keep 7800 in box

[0078265317]

7800 adapter wears out after a lot of plugging and unplugging.  I can send to someone to do barrel mod.  But I want to keep stock as possible.  I had a thought.  What if I left it in the box all the time.  I would unplug after each use.  And not use for long periods.  Some double face tape holds the ac adapter in place.  And an extension cable connects the adapter to the wall.  And same for the coax cable.  Or from the tv it drapes over the back of the box with no extension cable.  Extensions dont give clear picture.  Or I can add holes to the back so the lid closes.  Its just the right size even with cart and lid closes.  But no need.  I will uncover while playing and cover after done for storage.  I was using a bigger box at first.  The sterilite box I got from home depot would of needed holes.  And my iris box was too big.  But these blue boxes from walmart I think are just the right size.  The ac adapter stays inside and never needs unplugging so it never wears out.  only the extension.  And I dont need holes for the controllers either because my seagulls stay in the box.  And my 2 8bitdo bluetooth adapters connect to that.  Wiimote works great.  All stays in the box and never leaves.  Or I can cut holes and use extensions to stick out.  7800 stays inside protected.  But wiimote works really good for now.

 

http://mvvg.blogspot.com/2020/07/atari-7800-box-blue.html?m=1

[Keatah]

Well that's certainly a viable way of doing things.

 

I would just be absolutely sure there's enough ventilation going on - the walls of the Sterilite/Rubbermaid box will serve to slow down convective heat flow. I don't know how critical it is to a 7800, but I bet it would kill a Bally Astrocade.

 

Have you thought about getting another 7800? One to keep nice and pristine. The other to play and beat on.

[0078265317]

If the lid is off heat should not be an issue.  And no point in having 2 7800s.  Loose no box neither will be worth much.

[0078265317]

Or use a piece of plywood and tape everything to that.  Then lift it out the box and play.  And put back when done.  Or plywood might be a fire hazzard?

[Keatah]

1 hour ago, 0078265317 said:

If the lid is off heat should not be an issue.  And no point in having 2 7800s.  Loose no box neither will be worth much.

Convective heat flow in this setup means cool air needs to come in from the bottom unimpeded. And it can't with the walls of the container in place. Cool air isn't going to flow up and around and down the lip of the container. It will stay outside on the floor. And the warm air will stagnate. Especially with the 7800's power brick in there.

 

Could put a small low rpm quiet PC fan in there or nearby or something. The fan would need its own 5v or 12v adapter. You can get that shit on ebay for a song and dance.

 

If you're going to be anal (and that's ok) about going this route then yes definitely consider operating temperature. This is 35-year old electronics. You'll want to keep it operating as stress-free as possible. 'Specially if it's sentimental.

 

1 hour ago, 0078265317 said:

Or use a piece of plywood and tape everything to that.  Then lift it out the box and play.  And put back when done.  Or plywood might be a fire hazzard?

Possibly could work too. As long as there's some convection. I would guess things would need to get pretty hot with sparks and stuff to cause a fire.

 

You could also simply maintain the connectors with DeOxit or some other contact lube. Adapters and connectors can last a real long time that way. And they're easier to plug and unplug too.

Edited July 23, 2020 by Keatah

[+-^CrossBow^-]

I'm totally lost here. What is the op stating and trying to do exactly?

 

You can still get a barrel Jack added without case modification and still have a stock console. Pm for info on that if interested but otherwise I'm confused on what is being said here exactly?

 

[0078265317]

51 minutes ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

I'm totally lost here. What is the op stating and trying to do exactly?

 

You can still get a barrel Jack added without case modification and still have a stock console. Pm for info on that if interested but otherwise I'm confused on what is being said here exactly?

 

Great advice Keatah.  I will consider thanks.  Good enough.  No more replies needed everyone thanks.

 

^CrossBow^

The old adapter stopped working.  I sent it to CZroe and he fixed it.  In the mean time I had to get a cheap spare off amazon.  So I have 2 now.  But both can go out again at any time.  So I was just tossing around some ideas to keep that from happening again.

[boxpressed]

1 hour ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

I'm totally lost here. What is the op stating and trying to do exactly?

 

You can still get a barrel Jack added without case modification and still have a stock console. Pm for info on that if interested but otherwise I'm confused on what is being said here exactly?

 

Yes, it's almost like they are speaking a language that only the two of them understand. 

