500 Watt Power Supply for The ColecoVision (New product released September 16th 2021)

[HDTV1080P]

Amazon and EBAY dealers are currently selling a new product called the 500 Watt Power Supply for the ColecoVision (price is around $129.99 plus shipping). Thanks to new technology developed in the year 2020 and the year 2021 by two different companies. It is now possible to add -5 Volts DC to any modern day ATX power supply (around 8 years ago all ATX power supply companies removed the -5 volts DC feature from their power supply). While DC switching regulators that are soldered directly to a circuit board have been around for many years, just recently in 2020 and 2021 two companies released a low cost DC regulator for under $10 that connects directly to any power supplies wire harness in order to offer instant -5 volts DC as long as the power supply can offer +12 volts DC output. What this means is that any power supply on the market that outputs +12 volts DC and +5 volts DC, one can now add – 5 volts DC for under $10 (around $6.23 + shipping). Also if one adds a high quality Schottky Rectifier Diode to the wire harness it well offer short circuit protection to the -5 volts DC add on module when connected to a good quality power supply like the EVGA.

 

This also means that both the ColecoVision and Coleco ADAM now have almost an unlimited amount of power supplies to choose from on the market. As long as the power supply has both +12 volts DC and +5 volts DC, then - 5 volts DC can be added for under $10. So the most important thing to have now is the ColecoVision or ADAM compatible wire harness to make any ATX power supply become a ColecoVision or ADAM power supply. These new EVGA power supplies and all modern power supplies on the market offer automatic voltage input between 100-240 volts at 50 to 60Hz without any switches to change. Many years ago the old ATX power supplies one had to manually flip a switch to change from 120 to 220 volts, not any more since everything is now automatic for voltage regulation. Also EVGA fans are super quiet. The EVGA power supplies also offer excellent short circuit protection on all the rails like + 5 volts DC, and + 12 volts DC. Plus the method I use to connect the -5 volts DC add on regulator also offers perfect short circuit protection when the high quality Schottky Rectifier Diode is connected to the wire harness.

 

This 500 watt ColecoVision power supply uses EVGA technology to offer outstanding short circuit protection on all the rails, over voltage protection, and over temperature protection.  

 

Over a 3 month period there was many weeks, days, and hours doing research and development for this project. It is a time consuming process to replace the wire harness with a ColecoVision wire harness, adding a -5 volts DC add on regulator, and adding a high quality Schottky Rectifier Diode. I hate to say it but it takes around 4 hours to convert one of these EVGA power supplies to a ColecoVision power supply (other 8 year old ATX power supplies that already have the -5 volts DC feature built in only takes 1 to 2 hours to convert). Therefore, for those that do not want to pay $129.99 for a 500 watt power supply that has been already converted. In a future post I well post information on how anyone with an electronics background can convert any EVGA ATX power supply that is purchased on sale for around $30-$35+  (or around $55 full price) to a high quality ColecoVision power supply. The catch is one has to have around 4 hours of time and the correct parts and tools to do the conversion (maybe some people can do the conversion in less then 4 hours, but if one moves too fast and makes a mistake something could be damaged). The picture quality is better with the EVGA power supply when compared to a Mean Well power supply. However the reference 550 watt Smurf power supply appears to still have the best picture quality since it uses a native -5 volts output instead of requiring a add on module.     

 

The good news is the ColecoVison and ADAM community now have an almost unlimited amount of power supplies to choose from. Any power supply that offers +12 volts DC and +5 volts DC well work with the new -5 volts DC add on regulator. There are plenty of ColecoVision wire harnesses on the market, however currently its hard to find a Coleco ADAM wire harness on the market. So the hardest and most valuable part of the power supply well be to have a Coleco compatible wire harness.

 

Its getting late so in a future post I well post some more detail information on how to do the conversion of any ATX power supply to work on the ColecoVision. Attached in this post is a brief Microsoft Word instruction manual that ships with this 500 watt ATX power supply.  

       

500 Watt ColecoVision Power Supply.docx

Edited September 18, 2021 by HDTV1080P

[HDTV1080P]

There is no more original 1983 to 1985 Coleco ADAM wire harnesses on the market for one to use to create a Coleco ADAM power supply. Also its getting very hard to find a female DB9 20 gauge serial cable on the market. In the worst case scenario if one day 20 gauge serial DB9 cables can no longer be purchased, then as a last resort one can use a high quality CAT8 ethernet cable that uses 22 gauge wire that is designed for power over ethernet applications in order to power ones Coleco ADAM. Basically one just uses a DB9 female to ethernet adapter plugged into the Adam memory console and then plugs in the 22 gauge CAT8 ethernet cable to the ADAM memory console. The other end of the CAT8 cable is then connected to a ATX power supply like the EVGA ATX power supply models. Then the ADAM computer is fully operational using CAT8 networking cable (22 gauge power over ethernet technology).

