Should I buy a non working PC Engine Duo?

[LowRes]

Hey guys,
So I want to play CD games and I'm trying to figure out what is the best way I can do this without spending a ridiculous amount of money lol

I know the pc engine duo's all need a cap kit which is not a problem, I've done many cap kits on arcade monitors and other console systems and I see ebay has many replacement parts for Turbo duo like new optical lenses, motors, gears, so looks like parts are available.  Should I just get a non working unit and do the cap kit and try to get the cd unit working? or spend the extra money on a working unit?  I guess I'm asking how successful are the cd repairs on the duo?

[CrackTiger]

Checkout the Mod/Repair section:

https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?board=19.0


Normally I wouldn't recommend buying a non-working "junk" system, since it will cost so much to ship and have serviced by someone else, but if you have soldering skills then you should be able to handle most repair jobs yourself.

[Gypsy]

Yeah if you can do the work yourself, it's a good route to go. Also, you save a system from the heap this way, which is always a plus.

[HuMan]

I did exactly what you are asking, I bought a junk black PC Engine Duo, here's my take on it.

I bought a Duo that was listed as HuCard/CD working but no sound at all. The easiest part of the repair (for me at least) was installing the cap kit. There was a partial cap kit already present using leaded caps, I replaced them all with proper SMD caps. The tough part was repairing corrosion damage and in the end, one bad resistor in the power section for the audio amps. The PC Engine Duo, when its caps expire, tends to get corrosion damage from all the leaky caps. If you don't have the patience and detective skills to repair corrosion damage and single out bad passive components, then save up for a recapped Duo.

The worst part is all that was with a really good junk Duo, all that was wrong was missing sound. Imagine working on a Duo where the HuCard slot doesn't work, or the console doesn't turn on. The most common failure is the CD drive doesn't work, which is an entirely different can of worms compared to just repairing the mainboard.

[LowRes]

Thanks guys I'll go ahead and give it a try.  There's lots of good info in the repair section so I should be good.  Glad to hear others have had success in doing the same.

[LowRes]

Not sure how well I did but I won a auction tonight for a complete pc engine duo for $142.50 ($210 shipped).  It looks to be in good condition, comes with power adapter, AV Cord, and a good condition controller.  Even the card door is there which is a plus.  I was going to try and get a bare system but I figure the card door, hookups, and controller would add up to quite a bit to buy seperately.  Hopefully it just needs a cap kit and a little love lol

[LostFlunky]

Not sure how well I did but I won a auction tonight for a complete pc engine duo for $142.50 ($210 shipped).  It looks to be in good condition, comes with power adapter, AV Cord, and a good condition controller.  Even the card door is there which is a plus.  I was going to try and get a bare system but I figure the card door, hookups, and controller would add up to quite a bit to buy seperately.  Hopefully it just needs a cap kit and a little love lol

Noice!  Hopefully all it needs is a recap...

[NecroPhile]

Good luck!  There's lots of knowledgeable peeps here that have fixed just about every possible component at one time or another, so they'll hopefully be able to help ya along if you end up needing help.

[Dicer]

Good luck!  There's lots of knowledgeable peeps here that have fixed just about every possible component at one time or another, so they'll hopefully be able to help ya along if you end up needing help.

The SGX with a board split almost in half was one hell of a repair...

[Winniez]

If you are confident about being able to replace the caps why not, a good way to save money. For me emulation is good enough for CD games, I prefer to invest in games rather than hardware and it keeps the cost reasonable just to collect Hucards.

[Winniez]

Oh, and I just add, I always respect being able to resurrect a dead unit. That on itself is something cool even if not financially smart.

[Keith Courage]

It depends on where you are getting it from. There are a few ebay sellers that sell broken DUOs which have more major issues like bad chips on the motherboards. So a simple cap change may not fix all it's issues.

[LowRes]

It depends on where you are getting it from. There are a few ebay sellers that sell broken DUOs which have more major issues like bad chips on the motherboards. So a simple cap change may not fix all it's issues.

Do you know which sellers to avoid?  I bought one from Yamatoku-Classic on ebay.  Still waiting for it to arrive.  I know it's a gamble but hopefully it's not too damaged.

[MNKyDeth]

I don't think Yamatoku does any repairs. They just get units, broken or working and just sell them as is. From my knowledge they test the consoles and specify if they work or not.
But I would doubt if they had any knowledge if a machine was cracked open and if any repairs were made to the machine.

[Winniez]

You should be fairly safe if you bought it from Yamatoku-classic, they barely test the stuff let alone handpick systems with damaged chips, they deal in high volume.
Yamatoku have their issues though, like the alleged shill bidding.

Edit: MNKyDeth got there first while I was writing my post

[Gypsy]

Yeah the sellers you don't want to buy from are the ones that sell refurbed units. If they are selling a busted one, it's probably well fucked. Just check their item history and what else they have up and it should be apparent.

As mentioned by the last two posters, yamatoku has problems, but they do not repair systems.

[LowRes]

I'm happy to report my PC Engine Duo finally arrived today and surprisingly both the Hucards and CDs are working.  The audio is really low and the video cuts in and out sometimes so I think I'll be good once I replace all the caps.  Working on replacing the caps now.  Was very happy to hear the music from the Snatcher Pilot disc I was using for testing   can't wait to have it working 100%

[Winniez]

Great to hear.
I can't recall what the item was but I remember buying something listed as "non-working" from Yamatoku and it worked just fine. I also bought few Super Famicom controllers listed as "working" from them and one had a dead PCB, they did send me a replacement though. So it goes both ways with them but their testing is really not that thorough.

[wilykat]

Defective and non-working system are crapshoot. You have no way of knowing exactly what the issue and whether someone tried to repair before or not.  I picked up a Duo-R 2 years ago very cheap because the seller reported video problem.  It took me a while to figure out the nature of the problem as it didn't show up when I played HuC games or some CD games.  Only games that required System 3.0 card (or ROM in Duo) showed problem which pointed to RAM chip used by System 3.0 ROM.   https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=19474.msg416018#msg416018

Once I found the exact issue and fixed it with a piece of wire, it has been working flawlessly since then.

[LowRes]

I'm finished!

Replaced all the caps including the super cap, did the jailbar fix, greased up the laser gears and rails, PC Engine Duo working perfectly   I got lucky this unit had nothing wrong with it but bad caps. 5 pads got lifted from removing the surface mounted caps and had to be repaired but everything is working great now.  I also accidently melted the top of the switch for the cd door, but cds are loading regardless, not sure how but I'm not complaining.  I'll have to try to find a replacement switch if possible

I played 3 stages of Dracula X so far, I'm gonna sleep good tonight knowing the system is working perfectly lol.  Very happy tonight!

Thanks to all you guys for the help and advice

[NecroPhile]

Congrats!  Another one saved and put to good use.