Triad Replacement PSU Links

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NewSchoolBoxer
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by NewSchoolBoxer »

Lopenator wrote:Is the triad psu still considered a good choice? How about even over OEM? I have both and can't decide what I should use. I notice my SNES runs cooler when I use the Triad as opposed to when I use my OEM recapped PSU. What psu do you use?
OEM PSUs from 8-16 bit consoles, are unregulated linear power supplies because those were the cheapest to manufacture. I don't know about PlayStation/Saturn/N64 and later. Unregulated is a big deal since they don't have good control over keeping voltage output constant. I wasn't able to find a single unregulated wall wart PSU on Mouser or Digikey but I did find a few from Jameco made in China. Costs a little more to add a regulator to PSU output for big performance gain.

The classic deviation between linear and switching mode PSUs, I understand through the distinction in voltage regulators. Linear is very low noise but very power inefficient and therefore run very hot. Linear regulators need heat sinks. They are simple in design and therefore very cheap at < $1 for good quality.

Switching mode uses an electrical switch (relay) to change the width of a voltage pulse. Circuit is more complicated and needs an inductor to smooth out current. Costs more, about $4 for an all-in-one circuit voltage regulator. Is far more power efficient, like 90% vs linear 50%. Heat sink not a must. Every PSU I listed is switching, can tell just from the efficiency. Downside besides cost is the switching generates electrical interference (noise) that hopefully the PSU capacitors are able to filter out.

Lowest noise strat is using them together by switching regulator feeding linear regulator for best of both worlds. I haven't seen done IRL but have seen reference to existing in computer PSUs.

I would only use regulated switching PSUs except I also have nostalgia of using official crap while I can. OEM PSUs can be recapped if you're hardcore. Can use passive adapters to have one PSU be compatible with multiple console barrel sizes. Except Saturn PSU is internal so got to feed mains AC.
FBX wrote: Ste went on to give me details on how to set up a testing rig with the scope and a beefy 10 Ohm resistor (https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/ ... ND/3886586). His recommendation is anything 500mV and under is perfectly fine. However, looking up the datasheet for a Triad 9V 2A PSU, I found the ripple and noise MAXIMUM was already listed at 150mV pk-pk. So there's your answer. It falls well under the safe range.
I disagree that 500mV is fine and I have same Electrical Engineering degree from good ABET university. Even ceramic caps get aged from ripple current. That said, I think he's very smart and knowledgeable from his blog posts. Can I ask how you, RetroRGB Bob and Voultar all seem to know him? Does he post here or on Reddit? I don't see any contact information on HDRetrovision website. Does he slide into your DMs when you break 1k YouTubs subs? I'm being sarcastic but Mike Chi posts here and he's the only other person I know with EE degree. In his case BS and PhD.
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Lopenator
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by Lopenator »

I don't have nostalgia for my OEM PSU. If a different one is better and will increase the lifespan of SNES I will happily use it.

I want to use my triad but when I think about it being a switching PSU I can't understand how any noise could potentially harm or degrade the SNES caps or chips quicker.

Then I take a step back and think that the OEM PSU have been serving us well for 30 years. Why change what's not broken.

My ultimate goal here is longevity. Thanks for your awesome replies.

I am far from an electrical engineer so I'm just trying to gather the most accurate information to make these consoles last a long time.
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VEGETA
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by VEGETA »

I have recently bought 4 PSU from this supplier: https://retrogamesupply.com/

anyone can confirm quality? he says it doesn't degrade quality but the price is very low, kinda similar to others anyway.

getting noise and ripple so low is very tough job, I suffered a lot until I achieved a good result in my dreamcast power supply design.

