Solutions to manage lots of AC adapters from many consoles?

[sofakng]

Are there any solutions for the problem of having one AC adapter/PSU for each console?

For example, I have many game consoles (NES, SNES, N64, Genesis, Dreamcast, etc) and each console has it's own AC adapter which causes the power strip/surge protector to not fit everything, etc.

Are there any quality and correctly built multiple-console power adapters?

How is everybody else solving this problem? (or do you just live with it)

EDIT: Maybe a good quality Mean Well PSU and split it across all consoles or does that introduce noise?

[Bratwurst]

I use 12" mini-extension cords to connect each power brick to outlet strips that normally wouldn't let them neighbor one another. They can be had for less than a buck a piece if you buy the right quantity.

[sofakng]

Thanks for the reply.

That's exactly what I'm doing right now. It's not the worst solution in the world but I was just hoping to maybe have one power supply (9V?) and output it to nearly every console. It would just make things a bit cleaner in my opinion.

[vol.2]

I was just hoping to maybe have one power supply (9V?) and output it to nearly every console.

There are a couple of issues that jump out at me. 1) You'd need a fairly high current DC power supply to achieve this. Cheapest option I would use is something like an Astron linear power supply. I think it would run you, eeeh, $300ish to get yourself around 15A. It's also going to be a big unit, around 6"*8"*12" or so. Anything cheaper and smaller ( at the current you'd need) is going to be really shitty and I wouldn't trust it.
2) If one of the units puked, I would be nervous about all the inputs being connected to the same PSU. The protection circuit inside the unit should take care of it, but all the same, I would be hesitant.

The individual switching PSUs that all the various consoles use are generally safer because they operate ok at low currents (that shitty PSUs can handle) and are electrically isolated from one another.

[Kez]

What I have been doing for around a year now, is getting a good quality 9V PSU and running it to every 9V console I have using a daisy chain cable (like for guitar pedals). That is, Mega Drive, AV Famicom, CoreGrafx and SNES.. and then I just only turn them on one at a time.

I am not an EE but as these consoles are all mechanically switched, they are fully open when turned off. As long as only one console is on - it is not really any different to connecting it to a single machine.. right?

Happy to be corrected here but I have not had any issues at all doing it this way.

[sofakng]

Daisy-chaining is an interesting idea... In my setup (like many others I'm sure), I have a few consoles per shelf so daisy-chaining power between all consoles on the same shelf sounds convenient.

I've also heard that "sharing" a power supply is terrible for noise, but I agree that it seems like only using one console at a time wouldn't cause any issues? (I only use one console at a time anyways)

[nmalinoski]

My solution is a little less elegant; I picked up a CyberPower CPS1215RMS for all my non-current-gen consoles and supporting equipment. Most of what I have isn't powered by wall warts (PS1, PS2, PS3, Dreamcast, N64, Xbox, Xbox 360 (2)), so there's no real plug contention; and the stuff that is powered by wall warts (OSSC, component switcher, HDMI switcher, NES), I use those 12-inch extensions. The main thing I like about this setup is that I can keep everything plugged in, but switched off until I want to play one of these consoles.

For my current-gen stuff (PS4, Xbox One, Switch), AVR, and turntable, I'm using a Tripp Lite AVBAR8. Most of that isn't powered by wall warts, but, for the stuff that is, the AVBAR8 has enough spacing for them.

[Bratwurst]

If you're going to connect everything into one power supply, you should probably put a switch in each line going to the consoles just to further isolate what's not being used.

[nmalinoski]

If you're going to connect everything into one power supply, you should probably put a switch in each line going to the consoles just to further isolate what's not being used.

That sounds annoying--so you'd have reach behind the console to toggle the inline power switch every time?

Maybe there's a market for an isolating PSU focused on retro gamers. I was initially thinking something that output selectable 5V/9V/12V, but people already mistakenly hook up the wrong PSU to devices; might be worth it to design something that outputs DC 3.3V, 5V, 9V, and 12V (and 9V AC?) on every port, and you'd use keyed, console-/device-specific cables (labeled at both ends) that only tap whichever power source they need; so a NES would use 9V AC, an OSSC would use 5V, an N64 would use 3.3V and 12V (I think?), and so on.

[awbacon]

I looked and looked for a good power solution. Tried the extensions from the strip, tried cable management...tried the whole thing.

I finally realized just keeping all my power cables / bricks neatly in a box and plugging in power per use was the best method. Takes 30 more seconds but it's cleaner and honestly not much of a hassle.

That's just me though

[ldeveraux]

If you're going to connect everything into one power supply, you should probably put a switch in each line going to the consoles just to further isolate what's not being used.

Please don't send another thread down this road. I don't want to get into another fight about how unnecessarily annoying that "solution" is.

[RottenToTheGore]

If you're going to connect everything into one power supply, you should probably put a switch in each line going to the consoles just to further isolate what's not being used.

Please don't send another thread down this road. I don't want to get into another fight about how unnecessarily annoying that "solution" is.

Doesn't sound that annoying. I do something similar where I run these strips into a power conditioner
https://www.amazon.com/ADJ-Products-Pow ... 80&sr=8-13

Then I turn on the conditioner when I want to play retro stuff, and flip the switch for the system I want to play.

[ldeveraux]

If you're going to connect everything into one power supply, you should probably put a switch in each line going to the consoles just to further isolate what's not being used.

Please don't send another thread down this road. I don't want to get into another fight about how unnecessarily annoying that "solution" is.

Doesn't sound that annoying. I do something similar where I run these strips into a power conditioner
https://www.amazon.com/ADJ-Products-Pow ... 80&sr=8-13

Then I turn on the conditioner when I want to play retro stuff, and flip the switch for the system I want to play.

We get it, it's fractured, it's personal preference, you're not going to convince anyone otherwise. It's been discussed, let it go.
I think this post sums it up best: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=63585&start=317

[BuckoA51]

I use these:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-Way-25W-25 ... DDgxka-DaQ

and do the daisy chain thing like Kez does.

So far I've run Saturn and Dreamcast (with PicoPSU and ODEs) on the 12 volt output along with NES, SNES, Megadrive, 32x, Neo Geo and PC Engine off the 9 volt (not all at once of course!).

Initially I thought there was a problem running MD + Mega SD together with this psu but that was solved by physically disconnecting the console from the MegaCD rather than just unplugging the MCD.