[Shawn]

28 minutes ago, boxpressed said:

Yes, it's almost like they are speaking a language that only the two of them understand. 

 

It's totally out to lunch and that is using kind words to describe the commonality of such postings. Addressing it directly or even in jest will make you some kind of "hater" so all you can really do is bang your head off the desk as hard as you can in hopes of erasing those moments from your mind.

[Keatah]

Well my friends, all it takes is a little understanding & common sense. Shouldn't give up so easily.. Nor scoff at that which is different from your own experience.

Edited July 23, 2020 by Keatah

[Shawn]

1 hour ago, Keatah said:

Well my friends, all it takes is a little understanding & common sense. Shouldn't give up so easily.. Nor scoff at that which is different from your own experience.

 

You are greatly confused to think anyone speaking against your mode of operation would ever consider friendship a valid option.

[Keatah]

Everyone's a friend till they turn into an asshole.

[boxpressed]

OK, I'll play.

 

What, exactly, is the problem expressed by the OP?

[Keatah]

The OP wants to protect a 7800 from daily wear & tear by keeping it semi-permanently set up in a plastic box. In addition to that he wants to reduce/eliminate wear & tear on plug-in connectors like the power jack & plug, AC adapter wall prongs. Maybe even cut back on wire flexing too. Things like that.

 

Considering this stuff is 35+ years old; it's just another precaution against failure. There are many ways to go about it. And no one should denounce attempts at finding a solution or someone's communication style. Believe it or not it is a learnable skill.

[+wongojack]

What if I denounce emulation?

[Keatah]

Then you might get emulated or de-rezzed into a rom file. Just to illustrate the error of your wayward ways!

[boxpressed]

31 minutes ago, Keatah said:

The OP wants to protect a 7800 from daily wear & tear by keeping it semi-permanently set up in a plastic box. In addition to that he wants to reduce/eliminate wear & tear on plug-in connectors like the power jack & plug, AC adapter wall prongs. Maybe even cut back on wire flexing too. Things like that.

 

Considering this stuff is 35+ years old; it's just another precaution against failure. There are many ways to go about it. And no one should denounce attempts at finding a solution or someone's communication style. Believe it or not it is a learnable skill.

But I don't understand how keeping it in a box will reduce wear and tear on the connectors. If you hold the console in one hand and the AC adapter in another, is the weight of six inches of the cord going to produce enough torque to KO your 7800? This is a serious question--not trying to troll.

[Keatah]

Wear and tear caused by plugging and unplugging things. Contacts rotating and jiggling. If kept in a box, nothing is moving. Nothing is connected-disconnected-reconnected over and over. I'm certain that was the OP's goal, to reduce that activity. Keeping everything immobile in a box would certainly accomplish that.

 

Torque and weight are not likely concerns. But I'd say the daily contact wear can be.

 

My favorite and most effective & practical solution is a little bit of dielectric silicone grease on metal-metal moving contacts. This prevents oxidation and is always good practice. Leave it at that. YMMV.

Edited July 23, 2020 by Keatah

[Shawn]

There is absolutely no reason the AC would be subject to wear at the console or the wall outlet with normal use. Abuse and\or misuse is about the only way such a thing would happen. 

[boxpressed]

36 minutes ago, Keatah said:

Wear and tear caused by plugging and unplugging things. Contacts rotating and jiggling. If kept in a box, nothing is moving. Nothing is connected-disconnected-reconnected over and over. I'm certain that was the OP's goal, to reduce that activity. Keeping everything immobile in a box would certainly accomplish that.

 

Torque and weight are not likely concerns. But I'd say the daily contact wear can be.

 

My favorite and most effective & practical solution is a little bit of dielectric silicone grease on metal-metal moving contacts. This prevents oxidation and is always good practice. Leave it at that. YMMV.

I know, but why not keep all the connections in place while the console is in the box? There would be no plugging and unplugging from the console at all. You carefully lift the console out of the box, connections in place, and put it on the floor or a shelf.

 

And wearing out the prongs on the AC adapter? Or breaking a connection in the wire itself because the wire bends the wrong way? Man, if the console is really that fragile a box isn't going to help. I'm going to bow out here because I'm beginning to realize that the need to take these steps this isn't about the console at all.

