I have a Puzzle Bobble 2 with a cracked board, can it be repaired?

[NewNeoOwner]

Onto problem number 2. This one came from Ebay. It had no label and was in a clear shell. From the pics it appeared legit so I bid and won it for a mere $50. I was told it was working...

The game loads and plays well enough, the sound/music does not. It can be heard VERY faintly in the background. After I opened it to look around I discovered the crack. You can see some traces are broken.

Now I'm not inexperienced with soldering, but I don't have the best iron for doing intricate work. What would be the best way to go about saving this game? It's not an easy one to replace. The seller did offer a partial refund depending on what I decided to do with it. I just needed to wait until I could start a new topic to ask for advice.

 

[BIG BEAR]

If the problem is only what you describe,you just need a replacement progbk1 board. Examine the chips and make sure you don't see any bulging or burn markings in the center of them.
BB

 

[aha2940]

Do as BB said and replace the whole board (after making sure there are no other problems). BK1 board is a fairly common one, many games use it:

Aero Fighters 3
Art of Fighting 3: Path of the Warrior
Bang Bead
Blazing Star
Breakers
Breakers Revenge
Bust-A-Move Again "EX" / Puzzle Bobble 2
Captain Tomaday
Chibi Marukochan Deluxe Quiz
Fatal Fury 3
Flip Shot
Ganryu / Musashi Ganryuki
Goal! Goal! Goal!
Irritating Maze, The
Kabuki Klash
King of Fighters '95
King of Fighters '96
King of Fighters '97
Last Blade
Last Blade 2
Magical Drop 2
Magical Drop 3
Metal Slug
Metal Slug 2
Money Puzzle Exchanger
Neo Bomberman
Neo Driftout
Neo Geo Cup '98
Neo Mr. Do!
Neo Turf Masters / Big Tournament Golf
Nightmare in the Dark
Ninja Master's
Over Top
Pleasure Goal 5-on-5 Street Soccer / Futsal
Prehistoric Isle 2
Pulstar
Ragnagard
Real Bout Fatal Fury
Real Bout Fatal Fury Special
Real Bout Fatal Fury 2
Samurai Shodown 3: Blades of Blood
Samurai Shodown 4: Amakusa's Revenge
Sengoku 3
Shock Troopers
Shock Troopers 2nd Squad
Stakes Winner
Stakes Winner 2
Strikers 1945 Plus
Super Dodge Ball
Super Sidekicks 4: The Ultimate 11
Tecmo World Soccer '96
Twinkle Star Sprites
Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer
Waku Waku 7
Zupapa!

Regards.

 

[NewNeoOwner]

Oh really? Huh, never thought it could be that easy. So only the other board has all the game-specific stuff?

I have a few of those games so I can swap as a test then report back. Maybe not with the better ones on that list, I had to get lucky for a few of the shmups. Thanks guys.

 

[mikejmoffitt]

There's no need to replace the board. This can be repaired, it's a very clean break.

 

[aha2940]

Oh really? Huh, never thought it could be that easy. So only the other board has all the game-specific stuff?

I have a few of those games so I can swap as a test then report back. Maybe not with the better ones on that list, I had to get lucky for a few of the shmups. Thanks guys.

Oh no, sorry for the misunderstanding. While the BK1 board is common to all the games I mentioned, each one has game-specific chips. However, itś possible to remove the game-specific chips and put the puzzle bobble chips to any BK1 board.

Regards.

 

[shadowkn55]

I'd rather hunt down a bootleg that had a bk1 board instead of getting a donor board from working legit. Plenty of puzzle bobble boots out there.

 

[NewNeoOwner]

Oh no, sorry for the misunderstanding. While the BK1 board is common to all the games I mentioned, each one has game-specific chips. However, itś possible to remove the game-specific chips and put the puzzle bobble chips to any BK1 board.

Regards.

Oh, ha. I knew it couldn't be THAT easy. In that case I'd rather not go cutting up the working games.

I'd rather hunt down a bootleg that had a bk1 board instead of getting a donor board from working legit. Plenty of puzzle bobble boots out there.

PB1 or PB2? Because I think my PB1 is a boot. Only cost $15 so I don't care on that one.

 

[xsq]

PB1 or PB2? Because I think my PB1 is a boot. Only cost $15 so I don't care on that one.

Depends on what board is used for the boot. If the one of your bootleg PB1 looks like the broken one of the PB2 it would be no problem. Many boots use "custom" boards though, so you might need to find a bootleg that uses legit boards but fake chips (EPROMs). You can post a picture of your PB1 boot boars if you want...,

//EDIT: looking at the picture of your broken board I concur with mikejmoffitt - you should be able to jumper the broken traces with wire, so you wouldn't need to sacrifice another cart.

