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Over-volting protection and alternative PSUs


tech6

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It seems that Atari PSUs are subject to the same issues that some Commodore PSUs are - namely that the voltage they put out can increase with age and damage the motherboard.

 

Is anybody aware of either a supplier of new XL/XE compatible PSUs or at least a protection device similar to what is available for the C64?

http://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=61438&sid=4a02722ad35fd97044b2a8fbbf4bdb82

 

Any info would be very welcome as one of my PSUs failed and took a perfectly good 800XL with it :(

 

 

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A lot of people use a 5V USB adapter that outputs at least 1.5A. I cut off the 7-pin DIN from a few Ingot power supplies to use in the future to make some USB power cables for the Atari.

 

C64 is a difficult beast, since it requires DC and AC from the power supply.

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It seems that Atari PSUs are subject to the same issues that some Commodore PSUs are - namely that the voltage they put out can increase with age and damage the motherboard.

 

 

Only one model of XL PSU is known to fail "hot" commonly, and that is the Ingot. The other five 5VDC XL models, and the 400/800/1050 9VAC models, are typically very reliable.

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I'm actually working on a design that wil be much much much much much simpler than that Commodore solution and it will protect from higher voltages too.

What I need to know......do people want to cut up their 5V cable from the supply to the computer to add a (very) small case (sp you only need 1 per power supply) or would you prefer to build it into the computer itself ?

Ideally I would design something like a DIN adapter that goes between the computer and the power supply connector, and it wouldn't be much bigger than the connector itself. I could use some help with maybe a 3D printed model....

The good thing of my idea is that it would be useable for ANY power supply, wether you prefer the original old-school types (like I do) or the modern switching ("USB") kind doesn't matter.

Edited by Level42
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Real computers use crowbar protection on the logic power supplies. Wire an SCR ( a big one) on the output with a zener diode from the gate to the output of the supply. If the output exceeds the voltage limit (5.5 to 7 volts), the SCR shorts the power, blowing the input fuse.

 

I think I have seen regulators with crowbars, or ICs that provide a crowbar function.

 

A really big zener will work also, I suppose.

 

Bob

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A lot of people use a 5V USB adapter that outputs at least 1.5A. I cut off the 7-pin DIN from a few Ingot power supplies to use in the future to make some USB power cables for the Atari.

 

Thanks for that useful advice. I guess a 2A Raspberry Pie PSU would do it.

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Yep, I actually have one of those to charge all kind of stuff with micro USB plug (including my modded Lynx which had a really big Lipo battery inside) and it works great.

 

However, these can fail too. I still am at the point that I feel a power supply which has a transistor switching the power on and of 100.000 times per second is not going to last as long as the linear supplies. And if they go, they can go badly too....

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I'm actually working on a design that wil be much much much much much simpler than that Commodore solution and it will protect from higher voltages too.

 

What I need to know......do people want to cut up their 5V cable from the supply to the computer to add a (very) small case (sp you only need 1 per power supply) or would you prefer to build it into the computer itself ?

 

Ideally I would design something like a DIN adapter that goes between the computer and the power supply connector, and it wouldn't be much bigger than the connector itself. I could use some help with maybe a 3D printed model....

 

The good thing of my idea is that it would be useable for ANY power supply, wether you prefer the original old-school types (like I do) or the modern switching ("USB") kind doesn't matter.

Put me down as customer #1 for any device you come up with. I would imagine that most folks would prefer a plug and play device but I have no problems with a little cutting and soldering.

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Hello Andre

 

Ideally I would design something like a DIN adapter that goes between the computer and the power supply connector, and it wouldn't be much bigger than the connector itself.

 

That's probably what most people would prefer, because you don't have to cut or modify something.

 

Sincerely

 

Mathy

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