New power supplies for the ColecoVision?

[HDTV1080P]

The Dragonbox Col USB Power plug for the ColecoVision has went out of production according to my sources and is no longer being stocked by dealers. However, the Dragonbox website in Germany says the Col USB is “out of stock” so maybe under ideal conditions the company might manufacture some more CV-power (Col USB) plugs. But that most likely is wishful thinking. Every authorized Col USB dealer in the United States is out of stock (including all worldwide dealers). Once and awhile the Col USB plug might pop up on EBAY or Amazon from various dealers at inflated prices for new and used units.

 

ColUSB - USB Power Supply for the Colecovision - Power Supplies (dragonbox.de)

 

NO LONGER STOCKED ColUSB - USB Power Supply for the Colecovision ColecoPlug USB-C (console5.com)

 

ColUSB - USB Power Supply / Adapter for the Colecovision - Stone Age Gamer

[Greg2600]

Well I suppose we could buy one for $185 from you after you've been gouging people for $85 for some time!  What did you clean Dragonbox/Stone Age out just to flip them for 2X, now 4X?

 

 

Edited February 19, 2021 by Greg2600

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Not defending any of this, but at least from the Console5 side of things, they stopped carrying them not due to lack of availability but because of some other issues specifically in dealing with Dragronbox. But I didn't ask for specifics. But I know that Console5 only offered them for a very short time and in fact the one I had that (overheated and died on me) was one of the first batch available from console5 when they first received them.

 

 

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

43 minutes ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

the one I had that (overheated and died on me) was one of the first batch available from console5 when they first received them.

 

Mine still works (last I checked) but also gets unbelievably hot and is quite scary to use!

 

- James

[+-^CrossBow^-]

24 minutes ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said:

 

Mine still works (last I checked) but also gets unbelievably hot and is quite scary to use!

 

- James

I've told this before, but I was using my ColUSB in my workbench area since due to its small size, it was great to have on hand when working on Colecovisions. I was using an apple iPad charger on it to power it since I knew that had all the needed specs to operate and figuring it was a legit apple branded charger, that it would be of good quality. After working on a CV on morning, I took it down to the game room to have the system run for several hours for burn int testing. On that test I was using an actual CV power supply and left my ColUSB near the workbench and still plugged into everything as I just didn't think about it. Came back with the CV about 4 hours later it was at most and found that the ColUSB housing had warped and started to completely separate. Picked it up and found the entire assembly to be very hot to the touch so I unplugged it and set it aside to cool off wondering what on Earth had happened. Once it cooled, the casing formed back into shape and I decided to test it. It wasn't working any longer at that point and the only power I was getting from it was the +12. The + and -5v were no longer working from the ColUSB. 

 

It is possible that the iPad charger was too much for it (The charger was a 10w as I recall it being labeled on the PSU housing), but it would seem that the regulators inside the ColUSB just build up too much heat unless they have a load on it at all times. I'm going to guess the -5 mostly since that is the one voltage that is constant on the CV and not switched on with the power switch itself.

 

Either way with shipping costs what they are, it would cost me more than it is worth it at the moment and I've simply not bothered.

[HDTV1080P]

8 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

Not defending any of this, but at least from the Console5 side of things, they stopped carrying them not due to lack of availability but because of some other issues specifically in dealing with Dragronbox. But I didn't ask for specifics. But I know that Console5 only offered them for a very short time and in fact the one I had that (overheated and died on me) was one of the first batch available from console5 when they first received them.

 

 

The main issue currently is that the Col USB plug is out of production and out of stock from Germany Dragonbox website. No one anywhere in the world can purchase the Col USB if the Dragonbox website is out of stock. Now if they were to ramp up production again and get them in stock again, then it would be an issue of which USA dealers plan on stocking the product. When Dragonbox use to manufactory and stock the Col USB plug, there was some issues that some dealers had when trying to purchase in large quantity. Therefore, some people stopped purchasing the Col USB plug from Germany because of some issues they had after they placed the order. I choose not to go into details. It’s a non-issue now since the Col USB plug is out of production and might never go back into production.  

Edited February 20, 2021 by HDTV1080P

[+-^CrossBow^-]

11 hours ago, HDTV1080P said:

The main issue currently is that the Col USB plug is out of production and out of stock from Germany Dragonbox website. No one anywhere in the world can purchase the Col USB if the Dragonbox website is out of stock. Now if they were to ramp up production again and get them in stock again, then it would be an issue of which USA dealers plan on stocking the product. When Dragonbox use to manufactory and stock the Col USB plug, there was some issues that some dealers had when trying to purchase in large quantity. Therefore, some people stopped purchasing the Col USB plug from Germany because of some issues they had after they placed the order. I choose not to go into details. It’s a non-issue now since the Col USB plug is out of production and might never go back into production.  

