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[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Another PCE Duo, recapped with no disc spin]

Finally got around to working on this again.

Literally cleaned it a few weeks ago, put it in a box and let it sit.

Plugged it in today and IT WORKED FIRST TRY.

All I had to do was tweak one pot and it's working beautifully.

WTF Duo, WTF!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Another PCE Duo, recapped with no disc spin]

I'll be messing with it again later.

I seem to be screwing everything I do up today, so I'm going to stop for now. XD

Edit: I kind of suspect one of the BA6290A ICs. Any tips on testing these?

Another thought was to clean the console again and see if that somehow helps.

Update: I decided to give the CD section another cleaning. I'll reset the pots to those values and go from there once it's dry.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Another PCE Duo, recapped with no disc spin]

I've been following it, and no matter what I seem to do it won't read. =/

I can't even get a RF signal picked up on the test point with my oscilloscope.

I'm thinking replacing the pots can't hurt as I can't seem to dial it in at all and they just go around and around with no ends.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Another PCE Duo, recapped with no disc spin]

Alright, so I'm working on another Duo.

The console worked fine before the recap, but sure enough it had leaky caps. I replaced all of the caps in the system, and the hucard games work just fine.

I can't seem to get the disc to spin up though. As if the laser can't focus in on the disc. This is kind of annoying considering it played the CD game fine before the recap...

I've tried playing with the trim pots to no avail. They spin round and round though. I don't think they are supposed to do that...

What should I try first? Replacing the pots, or replacing the laser assembly? I have a spare Hop-M3 laser here. I'd have to wait for the pots.

The laser will do a little jump when I turn the console on and off as well.

Any ideas on what I should try next for it?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: game tech's duo region mod board]

Interesting. I'll have to keep that in mind.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: game tech's duo region mod board]

I should probably also ask: Is there a reason for removing the coils near the AV jack?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: game tech's duo region mod board]

Yeah, I'll take one of the Sync strip cable and jack combos for $30.

Will be next week before I can afford it though. Send me a PM.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: game tech's duo region mod board]

Or I could just slap a sync stripper in a scart cable. =)

How much for the cable w/ Sync stripper and the Jack? Seems like a much better route than the SNES port.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: game tech's duo region mod board]

I just ordered one of these the other day for a friend's PCE Duo.

He bought a "working" one on ebay and sent it to me for recap + RGB + Region mod.

Should be interesting. I'll be using the same style SMD caps as I'm taking out, so that should be fun.

As for the RGB mod, I'm using the amp available from Console5, and running that to one of the custom 3D printed SNES style A/V jacks I've used for NESRGB installs. A bit weird, but that's what my friend requested. Probably because then he doesn't have to buy another set of cables.

Will also be doing viletim's RGB jailbars fix to the console.

Sorry if that got a bit off topic.

that amp is my pcb.  i was thinking he was going to sell it for cheaper as its a diy but i dont really think its that great of a deal since its $12 + shipping where i sell a fully assembled one (with more expensive tantilum caps instead of electrolytic) for $20 shipped.

I would never ruin the looks of the conosle by putting a nintendo multi out on there.  doesn't really make much sense since an pce rgb cable costs the same or less than the 3d printed port and also going to be alot more time consuming to install than just replacing the 5 pin din with an 8 pin.  also can really easily mess up making the hole for it, but if thats what they want I guess you gotta do it.  you probably want to leave the output caps off the rgb pcb since they are already in a super nintendo cable.

I'll see if he rather go the 8 pin din route. Not too late to change it up. I can always save the Nintendo A/V port for a NES RGB frontloader. Will save me a lot of hassle anyway.

Is there a place to get info on how to install the 8 pin DIN port into the console? I can probably talk him into doing that.

Also a good place to source them? I run RGB with C-sync usually.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: game tech's duo region mod board]

I just ordered one of these the other day for a friend's PCE Duo.

He bought a "working" one on ebay and sent it to me for recap + RGB + Region mod.

Should be interesting. I'll be using the same style SMD caps as I'm taking out, so that should be fun.

As for the RGB mod, I'm using the amp available from Console5, and running that to one of the custom 3D printed SNES style A/V jacks I've used for NESRGB installs. A bit weird, but that's what my friend requested. Probably because then he doesn't have to buy another set of cables.