 

[NewNeoOwner]

I'll check after work today, I'd like to be able to swap boards just to ensure the second board is good. Being that it boots and plays fine I'm thinking it is. After that I'll see what the options are. I've never swapped chips before. My iron only has 2 heat settings which makes me nervous, it's good for attaching wires but maybe not components. Secondly while using jumper wires was my original plan to fix this on my own it would certainly be the messy option. 2 of the fine folks here have offered help.

 

[mikejmoffitt]

I'll check after work today, I'd like to be able to swap boards just to ensure the second board is good. Being that it boots and plays fine I'm thinking it is. After that I'll see what the options are. I've never swapped chips before. My iron only has 2 heat settings which makes me nervous, it's good for attaching wires but maybe not components. Secondly while using jumper wires was my original plan to fix this on my own it would certainly be the messy option. 2 of the fine folks here have offered help.

The only correct way to do this is with a de-soldering iron and a steady hand. It will take a long time, and if you aren't experienced with it there's a good chance of damaging both boards. You can do it with a standard iron and wick but it will be irritating and slow and less likely to turn out well.

 

[xsq]

Yes. If you don't have a desoldering iron, I'd suggest going the "messy" road of jumpering the connections. Or send it to one of the tech gurus on here

 

[GadgetUK]

Personally I would fix damaged traces with wires, use some epoxy glue on left side of the board there and stick some thin plastic on both sides (at the edge on left) of the board to strengthen it. Easier than messing around swapping chips to a doner board.

 

[NewNeoOwner]

The only correct way to do this is with a de-soldering iron and a steady hand. It will take a long time, and if you aren't experienced with it there's a good chance of damaging both boards. You can do it with a standard iron and wick but it will be irritating and slow and less likely to turn out well.

I'd have one if I did more of this kind of work. This is the first time I've run into something like this. If it were a cheap game then yeah I could practice on it. Seeing how much it goes for makes me want to take the safer path.

Yes. If you don't have a desoldering iron, I'd suggest going the "messy" road of jumpering the connections. Or send it to one of the tech gurus on here

I thought about it a bit and may have someone do the swap repair. The crack travels a couple inches down the board so I'd have to test them all and right now there are definitely several broken connections.

Personally I would fix damaged traces with wires, use some epoxy glue on left side of the board there and stick some thin plastic on both sides (at the edge on left) of the board to strengthen it. Easier than messing around swapping chips to a doner board.

That could work if I was determined to solve it myself. I'm not sure how many chips need to be swapped but as I said above we're talking 8+ wires, not one or two The potential for shorts, new breaks, or anything going wrong is high. Any more damage and I'll be out even more money.

 

[mikejmoffitt]

Maybe I phrased this in an unclear way - I am advocating against doing a board swap because it's non-trivial and has a higher risk than trying to repair the traces with wires. Even if you 100% screw up fixing them with wires, you still leave yourself open to doing a chip swap, but not the other way around.

Don't have someone do the swap repair, have someone do the trace repair, and only swap if the traces can't be fixed (which they can). 8 wires is nothing. The potential for shorts lies in how competent someone is at the job, and these traces aren't hard traces.

 

[HeavyMachineGoob]

I vote for swapping boards, mostly because a lot of MVS slots are tough and shoving that cracked PROGBK1 into them can do even more damage.

PROGBK1 features single sided DIP IC sockets, meaning it is extremely easy to desolder chips from. It takes hardly any time to do, even with an iron and simple desoldering pump.

 

[NewNeoOwner]

I've got people voting for both sides now. I don't know what's best.

For the fella that wanted pics of my boot PB, here ya go.

 

[skate323k137]

If it were me I'd have someone swap the roms to a donor board.

 

[Tyranix95]

Find another BK1 board. And swap the roms.

Check with saddow for a BK1. He's always finding PB boots.

If you can't do the rom swap yourself, then find someone who can.

 

[jesesfbi]

You can also use a progtop with some rewiring

 

[xsq]

For the fella that wanted pics of my boot PB, here ya go.

Thanks for posting those pics. Sadly those are not the boards you need, but don't throw them out, they're genuine SNK (sans the EPROMS of course).

If you can find someone to do the swap for you, that's a good road to take. Just checked the current prices for PB2, yeah, it's worth it. If you can't find help, I'd go the wire method, you can't do too much harm.

 

[NewNeoOwner]

Oh I like PB so I wasn't throwing anything out, lol.

Does Big Bear come highly recommended? I see he has a substantial feedback score. He's offered to do the swap and I'm thinking that's the best plan. The game is in a clear shell so the wires would be obvious, and Heavy had a very good point regarding future use of the cart and possibly breaking it further due to the snug fit. If you look at the edge of my cart there's an ever so slight bow to the broken connector. For all I know repeated use might damage my system.

I know. I got a great price on this game that was almost too good.

 

[xsq]

Big Bear is cool.

 

[NewNeoOwner]

Thanks to BB the game is back in my hands and working good as new.

*So I'm trying to leave feedback but it's not working. Suggestions?

 

[Tyranix95]

just use one of his FS threads.