| Proper voltage regulator; Stepdown stepup converters | |
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| Topic Started: Oct 13 2016, 05:53 AM (182 Views) | |
| Ratix | Oct 13 2016, 05:53 AM Post #1 |
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I have an itch and that is the play my original Famicom. While I did play it in the past I had used the plug that was rated a volt lower then needed since I used one of those cheap replacement plugs from pray n trade. I immediately stopped using it because I started having issues and I thought it was because I was using a 110v plug and not 100v. The plug rating used was 9v 850ma. Original Famicom I think uses 10v 850ma. I have plugs that output at 9v DC at 850ma. According to Famicom world it should work but concerns were raised while playing rolling thunder with the controller going nuts on me making it unplayable. So I ask what is the best stepdown converter to use. I was looking at this particular converter http://www.amazon.com/VCT-VT-1000J-Japanes...s/dp/B000PC4SVU It seems like a good fit and is also the same one used by the person who made the Famicom power guide. Any recommendations are welcome |
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| Bratwurst | Oct 13 2016, 06:41 AM Post #2 |
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BIG JERK
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You don't need that, you're going overkill and overthinking the issue. The original Famicom power plug is expecting 100 volts from a power outlet in Japan, the Famicom itself doesn't care if the outlet is producing 100 volts or 120 volts or even 240 volts because the power plug itself is acting as the middleman and conditioning the electricity to what it wants: 10 volts DC, 850 milliamps. The power supply issue breaks down like this: Give it the voltage it wants (10v) neither less nor higher, and the current rating can by anything so long as it's equal to or higher than 850ma. So a 10v 1000ma DC plug intended for use in North America would work. A 10v 5000ma DC plug would also work. The system essentially only sips the current that it needs and ignores the rest, but the voltage rating should be 10v. Be certain that the power plug you're getting also has the right polarity, for the Famicom it is Center Pin Negative. Again, be extra sure you're not getting an AC adapter, you want it to be DC. Plug tip dimensions are Outer Diameter 5.5mm, Inner Diameter 2.1mm I would guess the issues you were experiencing was from using an undervolted supply (9v). There is a voltage regulator within the system that is actually cutting what it gets from the power plug even more until it drops down to 5v which is what drives the system's electronics, so deviating from the design specs of the voltage regulation circuit can either overheat something by giving it too much voltage, or give it just enough voltage to run but behave wonky like you didn't get enough sleep the night before. |
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| Bratwurst | Oct 13 2016, 06:54 AM Post #3 |
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BIG JERK
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Also should mention it would be significantly cheaper to buy a new plug instead of a stepdown converter, hell you could buy a variable power supply for less than half of the cost and I'd make you the appropriate wire/plug kit. I'll also modify a power plug for the appropriate polarity/plug tip if you'd like. |
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| Ratix | Oct 13 2016, 07:57 AM Post #4 |
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Okay. That sounds like a much better approach. Although I will say that I had never tried the Ac adapter from the nes on it. I had always used DC adapters. Hell for the longest time i had used those stupid plugs till I had gotten my hands the actual adapters. When I had bought strx's fds system it came with the famiparter, a dual plug from Nintendo, and when I picked up the original Famicom it came with a plug. As far as I know the polarity was always as you had said. I had learned my lesson the hard way when I was in school. My main concern was that I was damaging my system because even though the plug I used outputted 9v DC 850ma |
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| Bratwurst | Oct 13 2016, 08:22 AM Post #5 |
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BIG JERK
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Yeah that would fry something inside the Famicom, quickly.
I've run AV Famicoms on 9v Genesis power supplies before (in an effort to troubleshoot something else and replicating what my customer was using in their home) and didn't notice any issues. I think the 7805 regulator really only 'needs' 7.5v as the baseline and burns the rest as wasteheat but it's still best to go with the intended specs. The power plug you're using now could also be failing, or there may even be a failing component in the system (or even the controller itself) that's causing the control glitching. Have you tried different gamepads (through the expansion port) at all? If I recall right the controller has a tiny shift register chip and the functions are interpreted by the Famicom CPU so it's fairly straightforward. |
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| Ratix | Oct 13 2016, 11:29 AM Post #6 |
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The plug used caused a buzzing noise on all consoles the Famicom, NES and SNES so I stopped using it altogether and have been a bit Leary of using another plug with that same power rating. I have the exact same plug but different manufacturer I use for the av Famicom and don't have any problems so maybe I should try that one too see what happens |
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| Ratix | Oct 17 2016, 04:39 AM Post #7 |
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the Famicom still derps but stops and i can play it for as long as i want with no problems. its still annoying but its a issue i will live with till it actually dies. |
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| Bratwurst | Oct 17 2016, 07:35 AM Post #8 |
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BIG JERK
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If the issue goes away after a while I wonder if the capacitors just need replacing. A symptom of a bad cap can be off spec values until it warms up/charges enough. |
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| Ratix | Oct 17 2016, 07:48 AM Post #9 |
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I haven't cracked it open in years but the next time I decide to open it up and examine a bit I'll take note of the board Rev. All the talk about RGB is raising my eyebrows because it does indeed look sexy as hell. |
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| Ratix | Oct 22 2016, 07:57 AM Post #10 |
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The issue has gotten worse. All my games were completely unplayable now. I took apart the controller to see what's up and cleaned it up since there was just dirt and grime. I'll play around some more today to see if it still doing it |
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| Bratwurst | Oct 22 2016, 08:20 AM Post #11 |
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BIG JERK
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How is the problem getting worse? Is it just the controller acting up? Is there visual glitching? Do the games freeze? |
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| Ratix | Oct 22 2016, 02:43 PM Post #12 |
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there are no glitches, no crashing, its just the controller for player 1 is doing a massive amount of button presses and i don't even touch the controller. it would constantly pause and unpause the game mario would constantly jump and go right. i switched power supplies and im now using the original Sega genesis model 1 plug since it is the same polarity and as you said before hand that you used it to try replicating a similar issue. i have ripped apart my controller and looked at the board and contacts. i seemed to have never cleaned the damn thing since i got it. i cleaned it up a bit contacts and all. |
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| Bratwurst | Oct 22 2016, 03:49 PM Post #13 |
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BIG JERK
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I think your player 1 controller is faulty, since you've opened up the Famicom, try unplugging both controllers, and plug ONLY the player 2 controller into the player 1 socket. Leave the player 1 controller disconnected. Give that a try. If that fixes your issue, your player 1 controller can be repaired if cleaning didn't do the trick. |
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| Ratix | Oct 23 2016, 03:20 AM Post #14 |
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All seems ok now since I cleaned the crap out of the controller and and switched power supplies |
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