RIP my beloved Supergrafx

[deubeul]

Hi guys,

while I was struggling against the last boss in 1941 my wife had the good idea to go quick between the table and the TV and hauled her feet in the Scart cable, which resulted in my supergrafx falling from 30cm on the floor and now it's dead (the supergrafx).

Symptoms:
- right after the fall, the image was frozen but music continued to play (IIRC, I powered it off right away).
- now when I power on the console all I got is a white screen without sound, same as when the card is not detected or when the slot is empty. I tried with several games, slighltly moving the card in the slot  trying to get the right position, but always the same result: white screen, no sound.

I opened the console to have a quick check and none of the chips is over heating.

Any Idea? (or condolences?)

[MNKyDeth]

This is a guess from me. But reflow the solder on the A/V, power and controller ports? Maybe something cracked a little from the jolt.

Try a different game in the system?

Any cracking on the PCB?

These are all just guess's so...

[BlueBMW]

The way the supergrafx shell holds the PCB in place makes the board more prone to cracking when impacted (I've seen it several times)  So its possible you got a small crack in the pcb.  Usually fixable with some effort.

[wyndcrosser]

Open the "guy" up and let's see.

[Gentlegamer]

After pcengine-fx.com, go here http://www.divorcenet.com/resources/divorce-judge/hiring-divorce-lawyer.htm

[EvilEvoIX]

I hope you fix it soon.  Post status updates.

[mickcris]

Yeah, the pcb most likely cracked and broke some traces. I got one cheap due to this issue and was able to repair it. Some of the broken traces can be a bit hard to see.

[csgx1]

Cracked pcbs are somewhat common? Sounds like a design flaw.

Just a thought...does your Supergrafx happened to be region modded? If so, the jolt could have loosened a connection.

30cm drop doesn't seem like a whole lot.  Hopefully it's an easy fix.

[thesteve]

that system is prone to cracking
check board at stress points (heatsink mounts and where the cover touches the board)

[Nazi NecroPhile]

Aww, man that sucks. 

On the plus side, you'll have a good response for a while when wifey is mad about something: "Yeah?  Remember that time you trashed my SGX?"

[deubeul]

Thanks (and lol) for your responses guys.   

For now I just had a quick look searching for an over-heating chip or a crack, but didn't notice any of those. Don't think it's a loosen connection, because the console acts as if there was nothing in the Hucard slot, no image, no sound, just blank screen.

I hope it's just a crack, I should eventually find it.
I'll give you updates, thanks again.

[ginoscope]

After pcengine-fx.com, go here http://www.divorcenet.com/resources/divorce-judge/hiring-divorce-lawyer.htm

LOL I was thinking the same thing but in all seriousness I hope you figure out what is wrong with the system.  Like others have said check the av/controller port areas for loose connections.

[thesteve]

just a note, the sound continued
if it was a solid tone look for a crack between work ram/card and 6280
if the sound continued normally look for cracks around the heatsink interrupting the data bus to a 6270
also try rock-on, as its sound runs without proper video function

[wilykat]

Cracked joint between any of the chip?  Get a really good magnifying glass, like jeweler's loupe and check over all the pins of the IC. Wiggle the IC as you check for pin, you might find a pin or 2 moving when it shouldn't move.

[deubeul]

Found !

/mini_486509WP20151202123830Pro.jpg

Looks like I got some chirurgical soldering to do 

The crack goes far under the HUcard slot, but only the traces from the huC6202 VPC are cut, those below seems OK as far as I could test them. Hope I'm right because I really don't want to unsolder the slot.

[blueraven]

Found !

/mini_486509WP20151202123830Pro.jpg

Looks like I got some chirurgical soldering to do 

The crack goes far under the HUcard slot, but only the traces from the huC6202 VPC are cut, those below seems OK as far as I could test them. Hope I'm right because I really don't want to unsolder the slot.

That was going to be my next comment; please post photos of the board.

I wish you the best of luck in bridging the traces, I have some similar work to do on a unit of mine. Keep us updated on your progress.

[mickcris]

Mine had a crack there and 2 other places. You may end up having to remove the slot. I had to remove mine as the crack went the whole way up the left side. Can't really tell from your pic where yours is as it's pretty low resolution. I posted a couple pics of my board here:
https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?msg=399144

edit: i clicked on your pic and can see its high res.  wasn't working on my phone for some reason.  but im thinking the crack probably extends to where the screw was holding the slot in place so hopefully there are no traces in between.  I cant remember exactly what it looks like under the slot.