 

Edited September 18, 2021 by HDTV1080P

[derSammler]

I hope people understand how silly it is to power a system that uses <10 watts with an ATX PSU rated 500 watts. Such PSUs are only efficient when almost fully loaded. With such a small load, efficiency is so low that you are wasting x-times the power you are actually using (and that is a very bad thing to do these days).

 

You can get small PSUs with +5V and +12V @ 2-3 amps each that are much more suitable. (something like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/123771164200)

Edited September 18, 2021 by derSammler

[Ikrananka]

1 hour ago, derSammler said:

I hope people understand how silly it is to power a system that uses <10 watts with an ATX PSU rated 500 watts. Such PSUs are only efficient when almost fully loaded. With such a small load, efficiency is so low that you are wasting x-times the power you are actually using (and that is a very bad thing to do these days).

Indeed, proposing a 500 watt supply for the CV and ADAM is simply insane.

[HDTV1080P]

13 hours ago, derSammler said:

I hope people understand how silly it is to power a system that uses <10 watts with an ATX PSU rated 500 watts. Such PSUs are only efficient when almost fully loaded. With such a small load, efficiency is so low that you are wasting x-times the power you are actually using (and that is a very bad thing to do these days).

 

You can get small PSUs with +5V and +12V @ 2-3 amps each that are much more suitable. (something like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/123771164200)

I am using a 1600 watt EVGA ATX power supply for my main PC that sometimes outputs only 80 watts, other times it outputs around 150 to 300 watts. Sometimes I can get the power supply to output over a 1,000 watts when my PC is under a heavy load.

I went with a entry level 500 watt EVGA power supply for the ColecoVision and ADAM that only cost around $29.99 on sale. And it does a real good job of having stable voltages anywhere between 0.1 watts to 500 watts. I like ATX power supplies for use with the Amiga, ADAM, and ColecoVision. They have nice clean DC output regardless of the load size and they outperform all other consumer DC power supplies in performance.

 

I well latter on try and take sometime and show people how to add a -5 volt DC regulator to any power supply that offers 12 volts DC. However, since a quality ATX power supply puts out a nice clean stable voltage, then the -5 volts DC regulator also offers a nice clean -0.3amps of current, but if one uses a non ATX power supply with a noisy 12 volts DC output then they well have to add some capacitors to the input voltage and output voltage of the -5 volts DC regulator to clean up the ripple and noise level.

Edited September 19, 2021 by HDTV1080P

[Keatah]

Fuck that.. It didn't make the grade for use a PC, so they repurpose it for something less demanding.

 

And there is no new tech developed in 2020/2021 to get -5V. The designs for such a thing are as old as power supplies themselves. What other shit they gonna blow up your ass?

[HDTV1080P]

3 hours ago, Keatah said:

Fuck that.. It didn't make the grade for use a PC, so they repurpose it for something less demanding.

 

And there is no new tech developed in 2020/2021 to get -5V. The designs for such a thing are as old as power supplies themselves. What other shit they gonna blow up your ass?

Around 8 years ago the PC industry decided to drop the legacy -5 volts DC from all new ATX power supplies (some people believe that one day -12 volt DC might also disappear but so far all ATX power supplies offer -12 volts DC for the Amiga and motherboards that require -12 volts DC).

 

There was new self contained -5 volt DC regulators released in 2020 and 2021 that are super small and also are self-contained insulated with wire leads that attached directly to a wire harness. They cost twice as much since the older models require direct soldering to the circuit board.

 

I well post more details in the future when I get a chance to spend several hours to half a day writing up a detailed post on how to make any modern ATX power supply work with the ColecoVision and ADAM computer. Its actually much easier to make a Amiga computer work with a ATX power supply since all one needs is the original or compatible Amiga wire harness since all ATX power supplies have -12 volts DC. Its more work to get a ATX power supply to work with the ColecoVision and ADAM because of the requirement to add -5 volts DC regulator to the wire harness.  

Edited September 19, 2021 by HDTV1080P

[HDTV1080P]

EVGA 500 Watt ATX power supply voltage levels with and without a load

 

I just posted the voltage levels for the EVGA 100-W3-0500-K1 power supply with and without a load in the following thread. The reason I posted the voltage levels in the following thread, is so one can compare the voltage levels to eight other ColecoVision and ADAM power supplies.

