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Recap guide

Recap the PC Engine and TurboGrafx

Duo, CD and handheld models are repeatedly named as the most cap-prone consoles, and ConsoleMods says almost all Duos have failing caps. Plain HuCard base units are less urgent.

Open the interactive checklist Tick off each capacitor as you replace it. It saves in your browser.

Worth a recap. Reports say it is a common and useful fix on this machine.

Which board do I have?

Boards changed during production. These notes come from the linked sources, and many are only partly documented, so check the board in front of you.

  • PC Engine, TurboGrafx-16, Shuttle, CoreGrafx I/II, SuperGrafx (HuCard consoles) (Low confidence). How to tell: Separate cases per model (white PC Engine, black TG-16, Shuttle, dark CoreGrafx, light grey CoreGrafx II). Capacitors: ConsoleMods flags no cap problem for these; a hitmanmcc log still recapped a white PC Engine, a CoreGrafx and a SuperGrafx. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
  • PC Engine GT / TurboExpress (1990-1991) (Medium confidence). How to tell: Handheld with a backlit color LCD. Capacitors: ConsoleMods says all systems suffer from bad electrolytic caps, and a hitmanmcc log found every cap on one GT had leaked. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
  • PC Engine LT (1991-1992) (Medium confidence). How to tell: Semi-portable console with a 4 inch LCD that needs an AC adapter. Capacitors: ConsoleMods says the LT has the same failing-cap pattern as the GT. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
  • PC Engine Duo / TurboDuo (1991-1993) (Medium confidence). How to tell: First integrated console and CD unit with a flip-top door. Capacitors: ConsoleMods says all unserviced Duos suffer leaky caps and need thorough cleaning. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
  • Duo-R with PWA-3339-A board (1993-1994) (Medium confidence). How to tell: Duo-R motherboard with a replaceable glass fuse. Capacitors: ConsoleMods says this board has more capacitors than PWA-3365-A. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: yes. Source
  • Duo-R with PWA-3365-A (later) and Duo-RX (1994-1995) (Medium confidence). How to tell: Board with no fuse; the Duo-RX uses this same PWA-3365-A. Capacitors: ConsoleMods says this board has fewer capacitors than PWA-3339-A. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: yes. Source
  • CDR-30 / IFU-30 and Super CD-ROM2 add-ons (Low confidence). How to tell: Separate CD drive and interface units, or the integrated Super CD-ROM2. Capacitors: ConsoleMods says the CDR-30 leaks near the audio section and the Super CD-ROM2 has leaks less severe than the Duo. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source

Where to start

Clues from write-ups and forum threads, not a diagnosis. Low confidence means one thread or one repair; high means several write-ups agree.

  • Duo consoles (Medium confidence). ConsoleMods says nearly all Duos need a full recap and advises hiring a modder if you are inexperienced. It has no cap list. Source
  • Community ranking (Low confidence). An AtariAge thread ranks NEC consoles, Game Gear and pre-1995 CD consoles among the worst for needing recaps, and says 8-bit systems hold up better. It is opinion, not a list. Source
  • Repair logs (Low confidence). Hitman's Museum has many photo logs of PC Engine LT, GT, Duo, CD-ROM2 and CoreGrafx recaps, but no value lists. Source

Tips, tales and maybes

Found in write-ups and forum threads. These are other people's reports, not tested by us. Check part references and values against your own board.

  • Story: Duo with leaks on nearly every SMD cap (Low confidence). A VOGONS poster recapping a Duo found nearly every SMD electrolytic had leaked and one via was eaten away, which they rebuilt using a resistor leg rather than a bodge wire. The CD drive was also serviced and the backup supercap replaced. Source
  • Tip: Duo jailbar fix and supercap (Medium confidence). A Hitman's Museum Duo log used the Console5 kit, which includes a jailbar fix of 4.7uF 16V 0805 caps at C923 and C909, and fitted a 0.33F 5.5V supercap at C509. It notes two caps sit under an IC so that chip had to come off, and that the board was fully depopulated to treat corroded pads. Source
  • Tip: Do not over-tune the pots; mark them (Medium confidence). Another Duo log found pot tuning made old discs read but still rub audibly, so it fitted a new HOP-M3 pickup and restored the pots to the factory marks, and advised marking pot positions before touching them. A charred lid switch was also replaced. Source
  • Story: LT and GT handhelds (Medium confidence). Hitman's Museum's leak index says the PC Engine LT is almost always dead from cap leakage, and its LT log lost the LCD bias transformer (T500) to electrolyte. A GT log reports every single cap had leaked, yet all pads were saved. Source

Before you start

  • Boards changed during production. Check your board number against the guides before you order parts.

Guides we used

This page and the interactive bench are built from these. They have the photos and the full detail, so please read them and support their authors.

The capacitor list

We have not checked a capacitor list for this machine yet, so none is shown. Follow the guide above for your board, then add the capacitors in the interactive checklist and it builds a shopping list for you.

Skip the sourcing

While you are in there

Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. These links only search by name. Disclosure

Steps, tools and safety

The steps, the tools in top, middle and budget picks, and the safety list are the same for every machine, so they live on one page: How to recap, step by step.

Values are shown as published in the guides above, and boards changed during production. Check the board in front of you. A recap involves hot tools and, on some machines, dangerous voltages. You do it at your own risk.

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