Will also be doing viletim's RGB jailbars fix to the console.

Sorry if that got a bit off topic.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo Duo Modder needed]

I can do the work too, but my return times are rather long right now.  Been really busy with college lately.

I've also installed one of those RGB > Component boards before. Came out really nicely.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PCE Duo - No Sound]

HuMan, you can still get to those caps. It's just a bit tricky.

The chip should be a SIP package and you should be able to stand it up, remove the tape and get to the capacitors. Then just put the tape back and bend the chip back down after you replace the caps.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: 2x Turbo Duo's completely Recapped - same problem low sound!]

The op amps should come off with even a cheap ebay hot air station quite easily. (Talking 858D quality.)

Just set it to around 300 and play around with it. There is no go to temperature for soldering. It's all done by feel. Solder doesn't melt well? Turn up the heat. Flux may prove extremely useful. Different boards require different amounts of heat. The TG-16 and PC Engine boards I've seen heat up quickly though.

For the M51131L, you're best desoldering that with a desoldering gun.

However, I would suggest checking stuff such as the electrolytic capacitors before going after the Op Amps and IC.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PCE Duo - No Sound]

I'd assume he means IC506.

Pin8 should be around 7-8V, not 3V That's the +V input for the Op Amp. That would be part of the reason you have no sound I'd guess. You'll have to figure out why you're not getting 7V on those.

Likely a dead passive, transistor, missing ground or dead via is my guess. I'd start with tracing the +rail back from one of the op amps to see where it is created. Notes and drawing your own schematic might help.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PCE Duo - No Sound]

There is an op amp right by the A/V jack. I believe that's the one he is talking about. It's next to a couple of caps and some inductors.

China? Please. They stock 4558 op amps on Mouser and Digikey.

Within a minute of searching:
http://www.mouser.com/Semiconductors/Amplifier-ICs/_/N-4frvm?Keyword=4558&FS=True

Like $0.50 each + shipping. Not sure of the exact one to get though.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PCE Duo - No Sound]

For the card sound, you want to check the Hu6280. It's the CPU of the console, and the sound starts here. The pins are rather small though so be careful not to short them out.

https://console5.com/wiki/Hu6280

Pins 17 and 18 of the 6280 output the sound. It's easiest to check this with an oscilloscope, as a multimeter isn't going to show you if the signal is there or not. Also check the 5V audio rail on pin 19 and the audio GND on pin 20. All you really need to do is see if it is producing a waveform or not.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PCE Duo - No Sound]

Have you tried cranking your set's volume up to max, or plugging in headphones with them at max to see if you get anything at all out of it?

Basically you want to find out of the system is producing audio from it's chipset or not.

 If it is producing audio than you have an amplification issue, and should start checking all of the Op Amps and the M51131L.

You want to get the card sound working, then try to get the CD sound working.

For the CD section, start with the DAC to see if it is outputting anything. Not exactly easy to do though as it is on the bottom of the board.

Hopefully that helps a bit.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: 2x Turbo Duo's completely Recapped - same problem low sound!]

I had one of these earlier this year that had a few corroded vias causing the issues.

The console got worse after I washed it. It went from having intermittent sound, to having extremely weak sound. A few of the vias were disconnected internally from corrosion. Was a bit of a nightmare to troubleshoot as my first Duo repair. =) Here's some of what I learned:

If you can't find any obvious faults, start checking the op amps. 4558.(Google it for a pinout) Check the voltage on the (+) voltage rail(I think like 8 or 9 volts or something?) and - Voltage rail(ground)on each. The main ones of interest are by the A/V jack, headphone jack and on the back of the board in the same region near the A/V jack. Also check the inputs and the outputs of the op amps for signals. DC readings should be fine for all of these measurements.

The other chip of interest with volume issues is the M51131L. It's in a ZIF package I believe. It controls the audio levels in the consoles. Here's the datasheet:

https://console5.com/techwiki/images/8/82/M51131L.pdf

I ended up fixing the one I was working on by jumping ground to an op amp, restoring the card sound to proper levels. I then found the CD had issues, and I jumped a 5V rail to the M51131L's Pin 8, restoring proper sound levels to the CD section of the Duo. The fix for yours will likely be different based on where the electrolyte leaked on your console. Check out the other thread linked here too. I wish I had that when I was working on that PC Engine Duo.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Sound crackling after PC Engine Duo recap]

Update: Went to tune in the disc drive, managed to get the disc spinning, read, and playing, but no audio from my PVM speaker.