 

 

 

500 Watt EVGA ATX power supply model number 100-W3-0500-K1 when connected to the ColecoVision and the Expansion module #3 ADAM computer (using special -5 volts DC add on module): No load voltage 12.20 volts DC, 5.16 volts DC, and -5.06 volts DC. When under a load 12.08 volts DC, 4.64 volts DC, and -5.15 volts DC. However when the Digital Data Drive is moving at high speed the following voltages were recorded 11.58 volts DC, 4.62 volts DC, and -5.20 volts DC.  

Edited September 19, 2021 by HDTV1080P

[Keatah]

I would have expected the 12v and 5v rail to be more solid, DDD moving at high speed or not.

[HDTV1080P]

5 hours ago, Keatah said:

I would have expected the 12v and 5v rail to be more solid, DDD moving at high speed or not.

The ideal regulated power supply should supply the same voltage when there is no load and when under a load. For example, there are some regulated 12 volt DC power supplies that output up to 5 amps that have a no load voltage of 12.33 volts DC and when under a load a 12.09 DC voltage or a full load voltage of around 12 volts DC exactly. Whereas an unregulated 12 volts DC power supply would have a no-load voltage of 14.97 volts DC and when under a load, around 12.67 volts DC (or somewhere between 15 volts and 12 volts depending on the load). Regulated power supplies are better quality and more expensive when compared to unregulated power supplies. The problem is the ColecoVision, ADAM, and even modern Windows style computers need power supplies that have 3 or more voltages which makes it harder for the power supply to maintain a regulated output for all 3 voltages. The ColecoVision and ADAM use -5 volts DC, 5 volts DC, and 12 volts DC. When a 3 output power supply is under a load sometimes the voltage can go up for some voltages and down for others.

 

However as long as the voltage level is within 0.5 volts plus or minus of the original, then the power supply is a good power supply to use with the ColecoVision and ADAM as long as the current and wattage is strong enough to supply the load. For example the original Coleco brand ADAM power supply when connected to the ColecoVision with Expansion Module #3 while the Digital Data Drive is moving at high speed has a 11.56 volts DC, 4.91 volts DC, and -5.37 volts DC output. Therefore the EVGA doing 11.58 volts DC, 4.62 volts DC, and -5.20 volts DC is a little better then the original Coleco ADAM power supply. But we are talking about heavy loads. With very little loads one is looking at around 12.15 volts DC, 5.02 volts DC, and -5.12 volts DC with the EVGA power supply depending on the type of load that is connected.   

Edited September 20, 2021 by HDTV1080P

[Keatah]

What does a Kill-a-Watt meter say?

 

[HDTV1080P]

2 hours ago, Keatah said:

What does a Kill-a-Watt meter say?

 

That is a good question, I never had anyone ask me how much wattage a power supply uses when under a load, I just spent over two hours trying to find an answer to your question. We know that this EVGA ATX power supply can provide a maximum of 500 watts output when connected to a home computer that has a graphics card that requires 500 watts (and most modern computers 50 to 70 watts well be used with this EVGA power supply when the computer is running at idle mode with no gaming, no web browsing, and just sitting around not being used).

 

All ATX power supplies are except from the level VI power consumption rules that the Department of Energy put in place back in Feb 10^th of 2016 (ATX power supplies are designed for internal use and the rules only cover external power supplies when it comes to being level VI complaint). However, this ATX power supply has received an 80 Plus efficiency certification that ensures the power supply isn’t wasting power and turning it into excess heat. Under most loads this EVGA power supply is 80% efficient or higher.

 

However, to answer your question about how many kill-a watts this EVGA power supply uses when under a load from the ColecoVision/ADAM, I attempted to get the answer for you. My 1500 watt pure sine wave power backup system from Cyperpower systems that cost around $800 has a built in Kill-a Watt meter that is real accurate. However, the problem is when I connect this power supply up to the kill-a Watt meter the load is too small to register. I even tried a different model of UPS power backup and still the same issue. I believe that for some reason the Cyberpower kill a watt meters only measure loads of somewhere between 10 to 1500 watts and well not measure a load under 10 watts.  When I send 40 amps of current from the 12 volt rail to the -5 volts DC rail with a wire shorted across the two rails, for a fraction of a second the kill a watt meter in the Cyperpower systems UPS does jump up to 49 watts before the EVGA internal circuit breaker trips and shuts the power supply down.

