MINI VGA2HDMI Converter Issues

30May/173

MINI VGA2HDMI Converter Issues

I bought this converter on eBay to get my Dreamcast plugged into my new TV which does not have VGA input. All worked really well during the first fortnight of usage.

4+ weeks into usage saw really bad performance from the device: screen distortion, black screens, incorrect resolutions and really crappy sound.

Wiggling plugs had minimal effect, so it was time to pop it open. There isn't much to these things as it's all SMD and on a single board. I couldn't see any (overly) bad soldering or problem spots, so I guessed it would be heat causing the issues.

I improvised a makeshift heatsink and the device started operating perfectly once more.

It actually occurred to me that, since I was powering the device off the TV's USB port, the device had been powered up each time the TV was on; not just when the Dreamcast was on. I assume these things just aren't built rugged enough to be used 100% of the time?

Anyway... I can only recommend to all that you pop open your devices and put heatsinks inside them for stable usage!

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Justin E
October 25th, 2017 - 12:50

Nice find! I have had this same unit for a few months now to connect my Dreamcast and have noticed blackouts before from time to time but not as bad as distortion lines in the picture. I thought it was just outside interference. Mine too is powered directly from my tv which hardly gets powered down much so never crossed my mind heat could be an issue until now.

I’ve ordered a few tiny heatsinks to try this out. Thanks!

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- stevenh
  October 25th, 2017 - 13:47
  
  Jaycar here in Australia has some really inexpensive little adhesive heatsinks that would do the job perfectly. I just used coins as there were quite a few lying around.
  
  Good luck with the enhancements!
  
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Justin E
November 5th, 2017 - 11:25

I finally got my heat sink in the mail and got it put together. When I first unplugged the box I noticed it was very warm but the main chip wasn’t really hot to the touch so I don’t think it will take much to keep it cool, especially with the heat sink I added to mine. I was going to use some pennies but as you may know about the currency in the US, it has very little copper in it these days. I’d have to find some wheat pennies to know it’s mostly real copper. Most of it I believe is nickel now. Anyways, the heat sink I got from eBay was 14x14x4mm aluminum and it covers perfectly!

I’ve added a link to show how it looks if that’s okay.

Heat sink on my MINI VGA2HDMI https://imgur.com/a/3e594

I did notice our boards are slightly different but overall the same product.
Thanks once again for the tip!

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