Older 9V VIC Power Supplies

[vic user]

all on DVD woof!

oh man, i must pop over to your place for viewing!

[eslapion]

For very early VICs the power supply was actually in a metal case. I have one here.

Surprisingly, the VIC itself says 9V AC on its 2 pin connector while the power supply says 11V 38VA.

I suppose any good Hammond 9VAC transformer with at least 30VA will do just fine.

If you use something below 9VAC, you will reduce the amount of heat produced by the 5V regulator but the datasette wont like it or anything that uses the 9 VAC output on the user port, such as a RS232 interface or Promenade EPROM programmer.

The exact part no of the original supply is 1001038-02.

Hope this is useful.

[ral-clan]

For very early VICs the power supply was actually in a metal case. I have one here.

Surprisingly, the VIC itself says 9V AC on its 2 pin connector while the power supply says 11V 38VA.

I suppose any good Hammond 9VAC transformer with at least 30VA will do just fine.

Just a generic power supply question from a non-electronic type:

I own a lot of 80's electronic toys and old CASIO type musical keyboards without power supplies. I had always understood that if you use a (generic/non-original) power adaptor with them, you must have the Volts the same (or very close) but the Amps can be the rating OR above.

i.e. a toy that says it takes a 9V 300mA power supply rating would have no problem using a power adaptor rated at 9V 800mA or even 9V 1Amp or really any amperage above the specified rating.

I guess I understood that the toy would only draw what it needed.

Am I right in this understanding? Is it totally safe to use a power supply with "overkill" amp capability?

[carlsson]

As far as I know: yes. I'm using a switchable adapter (1.5-12V) which is rated 1.7-2.0A depending on voltage. Currently I don't have any compatible equipment that requires so much effect though.

On the other hand, I'm unsure what happens if the adapter can not deliver enough power; does the item just not work, or will it draw power until the adapter goes up in smoke?

[Schema]

I'm having trouble finding a 9VDC power supply that can provide 3A. I even checked Sayal (www.sayal.com), a local electronics shop that has very many types of power supplies for sale.

The most powerful 9VDC model they had was 1.2A . The only power supply they had that could provide over 3A was 12VDC - and it was huge (about 1/'2 the size of the VIC itself)

Similarly, AC power supplies providing over 1A seem hard to find.

Any leads on where I could get one? I'd prefer to get one locally if possible.

[6502dude]

You will likely pay a small fortune to buy x-former.

Generally the greater current capacity the greater the cost.

You may keep loaner 9vac Vic-20 supply.

I suspect I have another one somewhere anyway.

[eslapion]

I'm having trouble finding a 9VDC power supply that can provide 3A. I even checked Sayal (www.sayal.com), a local electronics shop that has very many types of power supplies for sale.

The most powerful 9VDC model they had was 1.2A . The only power supply they had that could provide over 3A was 12VDC - and it was huge (about 1/'2 the size of the VIC itself)

Similarly, AC power supplies providing over 1A seem hard to find.

Any leads on where I could get one? I'd prefer to get one locally if possible.

What you want for the 9VAC is a transformer that you do the wiring for yourself. 9VAC is not an industry standard for a powerful transformer. 10VAC is close enough.

On www.digikey.ca

check:
- VPS10-2500 for 10VAC transformer capable of 2.5A
- VPS10-4300 for 10VAC transformer capable of 4.3A
- Hammond 166M10 for 10VAC transformer capable of 3A -> This is truly the closest I know of to the orginal VIC transformer and it is made in Canada

For the 9VDC, this is special because the device has to do the conversion from AC to DC and regulate.

Here in montreal, Addisson sells a small switching power supply of 2.1A with various voltage settings, including 3.3V, 5V, 6V and 9V for 15.99$

[Schema]

Ah. I was hoping to find an off-the-shelf power supply as wiring up a transformer is probably too complicated for me.

6502dude, I'll swap the power supply for some Transactors

But I still want to find a modern alternate, in case that one ever dies or if I need another.

[6502dude]

6502dude, I'll swap the power supply for some Transactors

Sounds like a good deal to me.

[mercifier]

The kind of adapter used for later VICs, and the C64 has 4 pins, two 9v~ pins, and two +5v/GND pins.

I just made an adapter from 7-pole DIN to those japanese phono contacts commonly used to plug in auxiliary sound sources to stereo hi-fi systems (female.) Found out which pins on the DIN contact to use, and soldered them to the inner part of the two phono female contacts. With a little work with the knife (cutting away some of the outer isolating plastic) the phono contacts fit just perfectly on one pin each of the power input of the VIC!

I took an adapter for C64, that newer "cubic" version without switch, because it had higher rating on the 9v~ output. It works just fine.

[carlsson]

Does all functions, like sound, floppy drive, tape (!!) etc work? Previously when someone experimented with that, it seemed a too low effect on the 9VAC made some parts not function. Or maybe it was a misunderstanding or other error that occurred at the same time.

[6502dude]

Last weekend I measured 9VAC supply from C64 brick.

It is rated for 2.5A.

However at 2.5A (resistive load) the output voltage was around 7.5VAC.

I did not test to see if this was acceptable for Vic-20 tape operation. I suspect tape speed may run a bit slower at the lower volatge.

[mercifier]

Does all functions, like sound, floppy drive, tape (!!) etc work?

I'm afraid I haven't tried tape, nor a real 1541, but 64HDD works (x1541 interface). Also sound and everything on the computer itself works.

I have one original power supply with DIN contact, that kind with a power switch and a "sloping" front that came with the first C64s, but it had lower ratings and I didn't want to blow any fuses. The C64 adapter I use is rated just 1A on the 9v~ output, but it has one single thermic (I think) fuse rated 5A (label reads "T5A" and there is no fuse that you can replace from outside).

I also have a similar one with a normal fuse ("smältsäkring" - what ever it's called in english) rated 630mA, but the label reads "T200mA". I don't quite understand what that means... I use that one for my C64. Both are rated 5v/1.7A - 9v~/1A.

I guess the rectifying circut that resides inside the computer itself on the old VIC-20's is just moved into the adapter, and that you can take more power out of the 9v~ output if you don't use the 5v output.

[Boray]

I found that old thread:
http://sleepingelephant.com/ipw-web/bul ... .php?t=308

My vic-20 uses 1.64A while running and more like 1.75A at startup.

[ral-clan]

Here's an opporunity for someone to make a few bucks. Making and selling replacement (and safer/more reliable) power supplies for the VIC-20. I'm sure there are a few people on DENIAL who would buy one (if they were $30 or less I'd be sorely tempted).

I've got about 3 spare 2-prong VIC-20 power supplies, but you guys are scaring me with all the stories of how unreliable it can become. Is it true that it can fry chips in the VIC when it goes bad?