I do however faintly hear audio from the headphone jack. Based on this, I'm assuming I have another amplification-related problem.

I've checked the DAC with my Rigol DS1054Z oscilloscope, the audio is present, I've traced it from there to the 4560 Op AMP on the top of the board, yet I'm having trouble finding the next spot in it's path.

I'm learning a lot of stuff working on this Duo.


Edit: Figured it out! Had a via out that kept the 5V rail from making it to the pin. (I traced it out first) Soldered a jumper wire from the 5V rail to pin 8, and she's working perfectly again. =)
Edit: After checking another thread, I checked a few caps in the audio section of the board and found that C162 has no voltage on the positive side. I think I found part of the problem. =)

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Sound crackling after PC Engine Duo recap]

Fixed it! 

Decided to probe around the board a bit more yesterday and found 5 volts on the negative input pin on the back of the board. Sure enough, the via connecting that pin to the ground plane was corroded away!

So I ran a jumper from ground on the next chip over to the op amp, and it's back to normal. =) The damaged via was right by a capacitor that had leaked horrendously before the recap, so it makes sense now. 

The pin is back at ground, and the jumper has 1.96mA flowing through it to ground, so I'm not worried about it at all.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Sound crackling after PC Engine Duo recap]

That's the general conclusion I've come to. I've looked the PCB over under a microscope I have access to at school, and I didn't see anything jumping out at me. Have a feeling the dead trace/via causing my issue is under one of the op amp chips. I think I know exactly which one too. Need to poke around with the meter a bit more and confirm it before sucking off chips though.

I haven't looked at it for a week or so now, will have to give it another go sooner or later.

Going to college for Electronics Engineering Technology is a time killer. =x

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Sound crackling after PC Engine Duo recap]

Will do. Won't be covering them in class till next spring I think though. =/ Have to get through all the Circuit Analysis and such first.

Guess it's time to turn to The Art of Electronics and my Electronics Troubleshooting textbook from the 90's and actually learn some stuff.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Sound crackling after PC Engine Duo recap]

Hmm, so what should I check? I think it might be time to crack out my Electronics Troubleshooting textbook and do some reading.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Sound crackling after PC Engine Duo recap]

Checked the Op Amp this morning, 1.4V on the output on both sides, 3.8ish volts on the normal input, 4V on the inverting input.

Power rail shows +7.8 volts, ground rail is showing -0.2 mV for some reason... Hmm.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Sound crackling after PC Engine Duo recap]

Alright, I re-cleaned the board and rinsed it off really well, leaving it to hang and air dry overnight.

Today when I got home from my Lab class, I plugged it in to see what I'd get. The result? What was seemingly no audio output. However, after cranking up my PVM to max I was able to barely hear it, and the same outcome with headphones and the headphone jack.

My guesses at this point are either a dead via, or a dead op amp. I'll be taking it to school with me tomorrow to check it out under the microscope in the electronics lab, and see if that gives me any hints. Any other things I should check for?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Sound crackling after PC Engine Duo recap]

Thanks thesteve! I was going to check for that after I gave the board another good cleaning to rule out any electrolyte causing issues under IC's.

Is there a good way to check for damaged vias?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Sound crackling after PC Engine Duo recap]

It did have electrolyte leaked all over. I cleaned it up with some 91% rubbing alcohol before recapping it. Are you saying I should give cleaning the board again a try?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Sound crackling after PC Engine Duo recap]

Hello,

I recently finished recapping a PC Engine Duo and have encountered a crackling sound issue. I've been pointed towards a few of the OP Amps, and other IC's related to the audio circuitry. I only have a basic DMM here, and an old analog scope. I have access to a slew of DSO's and Fluke 87-V's at school though.

What should I check moving forward? I'd like to fix it if possible.

Background: I'm currently going to school for Electronics Engineering Technology, yet I'm still early in my studies.