Will Battery Adapters work on Coleco Tabletop Games?

[ZeroPage Homebrew]

I have a couple of Coleco tabletop games, one that takes C sized batteries and one that takes D sized. I'm not terribly excited about buying a ton of heavy batteries and I haven't been able to track down any perma power adapters yet.

 

1) Would the adapter shells that hold AA batteries work in these systems without issues?

Example: http://www.lenmar.com/lenmar-c-adapter-shell-for-aa-batteries

 

2) Would using rechargable NiMH batteries in the adapters work and/or cause any damage to the systems?

 

Thanks!

[NinjaWarrior]

The Adapters I have will fit, But it's a bitch to get out

 

Advise just get some Rechargable C Batteries for it, It will cost more, But in the long run..You will save $$$$

 

Also this it's Power with using AA's you won't have as much Juice with the AA's as you do with C's

[7800fan]

Or just fashion a wood block that fits just right, has metal contacts in the right place, and a DC in jack.

[bohoki]

i think my tron used bent brass for the minus connection so aa's are too long they only work in say boomboxes and flashlights that use coil springs for the minus end they have a bit more room

[ZeroPage Homebrew]

Just to follow up on this thread. I just tried the battery adapters in my my Frogger machine and after many frustrating minutes of trying to wedge them in without them popping out I was able to get the battery cover closed. I turned on the game and nothing appeared on the screen. After turning it off and on a couple of times, a slight blip of the VFD lit up for a fraction of a second but didn't stay on. I don't think the contacts were lining up correctly and I wasn't about to play with them more.

 

Bottom line, they don't really fit and are hard to line up correctly when they do fit and I'm not sure they even power the game correctly if you do happen to get them lined up. Luckily I was able to buy some Coleco Perma Power adapters and for the rest of my systems, I'll stick with the correct size batteries.

[BigO]

How hard would it be to cook up a substitute for those Perma Power things? Wood dowel or PVC pipe/caps, brass for contacts, power adapter, a little solder, a little epoxy, a little wood whittling maybe.

 

Is there something particularly special about the power adapter? Or is it beneficial to have the battery weight in the bottom of the machine?

Is an actual separation between the "cells" necessary? I've seen some devices that have a divider between the cells in the battery compartment, but not many.

[ZeroPage Homebrew]

I seem to remember seeing someone post a photo somewhere of a homemade version of Coleco Perma Power using wood doweling. I would LOVE for someone to create a third party substitute for the Perma Power, the official ones can get pricey on EBay and there's been nothing ever created that I know of for sale to replace them.

To try and answer your questions:
- I don't think there's anything particularly special about the power adapter, if one with a similar voltage output could be found and wired up in the same way I think it would easy to substitute it out.
- There might be some minor benefit to have heavy batteries in the bottom of the machine to weigh it down but the official Coleco Perma Power 'batteries' weigh next to nothing and it works fine with those.
- I doubt the separation between the 'cells' are necessary and are just there to make it as easy as possible for the consumer to complete the circuit, I don't think there's anything inside except for a wire running internally from the + to the - terminals but please don't trust me about this, I'm not knowledgeable about electrical circuits.

Here are the specs for the Coleco Perma Power (as seen in the photos I've attached):

Coleco Perma Power Battery Eliminator
Model No 2298
Input: 117V AC-60Hz 3W
Output: 9V DC 100mA

[ZeroPage Homebrew]

Update!

 

I received the AA -> D adapters today for my Zaxxon tabletop game AND THEY WORK! First, I tried rechargeable batteries in them and nothing happened when I turned it on. Not giving up there, I then tried some alkaline AA batteries in the adapter and they worked perfectly, first try! Also, there is plenty of room in the Zaxxon for the AA -> D adapters so I highly recommend getting these. I'm not sure how many tabletops use D batteries but I'm pretty sure all the Coleco are C powered.

 

Armed with this new knowledge of alkaline vs rechargable, I went back to my AA -> C adapters and tried alkaline batteries in my Frogger and THEY WORKED! There is still the issue of the unbelievably tight fit (AA's are 50.5mm long and C's are 50mm long) but at least I know now that it was the type of battery and not the adapter.

 

Looking at the voltage output of the two types of battery:

Alkaline: 1.5V x 4 = 6V

NiMH: 1.2V x 4 = 4.8V

 

I'm guessing that 4.8V falls well outside of the realm that is needed to power on the game but 6V is what is needed (same as C'd) and works all the way up to 9V with the plug in Coleco Perma Power.

Also, I asked my friend, who is more knowledgeable when it comes to electrical things and he says that you could essentially get a equally rated power supply to the Coleco Perma Power, strip it to the bare wires and hook it up to the first and last terminal inside the battery compartment and it will work. I would definitely confirm this with someone else before trying it yourself and potentially frying your game system.

Edited June 6, 2016 by cimmerian

[BigO]

Update!

 

I received the AA -> D adapters today for my Zaxxon tabletop game AND THEY WORK! First, I tried rechargeable batteries in them and nothing happened when I turned it on. Not giving up there, I then tried some alkaline AA batteries in the adapter and they worked perfectly, first try! Also, there is plenty of room in the Zaxxon for the AA -> D adapters so I highly recommend getting these. I'm not sure how many tabletops use D batteries but I'm pretty sure all the Coleco are C powered.

 

Armed with this new knowledge of alkaline vs rechargable, I went back to my AA -> C adapters and tried alkaline batteries in my Frogger and THEY WORKED! There is still the issue of the unbelievably tight fit (AA's are 50.5mm long and C's are 50mm long) but at least I know now that it was the type of battery and not the adapter.

 

Looking at the voltage output of the two types of battery:

Alkaline: 1.5V x 4 = 6V

NiMH: 1.2V x 4 = 4.8V

 

I'm guessing that 4.8V falls well outside of the realm that is needed to power on the game but 6V is what is needed (same as C'd) and works all the way up to 9V with the plug in Coleco Perma Power.

 

Also, I asked my friend, who is more knowledgeable when it comes to electrical things and he says that you could essentially get a equally rated power supply to the Coleco Perma Power, strip it to the bare wires and hook it up to the first and last terminal inside the battery compartment and it will work. I would definitely confirm this with someone else before trying it yourself and potentially frying your game system.

 

If, in fact, the Perma Power gizmos don't do any voltage regulation then I agree with your friend about wiring up a power adapter without all the fiddly battery adapters. I'd probably try to find a place to install an 1/8" phono or barrel jack that breaks the battery connection when a plug is installed and call it a day.

 

If the table top unit works on 5v and tolerates a switching supply, you might be able to shove a newer 5v switching adapter inside the battery bay and run a power cord out (assuming there's enough space for a cord that size to exit where the perma power cord was designed to exit).

[Osgeld]

Dowels and thumbtacks work just as well