Power adapter?

[0078265317]

I found some one on the internet saying their 2600 adapter was outputing 15 volts. Is it true some 2600 adapters were incorrectly manafactured (hence why some no longer work). Or was it just the early 6ers.

 

And if I do buy one how can I check with a volt meter if it is putting out 9 volts or more and not the 9 volts required.

[Benzman66]

ALL Atari adapters put out usually 12-14v without a load on the line.

It usually drops to around 9v when a load is applied.

If it is a little more, it isn't going to harm anything. The power regulator takes care of that.

[0078265317]

Then why do some atari 2600 no longer work after 20 or 30 years. Resisters and mother boards parts and stuff just were never made to last so long. Or atari never made things to last so long to keep people buying new stuff every 5 or 10 years.

[A.J. Franzman]

The power regulator and other parts in the console can handle input from about 7 to 16 volts. Some versions of the regulator can handle up to 35 volts, but the 2200 uF electrolytic capacitors in the majority of consoles are rated at 16 volts max. Higher rated capacitors are available, but they're larger. Anyway, the higher the input voltage, the more heat the regulator generates, and consoles that use a copper pour on the circuit board for their heatsink will overheat if the input is much above 12 volts (under load).

[A.J. Franzman]

Apart from people physically breaking stuff, the things in a VCS that have short lifespans are typically the power regulator, the electrolytic capacitors, transistors and integrated circuits. ICs can be killed by ESD (static electricity), power line spikes, excessive heat, and sometimes they just plain die for no apparent reason.