Transformers with Superguns

Etrian · Post by **Etrian** » Sat May 10, 2008 3:23 pm

Hey, I'm getting a Supergun shortly and I'd like to know if my step-down transformer will fit the bill. I run on a 220v currency and the Supergun is from Japan, which is 110v. I currently have two step-down transformers, one for my US SNES and another for my Japanese Saturn. They were both bought in NZ. I'm not sure whether the Supergun uses some sort of higher power though.

The reason I ask is because when I bought my Japanese 360, I was informed that because of the power consumption I'd be looking at a couple of hundred at a transformer that deals with such a high power consumption. I then discovered I could use an external power supply from my own currency instead.

Can someone inform me here? Thanks.

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Sat May 10, 2008 7:41 pm

the cheapest transformer at the hardware store will do, if you get a 50W one you can plug as many consoles you want into it simultaniously without it ever overloading.

a couple of hundred for a transformer is absoluteley throwing money away at an overkill device, just take a look at the transformer that plugs into the console, they usually output 10-15V and <10A

however most superguns have switchable PSUs anyways which means you can plug 220V straight into em (sigmas for instance), just dont forget to flip the switch 110V/220V in case its not autoswitching

Etrian · Post by **Etrian** » Sat May 10, 2008 9:36 pm

This is what it says on my transformer:

INPUT: 230/240v AV 50Hz
OUTPUT: 110/115v AC 50Hz
25VA MAX
CS6276N

I see nothing about <10A though.

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Sat May 10, 2008 11:37 pm

thatone will do just fine for consoles

i meant what actually goes in to the console (you dont send 220V into it

), if you look at a PSone transformer for instance youll see it doesnt pull more power than the MP3 player in your pocket...

the more power a device draws the sturdier the transformer needed.
basically higher amps = more expensive transformer.

for instance if youre gonna plug in an industry fan or a TIG archwelder youll need a couple of hundred Watts...

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Sun May 11, 2008 12:33 am

Where is this magical 110/220 switch on the Sigma? I've definitely not seen it and I've been using one for about 5 years now.

Tindalos · Post by **Tindalos** » Sun May 11, 2008 7:41 am

GaijinPunch wrote:

Where is this magical 110/220 switch on the Sigma? I've definitely not seen it and I've been using one for about 5 years now.

From what I've read it's on the PSU itself.

Etrian · Post by **Etrian** » Sun May 11, 2008 2:17 pm

sven666 wrote:thatone will do just fine for consoles

i meant what actually goes in to the console (you dont send 220V into it ), if you look at a PSone transformer for instance youll see it doesnt pull more power than the MP3 player in your pocket...

the more power a device draws the sturdier the transformer needed.
basically higher amps = more expensive transformer.

for instance if youre gonna plug in an industry fan or a TIG archwelder youll need a couple of hundred Watts...

Yeah, I won't be shoving 220v into it. Guess I'll just use this transformer seeing as how you say it'll work with the Sigma. Thanks a lot!

EOJ · Post by **EOJ** » Sun May 11, 2008 7:10 pm

GaijinPunch wrote:

Where is this magical 110/220 switch on the Sigma? I've definitely not seen it and I've been using one for about 5 years now.

It's on the bottom of the unit, in the middle.

Etrian · Post by **Etrian** » Mon May 12, 2008 5:40 pm

Can someone provide a picture? Thanks.

antron · Post by **antron** » Mon May 12, 2008 6:56 pm

Etrian · Post by **Etrian** » Mon May 12, 2008 10:43 pm

I see what you did there.

But seriously, please?

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Tue May 13, 2008 2:58 am

Your thread does say Transformers with Superguns --so it's gotta have some kinda Transformer theme... ^_~

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Tue May 13, 2008 5:46 am

Classic, antron.

What'd you know, there it is. On the off chance that a European country takes over the world, or that I move there, I'm all set on the Supergun front. Fucked on everything else.

Etrian: You wouldn't be able to see it if I took the picture. The bottom of the AV7000 has a grate. It's INSIDE that, so you'll need either extremely skinny fingers... like tooth pick size (unlikely) or just a toothpick or similar (likely).

