PC Engine - Bad video, very dark

[drunkenmappy]

Hi all,

I've got a PC Engine Core Grafx, and after several months of no play I booted it up and got a very dark screen...the screenshot below is a a median case, sometimes it's better, sometimes worse - it varies from bootup to bootup.  Sometimes the picture scrolls vertically...although maybe this is just a case of dust inside the machine. 

So, does anyone have any ideas? I've got some screwdriver bits for game systems, and a multimeter. I could check for continuity in various places on the machine, that would be a logical start...maybe? I might buy a new set of video cables and see what happens.

The power supply I'm using is a Nintendo HVC-002. A quick check of the Japanese internet shows that this AC Adapter works fine with the RF-only white PC Engine, but I couldn't get any confirmation whether or not it's safe with the non-RF CoreGrafx. However up until now (about two and a half years since I bought it) everything was fine, and this was the AC Adapter it came with when I bought it in a package in Tokyo.

Cheers

[phreak97]

i'd be looking at replacing capacitors around the video area until it works again.. trace the av ports back to wherever they go and start replacing any electrolytic (see google) capacitors along those lines and surrounding areas. make sure you get the same ones and put them in the right way around.. if any look swolen or like they might have leaked (theres fluid in them), start with them.

[Majestic_Lizard]

I realize this is an old post.

I decided to reply to this as people may come across it in their Google searches. The person who sold the OP the NES AC adapter with the white PC Engine did so because he or she did NOT know any better.

Do not EVER, EVER, EVER use the Nintendo AC Adapter with any other NTSC (Japanese or US) console. I'm not referring to PAL.

The NES AC Adapter is straight Alternating Current because the NES has a very strong rectifier inside of it.

The Turbo Graphics 16 (PC Engine) AC Adapter is AC/DC and contains circuitry to convert the Alternating Current to Direct Current before it hits the console.

This means that if you plug the NES AC Adapter into a PC Engine it will eventually damage the console. While the old white PC Engine does have a rectifier in it, which will let you use the straight AC adapter for a little while, eventually you will cook the console. The rectifier in the PC Engine is nowhere near as good as the rectifier in the NES. Prolonged use of an NES AC Adapter WILL DAMAGE an original white PC Engine.

Adversely, you CAN use PC Engine, Sega Genesis Model 1, Sega Master System, and Turbo Graphics AC adapters to power an NES safely because they simply provide more conditioned electrical current than the original NES AC adapter due to the additional rectifier.

You really should get rid of the NES AC adapter altogether as it is worse than the newer AC Adapters and looks enough like them that someone will eventually plug it in by accident and destroy a console.

[Hamburglar]

He mentioned he was using a Nintendo HVC-002 in the original post, not the NES ac adapter model NES-002...

I realize this is an old post.

I decided to reply to this as people may come across it in their Google searches. The person who sold the OP the NES AC adapter with the white PC Engine did so because he or she did NOT know any better.

Do not EVER, EVER, EVER use the Nintendo AC Adapter with any other NTSC (Japanese or US) console. I'm not referring to PAL.

The NES AC Adapter is straight Alternating Current because the NES has a very strong rectifier inside of it.

The Turbo Graphics 16 (PC Engine) AC Adapter is AC/DC and contains circuitry to convert the Alternating Current to Direct Current before it hits the console.

This means that if you plug the NES AC Adapter into a PC Engine it will eventually damage the console. While the old white PC Engine does have a rectifier in it, which will let you use the straight AC adapter for a little while, eventually you will cook the console. The rectifier in the PC Engine is nowhere near as good as the rectifier in the NES. Prolonged use of an NES AC Adapter WILL DAMAGE an original white PC Engine.

Adversely, you CAN use PC Engine, Sega Genesis Model 1, Sega Master System, and Turbo Graphics AC adapters to power an NES safely because they simply provide more conditioned electrical current than the original NES AC adapter due to the additional rectifier.

You really should get rid of the NES AC adapter altogether as it is worse than the newer AC Adapters and looks enough like them that someone will eventually plug it in by accident and destroy a console.