REPAIR GUIDE - Laseractive NEC PAC-N1 / N10: Total capacitor replacement chart

[BlueBMW]

I recently replaced the capacitors on two of these units.  There is no difference as far as the capacitors go on the N1 (PCE) vs the N10 (TG16).  Below is a chart outlining what capacitors you will need and where they will go.  You will also need a security bit to open these PACs.  Its the same bit as used on Duos.



Thanks to Red Ghost for the inspiration on cap chart format!

[TheClash603]

Now if only it didn't cost $10000 to ship my two broken CLD A-100s to you.

I wish I had those bad boys operational.

[BlueBMW]

Those CLDA100s have a BAJILLION caps in em   But it sounds like your problems were different.  I dont mind trying to fix em, but you are right, shipping is a BEAR on those things!

[Platinumfungi]

Ha ha, glad to see my template lives on  Nice work Blue.

[blueraven]

To whom it may concern; Aaron, nat, etc. Please sticky this repair

[Pcenginefx]

Stickyed by request.

[choijimmy]

Thanks Byron. Really appreciate your help on my LaserActive related stuff! you are the master of LA 

After a year of experience with LaserActive, I want to share repair experience with folks in here
It is basically like Q&A

Q: My LaserActive has No display when turn on / No display and the tray comes out on itself but unable to close, etc...
A: There are many many reasons for that, eg, dead circuit board which I have No idea how to fix it.
However, based on my experience, there is a chance due to IC protector ( kind of fuse but in IC shape with 2 legs ) blown in power supply board -- Thanks for Byron on this which I learn from him.
There are few ( 5 or 6 I recall ) IC protectors on the power support board -- namely, ICP-N15, ICP-N25/20, ICP-50, etc...  You can buy them from ebay or contact me, I have some spare and can give you. 

Q: How to tell those IC protector are blown?
A: Use multi meter to test the continuity between 2 legs of IC protector one by one. If you found any one of the IC protector is blown, mostly likely your LA die because of blown fuse, just replace it/them with CORRECT MODEL, eg, replace blown icp-n50 with icp-n50,   icp-25 with icp-n25  and good luck -- See pic for IC protector and sample position of IC protector in power supply board

Q: How I take out the power board if the unit is Unable to eject the tray?
A: This is tricky... I found the solution after I broke one of my tray
Here is the trick. Open the CD cover on the tray by hand -- Please refer to attached picture. You will see a white gear on the right hand side, use screw driver to push the white gear anti-clockwise, I recall you don't need to push too hard, just make sure you don't push too hard and break the gear     Gracefully push the gear and you will find the tray eject slowly as long as you push the gear.




Q: My LaserActive unit can power on with display. It can even play hucard/sega cart. However, whenever I put the disc ( CD or LD ) into it, the disc is No spin / unable to read disc?
A: There are couple reasons for this. Let me try to share my exp.

   1. dirty laser lens -- clean it with distilled water with cotton tips  -- I was told do NOT use alcohol due to there is a coating on the lens and alcohol will remove that coating.
   
   2. If no luck, try to do one thing, put a CD into the tray and press play button. Try to observe the laser lens action. Once the laser move under the disc, the Lens -- (Not the whole unit - just the white circle lens )  should Move *UP* and try to read disc. If the lens move *up* but still No reading the disc - I guess you have bad laser lens -- you can either turn the POT on the laser lens clockwise just a little bit and try again. 
If still No luck, I bet you have bad laser lens and need replacement.  Well, I also have few of them which from other Pioneer LD models eg, CLD-S250, CLD-S260, CLD-S350, CLD-S360, CLD-1720K, CLD-1730K, CLD-J720 ( sorry, these are all Asian model number )
 
   3. If you found the Laser lens is Not moving UP when try to read the disc, you probably have blown IC Protector fuse in Main Board -- ( Not power supply board this time ) -- Please refer to attached picture for the position of the fuses. -- there are 2 of them ICP-N10. Replace them and try again -- this time, lens should Move up when try to read the disc

   4. Now, I replaced the lens -- and confirme the lens is good -- eg, you have 2nd LaserActive. The disc is still Not spin. Mostly likely, you have 2 problems here
a. bad motor --> You can find this in above pioneer models but the power wire of motor is a bit shorter. Well... it fits just marginally fit with laseractive unit
b. blown thermal fuse in power supply board -- Yes, Not IC protector fuse but Thermal Fuse!
Again, test those fuse -- there are 2 , with meter, if they/it failed with continuity, replace them. Please refer to attached for the Thermal fuse ( U25  or X25 – 250V 2.5A 150C ) and they are under the metal cover of the power board  F101 and F102. I have tons of those thermal fuses, let me know if you need them

  5. Now my Laseractive can read CD but Not LD… Whenever it plays LD, the tray just eject by itself
Observe what happen when it try to read LD, does the loading mechanism base ( the whole unit under the tray when tray is closed ) try to push up the LD but Not succeed? If yes, I am pretty sure you have bad loading belt, just replace it and it will work with LD now. Please see the attached picture for the position of belt. Yes, I also have tons of them, let me know if you want to get one/some


Q: I replaced the capacitor on my PAC-N1, and has blinking screen when play HUCard ( CD game is fine as long as No card has been inserted into the pac-n1 ). What happen?
eg, some Hucard card games  ( eg, victory run,  DORAEMON - MEIKYU DAISAKUSEN  -- esp for those games with light color background, the screen will keep blinking when you power on the machine -- around 5 out of 10 times when power on).

