Rick Dangerous Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 I was testing some Jaguar CD games out today and noticed a funky smell coming from the area of my Jaguar (M serial, with CD unit.) It was the smell of like a mouse thats been left in a closet for weeks/months and is decomposing. I looked under the media stand, behind the jaguar, and unhooked the jaguar to check out the back. Nothing. But the smell was certainly coming from it and nowhere else. I don't think it's actually a dead animal, i think maybe it's cap chemicals or some sort of combination of things happening involving electricity/metal/caps combining to smell foul. I will admit i was running the Jaguar CD for the first time in a while. The funny thing is; i've smelled it 2-3 times over the years but just though it was too bizarre to mention. There is never any smoke or problems with the unit; just this foul odor. Has ANYONE encountered this or do i just happen to have the lone stinky Jag? And no it's not the typical plastic fumes..... 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 Working with computers I know small rodents can leave "debris" in the most unlikely places. Also, pets marking territory. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilco Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 Mine has the same issue, no matter how much trash or unwashed clothes I leave hanging around, my house just keeps smelling like jaguar. 2 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Dangerous Posted January 29, 2021 Author Share Posted January 29, 2021 Geez...i better open it up and check. Probably IS a mouse corpse in there from when we were living with my in-laws for a few years prior to building our own place. Wonder if it's in the CD unit or the Jag itself... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zerosquare Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 Nothing unexpected here. Cats tend to catch mice, you know. 2 1 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 I have had consoles in the past (computers mostly though) that smelled like bad fish. That is the smell of leaking caps. Yours however....hmmm. I would open that sucker and check. The rear port being open as it is would be a perfect place for a mouse to sneak in and die. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cubanismo Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 All the threads on here are the best today. Seriously though, having had a mouse problem in our house recently (was a good chance to improve my skills with the caulking gun), even if they just climbed on the thing and peed on it or left some droppings that fell inside the cartridge slot or something (they pee and drop everywhere, and the bits are pretty tiny), it's likely it would still smell pretty terrible when heated up much later. It's a pretty strong odor. Mice can squeeze in some pretty small places, but into an assembled Jaguar or Jag CD seems pretty unlikely. Probably still worth opening up and cleaning though. Hopefully just wiping it all down real well with some isopropyl will cure it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 OMG - this is the relief from work I have needed. If it is a dead mouse in there, please post a picture for us! I've heard all the talk of Jaguar and the fumes it gives off causing such strange behaviour, but just put it down to internet lore 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilco Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 4 minutes ago, Stephen said: I've heard all the talk of Jaguar and the fumes it gives off causing such strange behaviour, but just put it down to internet lore Try searching this forum by locked, I doubt it’s just some internet lore 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 A rightful Stink-O-Rama 2Bshur. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 20 minutes ago, WilcoL said: Try searching this forum by locked, I doubt it’s just some internet lore Oh yeah - I've been a Jag owner since 1995 so none of this is new to me! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Dangerous Posted January 30, 2021 Author Share Posted January 30, 2021 2 hours ago, eightbit said: I have had consoles in the past (computers mostly though) that smelled like bad fish. That is the smell of leaking caps. Yours however....hmmm. I would open that sucker and check. The rear port being open as it is would be a perfect place for a mouse to sneak in and die. I think there is a better than 50% chance that it's this: bad or leaking caps. I'll do a quick teardown this weekend to take a look see and report back! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 If it is a dead mouse, take pics. When we ran video game stores, we had people bring in the nastiest systems. One time someone put a SNES down on the counter and hundreds of baby cockroaches came running out. It was disgusting. We kept garbage bags right by counter and would immediately bag up dirty systems and remove them from the store. Crazy times. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zerosquare Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 (edited) Just as a reminder: some of @CyranoJ's ST ports include mouse support, but dead ones won't work. Edited January 30, 2021 by Zerosquare 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.Cade Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 (edited) Fishy smell = bad caps in late stage of problems. Piss = cats. Always cats. I've had them piss in electronics before for unknown reasons. Some say they are trying to send you a message that they are sick or unhappy when they do it. Edited January 30, 2021 by R.Cade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bratwurst Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 17 hours ago, Zerosquare said: Nothing unexpected here. Cats tend to catch mice, you know. This may be one of the best comments I've ever seen on Atari Age. Though seriously I can't imagine a way for an animal like a mouse to get into the Jaguar. Small insects would be more likely but they wouldn't smell that strong. The leaked electrolytic of failing capacitors tends to have a fishy odor when warmed up, you'll have to open the system and take a look inside to see what's going on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zerosquare Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 While you're right about the smell of leaky capacitors, I don't recall seeing any or hearing about them being an issue in Jaguars, unlike some other consoles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorclu Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 21 hours ago, Bratwurst said: This may be one of the best comments I've ever seen on Atari Age. Though seriously I can't imagine a way for an animal like a mouse to get into the Jaguar. Small insects would be more likely but they wouldn't smell that strong. The leaked electrolytic of failing capacitors tends to have a fishy odor when warmed up, you'll have to open the system and take a look inside to see what's going on. Kinda what I was thinking about the lack of space inside a Jag CD unit. Anyway, so Rick, curious how this went and what you found. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Dangerous Posted January 31, 2021 Author Share Posted January 31, 2021 Well I wish i could report back with pictures of a dead raccoon stuffed inside my Jaguar case or something equally hilarious; but sadly it was empty. It also only smells when powered on. Must be a case of failing caps. I'm going to need to order a set; may as well do the console and CD unit together while i'm at it! https://console5.com/store/console-cap-kits/atari/jaguar.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirlynxalot Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 Thanks for the update. I was thinking about this thread over the last few days and periodically checking to see if you posted a picture of something gnarly. Are any of the caps visibly leaking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Dangerous Posted February 1, 2021 Author Share Posted February 1, 2021 No dead animal, no leaking caps, but the smell is unmistakable. Pulling it from service to have the caps replaced.... I've actually never opened up a Jag before; was pretty cool to see the motherboard live and in person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zerosquare Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 There's a piece of cardboard under the PCB. Have you looked to check there's not something nasty here? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbennett0321 Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 Perhaps it has a 'Skunk Board'. ? 1 2 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cubanismo Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 This is by far the best thread on this forum in a long time. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Dangerous Posted February 3, 2021 Author Share Posted February 3, 2021 I wanted to be very sure that some rodent wasn't enjoying it's eternal reward in my Jaguar case; so i did a full breakdown. Nothing underneath.. So be it fish, a dead mouse, etc., this smell IS from failing caps. Fair warning lest your Jaguar begin to reek one day. My alternate theory is that the Jag is so powerful that it achieved AI consciousness and produced some sort of primordial goo; like the computer in Pi....but probably the first thing. I think we can consider this one case closed. Sorry to be so alarmist but that's what it smelled like! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.