Turns out guitar pedal PSUs fit retro consoles just fine

[DirkSwizzler]

Fair enough. Can’t argue with reducing clutter.

I have 1 of those $12 tested ones on each shelf of my console setup and use barrel plug splitters from there.

I’m pretty OCD about visual noise and haven’t noticed a problem. But that’s not super scientific. It is however drastically cheaper.

[Syntax]

Using splitters to power multiple consoles is asking for a ground loop issue.

Your video switches usually isolate grounds from my understanding but that's semi pointless if you have power grounds all linked for a few consoles. IMO.

Issues would become more apparent when multiple consoles are on.

[BuckoA51]

A word of warning, usually guitar pedal PSUs don't have enough ampage for retro consoles. They certainly don't have enough for the OSSC and you will get random reboots etc particularly at the higher line multiplication modes.

[thebigcheese]

A word of warning, usually guitar pedal PSUs don't have enough ampage for retro consoles. They certainly don't have enough for the OSSC and you will get random reboots etc particularly at the higher line multiplication modes.

Posted about current requirements a few posts back.

[thebigcheese]

For anyone still curious, hooked everything up to the Pedal Power Mondo today and it is all working perfectly. No issues so far, though I am still waiting on an adapter for my SNES. Audio and video are all nice and clean.

Having said that, if you want to go the nice and tidy route of using one thing to power your whole setup, I would go with one of the other power brick things I linked to. This one isn't the best choice in terms of usable outputs, I just already had it and wasn't using it for anything else.

[thebigcheese]

Hi all, been doing some extra research on this lately and it turns out my current draw measurements are all wrong. By a significant margin in some cases. The Kill-a-watt is not an effective tool in this case as it detects current draw from the wall, not from the PSU to the console. This does not change anything in regards to the 1Spot as that has more than enough current to power any console. But it does mean that none of the fancy transformer-isolated are adequate, even though initial testing seemed to have everything working fine. I've edited the initial post to reflect that, sorry for any confusion I may have caused.

[DirkSwizzler]

Fun times. The PWR+ 9V adapters used to have just a handful of listings on amazon. And now they have too many to count based on what devices it supports.

I assumed they were just trying to broaden their search appeal and hadn’t given it much notice until I just fried a snes junior.

Turns out that an identical looking adapter, with an identical model number (but differing “item number”, wtf) had the opposite tip polarity.

I’m hoping I can get away with an easy fix of just swapping out the voltage regulator or something. And if not, at least it’s a relative inexpensive console to reacquire these days.

Anyway. Test your tip before you attempt to #BeatIt2018

[thebigcheese]

Fun times. The PWR+ 9V adapters used to have just a handful of listings on amazon. And now they have too many to count based on what devices it supports.

I assumed they were just trying to broaden their search appeal and hadn’t given it much notice until I just fried a snes junior.

Turns out that an identical looking adapter, with an identical model number (but differing “item number”, wtf) had the opposite tip polarity.

I’m hoping I can get away with an easy fix of just swapping out the voltage regulator or something. And if not, at least it’s a relative inexpensive console to reacquire these days.

Anyway. Test your tip before you attempt to #BeatIt2018

It's actually kind of annoying that the real ones are positive tip, IMO, especially since they don't say that anywhere on the listing. Fortunately I did not fry anything, but I didn't realize it at first and plugged everything up. That's what I get for not reading the HD Retrovision post thoroughly, I guess. I ended up opening them up and swapping the wires so that they are all negative tip now except for the one on the NES cuz it doesn't matter. Should probably label that one...

[SamIAm]

One thing I would be interested in knowing is exactly which consoles have all of their components behind a 7805 linear regulator. In systems where that is the case, you only have to worry about two things for your power source: having the voltage be low enough not to overheat the 7805 (which is dependent on each system's current draw) and high enough that the 7805 can output a proper 5V (>7V).

If, for some reason, AC adapters and power strips didn't do it for you, it seems like you ought to be able to rig up a single power supply that outputs ~7.5V with a high current rating and wire it directly into the DC inputs of any and all 7805-based consoles.

If it fits this description, the infamous Genesis/CD/32X super-combo should be all right with everything coming from one DC source.

[BuckoA51]

Hi all, been doing some extra research on this lately and it turns out my current draw measurements are all wrong. By a significant margin in some cases. The Kill-a-watt is not an effective tool in this case as it detects current draw from the wall, not from the PSU to the console. This does not change anything in regards to the 1Spot as that has more than enough current to power any console. But it does mean that none of the fancy transformer-isolated are adequate, even though initial testing seemed to have everything working fine. I've edited the initial post to reflect that, sorry for any confusion I may have caused.

Hate to say I told you so . I even approached formally some of the pedal psu manufacturers about getting a higher ampage version but none were interested.

[thebigcheese]

One thing I would be interested in knowing is exactly which consoles have all of their components behind a 7805 linear regulator. In systems where that is the case, you only have to worry about two things for your power source: having the voltage be low enough not to overheat the 7805 (which is dependent on each system's current draw) and high enough that the 7805 can output a proper 5V (>7V).

