What's new
By:

General CPS3 motherboard repair tips?

FurinArcade

FurinArcade

Beginner
Joined
Sep 20, 2019
Messages
9
Reaction score
7
Location
Leeds, UK
Hey all, I have about 5/6 dead motherboards that a friend wants me to take a look at as I have a super basic idea of what I'm doing.
Some are complete write offs visually but others look absolutely fine but aren't working. I have working board, carts and simms to check things.

Do you guys have any advice for general repair/ things to check in a rough order.

Nothing obviously wrong with many of them but before I start really getting into the weeds I thought I'd ask. Incase there's a "oh just clean this one obvious thing and it fixes 90% of boards" type of thing.

😊
 
I’m assuming CPS3 here since you’re talking about a cart and SIMMS

Generally speaking I wouldn’t recommend touching these with a basic understanding. They use almost exclusively SMD components and are extremely difficult to work on without the right tools

But if you want to check the basics

If you are getting no video at all - I wouldn’t move forward. The most likely cause is an issue with the PPU either not attached properly or not functioning

No sound - The volume pot is often the culprit here and can be fixed by spraying it with contact cleaner and rotating it a bunch of times to clean the contact strip

Clean the JAMMA edge and clean up any corrosion on the pins. Low voltage can cause issues

The cart slot can and often does go bad, and if so these are easy to replace. If the cart doesn’t easily stand upright while inserted or has a large amount of movement when inserted, it may need to be replaced

Post some more information and we can try to help, it’s not really possible if you just say “dead”
 
xodaraP said:
I’m assuming CPS3 here since you’re talking about a cart and SIMMS

Generally speaking I wouldn’t recommend touching these with a basic understanding. They use almost exclusively SMD components and are extremely difficult to work on without the right tools

But if you want to check the basics

If you are getting no video at all - I wouldn’t move forward. The most likely cause is an issue with the PPU either not attached properly or not functioning

No sound - The volume pot is often the culprit here and can be fixed by spraying it with contact cleaner and rotating it a bunch of times to clean the contact strip

Clean the JAMMA edge and clean up any corrosion on the pins. Low voltage can cause issues

The cart slot can and often does go bad, and if so these are easy to replace. If the cart doesn’t easily stand upright while inserted or has a large amount of movement when inserted, it may need to be replaced

Post some more information and we can try to help, it’s not really possible if you just say “dead”
Click to expand...
Ah sorry, I thought I posted in a cps3 specific part.

No video at all on any of them. Black screen regardless of cart being inserted or not. My question was more about general first steps so I think the cart slot is a good place to start thanks. Once I've ruled out the basics I can post pictures of them individually. 😊 Thank you
 
Sorry you did put it in the CPS3 area, I didn’t look properly

Black screen regardless of cart being inserted or not cart slot is a good place to start. The main CPU on CPS3 is in the cart, so if there’s not a good connection there you’re not going to get anything at all
 
My suggestion for OP (if he tests with a cart) is to test each “dead” motherboard with a battery-less cart such as a 2nd Impact (with battery removed as it will still work) or a Super/UltraBIOS cart. You don’t want a bad motherboard to kill a working battery cart (which it will, speaking from experience).
 
xodaraP said:
Sorry you did put it in the CPS3 area, I didn’t look properly

Black screen regardless of cart being inserted or not cart slot is a good place to start. The main CPU on CPS3 is in the cart, so if there’s not a good connection there you’re not going to get anything at all
Click to expand...
Done a fair bit of tinkering, found a broken trace on one board and now have a scrambled image instead of black screen. So that seems like progress. 😊
 
Good work, broken traces are common - especially if the board has been stored in a humid/damp area

Sorry that’s my mistake, I should have pointed that out as a general repair tip - give the board a good looking over for bent/bridged pins, missing components that may have been knocked off (the legs will likely still be present)

Also any areas where traces look darker, that can be a sign of corrosion
 
xodaraP said:
Good work, broken traces are common - especially if the board has been stored in a humid/damp area

Sorry that’s my mistake, I should have pointed that out as a general repair tip - give the board a good looking over for bent/bridged pins, missing components that may have been knocked off (the legs will likely still be present)

Also any areas where traces look darker, that can be a sign of corrosion
Click to expand...
One thing I know is a problem with 3/4 of them is bent, corroded or snapped pins on the ppu and ccus. Some from damp I imagine. I'm going to try other boards first before even considering these.
 
I have a couple like that I use as parts boards. Those chips are completely custom so there are no replacements - they’re great as donors for SIMM slots and any ICs that aren’t damaged
 
1000019024.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top