Calling all Wondermega owners

[pierrot]

I've got this Sega Wondermega that is a gorgeous specimen, but it's giving me mild panic attacks with the way it's running: After being powered on for a few minutes, it starts to get warm, and by the time it's been powered on for 40-60 minutes, it starts running extremely hot. The hot part is always along the entire left side from the edge, over to about the left side of the cartridge slot. I know there's a lot of lights and such (audio processors, etc) but it seems too hot to be how it's supposed to run.

My question is: are there any Wondermega owners whose consoles also run very hot like this, or conversely, do not run hot? I'm wondering if this is just an issue of the power the Wondermega requires, or if it's something to do with a cheap regulator or something.

[theclaw]

Wondermega power output rated for 9.5V at 1.5A. Identical to CDX and X'eye.

[noiseredux]

Do you have an official ac adapter for it?

[pierrot]

Do you have an official ac adapter for it?

I do. Yes.

[pierrot]

So, I have multiple questions to amend this thread with:

I've been looking at power supplies on RetroGameCave, and there seem to be some options for me there. (link for reference.) Just to be sure, I was hoping any X'eye or CDX owners with original power supplies could tell me what the polarity on those power supplies are. I'm wondering if the CDX power supply they have is truly identical to the Wondermega's since they seem to be out of stock on the X'eye/Wondermega power supplies. (Although they are rated for the same output.)

I'm also wondering how returns go with that website, if anyone has any insightt. I'd rather not have to sit on an extra power supply if my Wondermega still ran warm with one of the replacements.

[ApolloBoy]

That should be normal, the voltage regulator is located there and it's typical for it to run hot after about 40 minutes or so. It's like that with a lot of other consoles so nothing to worry about. If you're still concerned about it, you could apply some new thermal paste like Arctic Silver. I've used Arctic Silver for voltage regulator heat sinks before and it works much better than normal ceramic paste.

[pierrot]

^If it's normal, than that's a bit of a relief, anyway. I still feel a bit concerned about it. I'd like to have it working for another 20-30 years rather than 5-15 if at all possible. Not to say that it wouldn't as it is, but I just don't love it running as hot as it does. The power supplies at the RetroGameCave website seem to boast cleaner power to the console, and some other potential benefits. I'm wondering if it would be at all worth the investment in one over trying out the Arctic Silver that you mentioned.