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Power supply mod


Master Phruby

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Sure have ;)

 

Long story short, an AA member here called @doubledown (unfortunately no longer active here), who was renowned for his console modding skills and products, sold CV consoles with an internal power supply. Doubledown was notoriously secretive about the parts he used but eventually it came out that the power supply he used for this mod is an open frame Cincon CFM40D power supply, i.e. the http://www.cincon.com/data/products/cfm2_1/CFM40D_T.pdf.

 

I took it upon myself to mod one of my CV consoles and succeeded using the above part, although it took some time, research and experimenting to determine the best parts list, install location and method. Here is a picture of the installed power supply:

 

post-5757-0-55273600-1380896449_thumb.jpg

 

Unfortunately, the cost of the power supply is more than $40 + shipping and so this mod is not cheap, particularly when you add in the cost of the other parts plus the time to complete it.

 

I was in the process of documenting how to do the mod, along with a complete parts list, for those that wanted to do this for themselves. This is still a work in progress and slipped down my priority list of things to do - so it is still incomplete. That said, I WILL finish this document by the end of the year. I have another three of these power supplies in the house and will be modding my other ColecoVisions. Personally I love this mod and do not miss the brick at all.

 

If you do consider attempting to do this mod before I finish my instructions, be aware of a couple of critical things:

 

1. The input to the Cincon unit is polarized and as such you need to ensure that the power cord you use has a polarized plug on the end and that the power entry unit you mount in the ColecoVision is a polarized one. You obviously then have to ensure that you align the positive side all the way through from the power cord plug to the Cincon unit.

2. Use plastic standoffs to mount the new power supply. Just a safety precaution to ensure, should there be a short circuit, that the standoffs cannot become electrically live. The standoffs in the picture are metal - I later changed these to plastic.

3. Keep the original Coleco power entry unit in the console and wire this up in parallel with the output from the Cincon power unit. This allows the Roller Controller to be plugged into the ColecoVision and draw power from it as originally designed.

 

Hope this helps.

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Yeah...I asked about buying whatever power switch he was using from him (not even what brand or where he got it) and he refused. I don't like paying for services I can do myself unless I absolutely have to. Ended up making do with a rocker switch.

 

I believe I used the same power supply but in a different orientation. I hung it from the top half of the case. I had already cut the original power jack out years ago, got tired of jiggling the plug so I hardwired it. I think I've seen the jack floating around in a box of unfinished projects, I may put it back in in case I get a Roller Controller. Or maybe buy another CV for the case...

 

I posted this in another thread, internalizing the power supply adds a little weight to the CV, but in a good way. Kind of offsets the weight of the motherboard vs the empty control storage cavities.

 

 

Doubledown was notoriously secretive about the parts he used
Edited by frank_c
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Yeah...I asked about buying whatever power switch he was using from him (not even what brand or where he got it) and he refused. I don't like paying for services I can do myself unless I absolutely have to. Ended up making do with a rocker switch.

Yeah, the alternate power switch was one that frustrated a lot of people.

 

I posted this in another thread, internalizing the power supply adds a little weight to the CV, but in a good way. Kind of offsets the weight of the motherboard vs the empty control storage cavities.

It's a lot lighter than the original brick and I too like the way it balances the units centre of gravity.

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Sure have ;)

 

Long story short, an AA member here called @doubledown (unfortunately no longer active here), who was renowned for his console modding skills and products, sold CV consoles with an internal power supply. Doubledown was notoriously secretive about the parts he used but eventually it came out that the power supply he used for this mod is an open frame Cincon CFM40D power supply, i.e. the http://www.cincon.com/data/products/cfm2_1/CFM40D_T.pdf.

 

I took it upon myself to mod one of my CV consoles and succeeded using the above part, although it took some time, research and experimenting to determine the best parts list, install location and method. Here is a picture of the installed power supply:

 

attachicon.gifDSC07447 small.jpg

 

Unfortunately, the cost of the power supply is more than $40 + shipping and so this mod is not cheap, particularly when you add in the cost of the other parts plus the time to complete it.

 

I was in the process of documenting how to do the mod, along with a complete parts list, for those that wanted to do this for themselves. This is still a work in progress and slipped down my priority list of things to do - so it is still incomplete. That said, I WILL finish this document by the end of the year. I have another three of these power supplies in the house and will be modding my other ColecoVisions. Personally I love this mod and do not miss the brick at all.

 

If you do consider attempting to do this mod before I finish my instructions, be aware of a couple of critical things:

 

1. The input to the Cincon unit is polarized and as such you need to ensure that the power cord you use has a polarized plug on the end and that the power entry unit you mount in the ColecoVision is a polarized one. You obviously then have to ensure that you align the positive side all the way through from the power cord plug to the Cincon unit.

