Broken Japanese DC

Masen · Post by **Masen** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 7:30 am

Hi,

i bought a defect japanese Dreamcast and it seems that the power supply is defect. maybe someone tried to plug it on a 220V net. so i would like to know if the hole power supply must be replaced or it could be fixed by replacing a part (maybe something that secures the DC of a to high supply voltage)

thx

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 8:11 am

tbh its easier to find a replacement and do a straight swap, unless your good with electronics and soldering....

What exacly does it do/not do

Masen · Post by **Masen** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 10:28 am

What exacly does it do/not do

it does nothing ... its not turning on ... if testet it with a multimeter and i think more parts are defekt ... so i think i will use this DC as repair kit for my other 2 ...

does anyone know if i could use a Europe/Pal power supply in a japanese DC ?

crc73 · Post by **crc73** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 10:55 am

Masen wrote:
does anyone know if i could use a Europe/Pal power supply in a japanese DC ?

Yes, it'll work perfect, provided it's only the PSU that's defective in your JAP DC.

I'm assuming you tested the fuse on the PSU board (I know the PAL DC PSU boards have a fuse, near where the power comes into the unit; dunno if the JAP units have the same/equivalent).

Anyway, if it is the fuse, and you replace it, if you're trying to run 220V through the DC, you're either going to need to get some type of power converter, or switch PSU boards to match the region you're in.

Masen · Post by **Masen** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 11:24 am

hmm ... ok thx...
but i think dont want to waste more time and money in this one ... i hope that the GD-Drive and other stuff is working fine so i can use that ones to replace it if in my other DCs something gets defect ....

crc73 · Post by **crc73** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 3:58 am

Masen wrote:hmm ... ok thx...
but i think dont want to waste more time and money in this one ... i hope that the GD-Drive and other stuff is working fine so i can use that ones to replace it if in my other DCs something gets defect ....

Testing the fuse isn't going to break the bank or waste a significant amount of your time, maybe 5 minutes tops, including dismantling and reassembling the DC unit. Fuses are only a couple of pence each.

If someone did hook up a 110v rated appliance to a 220v mains, then it's likely that the fuse blew, protecting the rest of the unit. This is what fuses do.

If you open your DC, locate the power board, and look towards the back near where you plug the mains cable in, you'll see the fuse. It's a cylindrical component, with metal cups on either end, and its pushed down onto clip-like connectors which are soldered onto the power board, making it very easy to replace the fuse if it is blown.

You'd be crazy not to test it.

Depending on your location, your mains cable may also have a fuse in it.

Masen · Post by **Masen** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 10:02 am

ok i will try it ...

thx a lot ^^

Masen · Post by **Masen** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 10:10 am

hmm ... i dont see there something youve described ... i mean nothing that could be easily changed ... have you maybe a pic or something ? it would help me a lot ^^

Masen · Post by **Masen** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 9:40 am

or maybe explain it on more detail ? or maybe have someone a link to page for this issue ...

Masen · Post by **Masen** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 10:17 am

ok i think now i found the fuse ... but only on pics around the inet ... i think my power supply dont have this fuse ... the powersupply of my other jap. DC also havent ... so i think the fuse i only on some supplys ...

have anyone an idea what i could do ?

crc73 · Post by **crc73** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 3:31 am

I don't have a picture of a Japanese DC power board. If you can post a picture of the board you have, I can have a look and circle what may be a fuse.

What region are you in? Do you have the power supply from your own region (US/PAL) that you can swap into the Japanese DC to see if it works?

If you are not in Japan, it may not be worth your while trying to fix the power board, unless you get a converter to get the voltage down to what you'd need. Swapping power boards is the easiest solution.

Masen · Post by **Masen** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 9:22 am

hmm ... ive tried to make a foto but it wasn?t very detailed ...
but its mostly the same looking like on this picture
http://j11.foreverwicked.net/top.JPG
a little bit different but it has the same parts ...
ive seen some pics of power supply with a "real" fuse like i know from other elektronik things ... so i thing this one hasnt one ...

to your other questions :
i life in germany . i have to other DCs . one europe one japanese with a extern voltage down converter ... because i have two other DCs it not so bad that this one isnt working ... but i thought that the pre owner maybe was so stupid and tried to use this japanese DC on 220 V and that maybe caused the defect ...
so i thought that there would maybe a thing like a fuse to protect it.
buying a new power supply would be to expensive i thing , because i dont need realy this 3rd DC ... but it would be nice anyway ^^

semicolo · Post by **semicolo** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 11:43 am

Penerally fuses don't protect the hardware enough to prevent it to break, but at least it prevents fire.

crc73 · Post by **crc73** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 1:39 pm

Yes, it doesn't look like there is a fuse there, at least not like the one in the PAL DCs. Maybe Japanese power plugs use fuses, and this is deemed enough.

Anyway, have you tried the power board from your other JAP DC (in conjunction with the step-down voltage converter of course) to see if the rest of the DC is Ok? Just swap the power boards between the two.

Also, you could take the power board from your PAL unit, and put it into your faulty JAP DC and see if that works. There are almost endless combinations. By swapping out boards between good and "bad" DC units, you should be able to deduce which boards are good and which are bad.

I do this all the time with DC's I've gotten as faulty, and haven't had any problems with the method breaking any good boards, but don't blame me if it's break any of yours if you decide to try it. I've actually gotten several DC's which were advertised as having broken GD-ROM units, but with proper testing, I've found that the power boards have been at fault.

Masen · Post by **Masen** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 2:35 pm

crc73 wrote: I do this all the time with DC's I've gotten as faulty, and haven't had any problems with the method breaking any good boards, but don't blame me if it's break any of yours if you decide to try it.

hehe ^^ . see this is what im afraid of ... so maybe then i have later on 2 defect DCs. so i think i will only do this if one of my other get broken to get from 2 defect DCs one good one. btw this is why i bought the two japanese DCs because both should be broken, the one the Power Supply the other the GD-Drive but for my suprise the one with the broken GD-Drive works very very fine ^^.

But anyway thanks a lot everybody for your help ^^