   

I have spent a lot of money on research and development this year for various projects, I might consider buying a self-contained kill a watt meter that measures 10 watts and below. I just have never had anyone ask that question before. So maybe I might get back to you in the future if I decide to buy a kill a watt meter that works under 10 watts. Since it appears my current ones only work between 10 to 1500 watts.

Edited September 20, 2021 by HDTV1080P

[Keatah]

If it's under 10 watts at the outlet then it's miraculous.

 

[HDTV1080P]

Brief Amiga power supply information

 

If one owns an Amiga computer that requires -12 volts DC, +12 volts DC, and + 5 volts DC, then the best solution is to go with a ATX power supply like the fully modular entry level EVGA 550 watt 220-B5-0550-V1. As long as one has access to the original Amiga wire harness the connection process is fairly simple without one needing to open the power supply if one goes the fully modular route. The entry level EVGA 220-B5-0550-V1 power supply has 0.5 amps on the -12 volt DC rail where as some other EVGA power supplies only offer 0.3 amps on the -12 volt DC rail. The advantage of a fully modular ATX power supply for use on a computer like the Amiga, is that the power supply does not need to be opened up and the manufactories warranty is still valid if the power supply seal is not broken. In addition, one can unplug the fully modular Amiga cable from the EVGA power supply and plug it into another model of fully modular power supply in the rare chance that the power supply goes bad. So fully modular power supplies are the best to use even on classic 70’s, 80’s and 90’s computers. On these new models of EVGA power supplies an external reset switch needs to be wired up to reset the circuit breaker after a short occurs (that is the way most or all brands of ATX power supplies are now, in the old days EVGA power supplies allowed a simple flipping of the on/off switch to reset the circuit breaker, now one has to wire up a momentary reset switch to reset the internal circuit breaker to recover from a short). 

 

The Amiga computer is a much easier computer to get working with a ATX power supply since all ATX power supplies have -12 volts DC (Its currently not possible to find an Amiga connector presold with a wire harness, so that is the hardest part of getting an Amiga to work with a ATX power supply is to find or make an existing Amiga power cable (many people use the existing power cable from their old broken original 80’s Commodore Amiga power supply). It is much harder to get the ColecoVision and ADAM power supply to work with a ATX power supply since -5 volts DC feature is required. Since external self-contained -5 volt DC add on regulators that would connect to a fully modular power supply are really expensive and large, and sometimes costing as much as the fully modular power supply, adding -5 volts DC to a fully modular power supply is not practical because of the size and price of the external -5 volts DC modules.

 

So if one wants a entry level 550 Watt fully modular EVGA power supply to use with Amiga or other computer system, the New Egg website has the power supplies on sale for $44.99 plus free shipping (sometimes they also have a $10 rebate at certain times of the year).  But remember the fully modular ATX power supplies come with the standard cables to hook up to a modern day computer motherboard, and if one wants to use it with a Amiga computer they have to create their own fully modular Amiga power cable.

 

 

How to make your own ColecoVision/ADAM power supply using any modern day ATX power supply on the market

 

How to add -5 volts DC rail to any power supply that currently has a + 12 volts DC rail (Recommended for ATX power supplies only since they offer a cleaner DC output)

 

**** Warning it can be dangerous opening up a ATX power supply since there is both high current AC and DC that can be lethal. One can be electrocuted and possible die if they open up and work on a power supply that is still plugged into the AC power line. Therefore, only experienced technicians who disconnect the power cord from the AC outlet should be working on this power supply. Also opening the power supply voids the original manufactories warranty. ***

 

The following items are either required or recommended for this project (other minor items may be required that are not mentioned in this post, like a digital multi-meter)

 

(one) EVGA ATX power supply or other brand of ATX power supply between 400 watts to 1600 watts (Current models of EVGA power supplies are made in the country of Taiwan using a quality automated robotic factory). Recommended somewhere between 400 to 650 watts. Also recommended a non-modular model, since fully modular is not practical when adding a -5 volts DC regulator with a high quality Schottky Rectifier Diode. Technically a fully modular power supply would also work, but the purpose of a fully modular power supply is to use external wire harnesses so that the power supply does not need to be opened up. Back in June of 2021 I was able to buy the 500 watt EVGA 100-W3-0500-K1 model for only $29.99 on sale plus taxes and shipping (However now that power supply is $54.99). Currently New EGG is running another special and what appears to be a little better quality power supply called the EVGA 510 watt 100-BP-0510-K1 can be purchased on sale for $29.99 each with free shipping (sometimes a $10 rebate is offered). All EVGA power supplies on the market and all or most other brands are not UL listed even the top of the line $600 models. UL listed is an optional certification in the United States that requires a minimum of a $13,000 fee for each model to receive that certification. However, the EVGA power supplies are FCC certified and CE Europe safety certified.  But I have not tested and tried the EVGA 510 watt 100-BP-0510-K1, at least not yet, but the specs show that power supply being a little better quality compared to the one I used for this project back in June 2021.

