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I have a very late issue Dragon 32 which seems to run very hot. It works really well at double speed (both 65495 A/D and 65497 modes) when its cold, but crashes instantly even in 65495 A/D mode after its been on for about 25-30 minutes. If the top cover is left off, it works without problems. I have tried swapping the PSU board without any luck. Can anyone help?

I do have one Dragon where the owner has drilled a circle of holes in the top case and wired in a standard PC fan to aid cooling - I also know Richard Harding did this on his home made Dragon Professional top as the Professional really overheats (its got the PSU and 2 drives internally).

I do seem to recall many letters in magazines about this sort of Dragon goes a bit wobbly after being used, so there might be a solution out there...

admin wrote:I do have one Dragon where the owner has drilled a circle of holes in the top case and wired in a standard PC fan to aid cooling

Does it seem to stay very cool after this mod? Does it run OK at double speed?

admin wrote:I do seem to recall many letters in magazines about this sort of Dragon goes a bit wobbly after being used, so there might be a solution out there...

I hope so...

zephyr wrote:I have a very late issue Dragon 32 which seems to run very hot. It works really well at double speed (both 65495 A/D and 65497 modes) when its cold, but crashes instantly even in 65495 A/D mode after its been on for about 25-30 minutes. If the top cover is left off, it works without problems. I have tried swapping the PSU board without any luck.

Can anyone help?

How long does it work when you do not invoke double speed?

zephyr wrote:

admin wrote:I do have one Dragon where the owner has drilled a circle of holes in the top case and wired in a standard PC fan to aid cooling

Does it seem to stay very cool after this mod? Does it run OK at double speed?

Don't know as its on my DOA pile .....

Alastair wrote:

zephyr wrote: How long does it work when you do not invoke double speed?

At room temparatures of around 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit, other than a burning smell emmiting from the case, it will run for hours at normal speed without any real problems. In the summer its not so reliable.

admin wrote:Don't know as its on my DOA pile .....

Looks like the mod didn't help after all!

zephyr wrote:

Alastair wrote:

zephyr wrote: How long does it work when you do not invoke double speed?

At room temparatures of around 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit, other than a burning smell emmiting from the case, it will run for hours at normal speed without any real problems. In the summer its not so reliable.

That's around 20 degrees Centigrade isn't it?

Anyway, burning smells are always bad, switch off and try to locate the component(s) or area that is burning.

Alastair wrote:That's around 20 degrees Centigrade isn't it? .

Yes, around 21 to 23.5 degrees, if you prefer to use the inferior Centigrade scale to measure your room temperatures!

Alastair wrote:Anyway, burning smells are always bad, switch off and try to locate the component(s) or area that is burning.

It seems like most of the chips are running too hot, especially CPU, SAM, and VDG. None of my other Dragons run anywhere near as hot as this one.

Early Color Computers had the same problem. I think an older version of the SAM was to blame but it's been a long time since I last heard about it.