ReKleSS · Post by **ReKleSS** » Tue May 13, 2008 6:05 am

The VA rating is mostly equivalent to the wattage rating... the difference is some complex (the A+Bi variety) weirdness. Either way, just think of it as W = VA = volts * amps (take them both from the input or output). 25VA seems like the low end... for reference, the DC is 27W, the saturn is 20W, PStwo plugpack is about 50W, the PSone plugpack is 15W, and the wii plugpack is 52W. I would worry about a supergun because of the audio output - it's designed to drive speakers directly, so may be capable of a fair amount of output power. If you overdrive a transformer you'll hopefully blow the fuse; otherwise you risk melting it down or setting it on fire.

BTW, if anyone reading this thread has a PS3 or 360, I'd be curious what the power ratings are.

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Tue May 13, 2008 8:27 am

ReKleSS wrote: PStwo plugpack is about 50W, .

for real!?

an arcade cabinet with a trisynch monitor, two speakers and a fluorescent ligt draws about 90W.. i had two hooked up to a 150W transformer without problems, never blew a single fuse, after about 10h the transformer was pretty hot but nothing major.

anyways i stick by that a 25VA one should be enough for just about any console, in the case of the PStwo one there it might get a little hot after a while but should still be able to function without fail.

ReKleSS · Post by **ReKleSS** » Tue May 13, 2008 9:04 am

Back of the PS2 plugpack says 8.5V 5.65A, which is 48W, fat PS2 is also marked for 50W. You'd expect overheads in design specifications for both the plugpacks, devices and transformers, and I would suspect a PS2 to work if it's not a cheapo 25W transformer. Anything newer (well, the wii doesn't count) would be crazy. Cnet has some figures - 50W for the PS2 (i.e. most of its capacity... sounds fishy), 74W for the xbox (sounds OK, it's PC hardware) and up to 190W for the 360.

I'll note that my 50W transformer says to use a 0.5A fuse, which should blow at ~57W. For some reason there's a 1.5A fuse in there...

Back to the original question, as long as the transformer is fused (correctly) and isn't a cheapo unit, it's worth a try. If either condition isn't satisfied I wouldn't recommend it, just shell out for a better one. Also, judging from discussions around here some PCBs are very sensitive to input voltage. Knowing your transformer is over-specified means you have one device to worry about when troubleshooting.

btw:

i meant what actually goes in to the console (you dont send 220V into it ), if you look at a PSone transformer for instance youll see it doesnt pull more power than the MP3 player in your pocket...

My iriver H120 (old HDD player) has an unusually chunky charger, rated for 5V@2A, or 10W. PS1 is also rated for 10W, PSOne (slim) is rated for 15W, but probably draws the same.

The iriver can charge in 3-4 hours (actually draws about 500-900mA iirc), original battery life was meant to be 16 or so. Actual draw is therefore about a quarter of that - somewhere between 125 and 250mA. And this model is about 5 years old and HDD based. Anyway, if your mp3 player was dissipating more than 2W or so of heat I think you'd notice it getting way too hot.

Etrian · Post by **Etrian** » Wed May 14, 2008 4:34 am

GaijinPunch wrote:Classic, antron.

What'd you know, there it is. On the off chance that a European country takes over the world, or that I move there, I'm all set on the Supergun front. Fucked on everything else.

Etrian: You wouldn't be able to see it if I took the picture. The bottom of the AV7000 has a grate. It's INSIDE that, so you'll need either extremely skinny fingers... like tooth pick size (unlikely) or just a toothpick or similar (likely).

I'll inspect it once it arrives. I hope it's at least visible and I can only assume that it's set to 110v seeing as how you tested it before shipping.

ReKleSS wrote:BTW, if anyone reading this thread has a PS3 or 360, I'd be curious what the power ratings are.

They both have external power, so you don't need to worry.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Wed May 14, 2008 12:31 pm

Make sure you're in a well lit room. You should be able to see it just fine.