Messages

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: TG-CD: Total capacitor replacement chart + useful info]

It might be ok if one of us were to take the plunge and sell the resulting pieces... but for one person to do it for one gear...

HobbyCast 110 w/ Mixing kit   HobbyCast 110 w/ Mixing kit
055502/054010 - 2 lb Kit w/ 16 oz mixing kit

   $27.95
 
HobbyMold 160 w/ Mixing kit   HobbyMold 160 w/ Mixing kit
055232/054010 - 2.2 lb Kit w/ 16 oz mixing kit

   $43.25
 
TOTAL WEIGHT:    8.00 lb
TOTAL SHIPPING:    11.36

SUBTOTAL:    71.20
DISCOUNT:    - 0.00
TAX RATE:    0%
TOTAL TAX:    0.00
GRAND TOTAL:    82.56

That's one spendy gear when the entire apparatus (incl new laser) can be had for ~$45 elsewhere on the net.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Modding and Repair Services]

Yeah, that's what I was thinkin'. 

"You must be running the op-amp mod?  So are you doing it with a 2P2T switch then?  one pull for the region, one for the LEDs?"

I'm not too keen on spending a ton of time putting together the mod boards... I'll have to wait until override places the order on his latest design.  =/

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Magical Chase Hu and instructions on ChasetheChuckwagon]

Heh, I was looking around the other day for alternatives to ebay... found chase the chuckwagon... found magical chase - whoa!  Put in a one time bid.  Grats to whomever was willing to go higher.  I just don't have the dough to go high as I'd like right now.  In fact, today is my last day at work... economy is a bitch.  Gonna try supplementing my income with Duo mods on ebay, we'll see how it goes.  ;-)

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: WTB PC Engine Duo R]

What do you have to trade?

I have a bunch of duo-r's... I region mod most of them tho and flip 'em on ebay.  I could do one with a switch for you for ~$300...

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Not mine but check out this guys stuff for sale on e-Bay!]

Heh, think I ended up with one of your Duo-R's.  I haven't been around for long, had no idea that was you.  ;-)

Fully intend to region mod and flip it.  Hope that's ok... :-)

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: 5 silver pots on the Turbo Duo pcb?]

Kudos to override for getting that puppy going!


Here's what I have for test values on the pots so far: (I don think xls files are allowed here on the boards, external link to my personal hosting site.)

http://burnside.kattare.com/files/DUO-Test-Values.xls

As you can see, I have a long way to go before I have my desired 3 PCE Duo's and 3 US Duos.  But... i'm getting there.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Modding and Repair Services]

Love your work man.

How did you pull off the region switching LED?

I want to try a mod like that, I have a bunch of 8P2T switches, I've done several region mods already, but ... I'm thinking I'd need a 10P2T switch or something to do the LEDs too, no?

I realize of course that you're not doing it with just a switch.  You must be running the op-amp mod?  So are you doing it with a 2P2T switch then?  one pull for the region, one for the LEDs?

Just curious.  No problem if you don't want to share.  Very nice work though.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: New IC Region Mod Chips!]

If I can get a test run version prior to "the big batch", I'd likely be willing to buy a bunch.  I do need a working one in hand tho before committing.  ;-)

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Beginning guide for fixing Duo not playing cds issue!]

Just wanted to add to your experience override, I recently did a laser replacement.  Unit here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330354072462 The unit after the laser swap would not even spin the discs.  I thought I got a bad laser at first.  I tuned the focus offset though and eventually got the disc spinning.  15 minutes and a bunch more tweaks later, I got it to reliably read every CD-R I threw at it.  It's like a Duo possessed with the spirit of a Duo-R.   

And now you know why I'm charging so much for it there on ebay, it really is a rare unit... I have 6 other duo's here in my shop and that one is the best of the bunch.  Though... what I'm asking for it seems to be a fraction of what some of the other sellers ask.  heh.  I wish I could sell the things for $500 - $1000!

Anyhow, just wanted to throw that out there.  There's a lot of variety in how these things come out of the factory (do they even all come from the same manufacturer?  I've seen like 3 different packages with different company logos, etc.) ... I think that's why the pots were necessary on the board in the first place.  The folks in the factory must have had to hook into each unit and tune 'em before boxing them up.

