REPAIR GUIDE - TurboExpress/PC Engine GT: Video Fix

[ColterF]

Duo R,

   Thanks for the advice, I figured I might a well get em all fixed, now my only concern is where to do it, I'm terrified it would result in some sort of explosion if I attempt it. I've never soldiered in my life, but buddies of mine have, on a scale of 1-10 what do you think the difficulty is for the job? I've opened it up and it all looks fairly accessible/

[Red Ghost]

ColterF - If your friends can do quality work with a soldering iron then you'd be set. As long as they are familiar with small electronics it isn't a very difficult job.

Just make sure they know what they are doing and, if need be, have them practice removing/replacing caps on a broken pcb.

[pceslayer]

I found this forum over a year ago while scowering the web for a replacement laser for my original TGCD and I just wanted to say, Thank you guys!

I got a Turbo Express from a guy online as-is with 5 games for $30... Issue was Sound and backlight, but no video.

Wen't to radioshack and bought the cap and 20 min later I had a working turbo express!!

Thanks again!

[Red Ghost]

I got a Turbo Express from a guy online as-is with 5 games for $30... Issue was Sound and backlight, but no video.

Wen't to radioshack and bought the cap and 20 min later I had a working turbo express!!

Thanks again!

Nice job  It's always very satisfying to repair something that's broken. That's a nice deal you got there too!

[Pcenginefx]

I have made this topic sticky, as well as changed the thread title for better classification.

[Duo_R]

thanks Aaron!

[Red Ghost]

I have made this topic sticky, as well as changed the thread title for better classification.

Awesome. Thanks a lot!

[ColterF]

I spoke with Duo_R a few times and he was kinda enough to offer to fix my express. I shipped him the TE and for a very reasonable rate fixed all my caps AND my lousy torn run button. I couldn't speak highly enough about Duo_R, very nice, very fast and very professional. If you need your screen, keys, sound, caps fixed, Duo_R is the guy to pull it off.


  Thanks again Duo_R, I'm playing TE like it's 3rd grade all over again!

[Bludgeon]

Sounds like the deal to me and wondering already from whats been shown if my TE has the same video problem discussed here? It has a greenish hue and thats about as far as it gets. It would be nice if the TE guru here could fix it since the one thing I did the most on it was watch tv but since analog is no longer a viable source of video it might be nice to play Devils Crush on it once I find it again.

Blud

[DragonmasterDan]

I've yanked apart my TE and found the infamous cap in question. What's the best/safest way to remove it? Any suggestions. this will be my first attempt at a soder repair.

[DragonmasterDan]

I've yanked apart my TE and found the infamous cap in question. What's the best/safest way to remove it? Any suggestions. this will be my first attempt at a soder repair.

I tried solder repairing a game gear today. Unfortunately it didn't work despite looking good. I may hold off on this one for a bit.

[nat]

Man, the TE video fix couldn't be easier. Just make sure you get the polarity right, or you could really f--- things up.  Use a pair of needlenose to carefully remove the old cap (be gentle so you don't lift the traces off the PCB), then solder the new one in place. The location of the video cap makes the job particularly simple since it's right on the edge of the board and easy to get to.

[samson7point1]

Thanks for the awesome repair guide.  I snagged a practically brand new TE off of Ebay for $34 and managed to fix it with a $1 part from Radio Shack.

It got a little hairy there for a bit though.  I thought I was being careful but still accidentally pulled the negative trace off the board when I removed the capacitor.  Thankfully the trace ripped pulled up far enough for me to follow it to another solder point.  The leg of the little transistor/MOSFET that sits just adjacent to the cap will work. 

If I had it to do over again I would definitely have tried to touch the soldering iron to the legs and gently pry them up rather than trying to pull the cap off cold.


Looks so innocent just sitting there.


Disaster strikes!  I did not notice the little trace that was ripped out of the surface of the board at first - I honestly thought it was just a strip of paint or glue or something.  The scratches you're seeing where the pad for the negative trace was are my desperate attempts to find what the pad had been attached to.  I was hoping that if I dug into the board I would find another solder point.  I realize at this point that was silly, but at the time I had no idea.


But that was exactly what I needed to find an alternate soldering point.


Here is the alternate soldering point magnified some more.

I decided to remote-mount the cap because the connections, while solid, were so fragile I didn't want to risk any more bending and twisting than I had to.  It may not be pretty but it works like a champ.

[Necromancer]

My turbo express is slow to power up, meaning the screen takes a little time to show clearly any ideas?

Dying capacitor(s).  Eventually it will never 'warm up'..... just like mine. 

[BlueBMW]

Similar problem on this same topic though.  What should one do if your screen works perfect, but the backlight progressively gets brighter the longer the unit is on, even though you've turned the brightness to the minimum?