Turbo Express - Mystery solved! Now screen issue!

[BlueBMW]

I'm working a non-functional turbo express I recently acquired (you know who you are  )  I removed a replacement switch that was installed (a little botchy though) and I temporarily jumped what we have determined to be a fuse.  The unit powers up now (I just jumped the switch pins with some solder for now)  Sound is great! Games play great!  But there are some lines on the screen with some trouble.  Any ideas on the culprit?



For reference... here is the mystery component from earlier that we determined to be a fuse.



Thanks to D Lite for the Turbo Express sound fix thread where I stole this picture from! 

[chop5]

post that pic of the screen you had earlier,maybe another techy can tell you what causes those lines 

[kid_rondeau]

Hey BlueBMW,
if you're going to replace that component anyway, here's something that could point us in the right direction: is there a letter/number combination on the PC Board for it? Like C103 for caps or R15 for resistors? The letter could reveal what it is. K is a relay, Q is usually a transistor, U is for IC's, L is for chokes/coils, etc.

I don't know...maybe if it is a fuse, it'll say "F01" or whatever.

[Turbo D]

Well, it definitely looks like a fuse (it especially reminds me of the fuse I blew on my Famicom, lol). I assume you do not know how to test a fuse (hence this thread), so I will tell you. Grab your multi-meter and set it to continuity. Apply the red probe to one metal leg of the fuse and the black probe to the other leg. If you get a beep, your fuse is alive. If you get nothing, your fuse has failed. Any fuse that meets the device's requirements may be used; which would be one amp in the case of the TurboExpress. Ultimately, you may jump said fuse with a wire as a temporary fix, but this method is neither endorsed nor advised by turbo D. I will also provide a quote from myself which I left for another user about continuity testing. Said quote contains a link to a nice tutorial on using the multi-meter continuity setting:

Grab a multi-meter and follow the trace of where the solder pad used to be (use the continuity setting, looks like this: -l>l-))) .) I imagine you can follow it to one of those holes that are in close proximity. If one of those holes works out, then you've scored as you can run one of your cap legs through it and solder away. Good luck friend. =D

http://www.ladyada.net/library/metertut/continuity.html

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I don't know...maybe if it is a fuse, it'll say "F01" or whatever.

If you take a closer look at the provided picture, you will be able to make out "F500 1A" above the fuse.

[BlueBMW]

Well, it definitely looks like a fuse (it especially reminds me of the fuse I blew on my Famicom, lol). I assume you do not know how to test a fuse (hence this thread), so I will tell you. Grab your multi-meter and set it to continuity. Apply the red probe to one metal leg of the fuse and the black probe to the other leg. If you get a beep, your fuse is alive. If you get nothing, your fuse has failed. Any fuse that meets the device's requirements may be used; which would be one amp in the case of the TurboExpress. Ultimately, you may jump said fuse with a wire as a temporary fix, but this method is neither endorsed nor advised by turbo D. I will also provide a quote from myself which I left for another user about continuity testing. Said quote contains a link to a nice tutorial on using the multi-meter continuity setting:

I have done very little electronic device repair, but I've done a ton of automotive electrical diagnostic and repair. (BMW technician by trade) Pulled out the trusty fluke meter and.... surprise!!! open circuit on that fuse lol.  I jumped it for now (turbo D warning noted...  no burning smells yet)  But now that the unit is functional again...  I have a wonky screen image.  Maybe just the video cap, but I thought that usually resulted in a blank but backlit screen.  I might try and replace it anyways (good practice for when I do the caps on my duo)  Any other ideas on why the screen is funky, please tell me!  And thank you all for the input!

[77FordTruckMan]

Glad to see you got it working, I was hoping it was a fuse or something I just didn't put muck time into it. As for the screen, it was fine when the whole system worked... Yeah that switch was kind of botched, it was better the first time I put it on, I just left the old switch in and soldered it onto the other side. Good luck with that screen.

[nat]

I have a GT with a screen issue as well I haven't been able to track down. The screen on mine "pulsates" (gets noticably brighter/darker) like a heartbeat. It's really quite distracting, and I have no idea what the cause is.

[blueraven]

Holy F**cking S***. This just may be the issue on my express. I'll let you know in 2 days.

[BlueBMW]

Found the problem.  Looks like somehow one of the micro ribbon cables for the screen got pinched or something and broke some of the connections.  They're super tiny so I don't think I'll be able to repair them.  Anyone have a replacement screen for a TE? heheh

[kid_rondeau]

Oh, Blue....that's a real drag!
Well, it's good that you found the problem anyway. You're right: it does look like those would be a pain to fix. Good luck in whatever you end up doing.

[BlueBMW]

I put it all back together, replaced the fuse and the power switch.  Its all kind of jerry rigged, but it does turn on and work great (other than the screen of course!)  It'll be a nice display / test unit until I can get a good TE.

[cpsystem3]

If you are steady with soldering, I would personally determine which wire(s) have gone open in the cable, then get single-core kynar wire wrap and run some patch wires from A to B. It'll be slightly messy, but you'll never see it when its closed up.

Good luck!

[PigInTheMud]

Actually, someone on the 8bit collective forums had found a fix for this. A lot of gameboys have problems with the LCD where lines will go down the screen due to bad connections.

http://8bc.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=5679&p=1