A: I am Not sure this is the right way to fix it but it works perfect.
Check Video board of LaserActive unit, locate a pot called VCXO Err Adjust  (  voltage-controlled crystal oscillator )    -- try to adjust this pot until the screen is Not blink anymore.
Please refer to attached picture for the position of the pot

Update: I found that there is another way to fix the  flicker screen for HUCard after reap. I replaced the crystal oscillator on the PAC-N1 and now no longer have flicker screen after recap! Please refer to the picture for the location of the crystal oscillator, I have plenty of them, let me know if anyone need some

That’s all about for right now. Have fun with your laseractive!

update:
Q: my laser active works fine for around 1 minute whenever I shut it down for a while(say 10+ hours). Within the first min, it is able to play cd/ld. However, after a minute, both green lights on the front panel are off And No longer play disc. You have to wait for another 10+ hours to get the 1 min working timeframe.
A: this issue drives me crazy.... I found the root cause is the PCB board inside the laseractive which directly connected to the PAC had capacitor issue. I replaced all the caps on that board and now it works fine.


update 2:
Q: My laseractive has Audio output with CD ( megaCD / PC Engine CD ) games. However, when I play LD games, I got No audio music ( I mean background music ). What happen?
A: I found that it is caused by burnt IC -->  CA0002AM ( Audio Demodulator). Once you replaced this IC, you should be able to get back your background music for LD games.

The CA0002AM is located in Video board ( the board covered by white sheet ). The IC located on the side withOUT capacitor.

This IC is a bit tricky to find and I am able to find it from a China supplier. Let me know if you need it, I can buy it for you ( only < 1 USD per chip + shipping ). I only have 1 for my spare parts so unable to give it for free

update 3:
Q: When I turn on the laseractive, I found that the laser lens ( white circle laser lens ) is bouncing up and down crazy ( eg, bounce 20+ times in a few seconds ) and it is unable to play cd/ld
A: Please try to measure the -5v voltage from the FTSB ASSY board ( the board with a lot of pots eg, focus gain, track gain,etc... ). The board has label for -5v mesauring point.
If you found you missed -5v, most likely you have bad resistor on power supply board. Take out the resistor R301 ( which supposed 2.2k ) from the power supply board and measure the value. If it's value is far away from 2.2k, replace it and see if it helps

[choijimmy]

More pictures

[choijimmy]

and more

[choijimmy]

Last one

[BlueBMW]

Awesome info Jimmy!

I will add also if you recap a pac and you are still getting glitchy operation try washing the board in the dishwasher.  I had an NEC pac that once recapped worked but had wierd graphical streaking at times.  Washing it cleared up the problem. 

To wash a PCB in the dishwasher....

 Remove the supercap (or battery on sega pacs)  load it in the dishwasher alone.  Use a small amount of detergent and be sure to turn off heated dry.  After the cycle is complete, heat your oven to the lowest temp (usually 170F or so)  Once heated, turn the oven off and place the board inside.  Let it sit in there for a good 2-3 hours.  When you remove it you will find that it is perfectly dry.  You may put a note on the oven so one else comes along and turns it on while youre drying.

I was skeptical about using this method but it has saved a few boards that I just couldnt get clean manually.  Ive yet to damage a board with this method.  Also works great for super grimy arcade boards.

[choijimmy]

Thanks Byron! Glad to see you reply my post     When I read your reply saying put the circuit board into washing machine, I was shocked! amazing it works   

Any idea for the VCXO err adjust, is it rational? I just wonder why replaced the caps need to adjust this pot ( yes, I found hucard game play flick even I only replaced 5 leaked caps -- 22uf ). Then I replaced all the caps and hope the flick will be gone. Not luck until I adjust the pot. No idea why but glad it works 

Additional info regarding the battery of pac-s1/s10. If you found the battry is leaked or unable to store save data, you probably need to replace the battery on the sega pac. After spending a while, I am able to find the battery replacement. Note: The original button battery is rechargable! don't replace with regular non-rechargable battery, I am not sure what will happen if you do so.

The original rechargeable battery is ML2016 with legs solder on it. For my soldering skill, it is very hard to solder legs on the battery and a bit dangerous. Therefore, I try to find the replacement battery with exactly same legs position soldered. Eventually, I found ML2032 rechargeable battery ( exactly same size, legs position but just double thickness. I tested it and it works like a charm.
Please refer to attached picture, the blue one is the orignally battery on the pac-s1/s10 ; the yellow one is the replacement I found.

If you are unable to find such battery, let me know, as long as not large quantity / you are not resell it, I am able to give you some.

Thanks again!
Jimmy

[BlueBMW]

I've found replacement batteries before but yeah they are tricky to find the right voltage / recharge-ability etc.

I've not had to mess with that particular pot... I do know I've had graphics issues from leaked fluid stuck in vias and under chips on the PAC boards.  The dishwasher method worked great for cleaning it out.  Drying it in an oven ensures that you get all the moisture out of the board.

[henrycsc]

So, be honest guys.  Is all this work just so you can stay up until 4 AM playing Quiz Econosaurus?

Great work as usual!

[BlueBMW]

But the Earth will soon be depleted! And its all my fault!!!!