I hope someone can check this supplier and provide feedback... I still didn't receive them.
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maxtherabbit
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by maxtherabbit »

NewSchoolBoxer wrote:
FBX wrote: Ste went on to give me details on how to set up a testing rig with the scope and a beefy 10 Ohm resistor (https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/ ... ND/3886586). His recommendation is anything 500mV and under is perfectly fine. However, looking up the datasheet for a Triad 9V 2A PSU, I found the ripple and noise MAXIMUM was already listed at 150mV pk-pk. So there's your answer. It falls well under the safe range.
I disagree that 500mV is fine and I have same Electrical Engineering degree from good ABET university. Even ceramic caps get aged from ripple current. That said, I think he's very smart and knowledgeable from his blog posts. Can I ask how you, RetroRGB Bob and Voultar all seem to know him? Does he post here or on Reddit? I don't see any contact information on HDRetrovision website. Does he slide into your DMs when you break 1k YouTubs subs? I'm being sarcastic but Mike Chi posts here and he's the only other person I know with EE degree. In his case BS and PhD.
Maybe he meant 50mV? 500 is a lot
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VEGETA
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by VEGETA »

Yes 500mV is too much ripple and noise, maybe 50mV is good. we are talking about analog video consoles which the entire p-p voltage of the video is 1v. all noise and ripple will go through to the output in variable degrees.

people claim that consoles boards have different linear regulators besides the main power supply circuit, which takes all remaining ripple... this is wrong! since today's switching power supplies are switching in more than 1 MHz frequency in general, at least several 100s Khz. My Dreamcast design was about 2.2MHz.

this means the ripple and also noise will be medium to high frequency range which CANNOT be tamed down by old school linear regulators due to one thing called: PSRR (power supply rejection ratio). Linear power regulators, especially old and streamline ones, has very good PSRR for very low frequencies like <100Hz or so, maybe up to 1KHz. But they have about near nothing on such high frequencies. very good TI 7805 regulator has about 60-80 dB rejection ratio for frequency 120 Hz for example.

Therefore, modern power supplies intended for retro consoles or any analog video sensitive stuff MUST have advanced filtering built-in. Should also have multiple ceramic caps and multiple bulk electrolytic caps each stage. brand of caps are not really that important if any at all. yes rubycon or so is better but won't make a difference against a good Chinese brand like Lelon which is now in many professional power supplies and modules.

I hope people can investigate such stuff in-depth, I may be able to do this in not-so-near future.
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NewSchoolBoxer
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by NewSchoolBoxer »

Yeah we don't have the full context of 500mV ripple. In 1vpp video and 0.9vpp consumer audio, it's high. Now if someone wants to say 100mV isn't significantly better than 150mV ripple at max ratings, they could be right.

The nice thing about full wave rectifiers and voltage regulators and converters is that the math was solved forever ago. Vegeta brings up serious point about linear regulators only filtering well at the low frequencies they operate in. I was just seeing that on datasheets. I didn't realize modern switching power supplies operate in the MHz range. Easy to show higher frequencies reduce size and cost.

Seems replacing ancient unregulated supply with modern regulated switching supply, solves one problem and creates another:
Spoiler
Image
I included Japanese ROHM regulator since SNES uses ROHM 7805 1A design from early 80s.
The graphed regulators are at comfortable 50% and 10% of max output at unrealistic room temperature and without effects of aging.

Must have advanced filtering, right, or something. Low MHz noise and its harmonics smack into video frequencies and clock timings. A passive RC filter with cutoff at 10 kHz would be 40 dB at 1 MHz. Price you pay is the resistor's voltage drop. I think some switching regulators have built-in LPF that hit the MHz range, being made for modern PSUs.

Power efficiency calc of linear regulator is easy. Essentially (Vout/Vin) x 100%, minus about 1% for ground and quiescent current losses. Feeding 9V is 54.6%, 7.5V is 65.7%. Max effort would be adjustable switching regulator to take 9V to 5.75V and feed that into LDO linear regulator with a 0.3V differential.
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VEGETA
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by VEGETA »

Old technology didn't have good SMPS but relied on linear regulators. Linear regulators are very easy, in fact just 3 pins without any complications. Such old systems have normal linear regulators not LDO or low dropout regulators which makes it harder for thermal design.

