Irem PCBs and leaking capacitors - M92/M107

[system11]

Just covered this on my blog, it deserves a heads up though.

If you have any M92 or M107 games with brown capacitors, just replace them - they're going to leak at some point and it's better to do it now than later when the damage is done, I'm seeing this problem all the time now. In fact theres a Japanese Undercover Cops on Yahoo auctions right now, it's already well past 30k yen, but the unused solder pads for the heatsink are ... green. That thing is swimming in electrolyte, that's exactly what happens.

http://blog.system11.org/?p=1038

I have not seen any instances of the green variant leaking. Perhaps they do, but I've never seen it. I've seen it on all bar one board using the brown caps now.

[Ed Oscuro]

Cool, I'll check this out. Thanks for the heads-up

[system11]

We can add M97 to the list of affected boards. Same as before - brown ELNA caps.

[_rm_]

WOW, thanks for the heads up, i will check mine.

Are those caps on the bottom or upper board?

[_rm_]

I just checked mine and they both have green caps on those locations. The problem is only with the brown ones?

At least they all look in great condition for now...

[system11]

I've only seen the brown leak so far, if someone sees green doing it please post! So far I've only seen one PCB with brown that didn't have at least one leaking or some already replaced.

[cfx]

.

[Dave_K.]

Appreciate the detailed post including the cap values and locations system11. Do you have any before/after pics? I have a huge list of boards I'll have to look over, and will only really make time if any look like they are starting to leak.

[system11]

All this time I hadn't yet seen an In The Hunt actually leaking.

Now I have - 3 bad ones on this one from Japan. Every game with brown ELNAs is suspect, this was the final confirmation. It's not even a bad batch, it's just a shitty component.

[Ed Oscuro]

Interestingly the Elna caps in my X68000 XVI aren't leaking, but they do seem to be the cause of PSU failure there. Guess the Elna caps from that time period don't hold up.

[system11]

Interestingly the green ones on the same board types don't seem to suffer.

[Pasky]

Got a picture of what you mean by 'brown capacitors'? I have a couple IREM boards, but unsure what you're talking about exactly because I'm a bit color blind =/.

[system11]

http://blog.system11.org/?p=54

[Pasky]

Perfect, thanks.

[ifog]

Can add M99 (M97 variation) to the list of affected boards.

[parodius]

M99 ? Interesting, it's not listed on System16.
What game do you have on it ?

[ifog]

Bomber Man World

Spoiler

[system11]

Hey could you post a close up of the sound section of the board please? I'm pretty sure M99 is identical to M97 but I'd like to check before saying my M97 cap chart works for 99 too.

[ifog]

Hey could you post a close up of the sound section of the board please? I'm pretty sure M99 is identical to M97 but I'd like to check before saying my M97 cap chart works for 99 too.

Yes, will do it.
M97 and M99 are different but really close, I will check with a M97 if the caps in the sound section are the same.

[ifog]

M97 and M99 are using the same 9 caps.

M97:


M99:


In fact the main difference between the 2 PCB is this IREM component on the M99:


http://git.redump.net/mame/plain/src/mame/drivers/m90.c

Need to take care of this M99 now ...

[system11]

The plague continues... I hope collectors are checking their PCBs.

[RuffNEC]

I recently saw this that my undercover cops pcb is in pretty bad shape!

First I didn't noticed and tested the game straight away. The Sound was bad an even the screen was "wavey"

So is this the result of the leaking capacitors? Would replacing the brown caps do the job or do I have replace even more compontens of the board?

You can clearly see that the damamge has already begun. How bad actually is the condition of this board?

heat sink greenish at bottom. should'nt affect any thing on the board operation?

Spoiler

heat sink again

Spoiler

cap near the soundchip. this one is responsible for the sound? Should I replace the R219 too or will cleanig help too?

Spoiler

again the C236 leaks pretty baddly

Spoiler

what about all those greenish R2... components ? do they disturb the operation?

Spoiler

what could be responsible for the bad and wavey graphics?

And now the R-TYPE LEO Board luckily still "calm before the storm"

Spoiler

Soundchip cap C236 as it should be

Spoiler

board still in good condition

Spoiler

[system11]

Yep, Undercover Cops seems to suffer most commonly of all...

You need to replace all those brown capacitors. First job is to remove them all (I cut the legs with micro pliers), clean the sound area with isopropanol or similar, and then order the replacements. The resistors don't look great but they're better than mine were, if the outer casing hasn't started breaking away you can probably get away with leaving them there. They could be tidied up with a fibreglass pen (be careful with these, do it in the open and wear a mask, brush down the pcb with a paintbrush or similar after use). You're lucky 236 hasn't managed to corrode the surface mount chip yet. Probably not related to wavy lines.

[RuffNEC]

ok thanks but where could the wavy lines come from. gotta has something to do with the graphic chip. where is it located on the board?

[ifog]

ok thanks but where could the wavy lines come from. gotta has something to do with the graphic chip. where is it located on the board?

My suggestion:
Don't bother yet with the graphic problem.
Right now you need to remove all the capacitors and clean the PCB.
Later you can solder new capacitors and retest the PCB to check what kind of problem remain.

Looks like someone alreay change a capacitor on your R-TYPE Leo.

[RuffNEC]

I've cutted the caps on my in the hunt and ucc board. as the LEO Board is still fine I leave them a bit so I can still play with it.

yes that green cap looks like changed already on the r-type leo board

[RuffNEC]

btw anyone has checked their XEXEX PCB ?

I have a feeling that the Sound caps are leaking too

[system11]

Known problem - all Konami boards with that sound custom need to be recapped too - but the job is much more difficult. The guy who runs Jamma Nation X sells cap kits.

[RuffNEC]

what kind of caps would you buy? High quality and expensive or go with the affordable ones on eBay?

[rtw]

what kind of caps would you buy? High quality and expensive or go with the affordable ones on eBay?

High quality and expensive you want the repair to last.