaired the damaged traces, and replaced the faulty components. Once reassembled, the power supply started outputting 12V again.

With everything put back together, the console powered on—good as new. It's now a fully functioning part of our household and still going strong to this day.

(Cover image: wired.com)