LDO can work with say 1v dropout, meaning to get 5v you can feed it 6v. assume your current is 1 amp this means 1v dropout x 1 amp load = 1 watts of wasted power as heat. Big packages can tolerate such power wastage but heatsink is always better. However for regular linear regulators you need more buffer zone.. for the rohm 7805 minimum input should be 7.5v which means safe-zone design must be 8v if not 9v. assuming 8v -> 8-5= 3v dropout --> 3x1amp = 3 watts of wasted power which needs more careful thermal design and bigger heatsink. Just scale this as we require more power. therefore, linear regulators are not practical anymore to power the entire system. Twin Famicom for example uses 7805 regulator on a big heatsink and its power supply is 7.6v @ 1.25A, still gets warm.

SMPS are a must today, and they cannot enhance the noise since they create it. I mean ripple not noise but noise as well exists. design engineer must make sufficient filtering before and after the switching design. must read datasheets, app notes, and most importantly layout!! layout can make or break your entire design.

My Dreamcast PSU design used special TI buck regulator which is inherently low noise and ripple with good PSRR... but still requires relatively clean signals as inputs, and proper filtering in output + perfect layout = not an easy task. All of those cheap PSUs are no where near good design but can do the job... they all use flyback ac-dc topology and generic off-the-shelf Chinese parts to save cost. some good ones have extra caps on the output.

modern SMPS all are 1 mhz and above to reduce components size and make ripple less. faster ripple requires smaller caps and vise versa. if you still use just a linear regulator with full bridge rectifier it will have 100-120hz switching ripple which needs big electrolytic caps (multiples) to filter it out while if your ripple is very tiny and fast (=smaller periods of charge and discharge) then significantly smaller caps are ok.

the problem we face now is that old consoles requires very clean signal in low frequency switching as its input. they are not made to filter out high frequency ripple and noise, they didn't know it exists in the first place xD.

take a look at my dreamcast psu 3d design : https://imgur.com/a/dqQc1cR

see the amount of filter chains before, during, and after the switchers? in fact the entire project. it also has a common-mode choke to filter common-mode noise which is also present due to high frequency... etc

the switching IC I used is new and low ripple, it costs 3$ per one IC = around 6$ per one PSU! how the hell can this be soled with 15$ price?? it will cost about >25$ just to make it but it produces nearly no ripple and noise. last time I checked was <10mv ripple and nearly 30mv of noise under full load. this is even without new design and CMC, I expect this one to be better. However, the IC has very long lead time!



sorry for long post.
Last edited by VEGETA on Wed Jun 29, 2022 3:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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NewSchoolBoxer
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by NewSchoolBoxer »

Lopenator wrote:I don't have nostalgia for my OEM PSU. If a different one is better and will increase the lifespan of SNES I will happily use it.

I want to use my triad but when I think about it being a switching PSU I can't understand how any noise could potentially harm or degrade the SNES caps or chips quicker.

Then I take a step back and think that the OEM PSU have been serving us well for 30 years. Why change what's not broken.

My ultimate goal here is longevity. Thanks for your awesome replies.

I am far from an electrical engineer so I'm just trying to gather the most accurate information to make these consoles last a long time.
Sorry I meant to address. Thank you for bringing up this important topic. "Why change what's not broken" is circular thinking with a sample size of 1. Can look up ripple voltage on Wikipedia and scroll for the laundry list of reasons why it's bad. More simple explanation is ripple voltage ages electronics in general and the corresponding ripple current ages capacitors. This AC offset can't be used as a power supply for anything except adding noise and making chips run hotter.

Typical safe integrated circuit voltage supply range is 5V +/- 0.5V and 360mV (rms) of 120 Hz noise will hit that peak 120 times a second. Result is accelerated aging. The rms of sqrt(5 +0.5^2) = 5.025V isn't alarming but we've still lost 9% of the safety margin to start frying the internal transistors.

If the CPU/VPU has an expected lifespan of 30 years, thermal and electrical stress can drop that to 15. The failure rate in electronics is probability distributions taught in a classroom setting. Some people get lucky and some people don't. Not everyone's $1 7805 died but mine did. The Triad supply is an improvement. Trick is, if a console has 5 years left and aged OEM PSU makes it die in 3 years instead, no one will be the wiser.
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Lopenator
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by Lopenator »

Seems like a mystery.
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NewSchoolBoxer
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by NewSchoolBoxer »

I like the use of 'mystery'. I'm tempted to use more negative terminology. Every console I buy is used and I have no idea of the wear and tear.