 

(two) 24/20Pin ATX Bench Board Computer PC Power Supply Breakout Adapter Module (a high quality made in China item that now costs $12.35 each plus free shipping due to inflation: I have used one of these items for many years. It only takes 15 to 30 minutes to wire one of these things up and the main purpose is to connect your ATX power supply to the equipment you are hooking up before actually wiring up the ATX power supply internally (connects to your wire harness). This ATX bench board is too large to fit in the ATX power supply but allows one to test wire harnesses for the Amiga, Adam, Colecovision and many other systems. While this item is not required to make this project work, it can be a great time saving device to have. ** One needs to place this ATX Bench Board on a plastic surface or some other insulating device so that one does not get electrocuted or cause a short condition.   24/20Pin ATX Bench Board Computer PC Power Supply Breakout Adapter Module | $12.35

 

(three) Misc items needed to cover up any exposed wires on the wire harness during the modification process: The key goal of making modifications to a EVGA non-modular power supply is to never mess around with the original circuit board soldering that was performed by automated machines in the EVGA factory. So all one is doing for this project is removing the existing IBM style wire harness and in its place one is installing a ColecoVision or ADAM style wire harness. Technically one could have three wire harnesses (Amiga, Adam, and ColecoVision all from one power supply). For this project I used a combination of UL listed CE1X terminal caps for some of the connections (I kept some spare wires in the power supply to add a Amiga or ADAM wire harness in the future). However, the bag of CE1X terminal caps now shipping this year for some reason do not have the UL listed symbol on the bag when people have bene reordering them currently (not sure why since several bags I have say UL listed on them). They cost around $7.89 from China with free shipping from China. Due to a space issue inside the power supply I had to cut back the original wire harness as far back as possible and to use a UL approved product called liquid electric tape to insulate the wires I cut back. However, the stuff is toxic until it dries and one has to wear rubber gloves and a mask unless one can hold their breath (safety goggles for eye protection is also ideal). UL approved liquid electric tape is expensive but it sometimes is needed on certain ATX power supplies where there is a space issue and the CE1X terminal caps would take up too much space. Star Brite liquid electrical tape is made in the USA and it currently costs around $13.38 for a 1 ounce tube (color black).  

 

Also for interfacing the existing ATX wire harness with the ColecoVision wire harness a pack of these CE certified Barrier Screw Terminals is ideal for $10.99 from China.  

 

(three) -5 volts DC add on regulator module: While -5 volts DC regulators for $2.78 and lower have been around for many years. Those models of DC regulators always required soldering onto a circuit board. The average external -5 volts DC regulator that would connect to a fully modular power supply costs between $20 to $40+ and the modules are very large and for various reasons are not practical.  According to two PDF spec sheets, there was a low cost under $10 -5 volt DC regulator released in January 2020 and another one released in April of 2021. The advantage of these DC regulators is that they are insulated small modules that have a 22 AWG wires that allow direct connection to ones existing wire harness (see attached PDF spec sheets). The CUI VX7805-500-W is made in China and can be purchased for $6.17 each plus free shipping from Arrow Electronics. It has a Mean Time Before Failure rating of 2,000,000 hours. The official specs mention -5 volts DC and -0.3 amps DC current when the black and yellow wires are reversed (yellow becomes ground and black becomes -5 volts DC output). However, I discovered that the Recom R-78W5.0-0.5 which is made in Taiwan well also work as a -5 volts DC regulator even though the specs officially only mention +5 volts DC. If one switches the black and brown leads so that the brown is ground and black is -5 volts DC, the Recom well act just like the CUI module even though the specs do not officially mention the -5 volts DC feature. Both -5 volts DC regulators connect to any of the yellow ATX power supplies +12 volts DC yellow wires, and both mention that one may need to use capacitors on the input and output voltage of the -5 volts DC regulator in order to reduce the ripple and noise (see spec sheets for capacitor values). I tried many different capacitor values over several weeks, and I discovered that the 12 volts DC output from the EVGA ATX power supplies already have a low noise and low ripple. I discovered that it is better to not use any capacitors with EVGA ATX power supplies and most likely many other ATX power supplies on the market. In fact, sometimes the performance and the reliability of the output was reduced when using the recommended capacitors. So, no capacitors at all was the best in my experience since the EVGA already has low noise and low ripple output on the 12 volt DC rail that is feeding the -5 volts DC regulator. However maybe some low end non ATX power supplies that offer noisy +12 volts DC output might be needed as capacitors to clean up the input and output voltage of the regulator.  Sometimes the CUI -5 Volts DC regulator appeared to have a better picture quality then the Recom model, other times with certain ATX power supplies the Recom may perform better. Both the CUI and Recom -5 volts DC regulators have built in output short protection to ground, where the modules themselves well stop outputting -5 volts DC until the short to ground is removed. However, both the CUI and Recom modules were not designed to handle a massive 40 amp +12 volt DC short (or 18 amp +5 volts DC short) to the output of the -5 volts DC regulator. Within a few seconds the CUI and Recom modules well be destroyed if the 12 volt DC or 5 volts DC rail gets shorted to the -5 volts DC add on module (when the add on regulator is destroyed sometimes instead of outputting 0 voltage, they instead start outputting +6 to +9 volts DC instead of -5 volts DC). But the CUI module from China would sometimes do 0 volts instead of 6 to 9 volts DC when being destroyed by massive current. The Recom module had more of an issue of not going to zero volts after being destroyed). However, the good news is by adding a high quality Schottky Rectifier Diode the -5 volts DC regulator is never destroyed and the EVGA power supply circuit breaker instantly trips when + 12 volts DC or + 5 volts DC is shorted to the -5 volts DC output.