[CatPix]

This doesn't make me wanting to get a Supergrafx. I don't have the habit of slamming my systems down, and I have a Colecovision and a Bally Astrocade - I know what a flaky system is - but this doesn't feel like it's so worth the cost and pain

Good luck for fixing your system anyway!

[wilykat]

I don't know how much gap there is under the slot but a good camera with macro setting should be able to take picture then you could blow up the image on the computer to see where and how far the crack goes.

[deubeul]

I don't know how much gap there is under the slot but a good camera with macro setting should be able to take picture then you could blow up the image on the computer to see where and how far the crack goes.

I goes further than I hoped... or let's rather say that the crack is worse than I hoped.

First step of soldering this morning, before I had to go to work:

(I'm ashamed of posting that pic, as it looks dirty because of my shitty wires which starts to melt at 1inch from the soldering iron )(and no, there's no short  )

/mini_947548WP20151203122630Pro.jpg

Anyway, things get better:

/mini_457655WP20151203122427Pro.jpg
/mini_165236WP20151203122523Pro.jpg

Tomorrow I'll work on the other cut traces under the slot, and post the results soon after.

[esadajr]

it's alive!

[mickcris]

it doesn't look that bad.
also, i would not leave any wires under the plastic side piece of the slot.  there was one trace on mine that i had to find an alternative spot on the other side of the board cause the slot kept knocking my solder joint lose.  I think the case pushes that flat against the board.

[wilykat]

You are using variable temp iron?  When wire melt, it may be too hot.  For most soldering work I usually do 325C although with those tiny SMD pins, maybe try 310? To avoid burning up the tiny traces.

[Vimtoman]

Use Hook up wire its soldering proof but you need a special  stripper.

[deubeul]

Guess who's back ?? 


/mini_979166WP20151204155902Pro1.jpg


My soldering iron doesn't have variable temp, I was too lazy to drive to the shop to buy better wire, but it did the job anyway. And without removing the slot!

Image of the final operation (minus the goo):


/mini_494003WP20151204160103Pro1.jpg


And my happy convalescent SgX:


/mini_373159WP20151204191119Pro1.jpg


Thanks to all of you for the good advices , the support, and the good jokes!

My SgX and my marriage are saved 

[Nazi NecroPhile]

Well done.  The bandaids are a nice touch. 

[johnnykonami]

Guess who's back ?? 

My SgX and my marriage are saved 

Nice work resurrecting it!

[wilykat]

Nice!  So what can be done to prevent this? It sounds like SFX is assembled a little tight or too loose and is prone to cracking if dropped.

[blueraven]

hahhahahahHHAHAHAHA!!! 

Fantastic!!!

Awesome job with the repair and glad to see you're back on the road! 

[RyuHayabusa]

Good job saving the SGX.

[schweaty]

Mad props.  That is great work

[roflmao]

The technical ability around these parts never ceases to amaze me.  Congrats on getting it up and running again!

[seieienbu]

So glad this story has a happy ending.  Congrats on the excellent workmanship.

[deubeul]

Thanks guys !  O:)

Nice!  So what can be done to prevent this? It sounds like SFX is assembled a little tight or too loose and is prone to cracking if dropped.

Maybe play with the SGX above pillows?

The fact is while repairing it, I noticed 2 subtle marks of former fixing, so maybe the  crack was already there but the traces weren't totally cut?

[BlueBMW]

Maybe cut out the mount posts near the middle of the board and not use those screws.

[deubeul]

Hey, good idea! I didn't put back those screws, but I didn't think to cut the mount posts.

[thesteve]

the offending post has no screw, and i cut it on mine

[csgx1]

Great job getting it working again!

I think I'll open up mine and cut the post too.  Is it only a single mounting post in the middle that seems to be causing trouble?

[thesteve]

yes

[deubeul]

Just a little bump to say that this morning, as I wanted to test the jaibar fix on my SgX, the problem was back 

But once opened and PCB naked, the console worked again. So I cut all the pots inside the console, put it back together and shaked it a little to verify by hear that everything was holding tight inside, now everything works fine!! Those pots really are evil.

[Jason_dicarlo85]

I'm glad you were able to fix your system... Happy ending... Game on

[NightWolve]

/mini_373159WP20151204191119Pro1.jpg

Yeah, nice touch with the band-aids. Congrats on saving it yourself!