Cheers.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Turbografx stuff for sale or ?]

Cool man, however it works out.  ;-)

If it is decided that you want to sell the Duo, lemme know.  I've been having fun lately modding them and putting 'em on ebay.  Hardly pays for itself by the time you figure in ebay fees, paypal fees, the time it takes to do the mod, and the parts... but it's great practice.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Were to find gold plated phono and s-video jacks]

dunno about the s-video jack, but the link I posted before should be ideal for a californian.  They're in Santa Ana - $0.75/ea on the gold rca jacks.  ;-)

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Turbografx stuff for sale or ?]

I'll give ya $60 for the CD unit, shipped to Oregon.  I have parts here from another dead unit and may be able to frankenstien one together.

The Duo... I can region mod that for you as well... maybe we should just trade a region mod on the duo for the CD unit?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Were to find gold plated phono and s-video jacks]

doh.

Quebec's a pretty big city isn't it?  No electronics stores around there anywhere?  Man, I'd kill to live in a big city with a good electronics store in driving range.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: WTB:Turbo Booster or Turbo Booster Plus]

Looks like there's one posted recently:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110421603789

Cheers.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: PC in a Duo-R shell]

I gotta admit... I admire the handiwork, but have a hard time understanding the motivation.  In a year or two it's gonna be a crappy outdated pc in place of what woulda been a nice duo.

Now if it was a PC AND a Duo (and not via emulation...) ... game on!

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Any outlets selling a U.S. version of Magical Chase?]

I wrote him a message via ebay... heh...

"Aww, bummer man, I had $1800 stashed away for that auction..."

Make 'em think next time before just pulling the auction. 

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Were to find gold plated phono and s-video jacks]

Try these guys.  Last time I ordered here, they had to backorder the yellow ones, but I got 'em eventually:

http://www.action-electronics.com/audioconnectors.htm#Rca

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Beginning guide for fixing Duo not playing cds issue!]

Hey, nice.  We really need a wiki or something to collaborate on these repair guides!

https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=7115.0

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Just put up a few things on eBay...]

Purple Barney Region Converter http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330348999562
PC Engine Duo w/ Region Switch http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330349991932
TurboGrafx w/ RCA Composite Video Mod http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330350014947

Friendly full disclosure -- The consoles are repaired units, the Duo needed cap replacements and the TG had a mobo crack inside from whatever damage caused the dents in the top and the crack in the front.  Both work fine now and have been play tested by my kiddos.  ;-)

I have a bunch more stuff up there too, but the pricing is a little high to adjust for the ebay fees... lemme know if you see something interesting and we'll work something out that doesn't involve feeding the ebay beast.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Any outlets selling a U.S. version of Magical Chase?]

What's up with the one bouncing on and off ebay with the $1200 BIN?  Awfully strange.

Bummer too about this dude trying to get $8000 for it.  I hope it's cuz he just really needs the dough.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Weird video problem with TurboGrafx CD Interface Unit]

I read somewhere that the failure rate on an xbox 360 over a 3 year lifespan is 30%.

One in three people's xbox 360 fails within 3 years.

Do a search on ebay for "broken console", heh.  It's 90% 360's.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Issues with new Japanee DUO]

Hey there.

Are you very good with electronics?  You may be able to lift the pin yourself, it's not very difficult if you've worked with a soldering iron (low wattage!) before.  The chip you need to access is on the bottom of the board.  It's pin 29 of the HuC6280 chip, which must be lifted from the PCB and connected to Ground.  I do it on a regular basis with a 15w iron and a hobby knife.  Just be careful not to bend it much, if it breaks off you're screwed.  You just want to lift it 1mm - 2mm off the board, enough that it no longer connects and you can solder on a ground wire.

If you don't want to tackle the switch install, which is more involved, telegames.co.uk has a great region converter.

Too bad you're so far away.  I'd love to do the mod for ya, but I'm over in Oregon, USA.

Cheers.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Hello, my first post with a question.]

Anything 9vdc-12vdc over about 750mA with a negative tip polarity should be fine.  Tho if you want an original for your TG-16, I have a few spares, $19.95 + shipping.  Just pm me.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Turbo Express Multi-Player Resource]

Sweet video ... but... LOLZ... that's the same map me and my kiddo were playing.