 

(four) High quality Schottky Rectifier Diode: Many different brands and models of Diodes would burn up and could not take the heat and multiply shorts of 40 amps at 12 volts DC. However, the best quality diode I ran into for performance is the Chanzon brand from China that is rated at 20 amps at 45 volts for only around 83 cents each x 10 (sold in a pack of 10). The Chanzon model 20SQ045 diode that is made in China uses high temperature epoxy for enhanced mechanical strength and it can handle a peak forward surge current of 450 amps at up to 45 volts DC. A 1600 watt EVGA power supply only puts out a maximum of 133.3 Amps on its 12 volt DC rail. Since negative current cannot pass though a DIODE (anode cannot be made more negative than the cathode), this means that the Schottky diode blocks the negative current from the -5 volts DC module from going to ground. If the diode was not there then the -5 volts DC output from the regulator would be automatically turned off since it would be shorted to ground, but since the diode is blocking negative current going to ground this means that the -5 volts DC regulator well continue outputting -5 volts DC to the wire harness unless one shorts the -5 volts DC to ground using a different path that bypasses the diode. However as soon as the fast acting Schottky diode sees any positive voltage like +12 volts DC or +5 volts DC, it well instantly send that positive voltage to ground, which causes the EVGA circuit breaker to instantly trip and protect the -5 volts DC regulator from being destroyed. Therefore, unlimited shorts are possible since the diode can handle 45 volts DC at up to 450 amps forward surge current. Just make sure the Schottky diode is wired correctly or -5 volts DC module well be shorted to ground and there well be no -5 volts unless the diode is placed on the wire harness correctly. Also the diode surge protection depends on the anode and cathode being placed on the wire harness correctly. Cutting the metal leads back on the diode until the high temperature terminal block covers the metal leads completely is also needed so that the diode metal leads are 100% insulated. Now the -5 volts DC module is protected from all shorts (+12 volts DC to -5 volts DC short, and +5 volts to – 5 volts DC short have full circuit breaker protection). -5 volts DC to ground does not use circuit breaker protection since the -5 volts DC regulator automatically turns off the -5 volts DC output until the short is removed.  

 

