Unreliable Saturn (model 2) - advice?

[Cwiiis]

I decided to get my Saturn down from the attic last week and finally complete Shining the Holy Ark. Everything has gone fine for about 8 hours of gameplay, but now, after about half an hour to an hour of play, my Saturn locks up This usually manifests in a still screen while the music continues playing, then the screen seems to lose sync (after about another half minute or so), then it'll go black and the sound will stop (after a few seconds). Opening the disc drive stops the disc spinning, but console won't respond in any other way...

I'm seeking advice, if there is any... This is a modded, mod-chipped, model 2 Saturn, so I'd love to be able to fix it if possible. I've taken it apart and given it a good blow, but it wasn't particularly dusty to begin with (I take good care of my consoles).

Suggestions? Or is it new Saturn time?

[Curlypaul]

Is the disk original or a copy? Does it always happen in the same place in the game? Does it happen with other games? Is the console getting very hot?

Sadly it sounds pretty terminal to me tbh.

[Cwiiis]

Is the disk original or a copy? Does it always happen in the same place in the game? Does it happen with other games? Is the console getting very hot?

Sadly it sounds pretty terminal to me tbh.

- Happens with both the original and a copy (I'm going through the process of backing up all my games).

- Happens in different places, though seems to coincide with a disc read - this may be coincidence though(?)

- Haven't tried other games yet, but given how it manifests, I didn't think it'd be worth bothering.

- I wouldn't say the console gets particularly hot, but it's certainly warm on the back-left side...

I'm thinking it may either be the power supply or perhaps I need to turn the laser strength up? I wouldn't have expected the latter to cause lock-ups like this though, so I'm leaning towards the former.

I may be able to get another PAL model 2 saturn quite cheap, in which case I might do the 50/60Hz mod on that and stick with the Action Replay cart, or transplant the power supply board and see if that makes a difference first...

The poor thing has given me well over a decade of service in fairness, but I still feel quite sad for it

[Curlypaul]

Yeah its sad when a console dies like that.

The power board is on the back left side, so thats where the heat is coming from and I would tend to think that it was more likely to be the cause in this case. In my experience saturns that need the pot on the laser tweaking just don't read the disks at all

[ninjainspandex]

try cleaning the lens with a qtip and a lens cleaner that can be bought most anywhere they sell cameras