Who wants to put together a legend to the location of all the powerups in com link Bomberman '93?  ;-)

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Turbo Express Multi-Player Resource]

It's an old thread, but I recently repaired a couple of Turbo Express units and picked up a second copy of Bomberman '93.  I really wanted to do the multiplayer thing with my kids on the road.

The good news:

Standard stereo headphone jack cables work as com cables.  (I think they're 1/8in mini jacks?)

The bad news... really, really bad news:

Bomberman '93's com multiplayer mode is a JOKE.  You hook up, one person is black, the other is white.  No options for computer players.  You pick the number of trophies, and off you go.  No choice of map.  Up to this point I was just a little bummed...  but after the third round with my 7 year old, he said, "Dad, why are the items in the same place every game?" ... and I realized...

The map, block location, power-up locations, skull locations... everything is the SAME EVERY ROUND.

Then I thought, ok, what happens at the end of the game and a new game is started?  SAME MAP.

What if we turn off the units and resync?  SAME MAP.

The Bomberman '93 game has one com link map and one map only.  It is the exact same every single round.

Unbelievable.  I'll have my second Express, second Bomberman '93, and "Com Link" cable up on Ebay shortly.  ;-)

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: WTB: Turbo Duo (US)]

Override, I feel your pain, it's a mod'ers worst nightmare.  I am scared to death when I'm working on someone else's stuff that something's gonna go wrong.  My own stuff, I don't mind toying with, but someone else's makes me nervous as hell.  Best of luck to ya.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: 5 silver pots on the Turbo Duo pcb?]

I spent some time this afternoon tracing the pins off the IC on the bottom of the board, looking for test points on the top of the board.  Pretty straightforward actually, there's a pattern to most of 'em, as you'll see.  ;-)

  A
  |
-----
|VR |
-----
|    |
B    C

VR101 = E/F balance, pin 13 of U101  (top side - A on VR101)
VR102 = Focus Offset, pin 18 of U101 (top side - A on VR102)
VR103 = Track Gain (Track error level), pin 45 of U102 (top side - A on VR103)
VR104 = Focus Gain, pin 48 of U102 (top side - A on VR104)
VR105 = VCO, pin 30 of U102 (this one you have to take right off the IC or off the pass-thru close by, as it goes thru a resistor on the under side before hitting A on VR105)

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: eBay Categorys]

I've only sold a few games on ebay, but I've only once used the video games category.  I ship via USPS Priority Small Flat Rate Box... costs ~$5, but they cap shipping in the video games category at $4.  My first video game auction I listed a lot of three sega 32x games, starting at $0.99.  5 days later there was one bid - for $0.99.  Because of the shipping cap at $4 and the ebay fees, I actually lost money in that listing.  Screw that.  Now I use generic categories where the shipping isn't capped.  I also don't start bids at $0.99 anymore.  ;-)

Some would recommend changing shipping methods... but the flat rate boxes are just so easy for the shipper... free box, free pickup, easy labeling, no weighing.

I emailed ebay and asked them to raise the cap to $5, they just replied with a link to documentation about their shipping caps.  Then I emailed asking them why they wouldn't at least fix the price so that when you picked small flat rate box in the shipping interface it wouldn't just fix the price at that... got another link back to their documentation.  So.... alternate category it is!

Ebay needs to drop the shipping caps... let people make up their own minds about how much they're willing to pay for shipping.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Couple of systems and some accessories]

Had to rethink my offer on the arcade card pro.  I though it was a US one, turns out there's no such thing as a US arcade card!

Thanks tho for the insight prior to the sale.  ;-)

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Weak spinning TG-CD.]

Did'ja get it going?

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Couple of systems and some accessories]

pm'd for the arcade card pro

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: TG16 Spine label Stickers…INTEREST CHECK Again!!!]

I'll buy one large set + one small set.  or if you don't do runs of both, two large sets is fine.

Where do you guys get the generic cases to stick 'em to tho?  I have a lot of games in my "collection" (quotes cuz it's pretty paltry) that are missing the cases entirely.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Weak spinning TG-CD.]

