DreamCast repair experts

Hi, i was wondering if anyone knows how to repair a Sega Dreamcast and got any ideas of what might be wrong with it? Then maybe i can open up the console and fix it my self. The problem im having with my sega dc is that it turns it self off frequently and some games wont load. Im hoping there are some experts out there who will give me some advice, it's a japanese Sega dreamcast so it's probably hard to come by here in the west. Any help would be great. Thanks.

Try in the retro forum <----Moved

I'm by no means a DC repair expert.

But I can imagine a couple of things might at play here: they start getting disc read errors as the laser weakens. So your disc loading problems could mean a new laser. The DC turning itself off frequently could be more problematic - your power supply could be overheating, or have a bad connection, or elements on the circuit board could be going bad or coming loose (for example the PS3 YLOD typically happened because chip connections came loose and as the system heated up they would flex enough that you'd lose connectivity and the system would die).

Are there any clues you could give about it turning off? Does it only happen after being on for a while? Is it loud? Have you ever cleaned the system?

I'm not an expert at fixing these machines, but if you are unable to repair the system, I believe you can probably find a boot disc that will allow you to play import games on a US Dreamcast. You might be able to find an imported Dreamcast if you live close to the west coast, if you decide to try and replace the console. Last option is Ebay. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

@xantufrog: Thanks for help, my dc usually just turns off and on right in the middle of a game, for instance i played Tony Hawk proskater 2 the other day and it just switched off and on booting up the dc again automicly, it's really noisy, my whole console sounds like a vacum cleaner. Never opened it up or cleaned it. Should that be my first approach to this problem to clean it first and then see if it works better? Other things i should look for when im opening it up?

@suicidesn0wman: Thanks for advice

I would say so. However, if it is due to circuitry starting to fail/come loose that won't help. But if everything is still "ok" but just overheating this could help. The DC isn't particularly quiet, but your description sounds like it might be pretty toasty

@xantufrog: Allright, thanks again, i'll give it a shot, got nothing to lose anyways, ill open it up and clean it and maybe take a closer look at the power circuts and see if something looks odd there. I'll let you know next week when i have some days off work, hopefully i might play Shenmue 1-2 again :) damn, i miss my dreamcast.

I'm no expert either but, is the cooling fan running at all? That might be one of the symptoms of why the console is shutting off abruptly.