Broken HU Cards :(

[dingsbums]

Hi guys 

So a few months ago the CD part of my Duo-R died. I got a cheap Duo Engine as a replacement - I modded it for RGB, recapped it, cleaned & recreased the laser unit and - it had a really ugly
region mod - so I removed that and made a new region mod with a nice switch  .
Of course I grabbed a stack of JP / US games to test if everything work as expected - the first few games work perfect and everything is great  - then I put F1 Circus 92 (switch on Japan of course) and it doesn't work - no problem right  : - I get 95% alcohol and a few q-tips and clean the HU Card. It was clean before but now it's REALLY superclean, try it again => doesn't work 
I know it worked before (because I played that awful game for too long) and just to be sure I test it on my Super Grafx - doesn't work also  .

So of course I had to do the inevitable => test all HU Cards (around 300  ). Luckily enough F1 Circus 92 is the only game that died (I would not even think about it if it happened to Coryoon or Parasol Stars).

But that leaves me with a few questions:

Did it also happen to you guys that a working HU Card suddenly died ?
What parts on the HU Cards are most likely to fail ?
Could it be fixed ?

PS: I'm in the market for a loose F1 Circus 92 HU Card .
PPS: Just a reminder - Check your games  .

[thesteve]

yes they rarely die
even more rarely fixable (corrosion can be fixed, but chip failure its over)
the duo-r is fixable

[Dicer]

I have a broken salamander, tried the drier trick no dice, just dead...

[elderbroom]

Bucci had a Super Star Soldier die as he was about to beat the game (in his Turbo Views review).  Recall he got a replacement to accomplish his mission (because he's just that kind of guy)  But I think he's now giving that broken copy away (as one of a few possible prizes) in his 10k subscribers contest. So sounds like it can happen, and in most cases they are toast.

[NightWolve]

I killed one HuCard and one alone in my time but it wasn't my fault. So after my new Turbo Express arrived, I popped it open, got it set up and the first game I wanted to try was Bloody Wolf. When I tried to push the card in, the contact pins were tight as ALL hell and I had to force it in quite a bit... That sure as hell was not normal compared to the TG-16 system I had won (which the game came with) is what I clearly remember...

Anyway, all I would get was a black screen after turning it on, it wouldn't boot. So I pulled it out, kept trying again... Well, 2nd or 3rd try it wasn't as tight anymore, but still, no screen. Then I tried Keith Courage which worked, so I had an 'uh-oh' moment, realizing the problem is no longer with the Express, it's the HuCard... So, I went to my TG-16 system, tried Bloody Wolf there and sure enough, it no longer worked on it either... Never had a problem with it before, so it didn't happen before this...

So, there ya go... One dead HuCard thanks to one tight Turbo Express... Fair warning. ;)

[Tatsujin]

most died huyes I had seen so far were salamanders

3 so far. one of mine and two from buddies.

[Redfield1]

I got two PC Genjin 2 and a Honô no Tôkyûji: Dodge Danpei. This last one was new but dead.

[turbokon]

I had someone sent me a salamander hucard to test to see if it was dead and it was.

[BlueBMW]

Now Im going to go pull out my Salamander to make sure its still good...

[thesteve]

i have a failed DE
not dead, but corrupted grafix and card gets hot

[imparanoic]

I have had a dead final soldier, pc genjin 2 and street fighter 2

[ifkz]

As a collector, this thread scares the hell outta me.  I have one that's on the way out:  a recently forum purchased Tailspin.  It looks great, the intro text is corrupted though.  There was another member here that had a Tailspin that would still run but all graphics were bad.

What is the hairdryer trick?

[johnnymad]

Not certain, but I imagine you run the hair dryer over the card for a while to possibly reflow the solder. Wait till someone important confirms that though.

[Dicer]

As a collector, this thread scares the hell outta me.  I have one that's on the way out:  a recently forum purchased Tailspin.  It looks great, the intro text is corrupted though.  There was another member here that had a Tailspin that would still run but all graphics were bad.

What is the hairdryer trick?

Heating the card so the blobs/traces inside reconnect...

attach a clamp to the bottom of the huey and aim the dryer at the top there is talk somehwere about I'll see if I can dig it up.

[roflmao]

Bernie is an expert in the hair dryer trick. He's a freaking wizard with one.

[thesteve]

There is no solder in the card, so bad idea

[NightWolve]

Bernie is an expert in the hair dryer trick. He's a freaking wizard with one.

