Model M getting warm?!

[Mnemonix]

Hi!

I just noticed that my Model M Mini (gray badge, still has its original PCB inside) is getting a bit warm... Not much, just a little bit, but I can definitely feel it.
To move it around, I picked up the keyboard by grabbing it at the middle of its top edge, right from where the SDL cable is plugged in. The plastic at the bottom in that area felt warmer than the surrounding plastic, and so did the table in the corresponding spot from where I picked up the keyboard. That's roughly the place where that big chip is located on the controller board. I'm a bit worried now.

Has anybody else observed this? Do all of these keyboards "heat up" slightly, or is it just mine, dying slowly while I am typing on it?

[sixty]

One of my Model Ms does the same. Its a 1993 Lexmark one.. the controller slightly heats up after constant usage.

[Mnemonix]

My friend has an '88 1391401 and it gets hot near the PCB on the bottom side.

Mine doesn't get really "hot", fortunately, just sensible "warm".
I dug out my infrared thermometer and I measured a difference of about 5 degrees Celsius between the hottest and the coolest spot on the case bottom. That's more than I expected!

None of mine do. I don't think it's normal; it probably signifies a defect or malfunction, but doesn't affect operation.

One of my Model Ms does the same. Its a 1993 Lexmark one.. the controller slightly heats up after constant usage.

OK, so hot controllers seem to be a common issue, but not a real problem--until they fail, that is.
My Mini is a 1991 IBM. Time for another USB mod.

Usually it's resistors that heat up but the volts/amps are pretty low in a Model M.

I'll check which of the components are heating up; it might be really just a resistor that needs to be replaced. No time to do this right now, though, maybe tomorrow.

[Mnemonix]

Alright, alright, I had to know it now, whatever I wrote before...

The big chip on the PCB is the culprit. In one spot in its center I measured a maximum temperature of 39.2 degrees, on average maybe around 30 degrees. The rest of the PCB and components had only 17.5-22 degrees. (All degrees are Celsius, of course.) No hot capacitors or resistors.

My PCB has PN 1392994, EC 528696 written (etched) onto it.

[Mnemonix]

It's thinking whether to buckle or not.

Yep. Maybe I should really install a tiny little fan. :wink:
Hey, there's the hole for the speaker, a case fan could fit in right there!