Recap guide

Recap the Pioneer LaserActive (CLD-A100 and its PAC modules)

Console5 lists capacitors for the CLD-A100 player (power supply, control, RGB, servo, interface and video boards) and for the PAC-N10, PAC-K1 and PAC-S10 modules, with cap maps for most of them. That is several hundred capacitors across a lot of boards, so plan it as a long project and do one board at a time.

Open the interactive checklist Tick off each capacitor as you replace it. It saves in your browser.

Worth a recap. Reports say it is a common and useful fix on this machine.

Where to start

We did not find a clear list of what fails first on this machine, so we are not guessing. Read the guides below, check the board for leaks, and replace what you can see.

Before you start

• The power supply has a 180 V capacitor. Discharge it before you work there.
• After recapping a PAC-S10, check the resistance between 5 V and ground. A reading under 10 ohms is a dead short and can blow a protector in the player.
• Boards changed during production. Check your board number against the guides before you order parts.

Pioneer CLD-A100 power supply SYPS ASSY (DWR1156)

Thirteen capacitors. C006 is the 180 V primary cap. Console5 says 390 uF is also seen there, because the value is not critical. Discharge it before you touch anything.

Pioneer CLD-A100 jack board JACB

One capacitor.

Pioneer CLD-A100 pickup board CAMB

Two capacitors.

Pioneer CLD-A100 front panel MAIN ASSY

One capacitor. Console5 lists it in the CLD-A100 kit.

Pioneer CLD-A100 control board CONT (DNX1845-C, DWG1367-A)

Thirty-four capacitors, a mix of polarized and bipolar parts. Check the BP marks before you order.

Pioneer CLD-A100 RGB board RGBB (DNP1487-D, DWM1346-A)

Twenty-one capacitors. Console5 shows a cap map by zaxour and Troy Meredith.

Pioneer CLD-A100 servo board FTSB (DWS1191-A, DNP1452-C)

Thirty-two capacitors, with a cap map by zaxour and Troy Meredith. Eight of them are bipolar.

Pioneer CLD-A100 interface board INTF (DNP1455-C)

Thirty-two capacitors. This is the board the PAC modules plug into. Cap map by zaxour and Troy Meredith.

Pioneer CLD-A100 video board VIDEO (DWV1132-A, DNX1843-C)

The biggest board in the player, with eighty capacitors on both sides. Console5 shows a cap map for the top side and one for the bottom, by zaxour and Troy Meredith.

NEC PAC-N10 board PWD-3338 (PWA-3338)

Forty-two capacitors, almost all 10 to 100 uF at 6 or 16 V. The PAC-N10 plays HuCards, CD and Super CD games and the LD-ROM2 discs.

Pioneer PAC-K1 karaoke pack DSPB board (DWG1370-A)

Twenty-three capacitors. Console5 marks six of them non-polar. Cap map credited to Yoyobzh.

Pioneer PAC-K1 karaoke pack CNNB board (DNP1496-C, DWG1372-A)

Four capacitors.

Pioneer PAC-K1 karaoke pack MIJB board (DWK1040-A, DNX1849-D)

Two capacitors.

Sega PAC-S10 SMAIN board

Forty capacitors, nearly all 10 uF at 16 V, and most are decoupling caps between 5 V and ground. After recapping, check the resistance between 5 V and ground. About 2 kilohms that slowly rises is right. Under 10 ohms is a dead short, and it will blow a protector in the CLD-A100 power supply. Console5 also lists C337 as not fitted.

Sega PAC-S10 SSUB board

Forty-one capacitors, almost all 10 uF at 16 V. C119 and C120 are bipolar. C110 moves to the KOSUB board on units that have one.

Sega PAC-S10 KOSUB board

One capacitor. It is fitted at C110 on the SSUB board when there is no KOSUB.

Shopping list

369 capacitors in all, grouped by value. Buy a few spares.

• 105 x 10 µF, 16 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 47 x 100 µF, 10 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 39 x 47 µF, 10 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 25 x 1 µF, 50 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 22 x 100 µF, 6.3 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 17 x 47 µF, 16 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 12 x 22 µF, 6.3 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 12 x 47 µF, 6.3 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 8 x 10 µF, 50 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 8 x 220 µF, 6.3 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 8 x 330 µF, 6.3 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 7 x 4.7 µF, 35 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 7 x 470 µF, 6.3 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 6 x 2.2 µF, 50 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 6 x 22 µF, 50 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 5 x 0.47 µF, 50 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 4 x 4.7 µF, 50 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 4 x 22 µF, 25 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 4 x 22 µF, 16 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 4 x 220 µF, 16 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 4 x 220 µF, 10 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 2 x 22 µF, 10 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 2 x 820 µF, 35 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 2 x 1000 µF, 10 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 1 x 2.2 µF, 35 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 1 x 3.3 µF, 50 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 1 x 33 µF, 16 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 1 x 330 µF, 16 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 1 x 470 µF, 180 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 1 x 470 µF, 10 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 1 x 680 µF, 10 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 1 x 1200 µF, 6.3 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 1 x 3300 µF, 10 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay

