Black Box Replacement Power Supply?

[+Larry]

My BB power supply is giving some concerns. It seems to be hotter than normal, although voltages are still OK, and the BB itself still is rock-solid. Maybe time to replace the original Recoton PS (originally used on the Colecovision?) with a modern regulated switcher. Maybe a power new connector while I'm at it. I don't care anything about the RS232 power (-5 VDC) just the normal +12/+5 VDC.

 

I should add that I've heard or read before that the BB works fine without the -5 VDC -- just no RS232. (?)

 

Has anyone actually done this? Any recommendations?

 

Thanks,

Larry

[Marius]

It's true. You ONLY need +5v and GND to have all operation except RS232 (and perhaps printer port?)

 

I used the blackbox only for harddrive and 6502 monitor for months, while it was powered from the atari.

 

I won't recommend that solution, but IIRC +5V and GND is the only thing you'll need for that.

[+Larry]

Cool!

 

Thanks, Marius, that makes it even easier! I wondered why the BB needed +12V, but now that you mention it, it makes sense that it is also for the RS232.

 

-Larry

[Fox-1 / mnx]

An ATX (or AT) power supply as used in PC's does the job. I never even had the stock PS' for the black box' as these are 110VAC anyways while I'm in "220VAC land". Ran mine from AT ones from the beginning and as a bonus they also feed the hard disks and the XL's/XE's itself.

 

b.t.w, I don't use -5VDC but -12VDC in stead.

[Marius]

An ATX (or AT) power supply as used in PC's does the job. I never even had the stock PS' for the black box' as these are 110VAC anyways while I'm in "220VAC land". Ran mine from AT ones from the beginning and as a bonus they also feed the hard disks and the XL's/XE's itself.

 

b.t.w, I don't use -5VDC but -12VDC in stead.

 

I am not sure who wrote it, but iirc it was Bob Puff himself who wrote that it dies not really matter since it is only used for reference. But officially rs232 uses -12V indeed ...

 

I found an external Atari St PSU with all the power leads needed.

[Mathy]

Hello guys

 

Bob told me you either need -5V or -12V, doesn't matter which on you choose.

 

And Robert, you no longer live in 220V land, you live in 230V land.

 

sincerely

 

Mathy (who cut the connector off the power supply his BB came with, since it was a U.S.A.-power supply. And found out afterwards, that Bob had done the same, because he needed a different connector then the supply came with. And therefore changed the order of the wires, so they no longer corresponded with the picture on the power supply. )

[Fox-1 / mnx]

And Robert, you no longer live in 220V land, you live in 230V land.

 

When measuring it shows 223V so 220 is closer.

[+Larry]

Ive run into one other problem. The "friction lock" on the pcb power connector (4-pin) is broken, and the (female) power line connector has pretty ragged contacts. I actually siliconed the line connector to prevent shorts and hold the contacts in the plastic shell.

 

Problem is that I can't seem to find this type of connector anywhere. Here are two pictures -- top and bottom of the male board header. One issue is that this connector does not have straight spacing. On the board, the spacing is 5 mm. On the connector itself, it is approximately 4 mm.

 

Does anyone have an idea as to what these are actually called and/or the maker?

[Fox-1 / mnx]

One of my BB's needed the same connector but since I had no PS at all I didn't have a connector either. I used one I took from an old TV.

[+bob1200xl]

That's a .156 Molex connector... KK-156 series. You can get small quantity kits of them from Jameco and DigiKey.

 

What is wrong with the female connector? The picture shows the male end.

 

Bob

[Marius]

How odd... I simply took one of these connectors of an ATX PSU. Fits darn good.

 

And ofcourse, you can pull a marius right here, and simply solder the leads direct on the BlackBox :D

[Fox-1 / mnx]

I wanted to mod mine's and put a PC-style molex socket on them to get a more standardized connection, until I realized I need -12VDC too :-)

 

Maybe creating the -12VDC on-board, like you mentioned in another thread, isn't a bad idea at all...

[+Larry]

Thanks, Bob.

 

On one of the female ends, the metal contacts never have fit correctly in two of the slots. Looks like they were mangled at original assembly. The photo shows an "unscathed" male -- I've got two BB's, and one is perfect; the other -- not so much.

 

EDIT: Would you say that CSS "spread" the board connectors to fit their original design? I see nothing that shows the 5 mm spread at the back. Maybe to fit their previous 7-pin spacing?

 

 

@Marius-

 

You must mean the ATX power connectors to the board headers?

 

-Larry

[Marius]

Maybe creating the -12VDC on-board, like you mentioned in another thread, isn't a bad idea at all...

 

I wasn't joking about that indeed. I seriously thought: why didn't Puff do that in the first place.

[+bob1200xl]

I would guess that he just formed the pins to fit the PCB.

 

Bob

 

 

 

Thanks, Bob.

 

On one of the female ends, the metal contacts never have fit correctly in two of the slots. Looks like they were mangled at original assembly. The photo shows an "unscathed" male -- I've got two BB's, and one is perfect; the other -- not so much.

 

EDIT: Would you say that CSS "spread" the board connectors to fit their original design? I see nothing that shows the 5 mm spread at the back. Maybe to fit their previous 7-pin spacing?

 

 

@Marius-

 

You must mean the ATX power connectors to the board headers?

 

-Larry

[Fox-1 / mnx]

I wasn't joking about that indeed. I seriously thought: why didn't Puff do that in the first place.

 

Probably because a voltage inverter comes with a price, takes up a little space and the PS he was using outputs -12VDC anyways.

 

Using a MAX232 instead of the 1488/1489 combo solves it all but I don't know if these were already available back then.

[+Larry]

Part of my PS issues was due to a bad connector on the gnd. connection. I had trouble with those connectors essentially from the time I received my first BB. So I found new connectors from Mouser. Here is a pic with the new headers, housing, and crimp connectors. The header is identical to the original 4-post Molex. The old housing was AMP; the new is Molex. The old connectors were solder-type; new ones are crimp. The housing is dimensioned so that it cannot be connected inverted to the header.

 

Here are the Molex and Mouser part numbers if anyone is interested.

Header: 26-50-5040 (Molex)...538-26-50-5040 (Mouser)

Housing: 09-50-8040 (Molex)...538-09-50-8040 (Mouser)

Connector: 08-50-8040 (Molex)...538-08-50-0105 (Mouser)

 

The picture is a bit difficult to see (sorry!). From left to right:

housing -- bottom face

header -- bottom facing up

connectors -- 18-24 AWG

Housing on the header -- normal assembled position.

 

-Larry

[Fox-1 / mnx]

They look about the same as the ones used on internal "low power" PC equipment, like a 3,5" floppy drive. Are they?

[+Larry]

No, they are somewhat similar, but the pins and connectors are much larger.

 

They look about the same as the ones used on internal "low power" PC equipment, like a 3,5" floppy drive. Are they?