If, for some reason, AC adapters and power strips didn't do it for you, it seems like you ought to be able to rig up a single power supply that outputs ~7.5V with a high current rating and wire it directly into the DC inputs of any and all 7805-based consoles.

If it fits this description, the infamous Genesis/CD/32X super-combo should be all right with everything coming from one DC source.

You can power it all from one source. That's the whole reason to get the RetroDC.

[SamIAm]

Bah, I should have read about that more closely before posting.

Still, I wonder why they went with 9V in the RetroDC when 7.5V should be plenty for a 7805, and otherwise consume less power. Does anything actually need 9V? Are they using an off-the-shelf 9V supply? Did they go with 9V so people wouldn't worry?

[thebigcheese]

Bah, I should have read about that more closely before posting.

Still, I wonder why they went with 9V in the RetroDC when 7.5V should be plenty for a 7805, and otherwise consume less power. Does anything actually need 9V? Are they using an off-the-shelf 9V supply? Did they go with 9V so people wouldn't worry?

As I understand it, it is an off-the-shelf supply with some components swapped out. 9 volts is pretty easy to find, so that's probably why. Plus most of the original supplies were 9 volts, but I suspect that has more to do with them being unregulated (AFAIK), so not outputting a constant 9 volts. The PWR+ supply recommended by HD Retrovision is regulated, so you can a nice, constant 9 volts (give or take) with that one. I wish it was a little skinnier and having to reverse the polarity is annoying, but otherwise it's a good choice.

[EllertMichael]

This could be a good, albeit costly, solution:

[thebigcheese]

This could be a good, albeit costly, solution:

400 mA is not enough. I looked into those.

[DirkSwizzler]

The PWR+ supply recommended by HD Retrovision is regulated, so you can a nice, constant 9 volts (give or take) with that one. I wish it was a little skinnier and having to reverse the polarity is annoying, but otherwise it's a good choice.

Like I just said. The PWR+ comes in both polarities.

[thebigcheese]

The PWR+ supply recommended by HD Retrovision is regulated, so you can a nice, constant 9 volts (give or take) with that one. I wish it was a little skinnier and having to reverse the polarity is annoying, but otherwise it's a good choice.

Like I just said. The PWR+ comes in both polarities.

Didn't see that. The listing doesn't say anything about the polarity, AFAIK. Where are you seeing that? And, maybe more importantly, why doesn't HD Retrovision just link to that one instead?

[bobrocks95]

The PWR+ supply recommended by HD Retrovision is regulated, so you can a nice, constant 9 volts (give or take) with that one. I wish it was a little skinnier and having to reverse the polarity is annoying, but otherwise it's a good choice.

Like I just said. The PWR+ comes in both polarities.

Didn't see that. The listing doesn't say anything about the polarity, AFAIK. Where are you seeing that? And, maybe more importantly, why doesn't HD Retrovision just link to that one instead?

He's seeing that the polarity's reversed by looking at his fried SNES Jr., check a couple posts up. Though it would be helpful if you have that different item number DirkSwizzler.

[DirkSwizzler]

He's seeing that the polarity's reversed by looking at his fried SNES Jr., check a couple posts up. Though it would be helpful if you have that different item number DirkSwizzler.

I’m not positive if the item number guarantees the center negative.

RO6-UL is the “item number” for one I have that’s center negative. I got it using this link https://smile.amazon.com/Brother-AD-24E ... psc=1&ref=

TBF-11 is the “item number” for one of the center positive ones I already had.

All their amazon links say what devices they’re listing as compatible. So if you want to be sure, look up what that device takes before buying. And test the tip before use because they look identical.

Good news about the snes jr. I bypassed the 1.5a fuse as a test to see if I could fix it and that worked. So now I’m just waiting for new fuses from Digi-Key.

[thebigcheese]

I can't believe they don't even indicate polarity on the sticker on the power supply. I assumed that was mandatory, but I guess not. Sigh.

[Xer Xian]

So does anyone have a recommendation for a good PSU for retro consoles in Europe (unfortunately the one by PWR+ that's approved by the HDRetrovision guys doesn't seem to be available over here).

I thought this one looked good but then found that the inner hole is 2.5mm wide which I guess would be a poor fit to a 2.1mm female (there are adapters for that but they cost almost as much as the PSU which is dumb). I've ordered one of these (cheapest universal PSU that meets the spec I could find) but I fully expect it to be garbage. There are better quality universal PSUs but at more than double the price. Are those sold by retrogamesupply actually good? They look like generic chinese PSUs to me.

Btw, I found an 8-port 9v PSU that should output more than enough current for retro consoles (unless the 2A refers to the 8 ports as a whole..). I don't need such a thing, only posting it since it was discussed above. Edit: it's mobile lol leaving it here anyway for the lulz

[thebigcheese]

Yeah, that 2A refers to the total available for the 8 ports. That wouldn't work so well.

[Xer Xian]

Heh. I found out that Kramer does multi-port PSUs too (where each port is at least 1.5A), but are only available with 5v and 12v lines.