Dreamcast Hardware Defection?

[mingcourt]

I'm on my 2nd Dreamcast... the first one, i got from HK. (maybe it was PAL or something, not sure and not sure if it was related)

Anyway, after a couple months maybe even a year of playing... the Dreamcast started to break down.
Everytime I boot up, I'd be lucky if the Dreamcast didnt restart. It went to the point where ONCE i start it up, it'd restart... going straight to the blue screen before starting up again.

Then, I bought another one (shoulda saved up for an xbox instead or something)
This one was prob a retail from North America... so it'd probably be a NSTC? Im not sure about that kinda stuff... just my guess

It has been a year or two, and it's still working well. But, lately... I've been getting a reboot here and there once in a while. I'm a little concerned...

Did this happen to anyone else's Dreamcast? Is it cause I'm playing burnt games?

Thanks

[nsd]

My cousin had one from 2001 up untill last year and he never experienced anything like that.

[x-batman]

Ya had mine since it came out also, no problems whatsoever

[plymouthhater]

My kids experienced a different kind of failure with theirs - the game would lock up ie stall in the middle of playing a game. I took it apart and found that the two stainless (chrome?) rails that the laser mechanism rides on were lacking lubrication and the laser was sticking and not travelling easily up and down the rails as required. I lubricated the rails (white lithium grease) and the laser now travels easily and the game no longer crashes or stalls.

I guess another prudent piece of advice, check for dust in the unit and make sure that the fan spins freely.

[mingcourt]

My kids experienced a different kind of failure with theirs - the game would lock up ie stall in the middle of playing a game. I took it apart and found that the two stainless (chrome?) rails that the laser mechanism rides on were lacking lubrication and the laser was sticking and not travelling easily up and down the rails as required. I lubricated the rails (white lithium grease) and the laser now travels easily and the game no longer crashes or stalls.

I guess another prudent piece of advice, check for dust in the unit and make sure that the fan spins freely.

Thanks, that happened to me once in a while also. I'll check it out if it ever happens again.

[Daboss]

This is a common problem in a lot of Dreamcast systems regardless of build date.

The resetting problem is usually caused by excess heat not being disipated quickly enough, or direty terminals on several of the electronic components.

Here is a tutorial on how how to fix the resetting for one type of situation:

http://www.consolevision.com/members/fackue/tut_resetfix.shtml

I have tried this fix on several DCs and it worked well. Another one however kept restting due to excess heat. I actually did a little retro-fitting and stuck a CPU fan on the back and spliced into the power supple. Worked like a charm.

[cliff]

one other note, make sure it's on a hard surface, as carpet or blankets will cause it to heat up.