The dreamcast psu 3d design link doesn't work. Lowest ripple voltage psu I found in a datasheet was 'medical grade' with 70mV for $25. I have no desire to build one. Actual safety risk and not saving money as you point out.

EEVBlog message board led me to this video by the late Jim Williams. For linear regulators, he recommends ferrite bead before input and another after output but before output filter capacitor.

First switching regulator I found that seems feasible is $0.70 TPS562231. Unlike other designs, can tie enable pin to Vin and no separate Vcc. Is 90% efficient with adjustable output to drop 9V to 6V to feed into any fixed 5V output LDO such as LDL1117 or TPS7A8101 which can handle a 0.3-0.6V differential. The latter lists 54 dB PSRR at 1 MHz. TPS562231 does need 4.7uH inductor to form 2nd order LPF. It fixes output by divider of Vout = 0.60 (1 + Rrbt/Rfbb).

Efficiency comparison: switching regulator into LDO of [0.9*(9-6V)]+[(5/6)*(6-5V)-1%]/(9-5V) = 88.1% vs new 7805 + 7.5V psu doing 5/7.5 -1% = 65.7%. Testing required to justify added cost and complexity with presumed PCB. I wonder about usefulness of a no-mod $20 laptop cooling fan in case of high 3W dissipation with 9V to 5V 7805.

So ROHM datasheet does show 7.5V minimum input! We can say here recommending a 7.5V psu on a retro console with stock 7805 is a bad idea without proving a 6V minimum design is the standard.
Spoiler
Image
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VEGETA
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by VEGETA »

NewSchoolBoxer wrote:I like the use of 'mystery'. I'm tempted to use more negative terminology. Every console I buy is used and I have no idea of the wear and tear.

The dreamcast psu 3d design link doesn't work. Lowest ripple voltage psu I found in a datasheet was 'medical grade' with 70mV for $25. I have no desire to build one. Actual safety risk and not saving money as you point out.

EEVBlog message board led me to this video by the late Jim Williams. For linear regulators, he recommends ferrite bead before input and another after output but before output filter capacitor.

First switching regulator I found that seems feasible is $0.70 TPS562231. Unlike other designs, can tie enable pin to Vin and no separate Vcc. Is 90% efficient with adjustable output to drop 9V to 6V to feed into any fixed 5V output LDO such as LDL1117 or TPS7A8101 which can handle a 0.3-0.6V differential. The latter lists 54 dB PSRR at 1 MHz. TPS562231 does need 4.7uH inductor to form 2nd order LPF. It fixes output by divider of Vout = 0.60 (1 + Rrbt/Rfbb).

Efficiency comparison: switching regulator into LDO of [0.9*(9-6V)]+[(5/6)*(6-5V)-1%]/(9-5V) = 88.1% vs new 7805 + 7.5V psu doing 5/7.5 -1% = 65.7%. Testing required to justify added cost and complexity with presumed PCB. I wonder about usefulness of a no-mod $20 laptop cooling fan in case of high 3W dissipation with 9V to 5V 7805.

So ROHM datasheet does show 7.5V minimum input! We can say here recommending a 7.5V psu on a retro console with stock 7805 is a bad idea without proving a 6V minimum design is the standard.
Spoiler
Image
I fixed the image link, here it is: https://imgur.com/a/dqQc1cR

I will see how my design will be, performance and cost wise then see if I can build the same quality using cheaper methods. BTW, it will be like dreampsu meaning it will need external 12v psu. this external one is any cheap not-so-retarded one.

If your SMPS design is good then you won't need the LDO stage. LDO is useful for filtering high frequency noise anyway, and you can have caps for filtering all sorts of noise especially low frequency one which can be removed by big elec. caps + some inductors.
copy
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by copy »

Can anyone recommend a good modern PSU for the Game Boy Pocket/Color? They're 3V, but it looks like Triad doesn't have any at that voltage.
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NewSchoolBoxer
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by NewSchoolBoxer »

Solution for now is what I did and buy an adjustable voltage adapter that comes with an adapter kit. Get one that has a base of 5.5x2.5mm or 5.5x2.1mm for being the most common barrel sizes. They should all be one or the other and with default positive polarity that all portable consoles use. Nice to get a set with a polarity reversal adapter since that costs about $5 by itself.

