Perma Power for Steering Wheel

[megoninja]

Hey guys,

 

I just bought a colecovision steering wheel expansion module and was annoyed to find that you need to use batteries to run it. Honestly I am really annoyed, why cant it just work like a normal controller? Why would it need more power to operate?

Any way, I read you can get a perma power pack in the instruction manual which would eliminate any need for batteries, so my question is, can you still get these? Does any one make them still? And how hard are they to get?

 

Any help would be appreciated as I really hate having to buy batteries, especially those giant ones which are pretty expensive.

 

Thanks

[Supergun]

Hey guys,

 

I just bought a colecovision steering wheel expansion module and was annoyed to find that you need to use batteries to run it. Honestly I am really annoyed, why cant it just work like a normal controller? Why would it need more power to operate?

Any way, I read you can get a perma power pack in the instruction manual which would eliminate any need for batteries, so my question is, can you still get these? Does any one make them still? And how hard are they to get?

 

Any help would be appreciated as I really hate having to buy batteries, especially those giant ones which are pretty expensive.

 

Thanks

 

 

I think I can be of help to you.

Alright so first off, yes, you can still purchase the perma power units (mostly used of course) from Ebay and other such sources. They are not as rare as you may think as they were also made for (compatible with) coleco's tabletop mini electronic arcade games like donkey kong and pacman. Therefore, they are more common then you may think.

 

Secondly, you might be very surprised just how long a set of 4 C batteries will last you. Put it this way, go buy them today, and play turbo for 15 minutes or so. then feel free to play it again say maybe two or three times a month. Then in about 10 or 15 years, it will be time to buy new batteries.

 

In 1987 I got my turbo module from a friend and was also too cheap to buy batteries. he included a complimentary set of 4 radio shack batteries. (you know...from the free battery of the month promo they offerred back in the 80's) I played turbo on average maybe 2 or 3 times a month (great game btw) and I ended up finally having to replace these batteries a few years after Y2K.

 

Hope this helps.

[megoninja]

lol, are you kidding me? It took that many years to replace? I cant believe it. I thought they would last about 2 months at the most. I have had bad experiences with battery powered things like keyboards and computer mice and I didnt want to waste money on the things when I could get a perma power pack.

I saw the ones on eBay for the tabletop games like you mentioned but didnt think they would work.

Thanks heaps for this info it really does help.

[tetrode kink]

...he included a complimentary set of 4 radio shack batteries. (you know...from the free battery of the month promo they offerred back in the 80's)...

Watch it, bub. They were doing that as early as the '70s.

 

Hate to break it to you, but the world did actually exist before you were born.

 

I take that back. I don't hate to break it to you; I, in fact, relish it.

 

-tet