Looking for Dreamcast Maintenance help!

[Siris555]

Hello, I was wondering if someone can help me out with fixing a Sega Dreamcast. I was trying to play it 2 days ago, and I live abroad where the electricity runs on 210-220 instead of 110-120. So I have to use stabilizers for all electronic devices brought from the US.

But yesterday without realizing it I accidentally plugged it into the 210-220 outlet, and I was trying to play Sonic Adventure but then it kept restarting itself on the Dreamcast logo, and then it made this weird sound and what was probably smoke started blowing out of the vents.

I quickly killed the power and let it rest for 2 days. I tried it again and the power light is turning on, but there's no image showing up on screen, I also tried plugging it into an HDTV and all it says is no signal.

I've been looking around all over the internet for answers and I haven't had any luck, and this Dreamcast is well... I've had it for a very long time now, its gotten me through a lot rough times in my life, its like an old friend to me and I can't believe I just messed it up in a second like that without thinking.

I'd like to be able to fix this if possible. I mean, sure I could by another one, I've seen some around here surprisingly, but this is special to me. And if I can keep it going as long as it can then I'd like to at least give it a try.

[flojocabron]

sorry to be the bearer of bad news new person.....

but you have fried your DC.

You can save it, but it will require antother dreamcast. You would need to take the part from the new one and putting it in yours. Which is kinda useless since the new one does the same thing. Unless it means that much to you, go ahead. But save yourself some trouble and just use the newer dreamcast.

When Americans have to travel abroad we have to take those converters. Theres lots of stories of Phone chargers, electric shavers, and hair dryers going to crap since they werent connected properly.

You still have your games and accessories. So you havent lost everything.

[Siris555]

Which part though? The power unit or video card?
I mean is it something that can be easily fixed?

[flojocabron]

lets hope its just the power/transformer.

If the surge affected other stuff, then its gonna be worse.

Theres lots of sites with pics,google it. Heres one:

http://www.segatech.com/technical/dcinside/index.html



It could be as simple enough as removing part #2 from that pic and replacing it with another one.

But we dont know the extent of the damage your DC took.

[Ziggy]

You can save it, but it will require antother dreamcast. You would need to take the part from the new one and putting it in yours.

Not necessarily. It's very possible that the blown component(s) are parts that are readily available. If it's just the power supply that's blown, that's made up of all off the shelf parts, I'm pretty sure. Mostly capacitors, maybe a regulator or two, inductors, a transformer, stuff like that. All of which are easy to obtain, as long as you can identify exactly what you need.

Which part though? The power unit or video card?
I mean is it something that can be easily fixed?

My guess would be the power supply. Easy to fix? That's not easy to answer. It depends what exactly blew, and if it's easy to diagnose. Also, your skill level with this sort of thing. My guess is it's not something as simple as a blown fuse, since you saw smoke.

The first step is easy. Open the console up and take a look at the power supply. Look for things that are obviously fried. You said you saw smoke, so hopefully there will be scorch marks on the board around the component that was frying. If nothing appears to be damaged, visually, then you'll have to move on to more advanced methods of diagnosing problems.

If it is just the power supply portion of the console that's fried, and the rest of the console is OK, which is very possible, then depending on your skill level it would probably be easier to just get another DC power supply. I'm sure it's not hard to locate a DC on eBay that's broken. Preferably something that has a bad optical drive but still powers on. You could just rob the power supply from that and transplant it. Easy as pie.

If your skill level is more advanced, you could try and repair your blown power supply. This will require a lot of know how though. You'll need intermediate to advanced soldering skills, and at least general knowledge of the components you'll be working with.

Of course, when you open the console up, don't just look at the power supply board. Take a look at the main board and all the other components to see if anything is visual damaged. I would like to think that the problem is just with the power supply, but I could be wrong.

edit: Part #2 in the above picture is the power supply.

[Siris555]

Well I know someone who might be able to do it for me if its too advanced, but I figure its such an old console he may not have the parts or know how... I guess? I want to collect as much information as I can before I take it to him just in case.

