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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Marketplace => Topic started by: redrumloa on April 27, 2008, 04:18:48 AM
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There is so much wrong with THIS (http://c64.digitalscream.com/power-supply.JPG) I don't know where to start :crazy:
Dragos bought this piss poor power supply and it failed after a few hours.
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For the record I had no idea who made this power supply when I first posted the picture here. Now that the builder is known I want to be clear I think this gentleman did not have bad intentions, is that clear? I have personally bought custom roms from him and found him to be a nice guy. I would probably buy from him again, just not a custom power supply.
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Urgh! Nasty!!!!
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Nice case :-P, looks like all those holes were even drilled by hand. What was that suppy suppose to power?
Plaz
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It looks quite "home-brew", but I don't think there's anything inherently wrong in rigging up a power supply like this, is there? One power supply provides 5V for 5V pins, while the other supplies 9 or 12V for those pins.
Sure it may be a little jury rigged, but it should work just as well as something more "factory made".
Of course, if poor quality parts are used, one of the power supplies might fail, as in this case. But that's not a design problem.
Well....actually, there could have been a little more ventilation added. Actually, if I had made this, I probably wouldn't have put it in that beige case at all, it may give it a neater appearance, but it restricts airflow around the black wall-wart adapters. Perhaps that's the cause of the premature failure.
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i have bought about 5 for my thinkpad t21 over the last 2 years. the last one melted! luckily it didn't catch fire. i am about to get a new lappy. hurrah!
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Hehee, A ghetto Amiga PSU.
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Plaz wrote:
Nice case :-P, looks like all those holes were even drilled by hand. What was that suppy suppose to power?
Plaz
Commdore 64
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Sure it may be a little jury rigged, but it should work just as well as something more "factory made".
Actually no, especially it was sold as a professional product afaik. This looks like a train wreck and the fact it failed after only a couple hours of use proves it. Looking at the physical size of these wall warts, there is no way their amperage is rated high enough for the intended application. DC wall warts typically are not internally regulated, coupled being greatly undersized there is a huge potential of improper voltage levels. The fact this failed was luck, opposed to destroying the C64.
Furthermore these wall warts being loose plugged into an generic extension cord inside a plastic closure with no fusing is so wrong I don't know where to start. I guess the owner could have cooked marshmallows over his burning house..
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i have bought about 5 for my thinkpad t21 over the last 2 years
Egad! Don't use a wall wart with a laptop!! :eek:
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tokyoracer wrote:
Hehee, A ghetto Amiga PSU.
Almost, it was a ghetto C64 power supply ;-)
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Tops anything I've seen! And that's saying something...
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it has two different GNDs, I think that's why its dangerous..
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Hum
C64 use +5v DC and 9v AC ? :rtfm:
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The first hint shoulda been that it rattled when you shook it. :-)
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The discussion continues on lemon64 (http://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26803&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0).
As I posted on lemon64, I don't see ill intentions but it is ill-advised.
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I think this whole thing is a lot of yelling and screaming about nothing and everyone is acting like a bunch of children. So a home made power supply for $35 failed. Bound to happen. All this quibbling about specs and crap is just ego and bolstering. Plug two wall warts for $10.00 each into the wall, hack off the ends and slap on a connector that will fit in the C64. No one would make a big deal about that and in fact I would be quite proud of myself for coming up with such a solution ASSUMING that the wall warts had the juice needed. All this crap about certification this and certification that is all just noise with people trying to come out with a superior ego IMHO. Suck it up, one of the power supplies was faulty and went belly up. Stuff happens.
I can't believe I read the whole thing! :-o
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Hmm, Red,
I think you may have voided the warranty by opening it :lol:
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Looking at the physical size of these wall warts, there is no way their amperage is rated high enough for the intended application... there is a huge potential of improper voltage levels.
After reading fully through these threads (here, Denial, comp.sys.cbm etc.) it seems that they were rated properly and the voltages were tested, if we are to take Eslapions' word.
Furthermore these wall warts being loose plugged into an generic extension cord inside a plastic closure with no fusing
Were any C64 power supplies fused? Most that I've seen in North America were sealed shut with epoxy and had no fuses. The European ones may have, though.
I agree the end product LOOKS crap from an aesthetic standpoint, and I'm not sure I agree with the price charged, but I'm also not convinced it is an inherently faulty design. After all, essentially what's inside a C64 power supply are a couple of transformers like this, but in a more unified looking case.
Also, what is the point of linking to this discussion on comp.sys.cbm, Lemon64 and elsewhere? To create a witch-hunt? Again, I'm not taking sides: I vouched for Dragos' credibility here when you guys were jumping all over him as an Ebay scammer, but now I see the same thing happening again. I don't know either of the guys very well, but I think we must remain objective. I see a lot of questionable opinions on electronics being bandied about and taken as fact (I'm probably guilty of this).
If the power supply did fail, maybe this could be worked out more rationally with a refund / replacement, etc.
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@RRunner
I suggest you use one for your A2000, and expand it with third PSU for -12V..