(five) A important device that is needed to reset the circuit breaker in all new model EVGA ATX power supplies and many other ATX power supplies on the market: In the old days EVGA ATX power supplies and most other ATX power supplies after one got a short and tripped the circuit breaker, all one needed to do was to flip the on/off power switch on the power supply to recover from a short. However now with the latest models flipping the on/off power switch and even unplugging the power cord results in the circuit breaker not being reset. To reset the circuit breaker, one needs to wire up a button like what is on the ATX Breakout adapter. For example, desktop computer cases have a momentary style reset button. Therefore, one needs to wire up some type of reset switch from the ATX PS ON circuit to ground. I ended up finding a high quality normally closed black push button switch with wire harness for only around a $1.00 with free shipping. The catch is you have to buy a 10 pack for around $10 at Amazon. It works really well to recover from a short every time the push button is pushed. To mount it to the ATX power supply case you need to drill a small hole using either a 17/64 (.265) drill bit or a 6.70mm drill bit. But then a 8.0 x  1.25 tap size bit needs to be used. While most people own a drill already, I have never owned a drill in my life. Instead of borrowing a drill from someone, I ended up spending over $1,000 on the proper equipment to drill a hole for a switch that costs only a $1.00. I most likely well use the drill for other projects and its nice to finally own a drill. It is expensive getting the proper tools to drill a hole through metal.  I needed to get a quality vise grip that is portable and can be attached to any workbench (also some rubber jaw clamps). The drill guides and clamp were nice. The Cobalt steal drill bits do a real nice job of cutting through metal. The made in China Tap and Drill set for $59.00 with free shipping was a good value. It is kind of funny I buy a $1.00 switch and to mount it to a metal ATX power supply properly I end up spending over $1,000+ on the proper equipment since I never owned a drill before. Those that already own quality drilling equipment well just need to buy the $1.00 switch from Amazon. Important step: The ATX power supply one and only green cable is the “power on sensor” that must be wired to any black ground cable so that the ATX power supply well turn on (With the momentary switch in the circuit in between the green wire and ground wire so that the power supply can recover from a short with a simple push of the button).

 

 

While it only takes around 15 minutes to 30 minutes to connect the EVGA power supply up to the external ATX Breakout adapter mentioned in this post and pictured below. The problem is that adapter is too big to fit inside a ATX power supply. I ended up spending around 4 hours on each power supply to make the internal conversion to the wire harness. This project is a lot of work if one is going inside the power supply. Some people might decide to just create a plastic case for the ATX Breakout board and not go inside the power supply. But if one goes inside the power supply cosmetically the power supply looks much better but it may take some people 4 hours, especially when one might want to drill a hole and mount a reset switch for the circuit breaker feature.

 

Instead of spending hours repeating myself, here is an old thread that shows the correct pinout information to use with the ColecoVision compatible wire harness

 

 

If one has a ADAM computer wire harness here is an old threads on how to wire up a ADAM wire harness to a ATX power supply.

 

 

 

 

More useful ATX color codes.

This link has useful information regarding the ATX power supply wire colors and what voltage levels is assigned to the wires inside the power supply and the ATX 24 pin connector.

 

Study the picture attached using the ATX breakout board. Once that is working properly then one should consider maybe going inside the power supply to wire up the wire harness without using the external ATX breakout board. For skilled technicians only do to high voltage and current issues.

 

Also consider replacing the existing ColecoVision power cord with an 18 gauge double shielded gold plated one for this project.

vx78-500-w.pdf R-78W-0.5.pdf 20SQ045-1.pdf

Edited September 20, 2021 by HDTV1080P

[HDTV1080P]

On 9/19/2021 at 7:40 PM, Keatah said:

What does a Kill-a-Watt meter say?

 

I ended up buying the following top of the line real time Watt meter from Amazon for $27.99. It has now fallen in price to $26.99 (Amazon prices can change daily or weekly depending on demand and inventory levels).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07J6SD4R8/

 

I compared the 550 watt fully modular and 500 watt modular EVGA power supplies to the 28.5 Watt Mean Well power supply.

 

For the Mean Well 28.5 watt power supply (model GP25B13A-R1B) that is energy efficiency level VI rated, when the power supply is plugged in to the electrical outlet with no load, the power supply uses exactly 0.0 wattage according to the Watt meter. However, since the green LED light is on the power supply I am guessing that this Watt meter really does not measure between 0-1800 watts (or 0 to 1650 watts depending on what spec info one is reading). According to the Mean Well spec sheet the GP25B13A-R1B power supply uses less than 0.3 watts of power under a no load power consumption. However, the watt meter I purchased appears to not be able to measure under 1 watt or under a half a watt, since the display on the watt meter should be reporting something around 0.1 watts for the Mean Well power supply.

