PC ENGINE DUO-R suddenly dead - Solved. I'm an idiot.

[Skykid]

Bought this from Gaijinpunch. Played on it once for about 30 minutes no issues. Put it carefully away for a couple of months and took it out again recently.

Now, on removing the leads I accidentally pulled up the PSU (which has a heavy brick-like end) by its wire, in the process of picking out the scart lead, which would certainly have put strain on it somewhere, but I'm unsure if enough to damage it.

The PSU needs to go via a stepdown because China voltage is different to Japan's and I'm unsure if the NEC PSU automatically steps down like the SNES etc (if someone can let me know this, that would be useful!)

I should mention the stepdown being used still powers up my Saturn and other consoles without a hitch.

Anyway, plugged it all in and no power.

I start looking for a broken wire and find nothing, but when I get to the head of the PSU connector where it's plugged into the back of the DUO, and push gently, the light came on, unstable. Maybe on and then off again a few times, and then no more power.

Since then it's totally unresponsive, nothing I can do will get it to power up for an instant.

Took out the multimeter and checked the PSU and the stepdown and all readings are fine. I'm unsure what the problem could be.

Capacitors? There was no pop, hiss, bang or smell of circuit burning during the process of finding it unwilling to come on - it was all just quietly non-responsive, bar those few lone light blinks.

Anyone have any ideas at all? If the PCE plug doesn't require an additional transformer, I can always try it directly in the mains, but I'm not sure it will make much difference.

Thanks.

[Ed Oscuro]

Quick guesses: Dead caps on the PCE more than possible, bad joint in the barrel power connector receptacle being soldered-on maybe. I remember having some intermittency issues with various converted consoles (not the PC-E specifically though!) but that probably depends on the fit of the original design; it's not necessarily a glaring problem. Or it could be that maybe a cap in the power supply is basically dead, but still passing voltages - just with too much ripple.

[Elrinth]

the PC-E Duo does contain a fuse, check that first. When I bought my first PC-E Duo, the actual AC-adapter was broken so I thought the console was broken. First thing I checked was the fuse which seemed intact, perhaps it's different story for you? Even if it seems intact you could try replace it, sometimes it's not super easy to see if it's borken.

I'm in scandinavia so I need either a step down convertor or buy a special ac-adapter which you can select output on and change tips on. the jap male connectors don't work in scandinavia.

[Skykid]

Well I'm very glad no-one instantly said the DUO was dead, that gives me a glimmer of hope it might be something simpler. Is the fuse inside hard to spot? I'll take it to a guy in the electronics market tomorrow who does console repair and see if he can take a look at the caps and perhaps find a PSU replacement to test with.

Appreciate your advice guys.

[moh]

bad joint in the barrel power connector receptacle being soldered-on.

this seems like a reasonable guess. you said that the light was unstable, so perhaps that is the sign of something wiggling between a connected and unconnected state due to a cracked joint.

best of luck.

[mickcris]

You could try another power supply if you have one of the following:

Sega Genesis2
Sega MegaDrive2
Sega 32X
Sega CDX
Sega WonderMega RG-M1
JVC WonderMega RG-M1
JVC WonderMega RG-M2
JVC X'EYE
Sega MegaJet
Sega Pico
Sony PSone
Sony PS2 slim

They will all work with a Duo-R

[Retro Access]

Having some experience with this, it is almost certainly the DC in socket not the fuse.

I mean it could be the fuse. But it's common as hell for those DC in sockets to fail. They are just held in with a wish and a prayer. 3 solder joints and nothing else.

The tracks on the board could well have been torn off with it. But it's most likely dry solder joints. It's easy to fix either way.

If a system is completely dead ie, it does not turn on it does nothing that is a whole hell of a lot better sign than turning it on and seeing a problem. Fuses and DC input sockets are the problem in 99.9% of cases.

[Skykid]

@Mick

Sadly none of those to hand, but a helpful list nonetheless. I recognised it as an MD2 instantly.

@Retro Access

Encouraging, thanks. I didn't sweat it too much as I've kept it perfectly and it seemed a very black and white issue. But your comment about the DC socket is interesting, since when I got those few flickers on the light it was with some fiddling in exactly that area. Hoping to open it today.

[Skykid]

Edit: I am a complete idiot (and according to Google, not the first with a DUO).

So I assumed it was dead because the light flickered and then wouldn't return. What I didn't realise being unfamiliar with the machine is that you NEED TO PRESS THE RUN BUTTON FOR THE LED TO LIGHT UP!

If anyone finds this in Google, before you assume DOA, don't be like me: actually plug everything in first, then hit the Run button on the pad.

Problem solved, I'm off to bang my head into the wall.

[Ed Oscuro]

This story is happy end. (At least until it actually does need some service...now that you're thinking about it, you could always crack it open to check that everything's OK.)

[speedlolita]

I use a slim PS2 PSU with my own Duo R, also recently purchased. Works a charm.

[Skykid]

This story is happy end. (At least until it actually does need some service...now that you're thinking about it, you could always crack it open to check that everything's OK.)

Yep, it's open and it looks quite lovely inside. The RGB mod is a bit loose, will appy some fresh strips of electrical tape - but still preferable to hot glue all over the place, especially if I ever need to replace it.

No leaky caps, everything clean. One weird thing I noticed playing Psychic Storm today was that the stage music didn't loop at a couple of points, leaving me in silence until the boss track kicks in. Is this normal? I would assume it should loop unless programmed to only play once a stage? Otherwise operationally I haven't seen any other issues.

[Retro Access]

Haha- we all make silly mistakes. I thought my xrgb mini was broken yesterday. Turned on the tv, went to turn on the xrgb, noticed it was on. I don't like to leave it on all night. The cat likes to sit on it (yes, something that small.) Noticed the display was unusually dark blue. Switched on the genesis - scrambled pixels. Turned off the genesis, looked at the screen, cross hatching of black pixels was causing the dark blue. Said to my husband immediately "well, the xrgb is broken. I left it on all night, the cat must have caused it to overheat. There goes $400."

This must have been some sort of ram issue though because turning it off then on again fixed it.

I wrote the damn thing off before trying something that simple.

I wish my cat would sit on the ps3 instead.

[Skykid]

Such a relief honestly!

I have had a PCE Briefcase for years, and when you hit the on switch the green light comes on instantly. With the Duo this confusion came from not being familiar with the hardware and expecting the same thing. A power LED would have been sensible, I really can't think of many consoles that don't have one.

I really should have gone a step further and plugged in the XRGB and Scart to check for a picture though, esp. before taking it to have its vitals checked in the electronics ward.

[drauch]

Edit: I am a complete idiot (and according to Google, not the first with a DUO).

So I assumed it was dead because the light flickered and then wouldn't return. What I didn't realise being unfamiliar with the machine is that you NEED TO PRESS THE RUN BUTTON FOR THE LED TO LIGHT UP!

If anyone finds this in Google, before you assume DOA, don't be like me: actually plug everything in first, then hit the Run button on the pad.

Problem solved, I'm off to bang my head into the wall.

Ha! Did the same thing awhile back after not playing on the damned thing for a few months. Glad to hear that's all it was!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Yep, the ol' “Press Run” as shown on the main title screen to boot up either a CD-ROM 2, Super CD-ROM 2, or Arcade CD-ROM 2 disc does the trick. I'd have to say that NEC thought it'd be too much trouble to have an Led power up status interface with it's Duo lineup of consoles (hence, the bright neon orange colored sticker on a Turbo Duo's power switch setup to indicate that it's powered on).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~