Replacing internal battery?

[Paladin]

Not to long ago my RX lost all of its saves, but luckily I had them all backed up on my TB. I don't know if it was just some sorta freak incident or if the capacitor is starting to fade, it does make me curious. I wonder how hard would it be to pop open the Duo and replace it. I wouldn't think it would be much more than a soldering job after you figured out which one was bad and what would be a suitable replacement. Of course I could be wrong and would appreciate a little insight into how easy it would be to fix. If someone took the time to take a few pictures and point out what to change and specs of the parts needed it would be a boon.

On another note the TB is an awsome accessory. Knowing that you have a back up or two is certainly reassuring. I wouldn't mind opening a dead one if I come across it. Maybe after fiddling with it I can find a way to separate the card without causing irreversible damage to it. I wouldn't be surprised if it used a CR2032 battery seeing as how every system I've had to open up and replace a battery too uses them. The Saturn does, the Dreamcast memory cards do, I believe the Sega CD does as well as SNES carts. I haven't opened an NES cart but they probably use them as well. It would be nice if they did since the battery can be gotten at virtually any place that deals in electronics.

[esteban]

Not to long ago my RX lost all of its saves, but luckily I had them all backed up on my TB. I don't know if it was just some sorta freak incident or if the capacitor is starting to fade, it does make me curious. I wonder how hard would it be to pop open the Duo and replace it. I wouldn't think it would be much more than a soldering job after you figured out which one was bad and what would be a suitable replacement. Of course I could be wrong and would appreciate a little insight into how easy it would be to fix. If someone took the time to take a few pictures and point out what to change and specs of the parts needed it would be a boon.

On another note the TB is an awsome accessory. Knowing that you have a back up or two is certainly reassuring. I wouldn't mind opening a dead one if I come across it. Maybe after fiddling with it I can find a way to separate the card without causing irreversible damage to it. I wouldn't be surprised if it used a CR2032 battery seeing as how every system I've had to open up and replace a battery too uses them. The Saturn does, the Dreamcast memory cards do, I believe the Sega CD does as well as SNES carts. I haven't opened an NES cart but they probably use them as well. It would be nice if they did since the battery can be gotten at virtually any place that deals in electronics.

My friend, you're in luck:
1. Search for an old thread by D-Lite. He discusses the capacitor issue (in his experience, the quality of the capacitors used in the DUO is suspect, as many of them have been failing over the years). IIRC, replacing the capacitor is pretty easy. He has photos and step-by-step instructions. His website is www.multimods.com .

2. A fellow member here posted some pics of a TB (or a Populous) HuCard autopsy. I don't think he determined the exact type / size of battery used, but I'm sure he kept everything and we can get that info from him. Unfortuantely, it seems that there is no easy way to crack open the HuCard, but then again, I've never done any of this stuff myself.

[DragonmasterDan]

I've lost saves on my Duo too, I think a while back we had a thread on here mentioning how my Sega CD has kept saves for around a decade while being rarely plugged in while my Duo loses saves or corrupts them after a few months.

[SignOfZeta]

You guys will want to see this site:

http://www.geocities.jp/hiropong_7650/pc_engine/pc_engine.html

Its in Japanese, but you can Babblefish it, or Sherlock it, or whatever.

There is a photo of the condenser that needs to be replaced in the Duo R if memory fails you, and he says its the same one that is in the original Duo. Also he shows the guts of a TB (its a CR2320)
http://www.geocities.jp/hiropong_7650/pc_engine/DUO_03.jpg

For the record, my US Duo keeps its saves just fine as long as you leave it plugged in. You might need to turn it on every other week or so, but I don't think so.

My TB still works fine, but realistically that battery has to go soon.

[Keranu]

My Duo and PCECDROM2 have kept saves for long periods of time without being turned on, though they are usually plugged into an outlet.

[esteban]

You guys will want to see this site:

http://www.geocities.jp/hiropong_7650/pc_engine/pc_engine.html

Its in Japanese, but you can Babblefish it, or Sherlock it, or whatever.

There is a photo of the condenser that needs to be replaced in the Duo R if memory fails you, and also the guts of a TB (its a CR2320), and he says its the same one that is in the original Duo.

http://www.geocities.jp/hiropong_7650/pc_engine/DUO_03.jpg

For the record, my US Duo keeps its saves just fine as long as you leave it plugged in. You might need to turn it on every other week or so, but I don't think so.

My TB still works fine, but realistically that battery has to go soon.

Damn, what a great page. It's funny, actually: on that one page there are answers / insights to a whole bunch of things we have discussed in the forums. Replacing the Tennokoe Bank's battery (and identifying what type it is), the capacitor used for game saves in the DUO *and* the suitcase consoles, some info on the motors / gears of the CD assembly, the types of wrenches needed to open up consoles, etc. etc.

It was interesting to see that the PCE "suitcase" originally had IFU-30, only to be replaced with the more common "CD-ROM2 SYSTEM" logo.

QUESTION: I didn't understand the discussion concerning the "expansion ports" of the suitcase. I noticed very slight differences in the photos, but what's the main point of the discussion?

[Keranu]

Awesome page. Correct me if I am wrong, but according to that page, does that mean there are two versions of the PCE CDROM2 briefcase system; one that says IFU-30 and one that says CDROM2? If that's the case, I have the IFU-30 version.

[Buster D]

Damn, it says the TB battery may be electrically welded and near impossible to replace.  It also confirms that opening it was really hard.

[SignOfZeta]

Damn, it says the TB battery may be electrically welded and near impossible to replace.  It also confirms that opening it was really hard.

I've got a feeling it isn't really that hard.

What's hard is trying to weld a new fuse into a PC Engine without melting the fuse itself.

[SignOfZeta]

QUESTION: I didn't understand the discussion concerning the "expansion ports" of the suitcase. I noticed very slight differences in the photos, but what's the main point of the discussion?

I think he's saying that the "CD ROM System" version is the later type, and it seems to hold the PCE, and CDROM is place better. This reduces what he calls "noise" (in kana), and I'm not sure what he means by that.

[Keranu]

My IFU-30 briefcase unit seems to hold the PCE and CD in place just fine and I don't recall hear any sounds when plugging it in or anything   .

[akamichi]

I think the page refers to electrical noise/interference.  The newer of the interface units have two metal contacts on the CDROM side that match up on the underside of the CDROM unit.  At first I thought this was for power (maybe it is in some way), but the first revision doesn't have them.  This is probably what the page referred to when it mentioned "noise".

[Paladin]

I just got done looking down through that page. It was pretty cool; I love looking at stuff like that. Seeing and hearing how something works is always interesting to me. It also gives me some confidence should I ever need to preform some emergency surgery on my Duo or my TB cards. Hopefully info like this will revive some systems.