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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga community support ideas => Topic started by: on April 19, 2007, 10:48:18 AM
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Hi there fellow Amiga 3000D users,
I am an electrical engineering student and I recently had a serious problem (read catastrophy) with the power supply of my Amiga 3000 desktop.
The original power supply in the 3000D is only rated for 135W and that leaves little safety room for big expansions such as powerful 68040/68060/PPC accelerators.
I recently found an ATX power supply which has physical dimensions very similar to the original A3000D power supply but it is rated for 200watts. see: http://www.sparklepower.com/pdf/FSP200-60SAV.pdf
I intend to adapt this power supply to replace the power supply in the 3000D. Of course, it would be much more worthwhile if other people were interested in having their PS modified (read internally completely replaced) in the same manner.
If you would like to know more then by all means please ask your questions. The first one, of course is pricing... well that depends how many people are interested. These PS would certainly be cheaper if I buy 10 or more at a time.
I will answer all technical details I can.
Added edit:
The real dimensions of the 3000D power supply is 110x63x175mm (WxHxL).
The dimensions of the substitute power supply is
86x65.5x174.9mm (WxHxL).
Same length, very slightly taller, 1 inch narrower.
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Interesting.
Could you do the same job for the A2000?
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Xanxi wrote:
Interesting.
Could you do the same job for the A2000?
I probably could. I would have to check the compatibility of the 2000 with an industry standard form factor. Looks close to AT or ATX.
I have the schematics for the A3000D here so I know what comes out the 3000D PS and on what pin. I would need the same information for the 2000.
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I was thinking these days to replace the fan on my 3kd's psu.
I assume you will keep the original PSU housing, and just replace the internals? Well, then, yes I'd be interested.
Gimme a reasonable price, 200watts, and less noise than the original and you've got yourself a customer!
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do you include PCB for TICK generator?
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MrZammler wrote:
I was thinking these days to replace the fan on my 3kd's psu.
I assume you will keep the original PSU housing, and just replace the internals? Well, then, yes I'd be interested.
Gimme a reasonable price, 200watts, and less noise than the original and you've got yourself a customer!
Yes, the idea is to install it in the original housing of the PS of the 3000.
The specs to which I gave a link specifies there is a noise killer in this power supply. This power supply is equipped with a thermal fan speed control. However, since I do not have a power supply like that myself, I cannot garantee the exact results.
I suppose it depend how much heat is produced by the additionnal equipment you have put in your A3000.
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orange wrote:
do you include PCB for TICK generator?
That is something I will have to decide when I make my prototype.
The 3000D does not absolutely need the TICK generator as it can be replaced by an internal signal with J350.
However, I was told by a retired technician that the TICK signal may be used to synchronise the display refresh rate with the frequency of the mains to avoid wavy variations in luminance in the display when not using the built-in flickerfixer.
I will have to take a look at the TICK signal on an oscilloscope to decide on that.
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The only problem is... do you really want to trust your Amiga to a Sparkle PSU?? :-P
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-D- wrote:
The only problem is... do you really want to trust your Amiga to a Sparkle PSU?? :-P
I have never purchased any power supply from this company before. However, the fact that they give so many detailed informations about their product (see the PDF in the original post) suggest a certain professionalism.
However, if you have any information, positive or negative, concerning the reliability of their product then I would truly appreciate it if you would post it.
Also, if you believe you have found an equivalent product from another manufacturer that also closely matches to physical dimensions of the original A3000D power supply then by all means, let us know about it.
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I just looked at Jameco and they seem to sell this TFX form factor for a fairly low price.
32$/each for one unit
28$/each for 10 units.
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I also found a 300W PS of the same form factor for 49$.
See: http://www.sundialmicro.com/silverstone_power_supply_300wsstlc11_1723_492.html
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Well, they may be better now, but Sparkle didn't used to have the best reputation, LOL. Silverstone makes a great PSU, I've ran a few of them pretty hard and they've held up just fine. I'm sure either will be better than a 20 year old Commodore PSU, but I'd go with Silverstone over Sparkle.
