NES Overheating?

[ClassicGamePhreak]

I have a front feeding NES that is having some issues. When you play it for roughly 10 minutes, it acts like it shuts off, but the power light is dimmed. The reason I think that it might be overheating is because when it has a fan blowing on it, you can play it all day without a single problem.

When it acts like it has overheated, it's not all that hot either. When I tore it down to replace my 72 pin connector, I took a close look at everything in the system, but could not find any obvious culprits. Anyone else have this problem with your front feeders? If so, did you ever resolve the issue, and how?

Thanks!

[staxx]

Are you using the original AC adapter for the NES? or you can use some flux and reflow the NES chips or get some lead solder and reball the NES and put some Arctic Silver on the chips ^_^

[Kitsune Sniper]

Are you using the original AC adapter for the NES? or you can use some flux and reflow the NES chips or get some lead solder and reball the NES and put some Arctic Silver on the chips ^_^

...

I can't tell if you're being serious or not.

[cynicalhat]

it could be that one component is overheating. youd need more than arctic silver 5 though if you want to go overboard. the people hwo make arctic silver 5 make a permanent thermal adhesive which is what youd need to secure a small vga heatsink to the chips(especially since tey are upside down). however, i dont think convection cooling would suffice IMO. look at all the caps in the unit especially that big one near the voltage regulator. if they leak or are bulging, replace them. otherwise, get a heat probe and see if anything seems wonky. anything above 110 Fahrenheit i would look into.

[staxx]

...

I can't tell if you're being serious or not.

First answer was serious, second part ...not so

[Kitsune Sniper]

And yet, someone already gave a legit answer to cooling an overheating NES with thermal paste...

*shakes head*

[cynicalhat]

hey now! if you are gonna slap some heatsinks on something. you might as well do it well.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

uh guys, the NES is a low power device. Heat isn't really a major concern.

ClassicGamePhreak sounds to me like your problem is that you need to get yourself a new 7805 voltage regulator. Yours sounds like its on its way out. All y ou do is unscrew it, desolder it and solder in a new one. You can buy like 20 of them for $4 at any major electronic component retailer or on ebay.

[buzz_n64]

Just install one of these bad boys, and you'll be fine.
http://www.aoc.gov/cvc/photos/images/10-17-05BigFan_lg.jpg

[tubeway]

I love you guys.

Well, sometimes.

[evildead2099]

I doubt a properly maintained NES would overheat even after being kept on for years.

My initial guess was that a lot of dust/crud accumulated within the system, preventing it from ventilating properly. Given that it works okay when a fan blows on it, I've come to doubt that suspicion. I would still try cracking open the NES and giving it a manual cleaning.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

98% sure his problem is a bad voltage regulator. The NES is a beast and can be powerred by anything because it has a VCR-quality voltage regulator. Replace it and your problems should go away.

[Joenooch]

Hey, I appear to have the same problem!

What was the conclusion? Was this caused by the voltage regulator?
(sorry to bring up an old post)

[Nz17]

My powers of deduction tell me... this is in the wrong forum.

Move-ality!

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Replace the voltage regulator. 99% of heat related issues are caused by bad ones. Replacing it is simple and it's not like they're expensive. You can buy 10 of them on ebay for like $1.

[Joenooch]

No dice on the voltage regulator. I must be that 1%. haha I just soldered in a new one, and after 10 minutes same problem, I'll get a buzzing noise, screen will freeze, and the LED will dim.

And other suggestions?

(and mods, if is is in the wrong place, please move. Thanks)


Ha, a little extra info: I stuck a voltmeter on to measure dc power: when the console is "cool" it reads the standard 5 volts, which it should. Then the voltage gradually drops to about 4 volts, stays there a few minutes, then jumps down to 2.5 volts, which is when everything blows up...

It can't be that the new voltage regulator is bad too, perhaps it's the rectifier?

[Squeept]

I hate to ask, but did you try a new AC adapter? Otherwise, since it does appear to be a heat issue, the 7805 is really the only thing that can get hot. Make sure it's seated on the heatsink properly, and that the heatsink is clean and dust free.

If you want to delve a little deeper, I forget what the stuff is called, but you spray it all over the board and it freezes or crystallizes, and then on anything that's hot, it evaporates immediately to show you which components are overheating. Anyone know what that stuff is called?

[Bratwurst]

If you want to delve a little deeper, I forget what the stuff is called, but you spray it all over the board and it freezes or crystallizes, and then on anything that's hot, it evaporates immediately to show you which components are overheating. Anyone know what that stuff is called?

Freeze spray.

[Joenooch]

I hate to ask, but did you try a new AC adapter? Otherwise, since it does appear to be a heat issue, the 7805 is really the only thing that can get hot. Make sure it's seated on the heatsink properly, and that the heatsink is clean and dust free.

If you want to delve a little deeper, I forget what the stuff is called, but you spray it all over the board and it freezes or crystallizes, and then on anything that's hot, it evaporates immediately to show you which components are overheating. Anyone know what that stuff is called?

lol It's cool, no worries. But my answer is yes and no to that question. lol
Late last year, my original AC power supply died. Rather than trouble shooting the problem, I just bought one of those cheap 3rd party adapters from eBay. When I started having the freezing issues last week, I noticed that this power supply was spitting out 9 volts DC, rather than 9 volts AC, which the original NES power supply provides. YIKES! While sending DC through a rectifier shouldn't be an in (to my knowledge) I assume this is what has screwed something up.

Yesterday I fixed the original power supply. There was a loss of continuity due to a wire failure where the wire enters the plug. Simply resoldered, so I now have a solid power supply. No issue there.

The original 7805 was hitting temps of around 90-95 degrees F. Hoping that this was the issue, I replaced it this morning. The new one produces the same temperature range, and the problem still occurs (freezes and hums until it cools down.)

With the regulator out of the equation, coupled with the observed DC voltage drop, the problem has to be with the rectifier. I'm in the process removing the small power/av box attached to the mother board to determine what kind of diodes I need to buy and replace...

Oh, and yes, the heat sink is properly attached, the board and console as a whole is clean as hell. I've taken care of this bad boy for years. lol

[Joenooch]

I found and fixed the problem!
I had to replace a bad 22 pico farad capacitor associated with the composite video out. I'll post a little write up with pictures by tonight for those interested.

[cynicalhat]

that would be nice of ya, good job