3DO FZ-1 Sound Issue (Capacitor?) [SOLVED]

[Ghudda]

Just wanted to check if anyone on the board has some experience with diagnosing 3DO issues, specifically the FZ-1 model. I was just playing Slayer today and was noticing the audio started crackling and dimming after about 20 minutes of game play. The audio does sound normal (as far as I can tell) for the first 10-20 minutes, though. Capacitor is the first thing that comes to mind, and I hear the capacitors specifically on the power board are often the first to fail, so I'll poke around there later when I get home and see what I can find. I just wanted to check and see if anyone knows of any other common issues that cause A/V issues that I should check for. There aren't a ton of diagrams or guides on 3DO repair, so i'm not entirely sure where to look other than on the power board.

[TEKTORO]

All I can recommend is see if there are tutorial videos on YouTube although the 3DO repairs always scare me cause I love the darn thing. I usually mess with the basics such as testing other games, cables and cleaning to hopefully avoid a repair that way your not jumping in elbows deep to start.

[Ghudda]

All I can recommend is see if there are tutorial videos on YouTube although the 3DO repairs always scare me cause I love the darn thing. I usually mess with the basics such as testing other games, cables and cleaning to hopefully avoid a repair that way your not jumping in elbows deep to start.

Yeah, I've taken a look at a few videos so far, and they all seem to point to capacitor related issues. I cleaned it about a month ago inside and out so i'm not too concerned about it being caused by dirt or dust. The fact that the problem gets worse of a period of time makes me think it's heat or component related. One video pointed to a specific cap on the power board, so I think i'm going to check those first. I could always buy a recap kit off eBay and just go for a full re-cap for the hell of it, but 30 capacitors doesn't sound like too much fun, but I don't think it'd be much worse than the Game Gear which i've done in the past.

[TEKTORO]

Yea see your more technical than me, I'm okay with the cartridge based systems but once you get into the disc based ones I shy away. The 3DO is one of those systems that has a host of issues now a days and being niche it's hard to get the info are the 3DO forums still around there are some experts there from what I can remember but yea I'm not an expert at repair just games really enjoy the research of it.

You sound like you may have an idea, and if you can do the caps right it can't hurt. 3 things I heard of being bigger issues are the lens failure, power supply and your issue sound/video.

[Ghudda]

Yeah, you're certainly on point about the lack of information for these niche consoles, which is really unfortunate. I've been really interested in in depth information about the development and life-span of the console and there's just not a WHOLE lot out there . When it comes to mods and repairs, I'm pretty great at following a tutorial, but it looks like I'm just going to have to apply past tutorials to this fix.

AS FOR AN UPDATE, THOUGH! Popped off the top, removed the drive, located a somewhat commonly problematic capacitor, and it looks like theres some green discharge around one of the legs. The capacitor itself just looks faded and not too terribly healthy compared to the other ones.



Also worth noting is the big guy next to it also looks kind of bad (can someone confirm?)


Now, looking at the install instructions for the capacitor replacement kit sold by nintendorepairhut (found here), I do not see a C36 replacement capacitor listed in the charts. From what I can recall, I think this repair kit may actually be for the Goldstar 3DO, so the capacitor labeling may not be the same. Anyone have any thoughts on the capacitor above?

The small capacitor with the discharge on one of the feet is, I believe, a 10uf 16v cap. I have a 10uf 50v capacitor left over from the Game Gear kit. Could I go ahead and replace that capacitor and see if it does the trick?

EDIT EDIT: Looks like the green stuff around the 6800uf cap is most likely glue or some sort of adhesive. From a brief google adventure, I learned that big capacitors are often partially glued in place. I replaced the obvious problematic cap with a 10uf 50v cap and will update my results here shortly.

[Ghudda]

Final update: after replacing that 10uf capacitor, it looks like my problem is solved. I just had an hour session with Slayer and saw zero audio degradation. If anyone stumbles upon this with a similar problem, check the C36 capacitor on the motherboard for any signs of leakage. This YouTube video covered the exact same problem I was having and it turns out the exact same capacitor was being problematic.

[alienjesus]

Final update: after replacing that 10uf capacitor, it looks like my problem is solved. I just had an hour session with Slayer and saw zero audio degradation. If anyone stumbles upon this with a similar problem, check the C36 capacitor on the motherboard for any signs of leakage. This YouTube video covered the exact same problem I was having and it turns out the exact same capacitor was being problematic.

This is really useful as I'm having exactly the same issue with my FZ-1.

Now I just need someone who can solder to help me out

[TEKTORO]

Sweet, we need more 3DO repair guides. I would of kept buying them till I find a good one fortunately over the years I bought about 3 and they all worked.

[Ghudda]

This is really useful as I'm having exactly the same issue with my FZ-1.

Now I just need someone who can solder to help me out

If you choose to try the repair yourself and need more fine details, feel free to PM me. For replacing the capacitor, there are tons of resources on YouTube to get an idea how to do it. I bought a soldering iron and just poked around on an old PCB to a broken DVD player I had laying a round and practiced soldering/desoldering random components on the board. But yeah, anyone with an iron or with experience of soldering should be able to help you out!