Dreamcast turns off only while playing game

[Clockwork]

So I decided to take the dreamcast (I have 2 and both are the same) out and play a little gauntlet legends and after playing the game for about 5 minutes it turns off, doesn't reset just shuts down.

Now while waiting for my buddy I had the DC on for over 10 minutes just idling and it was fine. It was just when we played that the DC shuts off.

I went and looked at the pins and they're spotless and bent them to make better contact but still they just shut off after about 5 minutes.

[Maliki]

The pins aren't going to cause a system to shutdown. What do you mean by "invent them"?

Does the fan run? It could be an overheating issue if it idles fine longer then it does playing a game. This may come off as a generic response, but it's very legitimate

Really it could be a number of things. Hard to judge without it in person, but the best thing you can do now is start the narrowing down process to see where the issue could be.

[Clockwork]

Not invent I meant bent the pins.

I don't know if the fan is running as I don't remember, but both will do the same whether I let them idle or if it sits and cools down and I start playing the game. No matter what I do (let it idle or play immediately) it will completely shut off after a few minutes into the game.

I will check the fan on them both a little later.

[Maliki]

Yeah I said "If it idles fine longer then it does playing a game"

Fine meaning not shutting down, running a game seems to make it not run fine faster then idling

You might be able to hear when it comes on if you put your ear close.

Other ways to check the fan, be it wetting your finger to feel any breeze or putting a camera phone up to it and recording video (to listen for the airflow noise), maybe even better shine a flash light in there.

[Clockwork]

Yeah I said "If it idles fine longer then it does playing a game"

Fine meaning not shutting down, running a game seems to make it not run fine faster then idling

You might be able to hear when it comes on if you put your ear close.

Other ways to check the fan, be it wetting your finger to feel any breeze or putting a camera phone up to it and recording video (to listen for the airflow noise), maybe even better shine a flash light in there.

Yeah I'll have to check it out later a little more in depth and see if the fan runs at all. I did notice that the DC's were particularly quiet last night while playing.

[Clockwork]

*UPDATE*

Alright Maliki and everyone else. I tried one of the dreamcasts that turn off to test the fan but this time I wanted to try the system on my CRT TV in my room and now it works and doesn't shut off at all.

Is this a TV thing where it doesn't like my LCD TV because that's the only thing that has changed now.

Update 2

Spoke too soon. Was working good on CRT so I moved to big screen and it just started turning off and on etc after the startup logo. Checked the connections and they're all fine and tight. So I'm thinking the DC might be dead or something.

so I would say it's the power supply that's bad.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Maliki]

TV would never cause the system to shut down.

So the fan is working?

It could very well be something on the power supply. Someone recently was posting some aftermarket replacement PSU's that are super slim. Maybe check one of those out?

EDIT: Found it

http://www.dreamcast-talk.com/forum/vie ... 44#p102005

[Clockwork]

TV would never cause the system to shut down.

So the fan is working?

It could very well be something on the power supply. Someone recently was posting some aftermarket replacement PSU's that are super slim. Maybe check one of those out?

EDIT: Found it

http://www.dreamcast-talk.com/forum/vie ... 44#p102005

Yep the fan was working. And the only reason I said TV was that it was the only difference I made. Just a weird observation I saw.

I will check the link out.

[Bob Dobbs]

Ok, others and myself had this problem over the years and found a weird fix. I unplugged and opened up the DC, removed the power supply, cleaned, bent the long pins, bent the contacts, put the power supply back in and tightened the screws. I also tightened the screws at the AV connector in the back being I had another problem that related to that as well.

Dealing with Power Supply:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOzyKXkMNNg

Dealing with Power Supply - Even More Detailed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCKbqvbdXNg

[Maliki]

Ahhhh, so that is why he bent the pins.