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/vr/ - Retro Games

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4828021 No.4828021 [Reply] [Original]

So, im starting to feel paranoid about my consoles suddenly dying, so im thinking about replacing all caps, and all voltage regulators on them from Nes to N64.

Has any of you done this? wondering if overall audio and/or picture quality was improved after replacing these components?

>> No.4828026

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

except the clock cap in your xbox

>> No.4828075

You shouldn't be too concerned about the voltage regulator failing randomly. They're pretty resilient and when they do fail they don't tend to damage anything. Just replace them as needed.

You should preemptively replace the caps on Sega master system, mega drive, game gear, and probably nomad consoles, as well as any variant of the PC Engine. Those consoles were all manufactured with bad caps and all caps should be replaced ASAP. Not retro but the xbox (revisions 1.0 to 1.5) has a clock capacitor that can leak on the board and cause damage. You don't have to replace the cap just remove it.

Nintendo and Sony consoles use good caps and you can just replace them as needed or whenever you feel like it.

>> No.4828292 [DELETED] 

>>4828075
I haven't ha

>> No.4828307

>>4828075
I have yet to see caps go bad on Mega Drives or PC Engines, but any of the CD add-ons/combo systems are definitely either at risk or all dead by now like the Turbo/PCE Duo.

>> No.4828312

>>4828307
Early cd-rom drives are a shit show

>> No.4828318

>>4828075
Don't forget the Atari lynx, if it still works you better change that VRM real fast

>> No.4828324

>>4828021
People specifically replace electrolytic caps because they have an electrolyte in them that evaporates over their life time

No other electronics really age like that. Semi conductors suffer from electron migration and heat damage but that's heavily dependent on design. Like if shit just gets fucking hot and over voltage all the time, yeah your overclocked processor is only going to last five years. But if there aren't any manufacturing defects and everything is designed nicely, including heat management, the lifetime is very very long.

>> No.4828325

>>4828026
fucking this mayne. That clock cap is a ticking time bomb
>>4828312
Unless you know how to take care of them and its not the Sega CD model 1
>:p

>> No.4828334 [DELETED] 

>>4828021
FPGAs win again

>> No.4828359
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4828359

>Philips CD-I
>you have to carve open a chip just to replace a time/save battery

>> No.4828381

>>4828325
PCE-CD is just as bad or worse

>> No.4828423

>>4828075
Aren't the non-duo / CD-ROM PC Engines fine? I have 3 'white' PCEs have had no issues whatsoever with them, nor have I heard of anyone having cap issues with the 'core' models. They seem as solid as a Famicom.

>> No.4828438

>>4828423
Yeah I think I was wrong and it was just the CD based PCE systems that have the bad caps. The base models may be from before the capacitor plague.

>> No.4828454

>>4828325
Do caps go bad if the system is not in use?
I bought a non working working Sega CD that was practically brand new inside, all it took was pushing the white ribbon cable in and it works perfectly.
Does it have a long life left assuming it didn't get much play?

>> No.4828483

>>4828021
no, replace these when they fail, with that mindset guaranteed you're gonna fuck up a working console.
the only one you need to do preemptively is the xbox time cap.

>> No.4828561

whats the most usual reason for a Snes or N64 to fail? I have one of each back in my homeland ( some shithole in southamerica) the snes with some cleaning usually comes back to life , but the n64 wouldnt give me an image last time , so i would like to know if i can bring it back to life and what supplies would i need to such intervention , since there i have the bare minimum and any tech piece is ridiculously expensive .
And obviously some preventive maintenance for my old trusty snes ...

>> No.4828798

>>4828359
what? I never heard of this.

>> No.4828837
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4828837

>>4828075
>>4828021
I did a recap on my sega genesis model one back in 2016 even though it seemed to be fine before. the caps are cheap and only take a few hours to do

>> No.4829020

>>4828454
Mr. Carlsons lab says being idle is actually worse for themm

>> No.4829035

>>4828837
a few hours? Don't have a solder sucker? I could see it taking like 30 minutes.

>> No.4829038

>>4829035
hah i dont. but even better then, a 30 min cap job for anyone considering it. Do it.

>> No.4829052

>>4829038
get yourself a cheap $7 pump for now, this way you can at least get some suction action until you can get a zd-915m or something.

>> No.4829087

>>4829052
they used to sell a 15 dollar heated balloon pump sucker at Radioshack. The hole size on it is perfect for DIPs
RIP the shack lol

>> No.4829484

>>4828021
>So, im starting to feel the effects of my tism wut do?
Take your meds. Use common sense. Don't "fix" (break) what's not broken.

>>4828359
>SD card
>You have to decap and repair a die to save
Or, you know, just buy a new one

>>4828381
Confirmed tard who's never done it

>> No.4829838

THere have been no confirmed cap deaths on any N64. Even testing a psu recently with LCR meter confirmed its caps were still well within spec.

Worst part is replacing these caps with meme MLCC ceramics, which fail with any sort of twist/shock, and also change the esr which can cause regulator instability.

>> No.4830107

>>4828359
Seems pain in the ass, never bothered to replace mine. I'm assuming that causes games saves to disappear.

>> No.4830109

Heads up to any anon - Soldering and desoldering is quite easy skill. Tools for around £100 (dont know about US), patience and finding right components. Its like puzzle for adults

>> No.4832791

>OP pic
You have to be careful about replacing linear regulators with switching ones. Even with smoothing some systems or particular parts of the circuit are overly sensitive to the noise and can misbehave.

>> No.4832829

>>4832791
Nope. That's a drop in replacement part. All the filtering is done elsewhere and remains intact regardless of what you put in that spot.

>> No.4832884

>>4828075
tl;dr but use SMD components

>> No.4832984

>>4832829
Using a carefully designed, machine-specific replacement would qualify as being careful. On the other hand I've seen people do shit like stick a generic switching 7812 drop-in replacement on the C64's 12V rail and end up killing the SID over time because SID haet noise.

>> No.4833060
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4833060

>>4829484
Done what? Repaired a model 1 Sega CD? I have. Surface mount caps are a bitch, they're not impossible to repair though. By "shitshow" I was referring to general reliability and I didn't think by "taking care of" you meant component replacement - except, apparently on the model one sega cd which you think can't be repaired?

Help me out here. I want to make you feel appreciated but I'm not sure exactly what specifically you're trying to boast about.

>> No.4833067

>>4832984
Well that's not "a carefully designed, machine-specific replacement" and it works just fine. I've seen people fuck up SIDs with bad power. Those people were CBM. lol

>> No.4833096

>>4833060
Surface mount caps are ezpz. They surface tension themselves into place.