Thing is, in my experience, the power quality is somewhat low on these adjustable PSUs. I found that portable consoles are much more tolerant of noisy power than full size consoles. Is about what I'd expect given the low power requirement and intention to run on batteries that continually drop in voltage as they get closer to running out.

Batteries are actually extremely clean / low noise power. Rechargeable Eneloop brand AA and AAA is what I use. Has an online following.

Check it out. I personally confirmed sizes for GBP, NGPC, PSP, PAL SNES and SFC:
Spoiler
Image
It's expensive and time-consuming to buy a bunch of PSUs to test for ripple voltage / noise when we need only one. I want to do. If someone has an LLC, they should be able to get free samples of PSUs.
copy
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by copy »

I do like Eneloops and use them a lot, but it's also nice to power my Game Boy from the wall sometimes. If you do ever test and find a high quality adjustable PSU, I will be very interested in your results.
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NewSchoolBoxer
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by NewSchoolBoxer »

Thanks, it's going to happen. Cost of incorporation will be $150 if I don't pay a lawyer to look papers over and basic business address is $10/month. I suspect companies won't mail free samples to a home address. Just seems better to pay at start of 2023 versus now with most of the year over. I want to fight eBay hustlers selling 1.5A fuse for SNES for $10 when I paid $1.15. Bonus is major vendors waive sales to a business on products meant for resale. Atlanta, GA's 8.5% scam tax, I will crush you.

I have some PSU updates:

------------------
Triad Ripple Good Enough for Switching PSU

Sirotaca posted oscilloscope measurements on the Triad supply that I interpret to mean it does not have high kHz / low MHz switching noise at a level to be concerned with. Still has 100/120 Hz noise much higher than a nice linear PSU but not excessively so. For a switching PSU, I'd be okay with using.

------------------
OEM Nintendo Needs Recap

Sirotaca is a second source saying the OEM Nintendo SNES PSU, which is unregulated linear, outputs an insane 500mVpp = 144Vrms ripple voltage that is worse than any non-trash switching PSU. I agree with Lopenator's point that someone should recap the Nintendo PSU to see the intended ripple voltage that, in theory, was meant for the console to live until at least N64's release. It has some weird oval screw fastener we can't seem to defeat.

------------------
Replacement PSU Conteder

Contender for Triad replacement is this medical grade 9V/2A PSU for $16.92. At first I thought 'medical grade' was a bs marketing like 'audio grade' but it has safety certifications. The advantage over Triad is it comes with its own custom adapters to use positive center OR negative center polarity with 5.5x2.5mm, 5.5x2.1mm and 3.5x1.5mm. Just turn an adapter 180° to change polarity.

The 5.5x2.1mm is what Triad uses and is the size for PAL SNES/Super Famicom/Master System/Genesis Model 1. You pay the same price for the GlobTek (pronounced "Globe Tech") PSU as Triad but it doesn't need a $5 polarity adapter to be used for anything outside of 16-bit consoles. What we need is oscilloscope proof of ripple voltage to compare and GlobTek offers a low ripple voltage option. They give free samples to businesses with a specified quantity, as in, can get more than one.
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by jd213 »

NewSchoolBoxer wrote: ------------------
OEM Nintendo Needs Recap

Sirotaca is a second source saying the OEM Nintendo SNES PSU, which is unregulated linear, outputs an insane 500mVpp = 144Vrms ripple voltage that is worse than any non-trash switching PSU. I agree with Lopenator's point that someone should recap the Nintendo PSU to see the intended ripple voltage that, in theory, was meant for the console to live until at least N64's release. It has some weird oval screw fastener we can't seem to defeat.
I believe these will work:
https://console5.com/store/nintendo-pow ... river.html

I've also seen a Japanese blog where someone opened it by filing down a flathead screwdriver into a 2-prong fork shape.
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by NewSchoolBoxer »

Thanks jd213! I like how there is a tool for something so incredibly niche and potentially dangerous. I'm surprised price is only $4. Curious what the source is.

