Porkchops & Applesauce Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 I recently purchased a 1050 Disk Drive that came with a "BESTEK" DC 18-19.5V 3.61A positive-tip power adapter, and was told it would work. I don't know, so I thought I'd check here first before I "try and see." Is this safe to use? If so, would you consider it a better or worse choice than the original equipment 9VAC adapter? Thanks in advance. Cheers friends! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 Nope nope nope, the 1050 requires 9V AC, not DC. Original spec is 31VA (approx 3.4 Amps) There are aftermarket ones on eBay, but watch out as many are only 1A or less, which is not enough. AC is much more rare than DC nowadays. Some previous investigations on these forums have found a minimum of 2.4A might suffice. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porkchops & Applesauce Posted October 11, 2019 Author Share Posted October 11, 2019 @Nezgar Thanks. I should add, I was told this was a "switching DC power supply". Not sure if that makes a difference? Cheers friend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 Just now, Porkchops & Applesauce said: I should add, I was told this was a "switching DC power supply". Not sure if that makes a difference? Pretty much all common DC power supplies nowadays are switching, which can be done in a much smaller and more efficient package compared to the classic 'linear' transformer power supplies. Doesn't matter how the power is adapted inside the supply, the output is still DC.. but you need AC output. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 (edited) I thought people had some success using DC supplies on some older gear that were AC originally? You're only getting half the rectifier working and have to provide adequate amperage but not too much voltage don't you? Edited October 11, 2019 by Rybags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porkchops & Applesauce Posted October 11, 2019 Author Share Posted October 11, 2019 @Nezgar Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 3 hours ago, Rybags said: I thought people had some success using DC supplies on some older gear that were AC originally? You're only getting half the rectifier working and have to provide adequate amperage but not too much voltage don't you? Might work, at a guess the DC PSU would need to supply about 18 VDC @ 3.5A, (lose approx. 2.4V across all the PSU diodes to the 12V regulator). So possibly an old laptop PSU like the one supplied ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 Possibly, though I'm not recommending it as such. Though I'm sure that this sort of thing has been done and I read about it here somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 (edited) bad idea... I can't count the number of 1050's that had to be repaired because people have tried this sort of thing.... sometimes with the 'it worked for a while so I though it was okay' jibber jabber. On a 1050 the power supply already has enough to deal with... enjoy the hot heat sink in the back (good for keeping stuff warm) Edited October 12, 2019 by _The Doctor__ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 Couldn't an alternative be to just use one of the 12/5 volt supplies that are pretty common (as in included with many 3.5" HDD enclosures) then just do some wiring at the appropriate places? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porkchops & Applesauce Posted October 12, 2019 Author Share Posted October 12, 2019 @TGB1718 @_The Doctor__ @Rybags Thanks all for the feedback! I bought this drive from a seller everyone here knows so I'm inclined to believe them when they say it'll work. However, I also agree with _The Doctor_ that it's not worth the risk. One thing is for sure, without the familiar 9VAC 31VA power supply everyone knows/trusts it raises questions, and that in turn lowers the resale value of this drive. I've reached out to the seller and I'm told they'll send out an AC transformer to replace the DC adapter supplied. Because so far they seem willing to make it right I don't want to say who it is. Cheers friends! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 What I plan to do with my 1050's due to the fact the wires into the transformer 'brick' are starting to go hard (I've had to fix one and not really happy with the result) is to remove the 5V and 12V regulators in the drive and replace them with a DC-DC Buck regulator, which can supply 3A with heat sinks, so bolt them to the nice big sink already in the drive, use it's output to supply the 5V and supply the DC-DC booster to supply the 12V. The input to the 5V regulator can be any DC voltage up to about 32V, obviously with suitable current. In the drive, would probably remove the rectifier diodes and just link the input PSU to the new regulators. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 Buy a Rockpower 9VAC guitar pedal PSU of appropriate amperage. There's a thread on the forum about them. Problem solved. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xrbrevin Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 NES / SNES PSUs work too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 (edited) 3 hours ago, xrbrevin said: NES / SNES PSUs work too These power supplies WILL NOT WORK for a 1050. The Atari 1050 power supply is 9VAC@~3A, the NES/SNES power supplies are only 9VDC@lower current(the SNES version is only 1.2A, less for the NES version). The voltage doubler for the +12V rail won't work with 9VDC input and the current rating is insufficient. Edited October 13, 2019 by BillC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xrbrevin Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 4 hours ago, BillC said: These power supplies WILL NOT WORK for a 1050. The Atari 1050 power supply is 9VAC@~3A, the NES/SNES power supplies are only 9VDC@lower current(the SNES version is only 1.2A, less for the NES version). The voltage doubler for the +12V rail won't work with 9VDC input and the current rating is insufficient. weird - they DO WORK and theres nothing DC about them. i have about 3 of them and they are all run the atari hardware regularly and reliably. is it possible nintendo made them to a different standard in your region? maybe input voltage is an important factor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 10 hours ago, xrbrevin said: weird - they DO WORK and theres nothing DC about them. i have about 3 of them and they are all run the atari hardware regularly and reliably. is it possible nintendo made them to a different standard in your region? maybe input voltage is an important factor? I looked into this before. The confusion comes from the NES using an AC power supply, and by nature of having a full bridge rectifier, is also able to use 9V DC. The SNES power supply is DC, and the console is designed to ONLY accept DC. AC, or incorrect polarity DC would be bad for it. So: An AC NES PSU will work with the 1050 A DC NES/SNES PSU will not. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manterola Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 If you have time (and patience) to afford I recommend waiting for the original co17945. I've got 3 already at ~$14 free shipping on average in ebay. Just add a notification wait some months until you find one cheap and act fast. I needed 3, one for my xf551 (it came with originally with a 220vac psu) the I got used 1050 and a used xf551 without psu. Since I had a 220vac/110vac cheap trafo I kept using the drives with my original 220v psu, until I got a total of 3 110v original atari psu in a period of about 8 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xrbrevin Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 3 hours ago, Nezgar said: An AC NES PSU will work with the 1050 A DC NES/SNES PSU will not. ah thanks for clearing that up, i guess mine must be NES units then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 4 minutes ago, xrbrevin said: ah thanks for clearing that up, i guess mine must be NES units then The issue is that even a 9VAC NES supply probably won't deliver enough current for both the logic circuitry and the drive mechanism, spinning up a 5.25" floppy disc requires a fair amount of power. The OEM power supply is 31VA, over 3A, for a reason. Even the 15VA(~1.65A) 9VAC power supply that came with early 400s isn't recommended for use with the 810/1050/XF551. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 correct, when the disk starts up, if the disk is tight in the jacket it can approach locked rotor levels of current draw to get going... so you might have enough power for short disk use, but not so much for sustained use especially for tight or dragging disks to mention the dirty disks that sometimes load up the head with frictional bits of dead medium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xrbrevin Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 current demand is reduced if you replace the 78xx regulators with switching/buck converter types but youre right, that old mech is a thirsty one.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blacka013 Posted October 15, 2019 Share Posted October 15, 2019 Here is a link to the power supply I bought off eBay which I have been using for over a year now with my 1050 and XF551 drives without any problems. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2A-2000MA-9V-18VA-AC-AC-OUTPUT-MAINS-POWER-ADAPTOR-SUPPLY-CHARGER-TRANSFORMER/172060824312?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l9372 You will need this inline adaptor. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-1MM-x-5-5MM-TO-2-5MM-x-5-5MM-POWER-SUPPLY-ADAPTOR-JACK-PLUG-TIP-SIZE-CONVERTER/121699030408?hash=item1c55d3d588:g:TwsAAOSwjVVVnUyP Regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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