Console5 didn't stop offering them because they couldn't get them in bulk. Console5 had other issues with Dragonbox and that is why they stopped carrying them after their first batch they bought sold out. They could have restocked back then at anytime and they chose not to.

 

[Greg2600]

Well I guess I'm just SOL then, because I'm not paying a king's ransom for a ColUSB and the Mean Well adapter (as evidenced by my personal experience) did not work without issues in the video on multiple consoles.  I was, by the way, not offered a replacement or anything of the sort, and had to pay myself for return shipping. 

[ChildOfCv]

4 minutes ago, Greg2600 said:

Well I guess I'm just SOL then, because I'm not paying a king's ransom for a ColUSB and the Mean Well adapter (as evidenced by my personal experience) did not work without issues in the video on multiple consoles.  I was, by the way, not offered a replacement or anything of the sort, and had to pay myself for return shipping. 

What issues were you having?

[+evg2000]

I purchased a couple from console 5.  One didn't work, they asked me to contact Dragonbox.  Dragonbox was great trying to diagnose the issue, they had me test a bunch of stuff and then told me it was broken and they would have to send me a new one.  At that point dragonbox would no longer answer any email, they completely ghosted me.  I contacted console 5 and they took the hit and replaced it for me.

[Swami]

5 hours ago, Greg2600 said:

Well I guess I'm just SOL then, because I'm not paying a king's ransom for a ColUSB and the Mean Well adapter (as evidenced by my personal experience) did not work without issues in the video on multiple consoles.  I was, by the way, not offered a replacement or anything of the sort, and had to pay myself for return shipping. 

I've gotten open box OEM's for $50 on "best offer".

[Swami]

9 hours ago, Greg2600 said:

Well I guess I'm just SOL then, because I'm not paying a king's ransom for a ColUSB and the Mean Well adapter (as evidenced by my personal experience) did not work without issues in the video on multiple consoles.  I was, by the way, not offered a replacement or anything of the sort, and had to pay myself for return shipping. 

Ruggers Custom just said they repair dead OEM power supplies, as long as the transformer is good and, IIRC, it is usually a cap or transistor that goes bad. A NOS OEM or repaired one are as good or better than any modern solution, IMO.

[Greg2600]

9 hours ago, ChildOfCv said:

What issues were you having?

Way too much video interference, waves upon waves.  The composite modded system was the worst, which given it has the best signal was not a surprise.  RF system too.  Took it to game store, did the same thing on their consoles.  Store owner had a ColUSB, and my system worked perfectly with that.  So it was 100% an issue with either the Mean Well, the custom adapter cable, or both.  I was offered little support here as you can read by Mr. HDTV who builds/sells them, only that his product was "tested thoroughly" which in the homebrew world means nothing.  There's always many exceptions when dealing with vintage consoles.  Other AA folks as usual gave me tips to work through.  It's quite possible that a replacement unit might have worked perfectly, but I did not seem to have that option.  All I could do was pay to ship it back to MN to receive a refund via eBay.  I realize that most have no issues with it, and yes, I have the old Yurkie AV mod I wished to replace anyway.  But the adapter malfunctioned on a stock CV as well.  He could have stepped up, and said, send it back, I will send you another, didn't happen.

 

29 minutes ago, Swami said:

Ruggers Custom just said they repair dead OEM power supplies, as long as the transformer is good and, IIRC, it is usually a cap or transistor that goes bad. A NOS OEM or repaired one are as good or better than any modern solution, IMO.

Appreciate that, may look into it.  I have a working OEM, and a 2nd that could be repaired (works but garbles graphics) though idk if shipping makes sense for it.  I just simply wished to step away from the giant bricks!  I truly was looking forward to the Mean Well thing but as I said above, not a good customer service experience.