[Keatah]

6 minutes ago, boxpressed said:

I know, but why not keep all the connections in place while the console is in the box? There would be no plugging and unplugging from the console at all. You carefully lift the console out of the box, connections in place, and put it on the floor or a shelf.

Right. That's what the OP is doing. And I completely understand why.

 

I just bought up the idea of ventilation. Don't know what the thermal characteristics of the 7800 are, but it's good practice, accepted practice, that the console be placed on a flat tabletop-like surface and played that way. Fairly certain it's that way for most all consumer electronics.

 

And whenever vintage electronics and connectors come up for discussion I always recommend rolling with clean contacts. Whether it be DeOxit, silicone dielectric grease, alcohol and cloth, eraser, and so on. Keep'em clean. Not compulsively like prior to and after every usage, but rather as a fix when stuff goes wonky. It's what TV-tuner cleaner stuff was invented for!

 

I clearly remember my VCS from 1977. It got to a point where just looking at the AC connector wrong would cause the game to jitter and reset. Once I learned about contact cleaner and erasers the problem went away.

 

As a kid I kinda figured The light pressure and magnetic field variance from the sun was messing things up (!). With reason. On cloudy humid days the problem wasn't there. On dry sunny days it was.

 

I have an Apple II DISK II drive I purchased in 1978. Sometime in 20xx it started not working reliably. It wouldn't calibrate sharply. No hammering sound. Sounded like a wet hotdog slapping around. And the track-to-track seek was not crisp. Disassembly and contact cleaning and chip reseating fixed all that. Never underestimate the ability of oxidation to fuck things up.

 

6 minutes ago, boxpressed said:

And wearing out the prongs on the AC adapter? Or breaking a connection in the wire itself because the wire bends the wrong way? Man, if the console is really that fragile a box isn't going to help. I'm going to bow out here because I'm beginning to realize that the need to take these steps this isn't about the console at all.

Maybe. I would guess the AC contacts are certified good for some 25,000 - 50,000 insertions and removals. I'm sure Underwriters Laboratories could tell us.

 

In hobbies and crafts how we do things is a very personal matter. How we use a tool.. The reasoning behind actions.. Thoughtless drama-provoking attacks on methods and procedures is not constructive. All they do is make the attacker look bad.

 

Sometimes it even forms a bandwagon. And that makes a whole thread or even the whole forum lowbrow.

[christo930]

5 hours ago, Keatah said:

The OP wants to protect a 7800 from daily wear & tear by keeping it semi-permanently set up in a plastic box. In addition to that he wants to reduce/eliminate wear & tear on plug-in connectors like the power jack & plug, AC adapter wall prongs. Maybe even cut back on wire flexing too. Things like that.

 

Considering this stuff is 35+ years old; it's just another precaution against failure. There are many ways to go about it. And no one should denounce attempts at finding a solution or someone's communication style. Believe it or not it is a learnable skill.

I don't think I have ever heard of the prongs on an AC plug wearing out. Not even 100 year old appliances.  I personally would be a lot more worried about the actual adapter part wearing out.  I make sure all of my game stuff is unplugged when not in use. They just sit there warming themselves and counting down the hours to failure if you leave them plugged in.

 

Putting it in a rubbermaid box is also going to cause heat.  You are far better off just using it the way it was designed to be used.

The one piece of advice I would give him is not to run it on the carpet. A nice hard flat surface will allow it work as designed.  It is rather ironic that worrying about wearing it out can actually cause it to wear out faster.

 

 

[christo930]

2 hours ago, Keatah said:

I clearly remember my VCS from 1977. It got to a point where just looking at the AC connector wrong would cause the game to jitter and reset. Once I learned about contact cleaner and erasers the problem went away.

I had that problem back in the day, but it turned out to be a dirty on/off switch.  I used to have to turn it on and off 20 times or more to get the thing to work. The power supply failed pretty early on, like maybe 6 months after buying it. At the time you could stop in Kmart and by an Atari power supply for a few bucks.

 

Personally, I think the precautions he is taking is raising the risk of failure, not lowering it.  Unfortunately, I see this a lot.

[Keatah]

3 hours ago, christo930 said:

Personally, I think the precautions he is taking is raising the risk of failure, not lowering it.  Unfortunately, I see this a lot.

That's possible. A different analog would be overwashing a new car. All the washing and polishing and buffing would wear down the clearcoat.

[ApolloBoy]

17 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

I'm totally lost here.

You and me both.