--------------------
I wanted this as separate reply to not get lost in short attention spam world.

$32 HIFI 9V/1A Regulated Linear PSU Review

I realized even with a business license, Chinese AliExpress vendors are not going to ship me free stuff. I went and bought the expensive HIFI 9V/1A regulated linear PSU. Is huge compared to Nintendo linear and generic switching PSU and I mean that in a good way since has more volume for bigger transformer and capacitors. Is the only PSU I've ever seen that fastens with Phillips screws for easy disassembly. Everyone else locks their device up, I suppose for safety reasons and to impede copying the design.

Pics:
Spoiler
Image
Image
Image
Image
Straight out, the transformer is only rated for 8VA and that is outrageously insufficient and negligent. SNES at 475mA load from Mega Man X was drawing 12.11VA off the Poniie meter. I can't fully explain VA in a message board post, but here is a summary:

DC power = voltage * current. AC power = voltage * current * power factor, that is a number between 0 and 1. The power factor from my testing on SNES is between 0.5 and 0.8 depending on the PSU, with higher being better due to less wasted power. Thing is, the more capacitance or inductance in a circuit, including the PSU's, the more the current and voltage AC signals get out of phase with each other. The greater the phase difference, the lower the power factor and the more power in VA that the transformer must supply for the same watts the connected device needs.

Therefore, a PSU supplying a supposed 9V/1A needs MORE THAN 8VA. I'd like to see 18VA with tradeoff of more VA = more cost. This thing can't even handle 500mA within spec. So what happens when VA is exceeded? The transformer's magnetic field gets saturated which means the DC voltage gets distorted, as in, more ripple. The transformer runs hotter as well. At some excessive VA, this excess heat becomes a fire hazard.

I'm going to see if my credit card company can reverse the charge for selling me a product not as described that I think would be illegal to sell in the US rated at 1A. I hate to be 'that guy' getting something for nothing but I'm not using a potentially harmful device and I can't overstate the massive negligence in using an 8VA transformer here.

The rest of the design is good enough. Standard rectifier IC versus 4x diodes and a sufficiently large 3300uF main capacitor. Uses an LT1085 adjustable voltage regulator versus a cheaper 9V linear regulator and the LT requires additional components (cost) for function and stability. Nice that I could adjust the output voltage with the knob but casual user should not be screwing with a mains powered device. Capacitors are 25V and impressively tier 1 brand Nichicon (assuming not counterfeit). I'd like to see 50V for lower leakage current and better heat tolerance if everything could still fit.

tl;dr Do not buy! I see other HIFI PSUs by other sellers with slightly different labels. I suppose there could be a design with a 12 or 18VA transformer but I'm not going to spend $100 to find out.
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Lopenator
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by Lopenator »

NewSchoolBoxer wrote:Thanks jd213! I like how there is a tool for something so incredibly niche and potentially dangerous. I'm surprised price is only $4. Curious what the source is.

--------------------
I wanted this as separate reply to not get lost in short attention spam world.

$32 HIFI 9V/1A Regulated Linear PSU Review

I realized even with a business license, Chinese AliExpress vendors are not going to ship me free stuff. I went and bought the expensive HIFI 9V/1A regulated linear PSU. Is huge compared to Nintendo linear and generic switching PSU and I mean that in a good way since has more volume for bigger transformer and capacitors. Is the only PSU I've ever seen that fastens with Phillips screws for easy disassembly. Everyone else locks their device up, I suppose for safety reasons and to impede copying the design.