Like, are there any parts of the Dreamcast that can only be found in a Dreamcast? Because from my understanding of video game consoles are that they're pretty much smaller computers, and the parts like the video card, processor etc can be found or bought separately.

And considering the dreamcast uses pretty old tech by today's standards it shouldn't be hard to find the parts here...right? Where I am older tech is more readily available, this is a third world country pretty much and I'm near China so I could find the appropriate parts for cheap.

But is there anything inside that could only be made from a Sega factory back in the day? And what else should I look out for?

And thanks alot, you guys are awesome.

[SamuraiMegas]

Buy another dreamcast, replace broken parts with stuff from new dreamcast. I would think its cheaper.

[elmagicochrisg]

Hello, I was wondering if someone can help me out with fixing a Sega Dreamcast. I was trying to play it 2 days ago, and I live abroad where the electricity runs on 210-220 instead of 110-120. So I have to use stabilizers for all electronic devices brought from the US.

But yesterday without realizing it I accidentally plugged it into the 210-220 outlet, and I was trying to play Sonic Adventure but then it kept restarting itself on the Dreamcast logo, and then it made this weird sound and what was probably smoke started blowing out of the vents.

I quickly killed the power and let it rest for 2 days. I tried it again and the power light is turning on, but there's no image showing up on screen, I also tried plugging it into an HDTV and all it says is no signal.

I've been looking around all over the internet for answers and I haven't had any luck, and this Dreamcast is well... I've had it for a very long time now, its gotten me through a lot rough times in my life, its like an old friend to me and I can't believe I just messed it up in a second like that without thinking.

I'd like to be able to fix this if possible. I mean, sure I could by another one, I've seen some around here surprisingly, but this is special to me. And if I can keep it going as long as it can then I'd like to at least give it a try.

It's an easy fix.

Look inside. On the power board there are a few -I think 3- very big capacitors. Look at those caps. You'll see 3 or 4 seams in the top of each capacitor. They are probably a bit open now. That's where the smoke came from. Smell them and you'll know I'm right... lol

Buy some new ones with the same specs. You'll see a voltage and a number with uF on it. Those are the specs you need. Desolder the old capacitors, solder in the new ones. Presto...

Oh, make sure you don't reverse polarity on the capacitors when you replace them. You can recognize the negative pole very easily. There's a bar on the side of each capacitor with small minus signs on it. Thats the negative side. Child's play...

Also, if the power light goes on, that means the fuse is still intact. So AFAIK the main board should be fine. Your DC just had a little stroke... ^^

This is you, and what you did to your Dreamcast. Rambo is your Dreamcast.

[Siris555]

Look inside. On the power board there are a few -I think 3- very big capacitors. Look at those caps. You'll see 3 or 4 seams in the top of each capacitor. They are probably a bit open now. That's where the smoke came from. Smell them and you'll know I'm right... lol

Buy some new ones with the same specs. You'll see a voltage and a number with uF on it. Those are the specs you need. Desolder the old capacitors, solder in the new ones. Presto...

Oh, make sure you don't reverse polarity on the capacitors when you replace them. You can recognize the negative pole very easily. There's a bar on the side of each capacitor with small minus signs on it. Thats the negative side. Child's play...

Also, if the power light goes on, that means the fuse is still intact. So AFAIK the main board should be fine. Your DC just had a little stroke... ^^

This is you, and what you did to your Dreamcast. Rambo is your Dreamcast.

Uh... I'm not sure if that's assuring or not...but I'll take it for what it is...
I'll open it up in the morning and see myself. I really hope that its this and nothing else.
How much does a capacitor cost roughly...? I've never had to buy so I really have no clue.

[s8n]

hi Siris , the responses in this Thread are really great i would feel secure with the help............

How much does a capacitor cost roughly...? I've never had to buy so I really have no clue.

your looking at about $1.00 each , try and buy from somewhere you dont have to get a minimum of 20 or so.


s8n