GDEmu overheating issue

[Dreamcatcher]

I have a Dreamcast VA1 NTSC with a GDEmu (recently made clone) and haven't done any mods like the resistor mod or swapping out the power supply with a modern replacement. I couldn't find anything online or elsewhere with a definitive suggestion on whether NTSC VA1 actually experienced overheating issues with a GDEMU, and only evidence it was an issue confined to the PAL version. However, I am experiencing overheating on my unit, which will freeze whatever it is doing, sometimes with a rainbow smear on the screen. I've heard conflicting things about the power supply replacements, with many people saying the stock PSU is better quality than the replacements. I also have not found any definitive info on the resistor mod, and have found some people saying the overheating comes from the airflow issues introduced by removing the GD-rom unit. However I have tried both to put in the 3d printed SD card tray and taking it out with the lid open and the overheating still occurs after some time. Any solid advice on how I should proceed here?

[onlycodered]

From what I understand, the 12v rail on the power supply gets very hot since there's nothing utilizing 12v anymore. I've always had resistors on my 12v rail to act as a dummy load and I've never had issues with overheating.

Here's the guide I followed. You can solder them to the GDEMU or you can just stick them into the 12v and ground pins on the power supply/motherboard connector.

https://delta-island.com/index.php/en/t ... supply-mod

[Xerxes3rd]

This is my solution:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4742830

I modified the shroud to have a cutout for an additional fan, then added a 12V fan. This adds some load to the 12V line and adds additional cooling.

[Dreamcatcher]

Hi thank you so much for your comments on what solution you are trying. I'm presuming both of these solutions are working for you all, so coming to the conclusion that I DO INDEED need some replacement load for the 12v rail, either through a dummy resistor load or an extra fan. I will try one of these solutions. Thanks again.

[impersonated-fax]

I am running an NTSC VA1 Dreamcast with a GDEMU and no resistor or other heat mods with no issue. I suspect the issue you're having is actually a poor connection between the PSU and the mainboard. The creator of the GDEMU talks about it here in the Known Issues section: https://gdemu.wordpress.com/details/dreamcast-details/

[Dreamcatcher]

wow, thank you for that info, i will try and investigate that possibility, which seems like it fitting with my symptoms at the moment. It used to be that the games/menu would freeze after some time using it, but now it basically just boots to the dreamcast logo and freezes there. So this might be it.

[Dreamcatcher]

Ok, removing the power supply and cleaning the connectors with alcohol fixed the problem for me! Thank you so much for that insight, it was getting frustrating and my Dreamcast was basically no longer working. With the cleaned connectors it is now working rock solid and I am no longer having those freeze issues. Thank you so much. It turns out the resistor mod stuff may not be a real issue after all.