[Swami]

16 minutes ago, Greg2600 said:

Way too much video interference, waves upon waves.  The composite modded system was the worst, which given it has the best signal was not a surprise.  RF system too.  Took it to game store, did the same thing on their consoles.  Store owner had a ColUSB, and my system worked perfectly with that.  So it was 100% an issue with either the Mean Well, the custom adapter cable, or both.  I was offered little support here as you can read by Mr. HDTV who builds/sells them, only that his product was "tested thoroughly" which in the homebrew world means nothing.  There's always many exceptions when dealing with vintage consoles.  Other AA folks as usual gave me tips to work through.  It's quite possible that a replacement unit might have worked perfectly, but I did not seem to have that option.  All I could do was pay to ship it back to MN to receive a refund via eBay.  I realize that most have no issues with it, and yes, I have the old Yurkie AV mod I wished to replace anyway.  But the adapter malfunctioned on a stock CV as well.  He could have stepped up, and said, send it back, I will send you another, didn't happen.

 

Appreciate that, may look into it.  I have a working OEM, and a 2nd that could be repaired (works but garbles graphics) though idk if shipping makes sense for it.  I just simply wished to step away from the giant bricks!  I truly was looking forward to the Mean Well thing but as I said above, not a good customer service experience.

As I've said, if you plug it into a 2-3 foot extension cord for $1, it's no worse than a laptop or xbox one power supply, if that helps.

[ChildOfCv]

1 hour ago, Greg2600 said:

Way too much video interference, waves upon waves.

I see.  Did the power supply look brand new, or salvaged?  I'm pretty sure they're all repurposed, and if they have a power switch instead of a soft start like ATX computers from the mid 90's and on expect, that almost screams "new old stock".  What you're describing sounds like a dirty +12V output, which may mean bad caps or something.

[Greg2600]

14 hours ago, Swami said:

As I've said, if you plug it into a 2-3 foot extension cord for $1, it's no worse than a laptop or xbox one power supply, if that helps.

I hear ya, as I said, my thing has been I'd rather move away from OEM entirely as they tend to cause glitches.  Play for 30 mins, seems perfectly fine, then arghhhh, garbling.  I just don't want to rely on them.  If Ruggers can refurbish one to modern standards, I might consider that.  Maybe he can replace the Yurkie mod too.

13 hours ago, ChildOfCv said:

I see.  Did the power supply look brand new, or salvaged?  I'm pretty sure they're all repurposed, and if they have a power switch instead of a soft start like ATX computers from the mid 90's and on expect, that almost screams "new old stock".  What you're describing sounds like a dirty +12V output, which may mean bad caps or something.

I believe these are all "new" and rather recent, as it would be difficult to source a large quantity of new old stock with any reliability.  All the guy does is slap a CV label on it.  All I could do from my end was to prove out that the adapter was adding interference on multiple consoles, TV's, etc.  It may simply have been that one unit, but like I said, he didn't offer to swap it free of charge so what was I to do?  Certainly wasn't interested in shipping them back and forth hoping for a "good one."

[Charlie_]

19 hours ago, Greg2600 said:

Way too much video interference, waves upon waves.  The composite modded system was the worst, which given it has the best signal was not a surprise.  RF system too.......  But the adapter malfunctioned on a stock CV as well.....

I have the Meanwell supply and it does the same exact thing. I use a composite modded system and a stock RF system. It has the problem on both. I didn't even realize it until I read your post. It is most apparent on the blue select skill level screen many games use. Noisy lines all over the screen. It does seem to get better as the system warms up. I'd say about 10-15 mins and it is much more acceptable.

 

My stock power supply does not exhibit this issue. In fact it seems to work very well. I'll see how it hold up to a regular gaming session.

 

I also have a COLUSB that I ordered from the Dragonbox website and was shipped to me from Germany. It does not have the video interference that the Meanwell supply has. The reason I don't use it is that it is very lose in the socket of the CV. It does work very well though.

 

I had previously posted very positively about the Meanwell supply not realizing this issue was happening. I thought it was the CV itself as I was having sync issues with a Toshiba TV set. I have to say now, after directly comparing the Meanwell to a stock power supply and a COLUSB I can NOT recommend it at all. Being "video" games, the last thing we need is something causing noise in the video.

[Greg2600]

1 hour ago, Charlie_ said:

I have the Meanwell supply and it does the same exact thing. I use a composite modded system and a stock RF system. It has the problem on both. I didn't even realize it until I read your post. It is most apparent on the blue select skill level screen many games use. Noisy lines all over the screen. It does seem to get better as the system warms up. I'd say about 10-15 mins and it is much more acceptable.

 

My stock power supply does not exhibit this issue. In fact it seems to work very well. I'll see how it hold up to a regular gaming session.

