Replacing the DC PSU

what did you use to connect the wire to the Dreamcast board power pins
are these thermal wire shrink?
from where i can buy them

thank you

 

Its all in the post. I desoldered the power connector from the PicoPSU and used a part of that to connect to the pins on the motherboard.

"As you can see, I desoldered the power connector from the PicoPSU so I could solder directly to it. I cut one of the desoldered power connectors into four parts using a thin metal saw. This is what I soldered the power into and fit on the existing motherboard connectors"

Yes, its shrink tubing. You can buy that in any electronic store I think.

 

thank you so much for your replay

did you find solution for the VGA BOX output of the dreamcast?

 

No, never used a VGA BOX with the dreamcast... =)

 

Finally get some time and mount my picopsu!

I use the parts I listed in a few messages back. And added a picopsu bracket (bought together with picopsu), folded it and use as support to power supply out.

I made some measurements in crazy taxi loop and got:

Before picopsu:

ambient 73 F 22,77777778 C
1 hour 105 F 40,55555556 C

After picopsu:

Ambient 78 F 25,55555556 C
1 hour 85,5 F 29,72222222 C

Please take these measurements with grain of salt!

I use a home thermometer ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OSCRJ6E/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and the angle and position can change things along others factors. But I think the different in temperature is quite high to eliminate any douts that the pico psu really works!

See the images below. Now the only thing that rest is press start and PLAY!

 

I was planning on using a polarised figure 8 socket for the pico PSU power connection, but just couldn't find anything suitable online and suddenly realised that almost all the US consoles already have one, so I'm planning on getting hold of one of them and wiring it up to the DC (as in current) input so that the console looks completely stock. Of course, you could do that anyway with a regular figure 8, but the risk of accidentally plugging the lead in the wrong way round would be too high.

 

I did a nice breakdown of a similar mod in my thread
http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/gd-usb-picopsu-kuro-hdmi-out-and-more.61620/

 

I just picked up an 80W picoPSU to use with my Dreamcast. I've installed a USB-GDROM which works and use it with a Hanzo VGA adapter. After swapping the PSU and powering on, it runs but the screen periodically blacks out and there's a constant band of light static (for lack of a better description) in the output. Needless to say, this isn't ideal. If I put the original PSU back in then everything works.

Any ideas what could be the cause? Crap power brick? Electrical noise from something (I was running it w/o the case)? Crap soldering job? 80W too little when using a Hanzo?

 

I use this 80W picoPSU with a toro and GDROM USB. all fine.

http://www.mini-box.com/picoPSU-80-60W-power-kit

What picoPSU did you use? Which power supply? I receive in this kit an EDACPOWER ELEC model EA10523C-120 12 V 5A:

http://www.mini-box.com/60w-12v-5A-AC-DC-Power-Adapter?sc=8&category=13

Can you take some pcis of your installation? Maybe someone can help looking on it.

 

Ordered a PicoPSU for my Dreamcast. One of these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201730852014

Gonna take a while to come, but im in no rush to do this mod, and it cost me half the price it would have cost in the UK.
What i'll most likely end up doing is completely desoldering the PSU pins from the motherboard, and hard wire a molex connect instead, so I can disconnect the PSU whenever I need to.

Also, am I right in assuming this mod can be done to a Sega Saturn just as easily? If so, I might grab myself a Japanese Saturn.

 

Needs a little bit more work on a Saturn as it requires 9v, It can be done though.

 

wouldn't it be as simple as soldering a resistor to one of the 12v pins on the picoPSU, to bring it down to 9v?

 

Picopsu doesn't output 12v. The 12v line is just power direct from the adapter you plug into it.

So get a 9v power supply and you will be good.

 

Oh I see. So if I use a 9v power adapter, then all the 12v pins on the picopsu become 9v?

 

Yep.

 

I didn't think about trying a 9v supply, I used a regulator to drop a 12v line to 9v. Not sure if that's the best approach it has been working ok though.

 

interesting. can you point me to which regulator you used? If this works, then its probably a better option because it means one can use the same power adapter on both the Dreamcast and Saturn

 

This is the pico I bought: Mini-Box picoPSU-80 http://a.co/im8ZuBe

And the adapter: Intocircuit LCD 60W 12V 5A Adapter http://a.co/bzUoG2y

Pic attached. I'm going to redo the 12v wire. As you can see, I initially removed it and didn't do the best job soldering on a wire

 

Sure, no problem. I don't have easy access to my Saturn at the moment to check, however I know I have some spare as I had to order a minimum of five. I'll drop you a message as not to clog up this post with Saturn stuff.

 

is there anywhere in europe to get those 3d printed DC jack covers?