Leave plugged in?

[0078265317]

Made some space in my cabinet under my TV in my basement to put my 5200 2 port.  When playing its cleaner than leaving it on the carpet.  And also to hide all the wires.  On the carpet looks messy with all the wires hanging out.  So hiding in my cabinet looks much better.  Or even with the cabinet doors open when playing just to air out a little still looks better.

 

But after done playing I unplugged it just to be safe.  But I started thinking especially for older consoles like 5200 is is safe to leave plugged in all the time.  Because unplugging and plugging back in the adapter would eventually wear out the power connector jack on the 5200 wouldn't it.  Its not flimsy and is in good shape.  But with repeated use everyday or often enough you never know.

 

 

[Atari Nut]

I like to unplug devices also.  Keep the adaptor plugged in the 5200 but unplug the side in the AC outlet.  Or, you can get a switch on the AC outlet side and just turn on/off as needed.

[Flojomojo]

It's smart to cut power to all wall warts unless they're charging something. A power strip with a switch on it would be good here. 

 

I should practice what I preach and see if it reduces my electricity bill. 

[0078265317]

I actually have couple of those at home.  But in use.  And I have some wifi plugs also.  But I cannot find the the just standard on / off without wifi plugs anywhere.  I have 2 strips in the back of the tv.  But if I turn them off it turns everything off and I don't want that.  I need just select devices like my atari.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

6 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

It's smart to cut power to all wall warts unless they're charging something. A power strip with a switch on it would be good here. 

 

I should practice what I preach and see if it reduces my electricity bill. 

It absolutely will reduce your bill. I actually have nearly everything in my house on smart eco power strips. Those are the ones that cut power to all outlets on the strip until the master device is powered on. In my case the TV is usually the master device. So if the TV is turned on, then all other devices power on as well. When I'm done playing, I turn off the TV and all devices attached get the power cut as well. In the winter my power bill averages about 50 - 60 a month and I have a lot of electronics plugged in. Difference is, they aren't still sucking power when not in use because of the way I have everything setup.

 

[eightbit]

I have one very long power strip:

 

https://www.harborfreight.com/12-outlet-super-power-strip-96737.html

 

I have everything plugged into this, and when not in use I shut it off

[0078265317]

4 hours ago, eightbit said:

I have one very long power strip:

 

https://www.harborfreight.com/12-outlet-super-power-strip-96737.html

 

I have everything plugged into this, and when not in use I shut it off

I have 2 of those in the back of my tv.  One on each side of my cabinets.  Not that exact one but looks very similar.  Except its 10 each instead of 12.  And each strip has 15am breaker or surge or what ever its called.

[+discotronic]

I have a 4 port 5200 and a 2600 light sixer hooked to a 27" CRT TV. Everything is plugged into a power strip. I turn everything off and the power strip when not in use. 

 

The 5200 uses the powered TV switch and I do not like to plug it in with power already connected to the TV. That spark isn't healthy. Best Electronics has it right. Plug in the switch and power supply before actually turning everything on. I blew out a TV switch by not doing this. Those things are getting more expensive all the time.  

[atari-dna]

Best practice as others mentioned is to use a power strip and cycle the power on/off without a fuss. Or use on an outlet tied to a wall switch you can turn off easily. Leaving power supplies live is not in the best interest of their longevity.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

On 12/13/2019 at 8:29 AM, atari-dna said:

Best practice as others mentioned is to use a power strip and cycle the power on/off without a fuss. Or use on an outlet tied to a wall switch you can turn off easily. Leaving power supplies live is not in the best interest of their longevity.

Actually I've heard it better for the PSUs to be left plugged in as it is less stress on the electronics as opposed to being hard powered on suddenly as would be the case of flipping a switch. I know that my original 2600 PSU lasted for several years before we had to replace it in the mid 80s. Always kept it plugged in back then. When I got my 7800 in '87 I always kept the adapter plugged in and it was for several years. I still have that original PS adapter to this day and it still works. Naturally it isn't constantly plugged in all the time these days, but I don't know that there is really much merit in them being plugged in vs not affecting their longevity. I would image the environmental conditions would affect the lifespan of the PS adapter more overall such as humidity, filtered power vs not, voltage stability (Again a filter helps with this), ambient temperature etc...

 

[atari-dna]

Actually I've heard it better for the PSUs to be left plugged in as it is less stress on the electronics as opposed to being hard powered on suddenly as would be the case of flipping a switch. I know that my original 2600 PSU lasted for several years before we had to replace...

 

The stress is on the bridge and filter capacitors in the adapter—in contact with the mains. Keeping 120V a/c humming on the bridge for years is not in the best interest of sustainability. There’s no inrush current on the microcomputer to worry abou, as these systems are operating in the millivolts (dc).

[0078265317]

1 hour ago, atari-dna said:

 

The stress is on the bridge and filter capacitors in the adapter—in contact with the mains. Keeping 120V a/c humming on the bridge for years is not in the best interest of sustainability. There’s no inrush current on the microcomputer to worry abou, as these systems are operating in the millivolts (dc).

So you are saying its better to unplug when not in use?

[+-^CrossBow^-]

2 hours ago, 0078265317 said:

So you are saying its better to unplug when not in use?

If for no other reason than it will prevent the adapters from sucking power off the mains when not in use. 

[atari-dna]

On 12/16/2019 at 1:38 PM, 0078265317 said:

So you are saying its better to unplug when not in use?

Yes, this is good advice for any power transformer.  I like to connect my stuff to a power strip, and just flip the single switch on the strip to cut active power to all devices chained to it.  

[T.A.P.]

I just like to keep things plugged into a power strip / surge protector.

 

When I'm done playing with them, I turn off the the power strip, and for extra protection, unplug the strip from the outlet too.

Edited February 3, 2023 by T.A.P.

[leech]

Sounds like something like this would be preferred.  https://a.co/d/25g7tOv

[christo930]

On 12/9/2019 at 2:14 PM, -^CrossBow^- said:

It absolutely will reduce your bill. I actually have nearly everything in my house on smart eco power strips

It will not appreciably reduce your power bill.  If it sits there burning a watt, you'll use 720 watt hours in a month.  At 20 cents a kwh, this will cost you 14.4 cents a month.  If you have a bunch of them plugged in, it might reduce your power bill by a dollar or 2.  There are some that are worse than others.  But nothing you own bought in the last 40 years is consuming a bunch of power just sitting there.  The power is turned directly into heat.  OTOH, a Penny saved is a Penny earned.

 

Where you will save money is not having to replace your wall wart.  Those are between 10-30 Dollars, maybe more for unique old wall warts where replacements are not available..  There is no point in letting them sit and cook.  If you cook them long enough, they could fail in a way that damages your machine as well.

 

It is definitely a good idea to unplug them, but not to save a lot of money on your power bill.