2. Use plastic standoffs to mount the new power supply. Just a safety precaution to ensure, should there be a short circuit, that the standoffs cannot become electrically live. The standoffs in the picture are metal - I later changed these to plastic.

3. Keep the original Coleco power entry unit in the console and wire this up in parallel with the output from the Cincon power unit. This allows the Roller Controller to be plugged into the ColecoVision and draw power from it as originally designed.

 

Hope this helps.

Well, I for one, am anticipating the complete guide for this mod. Some of the things I have read make me a little afraid of the possible damage my wall wart could do and I'd like something more reliable.

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Something I noticed, and haven't tried yet: We dropped directv and they didn't make us return the old sd dvr so I opened it up and noticed that it had it own small power supply board. looks to have the correct voltage for a CV, so I was wonder if that might work? I've seen them at thrift stores for around $5, so if they would work that might be a cheap way to go. I think you need to find the dvrs as they have a hard drive in them. just a thought, nothing I've tried yet.

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Something I noticed, and haven't tried yet: We dropped directv and they didn't make us return the old sd dvr so I opened it up and noticed that it had it own small power supply board. looks to have the correct voltage for a CV, so I was wonder if that might work? I've seen them at thrift stores for around $5, so if they would work that might be a cheap way to go. I think you need to find the dvrs as they have a hard drive in them. just a thought, nothing I've tried yet.

Be careful. There are stories out there of people that returned equipment but didn't keep receipts and the cable companies charged them not only for the missing boxes but years of fines.

I would call direct tv and find out if you are supposed to return this thing or if it is yours and if it is yours then I would say you want it in writing mailed to you.

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Something I noticed, and haven't tried yet: We dropped directv and they didn't make us return the old sd dvr so I opened it up and noticed that it had it own small power supply board. looks to have the correct voltage for a CV, so I was wonder if that might work? I've seen them at thrift stores for around $5, so if they would work that might be a cheap way to go. I think you need to find the dvrs as they have a hard drive in them. just a thought, nothing I've tried yet.

Can you post a picture of the board? Remember that it's not only about the voltages but also the current - you need to ensure that the board is designed to supply enough current on each voltage to meet the CV's demands.

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After looking at it, maybe it wouldn't work. Here are the pictures:

Yes, this doesn't look like it will work for an unmodded ColecoVision. You need +5V (0.9A), -5V (0.1A) and +12V (0.3A) - all DC. Looks like your +5V is slightly underrated, +12V is good, but you have no -5V. Although I don't know what the difference is between V and VH which I am sure is important.

 

If you do the VRAM mod (http://atariage.com/forums/topic/163446-diy-modifications-for-colecovision/) this eliminates the need for the -5V and the +12V. However, if you have the 5-11under component video mod then you still need the +12V (http://atariage.com/forums/topic/177131-vram-mod-and-power-supply/).

 

BTW - just to clarify that the specific Cincon power supply I used is the CFM40T-01 model.

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The following items use +12V:

Video RAM, RF video, Atari Expansion module (not 100% sure), composite video mod (all or most mods, I think).

 

The following items us -5V:

Video RAM, controller (possibly just the spinner/etc. - not 100% sure), Atari Expansion module (not 100% sure).

 

Feel free to reply if I've missed something or got it wrong... I haven't tested all of these.

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Doesn't the Atari module feed off the 5V rail? There's no voltage regulator in it that could be used for the 12V rail and nothing on the 2600 uses -5V.

I didn't mention +5V, because that's a given. Pretty much everything uses +5V, including the Atari Expansion module.

 

I just checked... the Atari Expansion module uses +12V for the external video enable loop, and also, in the least, to supply power to two transistors - I'm not 100% sure, but I'm guessing one is for composite output drive and the other is for color adjustment. The -5V leads, in the least, to a couple of (zener?) diodes for the controller circuitry - maybe that one isn't necessarily required.

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  • 4 months later...

What about using a Mini-ITX power supply, used on Car computers. and then a 7905 negative voltage regulator to drop the -12v to -5v?

 

Am thinking of doing this to my ADAM. According to the ADAM schematics, they used a 7905 as well to supply the -5 volts.

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  • 6 years later...
8 minutes ago, Ikrananka said:

Full BOM with part numbers is in the document attached to the first post of the topic I linked to above.

I must be blind.  All I see is a PDF that links (post #2) to the manufacture that doesn't work (at least not to a PDF).

Let me know.

Edited by Kamshaft
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