I can't remember where I posted it before, or I'd link to it... heh.  Normally if it's riding low I pull the platform and re-seat it, but it's not really easy to do without damaging the platform or the rod or both.  So what I did last time is I removed the magnet from the lid, carefully removed the plastic pieces, etc until all I had was the magnet.  Then I took the side off a computer case, set it on the desk, set a sticky address label (avery brand, but any sticker would do really) on the computer case, then set the magnet on top of that.  The magnet stuck to the side of the computer case and held the address label in place well enough for me to trace the magnet onto the sticker.  Once I'd traced the magnet onto the sticker, I removed the magnet and I took a hobby knife and cut out the doughnut shape... this ended up being a perfect sized spacer to just stick on the platform.  I made two of these... stuck them on the platform, and they worked great.  ;-)

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Weak spinning TG-CD.]

I was playing with a machine that had the "spindle too low" issue last night.  I fixed it by snagging some of my wife's Avery address labels (those printable self-sticking ones) and cutting a circular chunk out of the stickers with a knife.  I pulled the magnet out of the top piece to use as a guide when doing the cutting.  I just cut out the middle and then cut out the outside and ended up with a sticky washer kind of thing.  It took two such cut labels to bring the height up enough on the disk that it would stop rubbing.  ;-)

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Turbo DUO Tap]

If you get to where you want to make an adapter, this will help:

http://www.gamesx.com/controldata/turbocont.htm

I dunno how many takers you'll get for folks looking to use Duo Pads on a TG-16.  The Duo Pads are pretty rare and the TG Pads are relatively common.  I think whomever made this Tap was thinking in the wrong direction, heh.  They should have been making a tap that plugs into a Duo and allows TG Pads.  ;-)

In any case - I have several PC Engine 5 player taps.  I can't really trade straight across, as I don't have much use for the one you have, but I'd be willing to use the one you have as credit toward one of the ones I have here.  I sell them for $15 + $5 shipping, and I'd be willing to give you $10 for your existing one, net cost would be ~$10.

You can also find them on ebay for relatively cheap.  Here's one for ~$20:

http://cgi.ebay.com/DUO-TAP-MULTI-CONTROLLER-ADAPTER-BRAND-NEW-TURBOGRAFX_W0QQitemZ320393990616QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVideo_Games_Accessories?hash=item4a98f851d8&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1205%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Repair Guide (ish) ... Laser Power Issues? Replace Caps]

I've updated my guide a bit...

Also - Follow up on that original unit that was refusing to read Golden Axe.

I took a reading on the pot on the laser assembly, it was higher than I'd seen elsewhere... 830 ohms.  Elsewhere (both personally, and in these forums) I'd never seen a reading higher than 760ish.  So I was gonna tweak the pot, but they're glued and it wouldn't budge.  ...gotta be careful here, I actually broke one of these pots once trying to unstick it...  so instead of forcing it, I put a 10k resistor across the pins.  Resistors in parallel reduce the resistance, but you have to do the proper math to determine the values to use.

That dropped the overall reading to the expected 750 ohms and viola!  It now reads Golden Axe!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: 5 silver pots on the Turbo Duo pcb?]

I spent some time tracking down those test points this evening.  Yikes.  The IC101 ones are on the underside of the board.

Forgive my lack of industry know-how here... When taking a reading, I'm guessing we're looking for the voltage between ground and the test point?  I think it's gonna be a bitch to get readings off those pins while the unit is in operation.  Probably have to solder on some test wires or something, then lay the board back down?

I'm wondering if it would make more sense (and be easier) if we were to put together a set of ranges of the resistance of the pots, charted with mins and maxes as you had mentioned.  Trying to KISS on this as much as possible.  The problem I then run into is... between which of the three pins on each pot should I track the resistances?  If I understand the POTS correctly, the resistances between pins A and B can vary, and the resistance between B and C vary inverse to A+B, but the resistance between A and C is fixed, correct?  Thus with just the resistance between A and B, the POT can be adjusted as needed?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Weak spinning TG-CD.]

Hey there.  Good to see you found the CDR-35D.

If the _only_ problem is that the spindle is sitting low, my guess is that it's only 0.5mm - 1mm too low and you can try a few different things.

You can put something under the disc so it rides a little higher.  The trick is (a) keeping it level and (b) finding the right thickness.

