PCE Duo Grunty/Wheezy Laser Fix and Other Problems Fix!

[chaoticjelly]

Hey dudes,

Got a PCE Duo off the 'bay, all boxed and nice, seller said it had laser problem and needed replacing. I replaced the laser and it still wouldn't read games.

I noticed from the topics on here that people tend to have problems with the audio, and those damn surface mount capacitors again..

Anyway, sometimes I think the laser problem can just be a dropped down spindle, in fact a Duo-R I have here I pulled the spindle off with a pair of pliers, and reseated it and it works like a charm (this was another unit sold with a 'faulty laser' when in fact the problem was just that the spindle had dropped down and therefore the laser was too far from the disc to read CDs)

Anyway, I digress.

By pure chance, I found that after leaving the PCE Duo powered up for around 10 minutes, when putting a game in then and trying to play, it would in fact load up and play nicely!

The laser was making a noise as it was moving though like a grunty wheezy whirry sound.

Anyway, I thought, its those damn surface mount capacitors again! I had a look and yes, in fact nearly all on the board were in various stages of leaking, and of course those 7805 voltage regulators get damn hot, so I decided to follow the capacitor chart posted here and replace them all.

I removed all the old surface mount capacitors and cleaned up all the leaked electrolyte, and then fitted all radial capacitors.

I had to make the leads on the ones near the front of the system pretty short, otherwise the case doesn't close.

Anyway, I tried now and you can load games immediately after turning on, and the grunting, wheezing, whirring is gone.. silky smooth motor operation, works like an absolute charm!

The next thing I am going to do is a neat solution to resolve the HEAT problem. Then I'll probably give the system the usual RGB amplifier and region mods. Oh and I fitted a blue LED as well, which looks sweet as.

Then after that, I want to tackle the CDROM2 / IFU-30 problems, as I have about 5 briefcase setups here 4 which were given for free, and one which I purchased for peanuts! 

[spenoza]

Dude, if you can get one of those briefcase setups up and running, I have a Core with no CD unit to complete it. I might have to negotiate with you over taking custody of one, if'n you're amenable to it.

[chaoticjelly]

Hey spenoza, well it will be some time yet, but I'll let you know if I get one fixed.. it would probably seem expensive though, since £1 GBP (British Pound) is about $2 US at the moment..

I actually tried the Duo again and because it was late at night after I finished replacing the caps, I didn't have the audio turned up, and in fact where the audio worked before, it now doesn't seem to work, but the headphone port has great audio! dam!

Gotta fix this, heh.