The TurboTap: A Lemon?

[nat]

Is it an inherent quality of TurboTaps (not DuoTaps) to be prone to failure? Was the TurboTap a genuine lemon?

Me and some friends sat down last night for a battle game of Bomberman '94. Partway through some of my friends complained their characters were moving without them touching the controller. Then the game started pausing itself automatically. Then we noticed that everybody's character was moving in response to my (player 1) controller (which explained their prior complaints). The TurboTap is less than 2 years old, bought brand-new from TZD. The controllers are of various ages but two of them were brand-new from TZD within the last year. All controllers are in great shape and work fine on their own. We cycled through various other controllers I had on hand to elminate the possibility of a bad controller. Reseating all connections did nothing to help our plight. We ended up having to shut our game off prematurely.

Like I mentioned, this Tap I bought relatively recently from TZD to replace my old Tap which started exhibiting similar symptoms. This was after the Player 3 port stopped working on it. There was no physical damage, just stopped recognizing a controller was hooked up.

Not that it matters, but the Tap is hooked up to the end of one of those long extension cables.

This morning I was still a little disgruntled so I went to TZD to get a new one. Too bad they are F--KING OUT OF STOCK. There goes my last hope for a good TurboTap.

Then I headed over to eBay and scored a used one that is "untested" , "as-is", and "worked the last time I used it". The good news is I only laid down $1.25 plus shipping for it so I'm only out $5 if it's another dud.

I guess my question for folks is: is this a common thing with the TurboTap? Or has my luck just been unbelieveably horrible with these? What is the cause of these issues? Does the 'Tap contain some of those infamously bad late-'80s-run capacitors that leak all to hell after a few years?

[runinruder]

I've owned my tap for at least fifteen years and it's still going strong. 

[Odonadon]

I've owned several and I've never had a problem with one.

OD

[nat]

So no ideas what might be wrong and why mine keep failing on me?

[esteban]

I've used a bunch of Taps over the years and IIRC I did have a problem with one back in the day. Now, I don't recall if we were using an extension cable at the time... but I'd lean towards the affirmative.

Our problem with the Tap, however, was with unresponsive pads and / or slightly damaged connectors. The funny things is... I think I still have the Tap and I think it works now? Don't quote me on that, though, because it is possible that I have a forgotten box of damaged goods sitting somewhere.

Anyway, I reckon I've used the Tap more than the average tg-16 fan and I haven't experienced an obvious problem with them.

Shot in the dark: Is it possible that a broken controller could foul up the entire Tap? Perhaps the hardware gurus could tell us if this is feasible.

[Keranu]

Shot in the dark: Is it possible that a broken controller could foul up the entire Tap? Perhaps the hardware gurus could tell us if this is feasible.

Could be possible, but with my experience of having one controller that likes to act up, it doesn't effect the other controllers.

[nat]

Shot in the dark: Is it possible that a broken controller could foul up the entire Tap? Perhaps the hardware gurus could tell us if this is feasible.

Shouldn't be the issue here. Like I mentioned, I tried all sorts of controllers in every configuration imaginable with the same results.

[Joe Redifer]

I tried playing a two player game with some guy a few weeks ago, and I was having similar issues.  The tap was hooked to the end of an extension cable.  I suggest trying it without the extension cable.

[vestcoat]

Your Tap is fine.  The problem is the extension cord.  I've had the same problem with my  Duo tap plugged into an extension cord.
So don't worry, you don't have to waste your money on more Turbo Taps...now you'll be wasting your money on FIVE extension cords because you have to use them BEFORE they reach the Tap.
*heheheh*

Life sucks, eh?

[Keranu]

I use an extension cable with my Duo Tap and it works fine.

[Black Tiger]

Taps start to screw up like that after getting dust inside if them. It happens more with the Turbo's than the PCE/Duo's because of the gigantic holes. After figuring this out, I taped the spare holes of my main Tap with masking tape and never had to clean it out again.

[vestcoat]

Taps start to screw up like that after getting dust inside if them. It happens more with the Turbo's than the PCE/Duo's because of the gigantic holes. After figuring this out, I taped the spare holes of my main Tap with masking tape and never had to clean it out again.

I don't know, I had the problem with my Duo Tap.  As soon as I removed the extension cord it worked fine and has ever since with no cleaning.  However, the dirty-tap theory does have some merit because that would explain why the problem got worse for Nat and friends as the night wore on.

I use an extension cable with my Duo Tap and it works fine.

I have a question, was there ever an Official Turbo Duo Extension Cord made or are they all like those grey Mac cables I got from TZD recently?  I have an official, black TurboGrafx extension but I've never tested it to see if it gives me the same problem with a Turbo Tap.  Does TZD still have "real" TG16 cables or are they selling grey Mac cables like the Duo extension?  Maybe some of us are using Mac cables and some of us are using NEC cables.  Maybe the NEC-made cables don't have a problem scrambling signals from a five-player Tap.

[Black Tiger]

Taps start to screw up like that after getting dust inside if them. It happens more with the Turbo's than the PCE/Duo's because of the gigantic holes. After figuring this out, I taped the spare holes of my main Tap with masking tape and never had to clean it out again.

I don't know, I had the problem with my Duo Tap.  As soon as I removed the extension cord it worked fine and has ever since with no cleaning.  However, the dirty-tap theory does have some merit because that would explain why the problem got worse for Nat and friends as the night wore on.

I use an extension cable with my Duo Tap and it works fine.

I have a question, was there ever an Official Turbo Duo Extension Cord made or are they all like those grey Mac cables I got from TZD recently?  I have an official, black TurboGrafx extension but I've never tested it to see if it gives me the same problem with a Turbo Tap.  Does TZD still have "real" TG16 cables or are they selling grey Mac cables like the Duo extension?  Maybe some of us are using Mac cables and some of us are using NEC cables.  Maybe the NEC-made cables don't have a problem scrambling signals from a five-player Tap.

The dirty Tap problem is real itself, since I fixed mine by cleaning it. Whether or not thats what's wrong with this particular Tap is another issue. The extension cable may be dirty or have some kind of film on it(or just a bent connector).

There are official Duo extension cables, I bought mine new back in the day, but have recently misplaced it. But you're better off with a Mac cable, since the Duo extension cable has those big heavy connectors like the Pads that weigh down the controller port.

Turbo Cables are pretty common(I think). If you can track down a 'Duo Cable' (TG-16 to Duo converter) before a decent Duo extension cable you could just use Turbo products on your Duo.

But the Mac cable I have works best for me(a LOT better than the 'lightgun minigame' wireless pads).

[Joe Redifer]

How would dust interfere with the operation of a tap unless it was a significant amount?

[esteban]

How would dust interfere with the operation of a tap unless it was a significant amount?

Dude, FEKA dust. No brainer.