Correct PSU For Nintendo systems?

The problem is not the size but mostly the shape of the connector.
In any case if you manage to find replacement connectors ( be them male of female ) for the NTSC SNES let us know.

 

So is the NTSC NES center pin, negative or positive??

 

Center pin negative says the official SNES power adapter. The NTSC NES (8bit) using AC, so polarity I don't think matters. I've used a Center Negative DC transformer with mine before and it worked fine.

 

Is the a way to test a center pin with a multimeter to see if its negative or positive? I have adapter here, which has an extension cable and the a tip that fits the US SNES, but im not sure if the tip is positive or negative. Will hooking the SNES up to a adapter that has a positive tip damage the SNES or will it just not power on??

 

connect red end to the middle and black to outer. If center is positive, the multimeter will read positive.

If its centre negative, the value will be minus.

 

Yeah that what i thought, the small extension cable that attached to the psu wire has a 2 pin socket on the other end where you can connect the plug that goes into the SNES. The plug has 2 pins labeled '+' & '-' and you obviously match these up with the same markings on the small extension cable.

Im using the continuity/beeper setting on my MM, now if i match the positive to positive and negative to negative on the plug socket and extension cable and connect the red end of the MM to the middle pin and then the black to the outer as suggested above then i get a beep and a reading of 002, now if i swap the plug socket around on the extension cable so now positive pin on the socket is plugged into the negative socket on the extension cable and vise verse for the other pin, and do the same test again i get no beeping or reading on the MM at all!!. Any ideas why that is?

 

Are you checking continuity, or are you checking DC voltage? Set your DMM to DC Voltage, and do what Bad_Ad84 suggested.

Also, sorry to bust in, but since we're on the subject: I've been testing both HVC-002 Famicom adapters and SNS-002 USA SNES adapters and the output voltage seems to be ~13V even though the adapter are rated for 10V? Is this normal, expected, safe?

I have a 3rd party adapter which outputs exactly 10V, per the spec printed on the official adapters. Not sure what to make of this.

 

unregulated power supplies only output the rated voltage with a load attached.

Plug it into the console and measure while its plugged in and it will be correct. So its expected and safe.

the exact 10v one is regulated, so voltage always same regardless of load applied or not.

 

Whatever you do, DO NOT use a PAL SNES or NES adaptor on a Virtual Boy. It will kill it. I know, it happened to me. The VB definitely requires DC input.

 

What is actual ment by a switching power supply, i guess it mean switching from AC to DC or vise verse but are these type of adapter suitable for these retro systems. the adapter im looking at is this one....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UK-DC-10V...?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Other&hash=item2c6f0dee31

It says the Input is AC and Output DC, how does an adapter receive an input?...does the console push back to the adapter?. I know its center positive but the seller said he would throw in Polarity changer extension cable

I want to get adapters for each of my systems.....

SNES Famicom: 10v DC Neg
SNES NTSC: 10v DC Neg (large socket 7mm)
SNES Mini: 10v DC Neg (large socket 7mm)
NES NTSC: 9v AC Neg or Pos
Megadrive (Asian/PAL): 10v DC Neg
Megadrive 2 US & UK???????

is the above all correct??

 

switching power supplies work by switching the AC on and off very quickly to get the smaller amount of electricity it needs. They can introduce noise though.

 

So not ideal for retro systems then?

But if the system need DC would the AC actually switch on??

EDIT: hmm seem all the adapters on eBay are switching, they all list the input as AC and output as DC....or is this the norm? Sorry for what might be a possibly stupid question im not well versed in power adapters and what not

 

Depends on the caps and such that help smooth out the power.

However, most cheap chinese ones? yeah, not so much.

 

Just to confirm the polarity of the center pin on a SNES mini is negative correct? As i just hooked this adapter up (along with an polarity reversed extension cable).....



and it appears to have blown the internal fuse. The adapter looks to be the right spec for the SNES mini no?....

DC 10v and would be center pin negative when using the polarity reversed extension cable i have connected??.

If you notice it looks like the tip end of the adapter has been modified at some time as it has heat wrap around the tip, maybe who ever fixed the adapter wired up the tip the wrong way around so infact the adapter is already center pin negative where it should be center pin positive???.

Is there an easy way with a Multimeter to test to see what polarity the center pin actually is on that adapter?

 

same as testing any power supply, it was described above in this very thread.

 

Well this is the thing, i set the MM to continuity/buzzer, put the red probe into the middle of the tip and the black probe on the outer, the MM starts buzzing and has the minus/negative symbol ( '-' ) but the MM starts counting up to 0 and then goes into positive figures at which point the buzzer stops sounding. If i remove the probes and retest again then it reads positive reading and no buzzing BUT if i swap around the probes (black in center and red on outer) then it starts a a negative reading again and counts up to 0 whilst buzzing and then carries on into positive reading and stops buzzing.

Why is the MM acting like this?

 

Why are you measuring continuity to measure voltage?

Put it in voltage mode. Put the black end in the middle of the plug (using your adapter on the PSU) and red to outer.

It will read positive voltage if the centre is negative. Will read minus if centre is positive.

 

Yeah the MM i have is a bit crap and doesnt have a setting low enough to detect a negative reading for some reason, its seems to flash up the negative symbol very briefly and then read nothing. ill have to invest in a better one

 

I have some adapters with the correct size plug to fit NTSC SNES consoles. You'd need a centre negative PSU to go with it though. Jaguar PSUs have the correct voltage and polarity if you can get hold of one. Id be willing to sell a few of the adaptors if anyone needs one.

 

The Jaguar PSU is 9V DC at 1.2A, which is not the correct specs for the SNES. It will work but it isn't the same as the official PSU. The official SNES PSU is 10V DC at 850mA.