NEC: Beautiful, unreliable hardware?

[SuperDeadite]

Oddly the Japanese SFC RGB cables used the bad caps as well.  My cable was too dark, so I
popped it open, and nasty brown cap goo had leaked everywhere inside the connector. 
Replaced the caps, and the cable worked properly again.

[BEERS AND VIDEOS]

Aww man...  get a Duo r.. 

Just wanted to say a big thanks for everyone's input and support. Seriously, I appreciate it.

I hear about the Duo-R or RX from Blue and Bernie - is this really the most dependable of the NEC optical systems? Has anyone had better or worse luck with these or other systems in general?

[Mathius]

We just need to find you a Duo-r or rx and you'll be set!

I may forgo the idea of getting a Super CD unit for my SGX and go the modded Duo-R route. Seems the cheapest.

You are in the best Turbo/PCE community there is, so when a problem DOES surface there are plenty of nice people waiting to help you out.

[SignOfZeta]

I've come across dozens of broken Genesis and SNES systems

How does a SNES break? From my experience the things are as reliable as a Franklin stove. What breaks? The only problem I've seen is them turning a horrible piss color.

and pretty much every disc based console has issues.

Yeah, at least %50 of all Playstations and PS2s are probably in a land fill because the CDROM died. XB360s would be even worse if they didn't warrantee so many millions of them. Compared to the PCE, which was the very first system with an optical drive, they look like total f*cking lemons.

My PCE/IFU/CDROM2 is 22 or 23 years old and it still works perfectly. Meanwhile I know people who have RMAed their 360s twice in the measly six years or so since its been out.

[Mathius]

Agreed. My Turbo Grafx w/ CD add on still works beautifully. Every now and then I get that scary grinding noise, and once the unit spazzed out on me just because my System Card was ever-so-slightly unseated. I think all in all, aside from the bad caps, they were manufactured well.

[nodtveidt]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

[nat]

That's a good wiki page, but it incorrectly states the "first flawed caps" appeared in 1999. This is absolutely false. The first wave of bad caps to flood the market was in 1991, as I mentioned earlier in the thread.

There were basically two entirely separate "epidemics"; the 1991-93 fiasco and then the later one they reference on that wiki page.

Ironically, Apple Computer products were greatly affected by BOTH epidemics. The Classic II and SE/30 line (as I mentioned above) the first time around, and then the G5 iMacs the second time around.

[thesteve]

great article.
not the issue with ours.
the cap failures in the turbo devices is due to evap.
poor seal plugs in the capacitor cause premature evap/drying of the caps, and reduction of the capacitance.

[Mathius]

That's a good wiki page, but it incorrectly states the "first flawed caps" appeared in 1999. This is absolutely false. The first wave of bad caps to flood the market was in 1991, as I mentioned earlier in the thread.

There were basically two entirely separate "epidemics"; the 1991-93 fiasco and then the later one they reference on that wiki page.

Ironically, Apple Computer products were greatly affected by BOTH epidemics. The Classic II and SE/30 line (as I mentioned above) the first time around, and then the G5 iMacs the second time around.

You should edit that wiki then.

[nat]

great article.
not the issue with ours.
the cap failures in the turbo devices is due to evap.
poor seal plugs in the capacitor cause premature evap/drying of the caps, and reduction of the capacitance.

You're correct in that the flaw in the Duo-era capacitors is of an entirely different nature than the flaw in the millennium-era caps, but the end result is the same: the capacitor ends up dry, and the electrolytic gunk ends up all over the logic board.

[thesteve]

not quite...
in the duo era defect the capacitor ends up open, not shorting things out (directly at least)
the later failure the cap shorts causing possible chip damage.

[nodtveidt]

I think the 1999 meant to say 1989.

[PunkicCyborg]

How does a SNES break? From my experience the things are as reliable as a Franklin stove. What breaks? The only problem I've seen is them turning a horrible piss color.

My original SNES I got in 1991 started having issues about 4 years ago where the color would flicker and then turn black and white. It eventually just turned black and white completely. It also became piss yellow which I thought was strange because it was always stored in cabinets away from direct light. The one I use now was my wife's that she got new in 1994 which has no yellowing whatsoever and looks great. There might be differences in caps and plastics used in early run systems.

[DragonmasterDan]

My original SNES I got in 1991 started having issues about 4 years ago where the color would flicker and then turn black and white. It eventually just turned black and white completely. It also became piss yellow which I thought was strange because it was always stored in cabinets away from direct light. The one I use now was my wife's that she got new in 1994 which has no yellowing whatsoever and looks great. There might be differences in caps and plastics used in early run systems.

Strange, at one point I think I had 7. A lot of them were goodwill pickups with games and what not, I started literally giving them away. Every SNES I'd ever come across worked.

[Black Tiger]

I've come across dozens of broken Genesis and SNES systems

How does a SNES break? From my experience the things are as reliable as a Franklin stove. What breaks? The only problem I've seen is them turning a horrible piss color.

I'm no technician, so I can't tell you how it happens. All I know is that I've personally tossed something like 6 SNES systems because they were dead and have known others who have had them die. I've also come across a few dead SFCs. I have something like 30 Genesis systems and the last time I tested most of them, something like a dozen had various problems. Most Sega-CDs I find in the wild don't work. Every TG-16 and PCE cart system that has passed through my hands (12 - 15?) has never had any problems other than my original TG-16 BITD. Long story short: it was just a result of physical wear/abuse and/or inconvenient design.