Skip the sourcing

• Ready-made kit: Amazon · eBay
• Already recapped: Amazon · eBay

While you are in there

• Need the machine itself?: Amazon · eBay
• A box of spare capacitors: Amazon · eBay

Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. These links only search by name. Disclosure

Step by step

1. Photograph both sides of the board before you touch anything. Zoom in on every capacitor. The photo is your map when you are three hours in.
2. Unplug it, take out the batteries and let it sit. Old power supplies and CRT parts can hold a charge. If your machine has a tube, leave the tube and its board to a professional.
3. Open it up and keep the screws sorted. A muffin tin or an egg carton works. Different screws go in different holes, and the holes never forgive you.
4. Look for leaks. Clean any sticky residue off with isopropyl alcohol and a soft brush. A leaked capacitor leaves brown crust and can eat copper traces. Look at the traces under it, not only the part itself.
5. Mark the polarity of every capacitor on the photo before it comes off. On an electrolytic, the stripe marks the negative leg. The board usually shows a half-shaded circle or a bar for the same spot.
6. Remove the old capacitors one at a time. Surface mount: add fresh solder to both ends and rock the part off, or use flux and a low-melt alloy. Through-hole: heat one leg at a time and clear the hole with wick or a pump.
7. Clean the pads and check for lifted pads or damaged traces. Clean flux off with isopropyl. A bad pad needs a jumper wire, not hope.
8. Fit and solder the new capacitor, matching polarity. Same capacity, same or higher voltage, and it has to physically fit. Work from the smallest parts up.
9. Clean the flux off and look at every joint. A good joint is shiny and shaped like a tiny volcano. A dull blob or a ball is a cold joint: reflow it.
10. With a multimeter, check for shorts across the power rails before you power it on. Use the continuity or resistance setting. A reading near zero means stop and look for a solder bridge.
11. Power it up and test everything: video, sound, controls, the lot. If something is wrong, check polarity first. It is the most common mistake and the easiest fix.

Tools

• Temperature-controlled soldering station. Steady heat so you do not cook pads. Most recaps are done between 320 and 350 C. Top: Hakko FX-951 · Mid: Hakko FX-888D · Budget: Pinecil
• Good solder. Rosin-core 63/37 flows and looks right. It is cheap and it matters. Kester 44 63/37
• Flux. Flux is what makes old joints let go and new joints flow. MG Chemicals flux pen · Chip Quik flux syringe
• Low-melt alloy (for surface mount). Melts old solder on both ends of a surface mount part at once, so it lifts off cleanly. Chip Quik SMD1
• Desoldering tool. Clears the old solder out of through-hole pads. Top: Hakko FR-301 · Mid: Engineer SS-02 pump · Budget: Solder wick
• Fine tweezers. For holding small surface mount parts exactly where you want them. ESD-safe tweezers
• Board holder. A third hand for the board, so both of yours are free. PanaVise circuit board holder
• Magnification. You cannot fix what you cannot see. Surface mount parts are tiny. Top: Stereo microscope · Mid: Head visor · Budget: Lighted magnifier
• Multimeter. Continuity, shorts and rail voltages. The one test that saves boards. Top: Fluke 117 · Mid: Fluke 101 · Budget: AstroAI
• ESR and capacitor tester. Checks old capacitors and your new ones before they go in. Top: Peak Atlas ESR70 · Budget: LCR-T7
• Isopropyl alcohol (99%) and a brush. For cleaning leaked goo and flux. Use the high-percentage kind. MG Chemicals 99.9% isopropyl
• Brass tip cleaner. A clean tip transfers heat. A dirty one does not. Hakko 599B
• Fume extractor. Pulls the smoke away from your face. Hakko FA-400 · Budget: Small bench fan
• Precision screwdrivers. Most old gear uses a mix of Phillips, Torx and security bits. iFixit Pro Tech Toolkit
• Kapton tape. Heat-proof tape to protect parts that sit close to the one you are changing. Kapton tape

Safety

• Good airflow, or a fume fan. Solder smoke is not for breathing.
• Safety glasses on. Solder spits and clipped legs fly.
• Iron in its stand when you are not holding it. Know where the cord is.
• Touch bare metal first, or use a wrist strap. Static kills old chips.
• No tube, no mains power supply. Leave those to a professional.
• Wash your hands after, especially if you used leaded solder.

Values are shown as published in the guides above, and boards changed during production. Check the board in front of you. A recap involves hot tools and, on some machines, dangerous voltages. You do it at your own risk.

More

• All recap guides
• The interactive Recap Bench
• Fix a dead vintage computer
• Pioneer LaserActive on the timeline