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I'd certainly be interested to if you can make 220volt PSU's
I'm just about to replace my fan in my A3000 PSU too....it's too damn noisy :-o
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eslapion wrote:
However, I was told by a retired technician that the TICK signal may be used to synchronise the display refresh rate with the frequency of the mains to avoid wavy variations in luminance in the display when not using the built-in flickerfixer.
This is not really what it's for. The TICK signal feeds the internal system clock (CIA) which is usually fed by _VSync (Agnus) on the smaller machines.
Running it from the constant mains frequency means your clock is independent from the screen mode you're using - with ECS any screen mode different from the native one will screw up your system clock otherwise.
J350 changes this to _VSync (which I have done on my A3k 3 weeks after buying it since mains TICK was WAY off).
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Zac67 wrote:
Running it from the constant mains frequency means your clock is independent from the screen mode you're using - with ECS any screen mode different from the native one will screw up your system clock otherwise.
J350 changes this to _VSync (which I have done on my A3k 3 weeks after buying it since mains TICK was WAY off).
Hey, mega thanks for this information.
This means I have to assume anyone using the power supply also uses it to maintain system clock and therefore, if I make a tick generating circuit it would then have to be based on a crytal oscillator. Probably would also have to provide a jumper for 50/60 Hz mode of operation.
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AMIGAZ wrote:
I'd certainly be interested to if you can make 220volt PSU's
I'm just about to replace my fan in my A3000 PSU too....it's too damn noisy :-o
Both the Silverstone and the Sparkle can take 95~132/190~264V AC with manual selection.
They both work all around the world.
The sparkle has a noise reducer. I can't find this information for the silverstone. It just says noise level 22dba.
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AMIGAZ wrote:
I'm just about to replace my fan in my A3000 PSU too....it's too damn noisy :-o
That was something else I did when my A3k was still young. Put in a nice Papst that's still running very nicely. :-D
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Zac67 wrote:
AMIGAZ wrote:
I'm just about to replace my fan in my A3000 PSU too....it's too damn noisy :-o
That was something else I did when my A3k was still young. Put in a nice Papst that's still running very nicely. :-D
They certainly didn't know what a "silent" fan was back in 1990 :crazy:
I'm a bit afraid that I might find a silent fan but that it won't move enough air out of the case...the PSU fan is the lifeline of the A3000
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AMIGAZ wrote:
I'm a bit afraid that I might find a silent fan but that it won't move enough air out of the case...the PSU fan is the lifeline of the A3000
Actually, the fan in the original power supply of the 3000 is overkill for the original config and more than just a bit.
It is not overkill, however, if you have a cybervision and cyberstorm 060/PPC with 128MB of RAM.
The original ZIPs also produce a lot of heat. If you have all 16MB full then leave the fan as it is.
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To be on the sure side, I wouldn't use a regulated fan. The 8412 I've been using for a long time is audible, but definitely not annoying. Its throughput is at least the same as the original fan's.
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Zac67 wrote:
To be on the sure side, I wouldn't use a regulated fan. The 8412 I've been using for a long time is audible, but definitely not annoying. Its throughput is at least the same as the original fan's.
That's not something I think i would want to modify. If I buy a PS with thermal control, I think its better to leave it like that.
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AMIGAZ wrote:
I'd certainly be interested to if you can make 220volt PSU's
I'm just about to replace my fan in my A3000 PSU too....it's too damn noisy :-o
Did that yesterday to my A3000!
Replaced it with an Antec TrioCool (or something). Just make sure the new fan has the same CFM as the original (IIRC it was ~30).
The difference is amazing.
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AMIGAZ wrote:
I'd certainly be interested to if you can make 220volt PSU's
I'm just about to replace my fan in my A3000 PSU too....it's too damn noisy :-o
Is there anybody other than AMIGAZ willing to buy one of these modded supplies for their 3000?
