howdy, so I have this and it doesn't play. I've cleaned it thoroughly enough I'm pretty certain there is something physically wrong with the cart.
In a top loader and cic-disabled toaster it's a blank solid color screen. in a stock toaster it flashes a solid color screen.
the wrapping on the two caps seems to have melted on one side. is that a probable culprit?
other solutions?
FrankWDoom wrote:
howdy, so I have this and it doesn't play. I've cleaned it thoroughly enough I'm pretty certain there is something physically wrong with the cart.
In a top loader and cic-disabled toaster it's a blank solid color screen. in a stock toaster it flashes a solid color screen.
the wrapping on the two caps seems to have melted on one side. is that a probable culprit?
other solutions?
I'd say you try to remove them, clean off the mess, and put on new caps of the same values. Make sure you write down the polarities of the caps before you do that.
Melting on the cap labels is normal, I saw a working Action 52 board the other week that looked pretty much the same. Must have happened during wave soldering. Though it wouldn't hurt to try replacing them.
Memblers wrote:
Melting on the cap labels is normal, I saw a working Action 52 board the other week that looked pretty much the same. Must have happened during wave soldering. Though it wouldn't hurt to try replacing them.
If that's the case then personally if it were mine I'd hesitate to replace likely perfectly good caps. You're kind of loosing the authenticity/originality of the rare cart. Can you check the resistance across the caps? Looks like the cart connector isn't as shinny as it could be, have you given that much attention to clean up?
I have a cheap multimeter, I don't think it can check capacitance. I might look for a better one today.
What happens when a cap fails? No current or too much current or ? Can I install a jumper wire or another cap around the original for testing?
As long as the cap isn't shorted it should at least boot I'd imagine, though the CIC might not work. Doesn't matter with your toploader though. If there is a low resistance (<1kohm) across the caps then they might be suspect.
Personally, I would try to replace the caps, and if it still doesn't work, put the originals back on (maintaining the correct polarity, of course). It's better than letting that cart go to waste (even if the games on it are garbage).
Have you tried using a soldering iron to reflow the soldering points? Sometimes solder goes "dead" over time. Quick touch of the iron should fix that.
On the authenticity by replacing the cap, isn't it really more about the roms and cart shell and all that? I mean...a cap's a cap. You could get an identical cap very easy.
Then again people are weird sometimes
edit: also use your multimeter and make sure all traces connect properly of course. Some of them look a little...iffy near the bottom.
If you don't mind me asking, what method did you sue to disassemble your Action 52?
Did you damage the cart plastic in any way?
I think you're just lucky that your Action 52 isn't working. You'd be less stressed than if it WOULD work
. Anyway, I think upper capacitor on second picture is a bit bulky, try to replace it.