Pics:
Spoiler
Image
Image
Image
Image
Straight out, the transformer is only rated for 8VA and that is outrageously insufficient and negligent. SNES at 475mA load from Mega Man X was drawing 12.11VA off the Poniie meter. I can't fully explain VA in a message board post, but here is a summary:

DC power = voltage * current. AC power = voltage * current * power factor, that is a number between 0 and 1. The power factor from my testing on SNES is between 0.5 and 0.8 depending on the PSU, with higher being better due to less wasted power. Thing is, the more capacitance or inductance in a circuit, including the PSU's, the more the current and voltage AC signals get out of phase with each other. The greater the phase difference, the lower the power factor and the more power in VA that the transformer must supply for the same watts the connected device needs.

Therefore, a PSU supplying a supposed 9V/1A needs MORE THAN 8VA. I'd like to see 18VA with tradeoff of more VA = more cost. This thing can't even handle 500mA within spec. So what happens when VA is exceeded? The transformer's magnetic field gets saturated which means the DC voltage gets distorted, as in, more ripple. The transformer runs hotter as well. At some excessive VA, this excess heat becomes a fire hazard.

I'm going to see if my credit card company can reverse the charge for selling me a product not as described that I think would be illegal to sell in the US rated at 1A. I hate to be 'that guy' getting something for nothing but I'm not using a potentially harmful device and I can't overstate the massive negligence in using an 8VA transformer here.

The rest of the design is good enough. Standard rectifier IC versus 4x diodes and a sufficiently large 3300uF main capacitor. Uses an LT1085 adjustable voltage regulator versus a cheaper 9V linear regulator and the LT requires additional components (cost) for function and stability. Nice that I could adjust the output voltage with the knob but casual user should not be screwing with a mains powered device. Capacitors are 25V and impressively tier 1 brand Nichicon (assuming not counterfeit). I'd like to see 50V for lower leakage current and better heat tolerance if everything could still fit.

tl;dr Do not buy! I see other HIFI PSUs by other sellers with slightly different labels. I suppose there could be a design with a 12 or 18VA transformer but I'm not going to spend $100 to find out.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with being "that guy" when you are sold a dangerous not as described product.
jd213
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by jd213 »

copy wrote:Can anyone recommend a good modern PSU for the Game Boy Pocket/Color? They're 3V, but it looks like Triad doesn't have any at that voltage.
There's some Chinese-made adapters on Amazon (search for Gameboy Color AC Adapter), but not sure how good they are.
Taiyaki
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by Taiyaki »

New to this thread. First time I hear of these Triad PSU's. Bought one for the Core Grafx.

Not sure if I'm missing it somewhere but FBX doesn't seem to have reviewed which Triad (if any) is optimal for the Sega CDX.

I found this one which looks like an ideal replacement but really expensive:

https://www.retrogamecave.com/product-page/cdx-psu


As for the Japanese Super Famicom. Is it really alright to go with the WSU090-1300-R even though the original did 10v and not 9v?
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NoAffinity
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by NoAffinity »

Not sure about the cdx, but wrt the super famicom (and snes), the voltage regulator can regulate a range including 9v and 10v. Google snes voltage regulator replacement, and look up the data sheet for the part number. You will see.

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Taiyaki
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by Taiyaki »

NoAffinity wrote:Not sure about the cdx, but wrt the super famicom (and snes), the voltage regulator can regulate a range including 9v and 10v. Google snes voltage regulator replacement, and look up the data sheet for the part number. You will see.

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Thanks. Will do that.
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VEGETA
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by VEGETA »

Hello,

touching on this topic, why such triad Psus considered good?

also, how much ripple and noise is considered good?

any data or scope measurements to see?
tongshadow
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by tongshadow »

VEGETA wrote: Sat Dec 30, 2023 2:01 am Hello,

touching on this topic, why such triad Psus considered good?

also, how much ripple and noise is considered good?

any data or scope measurements to see?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsuLAy2lgIk
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VEGETA
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Re: Triad Replacement PSU Links

Post by VEGETA »

tongshadow wrote: Sat Dec 30, 2023 5:14 pm
VEGETA wrote: Sat Dec 30, 2023 2:01 am Hello,

touching on this topic, why such triad Psus considered good?

also, how much ripple and noise is considered good?

any data or scope measurements to see?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsuLAy2lgIk
I was there and watched it, but they didn't answer my questions properly. i need to know the ripple and noise to be considered good, and how much triads have?
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