"Scratchy" sound coming from my TurboDuo. Please help ! :(

[stargate]

Ugh....

Today I fired up my TurboDuo to play some Lords of Thunder.  No problem and then after about 30 minutes the audio started making this horrible scratchy sound.  I tried an aftermarket stereo AV cable, but that did not solve the problem.  The same scratchy sound comes out of the headphone jack so it does not appear to be a problem with the AV jack.  It is not my TV because my other systems work fine with the same games.

This has never happened before.  Any thoughts?  Any idea if this can be repaired and what it might cost me?

Not a good way to start my Sunday. 

[nat]

Yeah, it's a leaking capacitor. You need an audio capacitor replacement job. If you can solder, it's not hard to do yourself. Otherwise..... You'll have to send it to someone.

[stargate]

Yeah, it's a leaking capacitor. You need an audio capacitor replacement job. If you can solder, it's not hard to do yourself. Otherwise..... You'll have to send it to someone.

Do you know where I would be able to get a new audio capacitor?

Also, what is weird is that it started working fine again all day with great audio. Not sure why it would start working fine again?

[nat]

This is what happens:

The old audio capacitors leak conductive goo onto the traces on the mainboard. Initially symptoms are intermittent sound issues as the goo create temporary short-circuits between ICs and other components. As the  problem progresses (and goo continues to leak out of the old caps), symptoms get worse such as audio cutting out altogether. How long the console has been powered up affects the symptoms as well, as capacitors hold a charge and capacitors that have lost some electrolytic take a longer time to fully charge.

Long story short: your Duo isn't miraculously fixed. The symptoms will show up again, and they will get worse.

See this thread:

http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=3249.0

and this thread:

http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=960.0

For information on the Duo sound issues and capacitor information.

[kattare]

Repairs by Kattare (TM)

Leaky Cap Swap: $60
Return Shipping: $15
Peace of Mind: $Priceless

PM me if interested.  :-)