:roll:
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redrumloa wrote:
There is so much wrong with THIS (http://c64.digitalscream.com/power-supply.JPG) I don't know where to start :crazy:
Dragos bought this piss poor power supply and it failed after a few hours.
Wow! I feel inspired. I think I'm going to build an efficient engine for my Mercury Sable with a couple chickens and a treadmill strap... :lol:
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RRunner wrote:
I think this whole thing is a lot of yelling and screaming about nothing and everyone is acting like a bunch of children. So a home made power supply for $35 failed. Bound to happen. All this quibbling about specs and crap is just ego and bolstering. Plug two wall warts for $10.00 each into the wall, hack off the ends and slap on a connector that will fit in the C64. No one would make a big deal about that and in fact I would be quite proud of myself for coming up with such a solution ASSUMING that the wall warts had the juice needed. All this crap about certification this and certification that is all just noise with people trying to come out with a superior ego IMHO. Suck it up, one of the power supplies was faulty and went belly up. Stuff happens.
I can't believe I read the whole thing! :-o
It was sold as a commercial product and it could have easily burned down the buyers house. You think that is a joke?
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Homer wrote:
Hmm, Red,
I think you may have voided the warranty by opening it :lol:
Not mine!! :-o
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Also, what is the point of linking to this discussion on comp.sys.cbm, Lemon64 and elsewhere? To create a witch-hunt?
What are you going on about? The only link I have made is to the lemon64 forum, because the maker of this power supply has spoken out and is defending himself, right or wrong. Why are you so defensive? I have stated numerous times I don't think there were ill intentions here, just ill advised.
Ill advised is a kind way of saying WARNING!! THIS CAN BURN DOWN YOUR HOUSE AND KILL THE OCCUPANTS
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For the record I had no idea who made this power supply when I first posted the picture here. Now that the builder is known I want to be clear I think this gentleman did not have bad intentions, is that clear? I have personally bought custom roms from him and found him to be a nice guy. I would probably buy from him again, just not a custom power supply.
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redrumloa wrote:
It was sold as a commercial product and it could have easily burned down the buyers house. You think that is a joke?
Nope. I missed the part where anyone ever said it was sold as a commercial product. I got the impression from the thread that the buyer was well aware that this something created by the seller and that they were only paying $35. I guess if I was lead to believe I was buying a professionally built commercial product, I'd be a little miffed.
As for burning down the house. I don't believe that for a minute. Right now I have several of those wall warts plugged into a power bar under my desk powering two routers, a cordless phone, a desk light and a scanner. I've had those things go bad in the past and all they do is stop working. Just because the extension cord was stuck in a case and the warts plugged in there instead of into a power bar or the wall didn't make it any more risky in my opinion. Now if the jury rigged plug for the C64 was messed up, that's a different story.
Anyways, just my $0.02 worth... and definitely not worth all the heated debate this topic is getting. But it has been entertaining reading. :popcorn:
Now returning to my regularly scheduled program... :-D
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If said 'Wall Warts' were trying to supply more power than they were rated for, you'd have a serious fire hazard. Having read over the thread both here and on Lemon, it sounds like that's exactly what happened. Wall warts are just fine when they're being used for the device they were rated for.
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I've done exactly the same thing with my C128 power supply when it died. I replaced the internals with a switching 5V wall-wart and 9V transformer (both giving out more currency than the original was, and much lighter in weight). I arranged mine in V fashion so when you close the case everything fits tightly and do not rattle. I do not think that such PSU is more dangerous than the individual wall-wart itself and in my case it was the only solution since the switching chip in original PSU was dead and I could not find a replacement. I think the wall-warts have internal fuses and one could add additional fuses for output lines which would protect the wall-warts. I would not sell one commercially, but mine does its job well and has been in use for over a year.
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redrumloa wrote:
It was sold as a commercial product and it could have easily burned down the buyers house. You think that is a joke?
...LIAR... this is no joke...
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RRunner wrote:
Nope. I missed the part where anyone ever said it was sold as a commercial product. I got the impression from the thread that the buyer was well aware that this something created by the seller and that they were only paying $35.
Your impression was in fact perfectly correct. This is the only power supply I ever made like that for somebody else.
As for burning down the house. I don't believe that for a minute. Right now I have several of those wall warts plugged into a power bar under my desk powering two routers, a cordless phone, a desk light and a scanner. I've had those things go bad in the past and all they do is stop working. Just because the extension cord was stuck in a case and the warts plugged in there instead of into a power bar or the wall didn't make it any more risky in my opinion. Now if the jury rigged plug for the C64 was messed up, that's a different story.
Anyways, just my $0.02 worth... and definitely not worth all the heated debate this topic is getting. But it has been entertaining reading. :popcorn:
Now returning to my regularly scheduled program... :-D
The voice of reason...
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Xamiche wrote:
If said 'Wall Warts' were trying to supply more power than they were rated for, you'd have a serious fire hazard. Having read over the thread both here and on Lemon, it sounds like that's exactly what happened. Wall warts are just fine when they're being used for the device they were rated for.
Negative. The 5Vdc switching supply is rated for 2.4A. A commodore 64 with nothing attached normally consumes around 1A...