 

With the Mean Well power supply plugged in with no load, the wattage is too low for the real time watt meter to measure (spec sheet mentions under 0.3 watts with no load). When the ColecoVision console is turned on with no cartridge the Mean Well power supply uses 7.0 watts of power. When a typical 80’s game cartridge is inserted the Mean Well power supply uses 7.5 watts of power. When a ATARIMAX 128 in 1 USB flash cartridge is inserted the ColecoVision uses 8.4 watts of power with the Mean Well power supply. Depending on what one has plugged into their Expansion Module #3 ADAM computer they well get different wattage draws. With the Expansion Module # 3 ADAM computer inserted without a Digital Data Drive attached the wattage on the Mean Well goes up to 12.8 watts. If one attaches the Digital Data Drive the wattage goes up to 14.2 watts of power. If one inserts a Digital Data Pack into the Digital Data Drive, even without the DDP (tape) moving the wattage goes up to 15.8 watts just by inserting a DDP. When the Digital Data Pack is traveling at high speed the wattage goes up to 22.4 watts of power. The maximum the Mean Well power supply can put out is 28.5 watts. With a fully loaded ADAM computer with expansion cards that might be enough power. However, if in the future one wanted a high-end third party HDMI graphics card (which does not exist, at least not yet), then one would want a power supply with a lot more wattage for their ColecoVision/ADAM.

 

When I tested the fully modular EVGA 550 watt 220-B5-0550-V1 power supply with no load it uses a total of 3.8 watts when the ECO mode is on (fan never spins with very low loads and with very low heat). However, if I turn the ECO mode off the no load on the power supply goes up to 4.5 watts of power with the fan spinning. So the EVGA 550 watt power supply if it were modified with a -5 volts DC add on module and the correct wire harness is used a minimum of 3.8 watts of power under a no load condition. The 28.5 watt Mean Power supply in theory well use no more then 0.3 watts of power under a no load condition. That 3.8 watts of power for the 550 watt EVGA is always used for a no load power condition on the EVGA power supply. The desktop PC of course one just flips a switch and the power supply well use zero voltage since the power supply would be completely turned off when the computer is turned off.     

 

However the power supply I used to add a ColecoVision wire harness was the EVGA modular 500 watt power supply model number 100-W3-0500-K1. That power supply is not as energy efficient when compared to the fully modular model that only uses 3.8 watts under a no load condition. The lower cost modular 500 watt EVGA power supply uses 12.1 watts of power under a no load condition (the problem is these lower end models do not have a ECO mode to disengage the low noise fan). So one needs to calculate a automatic 12.1 watts of power usage when this EVGA power supply is on with no load. Which means if one subtracts 12.1 watts of power from the following numbers, they well get the true number of how much power the ColecoVision/ADAM system is using.

 

So, no load wattage on the 500 watt EVGA power supply is 12.1 watts of power. With the ColecoVision turned on and no cartridge inserted the wattage was 18.6 watts. With a 80’s game cartridge inserted the wattage went up to 19.0 watts. When the ATARIMAX 128 in 1 USB flash cartridge was inserted the wattage went up to 20.1 watts. When the Expansion module #3 ADAM computer was inserted with no Digital Data Drive attached the wattage went up to 24.6 watts. When the Digital Data Drive was plugged in the wattage went up to 25.6 watts. When a Digital Data Pack (tape) was inserted the wattage went up to 27.0 watts. When the Digital Data Drive is moving at high speed the wattage went up to 33.7 watts (between 32.9 to 33.7 watts). Again since this 500 watt power supply has a no load of 12.1 watts, one needs to subtract 12.1 watts from the above numbers to get the real amount of wattage the ColecoVision is using. The entry level EVGA 550 watt fully modular power supply is a much better power supply with only using around 3.8 watts of power under a no load condition instead of 12.1 watts of power under a no load condition. However the -5 volts DC add on modules that are ideal to use with a fully modular power supply are large and can cost $20-$30+ for entry level models (one purpose of a fully modular power supply is so that one does not need to open up the power supply to swap out the wire harness, since everything is done externally).

 

I prefer EVGA fully modular power supplies but for this project I needed to go with a modular power supply because of the very small -5 volts DC module and high quality diode that needed to be attached to the wire harness in order to power the ColecoVision/ADAM system. The advantage of a 500 watt or 550 watt power supply for the ColecoVision/ADAM is that one day one may need a lot of wattage for a graphics card with built in SGM and HDMI port. Power consumption is just one part of the equation when looking for a power supply.       

Edited October 7, 2021 by HDTV1080P

[HDTV1080P]

To clarify the prior post, when I say 500 watt EVGA power supply I am talking about the non-modular model (12.1 watts under a no load condition). When I say 550 watt EVGA power supply I am talking about the fully modular model (3.8 watts under a no load condition).  

Edited October 7, 2021 by HDTV1080P

[+lawdawg710]

Is it possible for someone to limit this dudes posts???  ???? Man

 

 

[Keatah]

@HDTV1080P. Could you make a small summary chart? Doesn't have to be fancy. Just the numbers. Like a datasheet!