Hah, got one in there for Bernie. ;) Let's call it a "hair dryer bump for Bernie!" in the spirit of the wmac bumps!! I wonder if he regrets ever telling us about that unfortunate mishap now...

There is no solder in the card, so bad idea

And steve bringing in the facts. Yeah, somehow, I didn't think heating the thing up was going to do anything other than make it worse by melting the plastic, warping it, etc... Heh. Well, if it's completely dead, you won't make it worse, but you're not gonna fix it either. ;)

[seieienbu]

I've got a Jackie Chan that no longer boots up.  I just wish it was a copy of Kieth Courage that broke instead.

[BigusSchmuck]

Bernie is an expert in the hair dryer trick. He's a freaking wizard with one.

Hah, got one in there for Bernie. ;) Let's call it a "hair dryer bump for Bernie!" in the spirit of the wmac bumps!! I wonder if he regrets ever telling us about that unfortunate mishap now...

There is no solder in the card, so bad idea

And steve bringing in the facts. Yeah, somehow, I didn't think heating the thing up was going do anything other than make it worse by melting the plastic, warping it, etc... Heh. Well, if it's completely dead, you won't make it worse, but you're not gonna fix it either. ;)

Mark it up to the Bernie Curse.

[Medic_wheat]

/20140818_103213.jpg

I LIVE AGAIN!  Thanks to alcohol .or in this case saki.

[imparanoic]

sometimes they are not dead, sometimes the connectors are dirty or corroded, some isopropyl alcohol with cotton buds will do the trick

but sometimes, they can be beyond repair, I believed  I left my pc genjin 2  hucard is the sun ( uk sun even in the summer is rarely strong) a day or so, next time I tried to play it, it was dead

[technozombie]

I had a Keith Courage that was toast. I don't have a whole bunch of games but I'm relieved the only one that died was KC.

[esteban]

I have PC Genjin 2 that has glitched graphics (never could fix it). So I purchased another. It worked last time I played it. Black Tiger also had a dead PC Grnjin2, if my memory seves me.

[Ravij]

Only problem I get with HuCards is some are badly made, and the 2 plastic layers are not perfectly aligned. This then causes the HuCard to not sit it the correct position and usually causes white screen on power up.

A sharp scalpel knife or some fine sandpaper on the sides of the HuCard will fix.

It's quite rare though - may be 2 or 3 cards out of 150 had this problem.

[thesteve]

ive got a PC gengen that has grafix glitches on some systems, but not others

[SuperGrafx]

So when HuCards spontaneously die, are there any advance warning signs?

I once remember my brother having trouble with his World Court Tennis game back in the day.  When it booted up, the music was super fast and the system would display garbled graphics.  Is that what typically occurs?

[thesteve]

nope
they either work or they dont
his was likely just dirty

[capnd77]

Got a splatterhouse that has distorted sound and plays briefly before freezing up.  Connectors are clean, guess I may as well and try this dryer trick..

[ishiyakazuo]

There is no solder in the card, so bad idea

You sure about that?  Epoxy "glop tops" often have dies soldered to the PCB under them.

I've got a couple of HuCards that are broken (and were given to me that way).  Now that PC Henshin Turbo is working, I kinda really want to play them though   I traced the signals and at least one pin doesn't appear to be working on this Bonk card, and not sure what's up with Splatterhouse (maybe nothing at all?)  I'd be interested to know more about this hairdryer trick, though.
I'm kind of wondering if the vias corrode over time.  I see that they've got them right on the connector, and the wear from insertion and removal seems to go right up to them (maybe even over them).  That's pretty sure to be a weak spot over time.

[thesteve]

The glop top chips are bonded, not soldered
Yes the vias could fail

[ishiyakazuo]

*sigh* You're right, I was remembering the wire bonding and thinking that the wires were soldered, but that's unlikely.
Warrior needs sleep... badly.

[SuperGrafx]

Ok, so I just got my PCE briefcase setup going.
However, my copy of Kung Fu (China Warrior) doesn't seem to work anymore.  I know the HuCard system is good since the CD-ROM games work with the included system card.

This game worked fine in my prior PC Engine system 5 years ago.
Now I'm wondering just how durable these HuCard games are.

[thesteve]

the games are fairly solid
try it with the PCE off the IFU
some cards cant handle the extra load