unebonnevie Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Hi, I have an Atari 800XL, bought from eBay. The power supply's cord is a bit wiggle (not well connected) to the brick. How do I open the brick itself and make sure the cord is well connected? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 That depends on which model supply you have. Some you can't open. Read this: http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/power%20guide.htm#XL/XE If you have the "boat anchor" otherwise known as the "Ingot", GET RID OF IT NOW! It can and does fail and destroy your computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfdbg Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Hi, I have an Atari 800XL, bought from eBay. The power supply's cord is a bit wiggle (not well connected) to the brick. How do I open the brick itself and make sure the cord is well connected? Thanks! It also depends on the country you're coming from. The Ingot was not sold outside of the US, for example. Ataris sold in Germany came with very good, rock-stable power supplies you can easily open from the screws in their feet. But they are almost impossible to break. The ingot, however, is just a case for the trash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 It also depends on the country you're coming from. The Ingot was not sold outside of the US, for example. Ataris sold in Germany came with very good, rock-stable power supplies you can easily open from the screws in their feet. But they are almost impossible to break. The ingot, however, is just a case for the trash. It appears the INGOT was sold outside the US/Canada. At least the following post has a picture of what appears to be an INGOT, but the label indicates the input as 220V 50Hz. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/221488-euro-power-supplies/?do=findComment&comment=2930804 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
re-atari Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 (edited) It also depends on the country you're coming from. The Ingot was not sold outside of the US, for example. Ataris sold in Germany came with very good, rock-stable power supplies you can easily open from the screws in their feet. But they are almost impossible to break.Are you sure about that? About 5 years ago I bought a used 800XL (late model XLF with Freddie) from the 1st owner (I'm in NL). It was complete in original box wih all peripheral equipment (TV cable and docs), amongst which was the dreaded Ingot PSU. Knowing its reputation, I never dared running the 800XL with this PSU, used my other A8's one. IIRC I threw the Ingot PSU in the trash a few months ago when moving to my new house. I later on realised I should have snipped off the cable with 7-pin DIN plug, so I could use a modern 5V wall adapter to power it. re-atari Edited July 22, 2015 by re-atari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanmercer Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I later on realised I should have snipped off the cable with 7-pin DIN plug, so I could use a modern 5V wall adapter to power it. Hmmm can anyone think of anything else that uses the same plug... I wonder if adapters for universal power supplies exist for them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fujidude Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Can you maybe still buy those connectors from an electronics supply house? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanmercer Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Looks like the are 1.45-2$ each bbbuuutttt did atari make it some weird custom pin size or something... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanmercer Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 (edited) If someone bought some and tossed in a few inches of cable and wired them to a \cylindrical connector... boom universal power supplies are our new friends! Pinouts -> http://atariage.com/forums/topic/184792-800xl-power-supply-connector/?do=findComment&comment=2323544 Edited July 22, 2015 by ryanmercer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fujidude Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 (edited) I am pretty sure Atari did not use a custom connector for that. I think it is a standard "DIN" configuration. Here is a handy reference: http://www.hardwarebook.info/Atari_8-bit_Power Edited July 22, 2015 by fujidude 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I am pretty sure Atari did not use a custom connector for that. I think it is a standard "DIN" configuration. Here is a handy reference: http://www.hardwarebook.info/Atari_8-bit_Power Correct - it's a standard DIN-7 connector. The monitor is a DIN-5. Should be available everywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
re-atari Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Hmmm can anyone think of anything else that uses the same plug...Yes, from what I've heard the C64 does. The same 7-pin plug on its PSU. But with completely different pin layout and voltages, of course. I wonder if adapters for universal power supplies exist for them...Maybe I wasn't entirely clear about what I had in mind if I had preserved the cable and plug. I have a few 5V 1,5A wall adapters laying around, they'd make a good replacement A8 PSU. Only needed to solder on the snipped-off cable. Oh well, maybe next time. re-atari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fujidude Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 1.5A is the minimum requirement. It's what the XL/XE were specced for. But... a little overhead doesn't hurt. Especially when you start adding in memory upgrades etc. If I still had my hardware, I would probably get one of the plentiful 2.1A rated supplies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 (edited) You guys have gotten me all paranoid about my power supplies all of the sudden! Whew, I think I'm good. Per Bruce (B&C/myatari's) eBay pics and descriptions, the two main supplies I use for my 800XL/600XL machines are both good ones - "the Black Brick" and the "#4." And my 400/800/1200XL/1050 supplies are all original C017945's that test good. I re-check them every so often and leave them all unplugged when not in use but it's good to know I don't accidentally have an "Ingot" in use anywhere. Edited July 22, 2015 by DrVenkman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD6502 Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 I clipped off the DIN cord of a dead A8 supply years ago, but I'm funny that way. I think I saved the AC side as well. When I'm old and senile I'll probably be one those hoarders you see on TV. I'm wondering if there is any reason why I shouldn't splice the DIN onto the +5v lead from a spare molex connector on the modern PC PSU I use for my A8's hard drive? A PC supply would have plenty of current, I think. It's a Dynex from Best Buy, perhaps dependability might be an issue, it might make an Ingot seem safe. I haven't checked the voltage, how picky is an Atari? (130 XE) It would be nice to reduce cord clutter. My system has 4 power cords, monitor cable, two SIO cables, SCSI, and Centronics cables, and that's just the Atari! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 A PC supply should be fine. They're switching types, and very well regulated. The original Atari supplies are analog, and not as well regulated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Z Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 I clipped off the DIN cord of a dead A8 supply years ago, but I'm funny that way. I think I saved the AC side as well. When I'm old and senile I'll probably be one those hoarders you see on TV. I'm wondering if there is any reason why I shouldn't splice the DIN onto the +5v lead from a spare molex connector on the modern PC PSU I use for my A8's hard drive? A PC supply would have plenty of current, I think. It's a Dynex from Best Buy, perhaps dependability might be an issue, it might make an Ingot seem safe. I haven't checked the voltage, how picky is an Atari? (130 XE) It would be nice to reduce cord clutter. My system has 4 power cords, monitor cable, two SIO cables, SCSI, and Centronics cables, and that's just the Atari! That's fine, but keep in mind some switching power supplies have a minimum load requirement, and the atari 8 bit might not meet it. Also, don't trust wire color codes. use the connector pinout instead. Most power supplies use red wires for 5v, but I know someone who had one that didn't. Also, it didn't work with too small of a load, so when he measured what he thought was a 5V line, and it was low, it looked right. But when he actually got the supply to work, 12V made the 600XL go poof. Turned out the red wire was the 12V line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motrucker Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 You guys have gotten me all paranoid about my power supplies all of the sudden! Whew, I think I'm good. Per Bruce (B&C/myatari's) eBay pics and descriptions, the two main supplies I use for my 800XL/600XL machines are both good ones - "the Black Brick" and the "#4." And my 400/800/1200XL/1050 supplies are all original C017945's that test good. I re-check them every so often and leave them all unplugged when not in use but it's good to know I don't accidentally have an "Ingot" in use anywhere. It seems that the Atari shares a common bond with the Commodore computer when it comes to power supplies. Both machines aparently suffer from really poorly designed and built power supplies. While I was searching for something to help a Commodore 64 PSU, I found a site that might also help Atari users. http://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/commodore-64-replacement-psu-project/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD6502 Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 I knew about the minimum load thing. I didn't think to mention it because I'm already using the PSU to power a hard drive and controller, so it isn't an issue. Double checking the voltage is good advice, I've seen variations in color coding myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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