Or... you can try to pull the platform up.  This is sometimes hard to do, it's on there pretty tight and it takes a lot of force to move it... Thus you pry on it and then -pop-, it flies off at you.  ;-)  Then you have to put it back on, and be careful when putting it back on not to get it too low again.  The other issue with this method is that unless you apply pressure evenly at several (I'd say 4) points around the platform, you stand a good chance of bending either the spindle or the platform.  In which case you're really screwed as the disc will wobble and the laser won't be able to read the outer tracks anymore.  (been there, sucks to try to recover from...)

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Weak spinning TG-CD.]

Don't try this with a disk you like, because if the spindle is sitting low it'll scratch it, but If you just set the CD on the spindle and spin it, does it spin freely?

If you detatch the magnetic top from within the lid and put it on the spindle, then with a small screwdriver trick the lid latch into thinking the lid is closed, does it read the disk ok?

I'm not at home right now, (where my TG CD is) so I can't give you any more detail about how to pull the magnetic piece out or how to short the lid switch, but that would be where I would start.

If it does run ok like that, then I'd look into how the magnetic piece is resting in the lid... see if there's anything out of wack there, or if some lubrication may be in order.  (tho I really don't know if that's something you want to be lubricating...)

When you're running it with the lid open, check out the balance and whatnot too... if you rest a screwdriver against the case while it's spinning, does it rattle?  Or if you rest your finger on it while it's spinning, can you feel a bad vibration?

Cheers

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: 5 silver pots on the Turbo Duo pcb?]

I just got in an actual US Duo over the weekend.  I'll spend some time with that and a working PC Engine Duo to see what I can figure out.

That duo I was working on last week that wouldn't read the Golden Axe CD ... it's proving difficult.  I did a full cap replace and it still wouldn't read the Golden Axe disk.  The audio got a lot crisper, and it reads CD-R's a lot better now, but it's the only system I have now (out of 4 in my shop) that absolutely refuses to read Golden Axe.  It plays the intro, but when you push start to skip to the title screen it bumps you back to the SCD bios.  (is bios even the word for it?)  Go figure.

Charlie, I'll definitely post numbers on the pots and testpoints here in the coming week or two.  I need to do it anyway so I have a point of reference for future repairs.  I am a little concerned that there will be somewhat significant play in some of them.  I know for instance that while a laser swap should be just a swap, on at least two occasions I've had to go to the pots to get a new laser to read everything properly.  Maybe I'll setup a chart of "before I played with it", and "after I've played with it" on a few different models.  Could be really handy.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: USE YOUR PAD CABLE IN YOUR TAP!!!]

I have something to add to my previous post here too...

I ran into another old-school vg-1001 controller today. (why am I playing with them so much, you might ask?  because I've been turning them into duo pads w/ 10 ft cords of course!)

Anyway, this particular one I went to use to 'upgrade' another TurboTap with a 3ft cable and I didn't even have to flip it 180 deg... it just plugged right in.  So it looks like some of the vg-1001's had the tabs up on the cable to pcb connector, and some of them had the tabs down on the cable to pcb connector.  To be safe, all you have to do is look at the one you're replacing, find the big black ground, and make sure you put the new one into the tap with the same orientation.  ;-)

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: 5 silver pots on the Turbo Duo pcb?]

Made a new generic repair guide-ish thread about this and other things...

Unfortunately this kind of stuff really fits much better into a wiki or something similar.

Some of these repair threads have some real gold buried 10 pages into 'em.  It's just hard to find.  ;-)

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Repair Guide (ish) ... Laser Power Issues? Replace Caps]

I got a new pc engine duo from Japan today.  I always get so excited when a new one comes in.  Don't ask me why.  ;-)

In any case, this one came with a copy of Golden Axe, which was 50% of why I picked this particular one out of the many on Ebay at the time.  So I go straight to it, hook it all up, put in Golden Axe and it loads up after a slight delay and goes into the intro.  Yay, I'm stoked.  This is the first time I've seen Golden Axe on the duo.  I got sick of the intro (I don't grok Japanese) and push 'RUN'.  Boom, I'm back at the CD Load screen.  WTF?  A few more tries, and it looks like every time it's about to load the game's title screen, it just craps out and reloads.  So... I'm pissed.  This particular unit was sold as a functional one.  (Partial refund time.)

