My old 2600 (wood paneled) survived a flooded basement which it was kept in a bottom drawer under the tv. At first it didn't work and we claimed it on insurance right around the Genesis being released. Insurance company gave us $20 for the system and $5 for the game and considering we had about 30-40 games that gave me and my sister plenty of money to buy a Sega Genesis and 4-5 games. After a week or two I plugged the 2600 back in and it worked. Funny thing about the Genesis. The day we got it I somehow accidentally used the NES power adapter for the Genesis. It worked but after 2-3 hours of constant play it started freezing up. We then noticed what I did wrong and hooked up the Genesis power adapter but it kept freezing. We took it back to Toy's R Us and since we just bought it they let us replace it (We didn't tell them what I did). MIA 2600, NES, and Genesis all stolen from rental house my parents left the systems at. I should have never left them there.
On Topic: I'd just look to replace the RF or something in that nature.