Doesn't seem to be a very popular offer...
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C'mon guys!!
This is a great opportunity to replace your 17 year old A3000 PSU
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I just posted a picture in the 3000 hardware category. But for some reason it does not show up.
This pictures shows my scope besides the 3000 with the TICK signal showing on the scope's display.
The tick signal turns out to be a square wave with 50% duty cycle that is perfectly synchroneous with the mains and toggles between 0 and 5V. Here in canada I get a 60Hz signal. In europe, you would get a 50Hz signal with the same other properties.
Now that's not too difficult to reproduce.
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eslapion wrote:
I just posted a picture in the 3000 hardware category. But for some reason it does not show up.
This pictures shows my scope besides the 3000 with the TICK signal showing on the scope's display.
The tick signal turns out to be a square wave with 50% duty cycle that is perfectly synchroneous with the mains and toggles between 0 and 5V. Here in canada I get a 60Hz signal. In europe, you would get a 50Hz signal with the same other properties.
Now that's not too difficult to reproduce.
The mod's must approve the pic first, most of them are located in USA and are ZZZZzzzzz...right now ;-)
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eslapion wrote:
I just posted a picture in the 3000 hardware category. But for some reason it does not show up.
This pictures shows my scope besides the 3000 with the TICK signal showing on the scope's display.
The tick signal turns out to be a square wave with 50% duty cycle that is perfectly synchroneous with the mains and toggles between 0 and 5V. Here in canada I get a 60Hz signal. In europe, you would get a 50Hz signal with the same other properties.
Now that's not too difficult to reproduce.
There it is: http://www.amiga.org/gallery/photo.php?lid=3252
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eslapion wrote:
Xanxi wrote:
Interesting.
Could you do the same job for the A2000?
I probably could. I would have to check the compatibility of the 2000 with an industry standard form factor. Looks close to AT or ATX.
I have the schematics for the A3000D here so I know what comes out the 3000D PS and on what pin. I would need the same information for the 2000.
The A2000 works with a standard AT PSU.
I have one in mine (swapped the internals)
The only thing you need is the pinouts for the A2000 PSU.
You also have to reseat a jumper for the TICK signal.
You can see the results of mine here: http://paradox.channelwood.org/Amiga/index.php?path=A2K_PSUhack/
http://theweeks.org/toms-stuff/files/TDTTS_A2000_pwr_sply.txt
The jumper that needs to be reseated is the one under one of the custom chipset.. I think under Paula or something, not sure though
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I just switched my PSU fan for an Akasa temp regulated one...it's a risk I'm taking but the airflow is 15-30 cfm so I think I'll be ok
with the new fan my A3000 is now my quietest big box Amiga....only small noise comes from my CS MKII cooling fan and the rattle from my SCSI drive when it works
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If worse comes to worse and my PSU dies, I'll keep you in mind.
How do you modify it so that you can turn it on/off with the original switch?
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Amiduffer wrote:
How do you modify it so that you can turn it on/off with the original switch?
I don't think I have to modify to new PSU to work with the original switch. Instead, I modify the original switch to work with an ATX PSU.
I do that by removing the small steel pin that makes the switch a push-on/push-off type of switch. The switch then becomes a normally open push button that closes when pushed.
I then connect this switch between ground and pin 14 of the ATX PSU (!PS_ON) this turns on the computer.
To turn off the computer, you simply press the button again.
See: http://pinouts.ru/Power/atxpower_pinout.shtml
Added edit:
Adapters allowing the use of ATX power supplies with AT PC MoBos do the same.
See: http://www.power-on.com/images/product/accessories/atxtoat1.jpg
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That won't do.
Truely, the standard ATX power button is a simple open push button BUT it connects to the mainboard, which in turn uses the (constant!) _PS_ON signal to turn on the PSU. Just leaving the switch function as is will make it switch the way you need. :-)
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Are these still available? Is anyone still producing them?