NES produces weak, garbled sound

[kamiboy]

I got two NES consoles. One of them is putting out pretty abysmal sound quality.

Everyone knows half the joy of that console lies in the soundtracks so I want to fix this if I can.

Anyone know if there is a particular component on the mothet board that might be the culprit?

I've taken apart the system and nothing shows any visible damage. We are talking about a NTSC toaster type model.

[cookie monster]

Have you checked the av/ rf on the other nes to rule that out as a problem?

[kamiboy]

That goes without saying. The problem is with that particular NES unit. Using the same game, power adapter and cables its sound quality is very poor in comparison.

I dont know much about electronics, but going on whim I suspect the problem may be with that giant cylendrical component sticking out of the rectangular box on the mother board from which both the RF and AV ouputs stick out.

Anyone?

[Duke.Togo]

The item you are describing is a capacitor, and these do "wear out" over time and could possibly produce the problems you describe. I'd recommend posting your question over at Nintendo Age so those with more in depth knowledge can reply, but you could also check with ApolloBoy and see what he would charge to replace the caps in your system.

[kamiboy]

I posted a thread there. Paying someone to repair it is out of the question. The shipping costs alone will surpass the cost of me buying a third unit locally.

If I knew which capacitor is failing I could just pull it out, buy a replacement on ebay for next to nothing and replace it myself.

[Tildius Maximus]

it should say on the capacitor what it is, but yeah, those are pretty easy to replace yourself if you have a soldering iron.

[kamiboy]

I sent the schematics to my pappy and he identified which capacitor is most likely at fault. A replacement is on its way to me. If it works out I'll post a picture of which one to change.

Alas if that does not work out then so be it as I've already bought a replacement unit locally for tenner, and that one works beautifully.

[ApolloBoy]

What does the audio sound like? If it's got some electrical humming in the audio, then it is definitely the big filter capacitor.

[kamiboy]

According to my handy technician pappy if the big one was at fault then my picture would be affected as well, which it is not.

[ApolloBoy]

According to my handy technician pappy if the big one was at fault then my picture would be affected as well, which it is not.

Try checking the caps inside the RF/AV box, those can go bad as well. I know this might sound crazy but try smelling inside the RF/AV box. If there's a fishy smell coming from it you need to replace those caps.