I lost interest in the unit right away tho, (put it in the fix pile) and took the Golden Axe CD to another duo that I know works.  (I'd played a few CD-R's on it already.)  Holy Crapola, this duo wouldn't even load the intro... so now I'm thinking it's the CD.  Just to be sure I drop it into a "never fails" duo-rx and it loads right up, goes to the title screen as it should, and plays right off.  After playing for about 30 mins...  (You know, cuz I love Golden Axe... and... DAMMIT, this version SUCKS. :-(  I am so bummed.

Right, so after playing about 30 mins my itch comes back to fiddle with the two duo's that wouldn't play it.  So far I've only had time to look at one of them. (The second one, that wouldn't even load the disc at all.)  But here was my procedure to get it working:

1) Inspect board for corroded contacts on the caps.  Several of the larger 22uf ones looked bad so...
2) Replaced out ALL of the larger 22uf caps on the board.  (there seem to be two sizes of the 22 uf ones.)
3) Test unit.  No change.  (dammit.)
4) No more contacts or caps look corroded, so I went with the old standby common failures... the 47uf and 100uf...
5) 47uf first... replaced them all... test unit.  No change.  (dammit.)
6) 100uf... replaced them all... test unit... I'll be damned.  It reads fine, plays fine.  Sweetness.

So here's the thing.  Having been through a few of these now, (4 or 5?) and having fiddled with lasers and their power pot and all the adjustments on the other 5 pots and everything else... I really believe now that the caps failing is one of the most common causes of laser issues.  I think that as the 100uf caps fail the laser must not get enough juice anymore or something.  Tweaking the pot on the laser probably compensates for that somewhat, and may be an easier tweak, but really doesn't address the core issue nor is it a long term fix, as the caps ARE going to fail... sometime.

As to why that duo would read CD-R's and not Golden Axe... who knows... Golden Axe was actually the first game I've thrown at it that it wouldn't play... but now all those caps are swapped out, everything loads faster, it's pretty much on par with my duo-rx.  I'm happy, I've got a new repair procedure that is actually less guessing than it used to be.  Here it is so far... (and yeah, it's gonna evolve...)

- Power Issues?
  1) Clean AC Plugs and Unit Socket with solvent.  (once got a broken duo for $40 and this was ALL IT NEEDED)
  2) Check / Replace Fuse
  3) Check / Replace VR  (part # anyone?)

- Audio Issues?
  1) Reseat / Resolder DIN-5 (I pretty much do this every time... just one of those things that needs to be done because it's under so much stress.)
  2) Replace Audio Related Caps (very well documented elsewhere on this board)
  3) Replace Audio Related IC's.  (never got this far personally...)

- Video Issues?
  1) Reseat / Resolder DIN-5
  2) Try A Different Game.  ;-)

- CD Reading Issues
  1) Clean Lens
  2) Check Spindle Height (sometimes these get knocked down pretty good in shipping.)
    -) (Added 07/09/09) If it's too low, and disc's are grinding on the chassis, you can try putting a spacer of some kind (thin washer?) under the disc.
    -) (Added 07/09/09) If it's too high (> 1mm above the chassis in my experience) you can try GENTLY tapping it down with a small hammer.
  3) Check Spindle Balance (if the disk spins 'wobbly' the unit won't read it on the outside tracks.) (UPDATED 07/09/09)
    -) You can find the high point in the wobble by snagging a disc you don't care about...
    -) and a sharpie or pencil and holding it above the disc while the disc spins...
    -) slowly lower it until it leaves some marks... now you know where you need to GENTLY bend the platform down to try to achieve balance.
  4) Swap Laser (I have several on hand that are known good, so this is an easy elimination step.)
  5) Replace 100 uf, 47 uf, and the larger 22uf caps, in that order.
  6) Adjust the 6 pots.  (UPDATED 07/09/09)
    -) For me at this stage this is just a very careful guess and check.  Mark their original positions BEFORE YOU TOUCH THEM!
    -) There are 5 on the board.
    -) And one on the laser assembly.
      -) Two of the pins connect into the same trace on the board.
      -) Measure across one of those and the third pin.
      -) Readings known to work are 550 ohms to 760 ohms.

