Turbo-Express Backlight/Screen Problem?

[nimtene]

I've bought a turbo express recently. When
I turn it on, I can hear the game playing,
and the screen lights up slightly, but there
is no image on the screen. All that I can see
is an uneven vague brightness, (purplish
around the borders), that sadly cannot be
adjusted by using the brightness control.
If I look at the screen from an extreme
angle, the brightness looks more constant,
but I still cannot make out anything on the
screen. Is there any hope? Is the screen
dead? Is the pcb video component burned
out? Maybe the brightness dial is broken?
Has any of you had this problem before?

Best Regards,
Chris Vick
nimtene@hotmail.com

[rolins]

I had a similar problem except mine was pc-engine GT. It had similar symptoms: dark screen and the brightness control doesn't help. Eventually mine died and I can no longer turn it on.

I think the screen on your TE is fine. I believe the symptoms we're experiencing has something to do with the power supply, or whatever component is converting the energy of the batteries. I'm not an electrician and have not opened my GT, so I'm just guessing here.

You can read what happen to my GT on this thread.

http://pcenginefx.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=949

[nimtene]

Thanks for your insight, Rolins. I think you're on the
right track about an energy conversion problem. The
batteries I was using were brand new, (and work just
fine in my other Turbo-Express), but it seems like the
malfunctioning TE just isn't using the energy properly.

I talked to the person that I bought the unit from. He
said that the unit worked fine using the multi-adapter
he tried on it. Now, that concerns me. I mean, who
knows what voltage he used, right? Anyhow, I don't
have the proper TE adapter, so I tried the only one
that I have that will fit the hole, my Lynx adapter. It
is listed at 9V, (the TE says 7V on the side), and has
the same polarity as the TE. I was concerned about
making the situation worse by trying it, but it's already
broken, so I figured, why not. Anyhow, the unit starts
up great using the Lynx adapter. But I didn't run it
for long, because I was concerned about burning out
the system.

Ideally, I'd like to get the proper adapter for this
system, and see if it will work. My fear is that the
previous owner overloaded the AC adapter with too
much Voltage by using the wrong adapter. I can only
guess that this ruined some of the components on the
PCB, so now the power isn't regulated properly, and
so using internal batteries just won't give it enough
voltage anymore. Anyone understand electronics
enough to know what might be replaceable inside
to fix this problem? I've taken my old TE apart to
fix the low sound problem (works wonderfully now!),
so I'm sure I could fix it, if someone knows which
component is dead. Also, I suspect that even if I try
the right adapter for the TE, it already needs 9 Volts
to function (because of existing damage to the PCB).
But if I use 9 Volts, it'll be on a fast lane to the grave.
So I've got a dilemma. Now that I think about it, the
system takes 6 batteries, which are about 1.5 volts
each, so that would amount to 9 Volts total. So I
wonder why the adapter input is listed as 7 Volts?

Does anyone have a unit with a similar problem?
Rolins, have you tried using an AC adapter to start
up your system? Perhaps in both our units, the
battery to system power connection is the problem.
I'm very curious to know if your system would work
just fine using the proper AC adapter. Does anyone
regularly run their TE using a 9V adapter, without
any ill effects to the system? Thanks for your help!

Best Regards,
Chris Vick
nimtene@hotmail.com

[rolins]

Rolins, have you tried using an AC adapter to start
up your system?

No, never used an AC adapter on mine. I live in the United States so I did not want to overload my GT with 120v, and I don't trust multi-adapters on japanese hardware.

I have been doing some research on the internet. There is a website called ASSEMbler, great place that documents unknown and rare video game related stuff. Anyway, a guy documented an autopsy of his Turbo Express. In this page the guy said, "the power runs right into the board without any real purification" reason why we cant use rechargeable batteries. He also said on this page   that one component is not protected enough while running on batteries.

I don't know if this info helps, but for any techs out there willing to investigate this it might be usefull.

[Keranu]

ASSEMbler is one of the coolest sites ever made.

[MotherGunner]

@Chris Vick


I have the exact same problem.  My TE needs to "warm up" in order to display the game.  Seems like mine is headed for where yours is now.  I have never used a 3rd party AC adapter only the official one.  I think it may be a bad capacitor or something.  Im gonna give it to D-lite since he lives near me.  Hopefully he can figure it out.

[rolins]

Has anyone used rechargeable batteries in their TE or GT and developed problems?

[nimtene]

@ MotherGunner: Do you also have the
low sound problem with your system?

My system started working normal again
after I fixed the low sound volume last
night; but now, the display is suddenly
not working again. I definitely plan to look
deeper into the problem. Thanks for the
website link, Rolins.

Best Regards,
Chris Vick
nimtene@hotmail.com

[rolins]

I just applied D-Lite's sound fix to my GT. I was hoping I would see the screen light up, but it didn't work. My GT has truly crossed over to the other side.

[Mehunglo]

I've bought a turbo express recently. When
I turn it on, I can hear the game playing,
and the screen lights up slightly, but there
is no image on the screen. All that I can see
is an uneven vague brightness, (purplish
around the borders), that sadly cannot be
adjusted by using the brightness control.
If I look at the screen from an extreme
angle, the brightness looks more constant,
but I still cannot make out anything on the
screen. Is there any hope? Is the screen
dead? Is the pcb video component burned
out? Maybe the brightness dial is broken?
Has any of you had this problem before?

Best Regards,
Chris Vick
nimtene@hotmail.com

Yeah, I have the same exact problem. I'm starting to think this is another common problem that these TE's have. I'm hoping someone out there has a clue as to what the problem may be.

[plasticrelic]

I Just bought a broken TE for use as parts if my first one dies. To my suprise, I was able to get this one to operate. Although, it has low sound and the screen took a little while to start working. I set it down and the screen went completely out and a small tap on the case and it came back. I would like to know if you guys think it is worth the effort to try to repair it or just put it in the closet for use as parts as planed.

[rolins]

I Just bought a broken TE for use as parts if my first one dies. To my suprise, I was able to get this one to operate. Although, it has low sound and the screen took a little while to start working. I set it down and the screen went completely out and a small tap on the case and it came back. I would like to know if you guys think it is worth the effort to try to repair it or just put it in the closet for use as parts as planed.

Just keep the TE for parts. Maybe in the future someone will find a fix.

[DragonmasterDan]

I've seen this problem before,  but a simple change in batteries always solves it. Oddly enough the same batteries work fine after being problematic in the TE in my Sega Game Gear or Atari Lynx.