 

I also have a COLUSB that I ordered from the Dragonbox website and was shipped to me from Germany. It does not have the video interference that the Meanwell supply has. The reason I don't use it is that it is very lose in the socket of the CV. It does work very well though.

 

I had previously posted very positively about the Meanwell supply not realizing this issue was happening. I thought it was the CV itself as I was having sync issues with a Toshiba TV set. I have to say now, after directly comparing the Meanwell to a stock power supply and a COLUSB I can NOT recommend it at all. Being "video" games, the last thing we need is something causing noise in the video.

Glad I'm not the only one.  Well actually someone else reported this before me, but chalked it up to the AV mod (think Yurkie as well).  I would concur that on games with an empty (black) background it's not as noticeable, but on something like River Raid it's pretty bad.  I left it on for hours, never got any less noisy.  Given that the kit you get has that adapter cable with ferites I have to wonder what might even be done to correct it?  Initially I figured, well, if I replace the AV mod it will be gone, but then I tested it on unmodded systems, and though it's harder to notice on RF given it's own inherent interference, it's there.  My stock RF CIB console actually has an amazingly strong/clean RF signal and it's totally obvious on that.  I am not one of those guys who lavish praise over the pixels they can see on a paused screen upscaled by a Framemeister onto a PVM, not in the least.  However, I cannot see well enough if there's wavy lines all over the place. 

 

PS: If you're not using the ColUSB, I'd buy it off you.  LOL. 

[Ruggers Customs]

On 2/17/2021 at 10:23 PM, HDTV1080P said:

The Dragonbox Col USB Power plug for the ColecoVision has went out of production according to my sources and is no longer being stocked by dealers. However, the Dragonbox website in Germany says the Col USB is “out of stock” so maybe under ideal conditions the company might manufacture some more CV-power (Col USB) plugs. But that most likely is wishful thinking. Every authorized Col USB dealer in the United States is out of stock (including all worldwide dealers). Once and awhile the Col USB plug might pop up on EBAY or Amazon from various dealers at inflated prices for new and used units.

 

ColUSB - USB Power Supply for the Colecovision - Power Supplies (dragonbox.de)

 

NO LONGER STOCKED ColUSB - USB Power Supply for the Colecovision ColecoPlug USB-C (console5.com)

 

ColUSB - USB Power Supply / Adapter for the Colecovision - Stone Age Gamer

This is simply just not true.  The Colusb is still very much in production.  I have spoken with Mike at Dragonbox and a new supply is in production as we speak.  

[+-^CrossBow^-]

20 hours ago, Greg2600 said:

Glad I'm not the only one.  Well actually someone else reported this before me, but chalked it up to the AV mod (think Yurkie as well).  I would concur that on games with an empty (black) background it's not as noticeable, but on something like River Raid it's pretty bad.  I left it on for hours, never got any less noisy.  Given that the kit you get has that adapter cable with ferites I have to wonder what might even be done to correct it?  Initially I figured, well, if I replace the AV mod it will be gone, but then I tested it on unmodded systems, and though it's harder to notice on RF given it's own inherent interference, it's there.  My stock RF CIB console actually has an amazingly strong/clean RF signal and it's totally obvious on that.  I am not one of those guys who lavish praise over the pixels they can see on a paused screen upscaled by a Framemeister onto a PVM, not in the least.  However, I cannot see well enough if there's wavy lines all over the place. 

 

PS: If you're not using the ColUSB, I'd buy it off you.  LOL. 

I also reported the issue as soon as I first tested it out on my composite modded CV. However, when I connected the composite output straight into my TVs composite input, the noise wasn't there. It was only present through my Extron selector so I just thought it was something on my Extron causing it. To be fair, most composite sources don't look as good through my Extron and eventually through the OSSC to the TV as connecting straight composite does to the TV. 

 

But I can also state that the meanwell supply did NOT seem to generate any interference with my TMS-RGB upgraded console. It is the same one that shows noise through RF and composite with the same adapter. As I intend to use my personal CV mainly on RGB I'm not that bothered by this and have continued to use it. I still have two OEM bricks that work as well.

 

One thing I did want to mention in my testing of the meanwell. Using ChildOfCV's test board, I found out that the meanwell is actually supplying around 13v to the +12v rail as that is what actually is showing up both on his test kits diagnostics and also through my fluke DMM. I don't believe that has much to do with it but just an odd thing I noticed about the meanwell. And no it wasn't my console because plugging in the actual OEM CV PSU brick shows just over +12v on the 12v rail when using it. So the meanwell or at least the one I have, is putting out a solid +13v to the CV.