  (Added 07/09/09) Note: I now have four disc's I use to test nearly all usage scenarios.  I test in this order:
    A) A music disc.  (paying special attention to the last couple of tracks.)
    B) A regular TurboDuo game... usually Fighting Street for me.
    C) Golden Axe... it's known to not like being read.
    D) A Turbo Duo Demo Disc CD-R.  The intro on this includes a brutal cross-disc seek that kills all but the most finely tuned Duo.

I'm sure some of you are wondering what I'm doing with them after I've got 'em up and running.  I'm sorta ashamed to say, I've been dabbling in Ebay.  On the other hand, I figure my time is worth something -and- I need the cash -and- after leaving my shop every one of these units is worthy of sitting on my own video game rack, so hey, someone's actually getting a good deal.  I'm way jealous of these dudes that get like $500 for their units.  I have no idea how they do it.  I list mine in the $200 - $250 range (depending on what I paid for it and what parts went into it.) and I still only get buyers every here and there.

Anyway, back to the repair guide bit... Anyone have anything to add?

I'll work on the original unit that got me started this evening sooner or later and I'll post a followup to let everyone know if it was the 100uf caps again.  ;-)

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: 5 silver pots on the Turbo Duo pcb?]

Following up...

I was able to get a bunch of the 100uf and 47uf caps replaced in this unit.  You could pretty much tell which ones needed replaced, they were all corroded around the connections.  After replacing a bunch of caps, it was able to play music cd's on the inner tracks no problem.  With Charlie's pot data I was able to take that a step further and got it reading first the full music cd, and finally with some fine tuning I got it to read a few different CD-R's.  Very nice.

Thanks a TON for the assist!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: 5 silver pots on the Turbo Duo pcb?]

Hey Charlie,

Following up - Any idea what/where the testpoints might be?  ;-)

Have you done a bunch of duo laser repair?

Cheers.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: CD-Rom2 broken]

Probably worth noting... I've seen the sled get stuck all the way at the outside extreme on several duo's now when trying to read CD-R's.  ;-)  I had one apart the other day and was watching it as it would track across the disk.  When seeking (I think trying to find an audio track in the game) it'd lose focus and just boom, go all the way to the end and get stuck.  Only a manual turning of the motor gear would get it unstuck.  Some tuning with the laser power pot and I was able to fix it, but man, I'd hate to be without my gamebit in that situation!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: USE YOUR PAD CABLE IN YOUR TAP!!!]

I think the mapping is something like this:

PWD-624 / VG-1001
1 / 8
2 / 1
3 / 2
4 / 3
5 / 4
6 / 6
7 / 5
8 / 7
9 / 9 (shield/ground)

The pins 1-8 correspond not only to the connector inside the controller, but also to the pins in this diagram:

http://www.gamesx.com/controldata/turbocont.htm

I've spent a little bit of time with 'em lately, swapping out the built-in cables on some turbo pads for longer 10ft duo versions.  ;-)

I think I may actually setup a small turbo store (kattare's junk fo sale!) here sooner or later for some of my mod'd consoles and accessories.  We'll see if I can figure out a way to make the time investment worth it...

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: USE YOUR PAD CABLE IN YOUR TAP!!!]

Incidentally, the very old controllers referred to (PCB shows model VG-1001) are much easier to use for this mod.  Just pull the connector, flip it 180 deg, and plug it into the Tap.  ;-)

It won't go in easily, as it is a 180 deg flip of the connector, but if you break the plastic tabs on the receptacle on the Tap you'll have no problem.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: My Turbo Duo and Turbo Express need repairing]

I'm pretty new here... recently stumbled across my TG in the attic and have spent the last couple months obsessed with my TG childhood.  ;-)  (mostly been buying and playing with all the stuff I couldn't afford as a kid!)

Reading your previous posts it sounds like you need cap replacements done on both units?

I've never done it for other folks, but have been repairing my own systems for a while now.  (modded my first TG-16 when I was 14, added slo-mo on a turbo pad and added A/V jacks to my console... before there was internet access and all this awesome documentation... ;-)

Lemme know if you can't find anyone else, I'd be willing to give it a go.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: 5 silver pots on the Turbo Duo pcb?]

Damn Charlie, that stuff is GOLD.  Thank you!