Wallwarts ALL have internal fuses. Some are self resetting, some are one time only. Using a safety certified wallwart beyond its rating will only blow the fuse. It should never cause a fire hazard.
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A ghetto C64 PSU then. =/
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eslapion wrote:
...LIAR... this is no joke...
Fine then, I retract my statement that there was probably no ill intent.
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eslapion wrote:
As for burning down the house. I don't believe that for a minute. Right now I have several of those wall warts plugged into a power bar under my desk powering two routers, a cordless phone, a desk light and a scanner. I've had those things go bad in the past and all they do is stop working. Just because the extension cord was stuck in a case and the warts plugged in there instead of into a power bar or the wall didn't make it any more risky in my opinion. Now if the jury rigged plug for the C64 was messed up, that's a different story.
Anyways, just my $0.02 worth... and definitely not worth all the heated debate this topic is getting. But it has been entertaining reading. :popcorn:
Now returning to my regularly scheduled program... :-D
The voice of reason...
Extension cord used improperly burns down house (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/16/AR2006121600877.html).
[color=ff0000]Etter said that families should make sure that their smoke alarm is working properly and that all extension cords have the Underwriters Laboratories stamp. "You have to make sure you use an extension cord that is designed for the specific use you're using it for," he said.[/color][/b]
Give up while you are behind, you will not win this argument. You are just making things far worse for yourself.
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No ill intent......
http://c64.digitalscream.com/Slappy/Fraud.txt
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redrumloa wrote:
Give up while you are behind, you will not win this argument. You are just making things far worse for yourself.
How so? I'm just reading and responding for the entertainment value. I'm not trying to win any argument, was just trying to point out what seemed obvious to me. I'm not one of the parties involved in this but still, I can't believe that people are getting so worked up over this very minor issue. Very entertaining though...
:popcorn:
You know, I could show you lots of articles about laptops catching on fire because of faulty or overloaded batteries. What percentage is that? So does that mean I should not use a laptop for fear that my house is going to burn down? I probably have a better chance at getting hit by a bus walking across the street. I'm sure there are articles on the web about that happening too but it doesn't mean I'm going to stop walking across the street!
The wall warts were plugged into an extension cord... yes. Were the two wall warts drawing more power than the extension cord could handle... I highly doubt it.
The fact of the matter is, someone bought a home made cheap power supply for $35. It died after only a few uses and they were ticked off. After opening it up they were even more upset to see that the power supply was a crudely constructed thing. Just because the solution was crude doesn't mean it wasn't safe. I haven't seen one thing in any of these threads that suggests to me that there was anything unsafe about it. Crude - yes, should have worked - yes, worth $35 - sure ($15 of labour for someone to buy the parts and put it together seems right)...
Would I have been upset if I was in that situation? Maybe. But once I realized the dual power requirements... what other cheap home made solution is possible?
Wow, what a lot of fighting over something so trivial. I can't imagine what the reaction would be to a really important or serious issue.
:-D
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RRunner wrote:
redrumloa wrote:
Give up while you are behind, you will not win this argument. You are just making things far worse for yourself.
How so? I'm just reading and responding for the entertainment value. I'm not trying to win any argument, was just trying to point out what seemed obvious to me. I'm not one of the parties involved in this but still, I can't believe that people are getting so worked up over this very minor issue. Very entertaining though...
:popcorn:
:-D
My response was not directed to you, it was to eslapion.
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http://youtube.com/watch?v=YZipeaAkuC0
watch this, a former customer burnt down his house, because of the so called "master engineer" eslapion homemade power supply....
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A1260 wrote:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YZipeaAkuC0
Damn, that was cool.
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redrumloa wrote:
Extension cord used improperly burns down house (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/16/AR2006121600877.html).
[color=ff0000]Etter said that families should make sure that their smoke alarm is working properly and that all extension cords have the Underwriters Laboratories stamp. "You have to make sure you use an extension cord that is designed for the specific use you're using it for," he said.[/color][/b]
Give up while you are behind, you will not win this argument. You are just making things far worse for yourself.
I think YOU should give up before you have to face litigation on this.
The extension cord was rated for 15A. This power supply consumes less than 0.5A, therefore IT IS perfectly adequate for the specific use.
Using the extension cord with an electrical heater that draws excessive current or using it in outdoor conditions are examples of using it for what it was NOT designed for.
Plugging two little 10-30 watts wallwarts and using it indoor is a perfect example of using it to do what it was designed for.
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A1260 wrote:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YZipeaAkuC0
watch this, a former customer burnt down his house, because of the so called "master engineer" eslapion homemade power supply....
Strange that the video says "transformer fire". This is a high power transformer failing. I never sold nor built such things.
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I think YOU should give up before you have to face litigation on this.
You just keep digging your hole even deeper, you have no leg to sue anyone. As a matter of fact if anything your continuous blathering is opening yourself to legal troubles. You completely gloss over the NFPA code violation, and that is just the beginning. You claim to be an EE student, have you ever heard of the NFPA? I mean, without firing up Google?
Just drop it already, it was ill advised and you have moved on. Leave it at that.