Technical and Repair Assistance

[ooXxXoo]

Ah it didn't work. Now the front's side is loose!! Bah, I'm just giving up on this thing. Tis a shame I got it for christmas.

Which FC clone is it, have a pic?...
...

[VenusAsABoy]

When I first got my famicom a few years back I didn't know you couldn't use a American power supply so I tried to use one. My question is, is my FC fried inside now? Also, if not, where can I buy the correct power cable? Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[133MHz]

If it doesn't work anymore, yes, your Famicom is fried. But bringing it back to life could be as easy as replacing the main filter capacitor and the voltage regulator on the RF modulator board. With basic to intermediate soldering skills and the right components you can do this yourself.

As for the correct power supply, you could get an original Famicom or Super Famicom AC adapter online, but if you can't get one of those you can always use a Sega Genesis Model 1 or a TurboGrafx16 AC adapter, those are perfectly compatible.

Don't just assume your Famicom is dead if you've never tried it with a proper AC adapter. You might have been lucky and didn't damage it.

[VenusAsABoy]

Thanks for your encouraging word. I'm on the hunt for a power cord now. If it is fried, I hate to say it but my soldering skills leave much to be desired so I might be on the hunt for a new famicom, after I try the correct power cable. Thanks again.

[VenusAsABoy]

If it doesn't work anymore, yes, your Famicom is fried. But bringing it back to life could be as easy as replacing the main filter capacitor and the voltage regulator on the RF modulator board. With basic to intermediate soldering skills and the right components you can do this yourself.

As for the correct power supply, you could get an original Famicom or Super Famicom AC adapter online, but if you can't get one of those you can always use a Sega Genesis Model 1 or a TurboGrafx16 AC adapter, those are perfectly compatible.

Don't just assume your Famicom is dead if you've never tried it with a proper AC adapter. You might have been lucky and didn't damage it.

I ended up finding the correct power adapter while I was looking for my cell phone charger. It was in a box full of clones. I'm mad that I had it this whole time and didn't realize it.

I plugged it in and my famicom played perfect. Needless to say I'm excited.

[133MHz]

I'm glad that you found the AC adapter and that it was fine at the end.

[VenusAsABoy]

Thanks.

But I must ask for help once again. So I got my Famicom up and running but I am having the hardest time getting the games to play with out the video going crazy. I've cleaned all my games and I used an old NES cleaning kit I got to try to clean the pins inside the system. Which I did get a lot of dirt out, so I thought, "great my games are going to play perfect now." But I was sadley mistaken.

It's almost impossible for me to get a game to play with out a few of the pixel being off/messed up. Then if I even tug on the controller ever so slightly or I jar the FC just a tiny bit I completely loose the picture. I have to fiddle with the games before I can even get it going. I mostly get a solid gray screen. All these headache brings be back to the old toaster days.

I'm assuming the problem lies in the pin connector. Is there a good way to clean them? I've replaced several pin connectors on NES, do I need to replace the pins? Is that even possible, I haven't had a FC open much? What should I try?

Any help would be much appreciated.

[133MHz]

Yeah you probably need to clean your pin connector even more. I use an old toothbrush dipped in rubbing alcohol to really clean the connector inside out. Also make a visual inspection under a bright light to check that all of the pins are correctly aligned and that there's no dirt and crap stuck between them.

[MS-DOS4]

I use ultra fine sand paper, and it works like a charm. I would not suggest it though, because it wears off the rust protection. It has a 100% success rate, but you'd better not get those contacts wet.

[VenusAsABoy]

Ok thanks for you guys suggestion. I'll work on it today and see how it goes.

[sumguy]

I got a cool Playstation3-looking NOAC famiclone.  Some wires were pulled out during shipping.  Then when my friend tried re-soldering it  the red and black power cables pulled out.  I don't know where to put them back in.  If I posted some pics, would someone know how to help?  (Also, its a PAL system I believe if that makes a difference)

[namakubi]

Hey guys, need help with my new Sharp Famicom Twin:

So it was working fine until I took it to a friend's apartment, but I get there, put in a disk game, and I keep getting error 27. I thought the belt might've gotten loose or become mis-aligned, so we unscrewed it, popped it open, but everything looked fine inside. So we screwed it back up, tried it out, now I'm getting error 22. What should I do? Any suggestions to get it working again? It has a new belt so I don't think that's the problem. Any pointers?

[ericj]

Try cleaning the read/write head with a q-tip & isopropyl alcohol.

[namakubi]

Okay I'll try that. I left it at my friend's place but I called him and told him to try that, we'll see how it works, thanks.

[Shining]

Hello from Sweden 

Is it normal that the upper part screen vibrates when using an AV Famicom? I'm using the original composite and powersupply cables with a step-down converter, this one to be exact:


If this is not a common problem i will make my own thread with more info and pictures.
Thanks!