r/TurboGrafx 3d ago

Weird snell

Hey y'all! Just got a core grafx in the mail and everything is amazing with it.... Except it has that old electronics PCB smell. And it's very strong. I checked the board and washed it with alcohol. No caps are leaking or bad. It has no jailbars. Besides the smell it's perfect. Is there a way to get rid of the smell or is it doomed? Some of my childhood consoles I pulled out of storage have the same smell... A kinda sour smell with a little bite. It's not pee or anything it's the board itself I think. Any advice or knowledge on this would be greatly appreciated.

2 Upvotes

3

u/Titanmode1407 3d ago

I would replace the caps anyways. NEC boards are usually coated in lots of flux. It might be this? Or maybe the 7805 needs to be swapped out?

3

u/jetsonian 3d ago

It’s this. Every NEC console I’ve worked on has been bathed in flux. Submerge the PCB in high concentration alcohol and let it sit for a while and then scrub it with a dish brush or similar.

1

u/Gambit-47 3d ago

Leave it open for a while let it air out also baking soda like for the fridge help

2

u/Hellblaz3r 3d ago

Do you know what the smell is by chance? It's kinda rare that I receive something that smells like this but has happened with like large lots of NES systems and stuff. Is it the internals breaking down?

1

u/Severe-Fudge-1775 3d ago

A couple of things come to mind- possibly depending on where they were stored an animal could have done something. Do you know if anyone smoked near the consoles or your home? Have a friend who lived in a home owned by a smoker before him, stunk a lot of his belongings.

1

u/Pure-Ad-6447 3d ago

Glad I’m not the only one! I bought a CoreGrafx a few months ago, and when I switch it on it stinks of fish! I will take it apart and give it a good clean at some point.

2

u/duplicitea 2d ago

Fish smell = leaking capacitors

The unit needs to be recapped. If left unaddressed, the electrolytic could damaged the PCB. And if the caps are leaking, eventually they will fail.