 

[ChildOfCv]

29 minutes ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

I also reported the issue as soon as I first tested it out on my composite modded CV. However, when I connected the composite output straight into my TVs composite input, the noise wasn't there. It was only present through my Extron selector so I just thought it was something on my Extron causing it. To be fair, most composite sources don't look as good through my Extron and eventually through the OSSC to the TV as connecting straight composite does to the TV. 

 

But I can also state that the meanwell supply did NOT seem to generate any interference with my TMS-RGB upgraded console. It is the same one that shows noise through RF and composite with the same adapter. As I intend to use my personal CV mainly on RGB I'm not that bothered by this and have continued to use it. I still have two OEM bricks that work as well.

 

One thing I did want to mention in my testing of the meanwell. Using ChildOfCV's test board, I found out that the meanwell is actually supplying around 13v to the +12v rail as that is what actually is showing up both on his test kits diagnostics and also through my fluke DMM. I don't believe that has much to do with it but just an odd thing I noticed about the meanwell. And no it wasn't my console because plugging in the actual OEM CV PSU brick shows just over +12v on the 12v rail when using it. So the meanwell or at least the one I have, is putting out a solid +13v to the CV.

 

Does the Mean Well happen to have a ferrite choke on the CV plug wire?

 

Most of the time, the +12V is intended to run motors such as the hard drives, so I guess smooth output on those rails isn't as important.  The +5 and +3.3 both tend to have extra smoothing chokes built in.  On the old PC with a floppy drive, it used +12V to run the head magnets, but the disk drives have about 4 capacitors on the +12V line alone, to eliminate crap.  (and about 11 on the +5V line)

 

On the CV, the +12V powers the video circuitry, so smooth power is absolutely necessary.  TMS-RGB bypasses the +12V part, so it's not surprising that it's unaffected.

 

It would be instructive to look at the +12V with an oscilloscope.

[Greg2600]

1 hour ago, ChildOfCv said:

Does the Mean Well happen to have a ferrite choke on the CV plug wire?

 

Most of the time, the +12V is intended to run motors such as the hard drives, so I guess smooth output on those rails isn't as important.  The +5 and +3.3 both tend to have extra smoothing chokes built in.  On the old PC with a floppy drive, it used +12V to run the head magnets, but the disk drives have about 4 capacitors on the +12V line alone, to eliminate crap.  (and about 11 on the +5V line)

 

On the CV, the +12V powers the video circuitry, so smooth power is absolutely necessary.  TMS-RGB bypasses the +12V part, so it's not surprising that it's unaffected.

 

It would be instructive to look at the +12V with an oscilloscope.

This is the adapter you get with the Mean Well, no idea what's inside.  Honestly you'd think all this testing should have been done by the guy selling these?

On 7/27/2020 at 1:24 AM, HDTV1080P said:

ColecoVision compatible power cord information.docx 15.44 kB · 35 downloads

[ChildOfCv]

Ooooooh, okay.  I was thinking the Mean Well one was that monstrosity that was adapted from a full computer PSU as seen in another thread.  So this is a plastic box with a DIN output, and the CV cord plugs into it.

 

According to the datasheet, it's the awesomest replacement.  Obviously there are some asterisks involved though.  It's probably that it needs 0.2A minimum on the 12V supply.  I doubt that CV draws anywhere close to that.  That's a 60 ohm minimum load equivalent.  You probably a 2.5W 60 ohm resistor between 12V and GND to get the kind of stability that it advertises.

[Greg2600]

2 hours ago, ChildOfCv said:

Ooooooh, okay.  I was thinking the Mean Well one was that monstrosity that was adapted from a full computer PSU as seen in another thread.  So this is a plastic box with a DIN output, and the CV cord plugs into it.

 

According to the datasheet, it's the awesomest replacement.  Obviously there are some asterisks involved though.  It's probably that it needs 0.2A minimum on the 12V supply.  I doubt that CV draws anywhere close to that.  That's a 60 ohm minimum load equivalent.  You probably a 2.5W 60 ohm resistor between 12V and GND to get the kind of stability that it advertises.

LOL!  No, no, he replaced that craziness with this.  Definitely need some kind of resistor here.  He went overboard on the insulation and UL certification, blah blah blah, but really should have thought about the power loads.  Also has yet to even bother to chime in on the subject.