power supply for 2600

[bradhig]

I lost the original power supply for my 2600 and am using a generic one but when I was playing Haunted Adventure trilogy the scren turned blue and turing if off and on didn't work for a minute then the system came back on as normal. What kind of power supply do I need to run my 2600 as I think the one I am using is not good for it?

[Uzumaki]

9v DC, 500mA, center tip is positive. Some older ATari brand adapter are 300 but it's a little low, 500mA or more recommended.

 

If it's going, either you have a bad power supply or a bad voltage regulator inside.

[bradhig]

9v DC, 500mA, center tip is positive. Some older ATari brand adapter are 300 but it's a little low, 500mA or more recommended.

 

If it's going, either you have a bad power supply or a bad voltage regulator inside.

 

mine is 12v DC. 200mA is that too much for it/

[shadow460]

12 volts is over the rated voltage, and the current from your adapter is too low.

 

Too high a voltage can damage the device being powered (although the 2600 is pretty tough), and too low of a current (mA) can damage the power supply or cause it to not produce the required voltage.

 

You should be able to find a suitable power adaptor at a thrift shop, but finding the plug is hard. If you can get one rated at 9 VDC and 500mA output, simply cut off the incompatible plug attach the correct plug to the power supply. They even make the plugs with little screw terminals inside so you don't have to solder anything.

[bradhig]

radio shack has adapters with changable plugs.

[A.J. Franzman]

9v DC, 500mA, center tip is positive. Some older ATari brand adapter are 300 but it's a little low, 500mA or more recommended.

 

If it's going, either you have a bad power supply or a bad voltage regulator inside.

mine is 12v DC. 200mA is that too much for it/

200 mA is too low. If you keep using it for your Atari, that adapter will probably fail soon. Most of this type of adapter have a non-replaceable thermal fuse in the transformer core.

 

The 7805 voltage regulator in the Atari 2600 console can take up to 30 or even 35 volts input, if properly heatsinked, but except for some heavy sixers I would not expect the original heatsinking to be good enough for such extreme use. Also, the large electrolytic filter capacitor ahead of the regulator is probably only rated for 16 volts (maybe 25 in some units).

 

So, aside from the 1/8 inch phone plug w/ tip positive, your supply's ratings need to be in these ranges:

7.5 - 15 volts DC

500 mA or higher

 

I have one I like to use that's 7.5 volts and 700 mA. An advantage of using the lowest acceptable voltage is that the regulator doesn't produce as much heat, reducing stress on it and generally letting everything else inside the console stay a little cooler.

 

BTW, newer adapters may use a symbol instead of the letters "DC" or "AC". The AC symbol looks like a sine wave ("~"), and the DC symbol looks sorta like:

_____
- - -

but usually these symbols are seen more often near the power jacks on modern equipment rather than on the power adapters.

Edited December 17, 2006 by A.J. Franzman

[Zach]

I simply ordered a NIB power supply from Best Electronics for about $10.00.

[Shroo-man]

what about a 9V DC 1AMP power supply? this is what came with my 2600 and what Im using now although it used to be switched to 12V DC. my difficulty switches dont work is it possible the power supply caused the damage?

[Uzumaki]

Not likely. 1 amp is more than enough, the 2600 will draw only as needed.

 

12v is a bit high but at the worst it'd only burn up the unprotected 7805 regulator but again, not likely.

 

As for your switch, it could be dirty switches, broken switches, bad solder joints, cracked PCB traces, or one of the 1,001 things that can go wrong with the 2600 console.

[bradhig]

I got a 9v 500ma power supply from ebay but my 2600 still cuts out when I play a game. I wiggled the power switch that didn't help and wiggled the cartridge and the black screen had some garbage then turning off the power and turning it back on got it working for now.

 

What is the problem bad cartridge slot and is there anyway to diagnose the problem?

[A.J. Franzman]

Try cleaning the cartridge slot and your cartridges. If it still gives problems after a good cleaning it could be a bad connector in the console. Atari noted in the Field Service Manual that an early batch of cartridge connectors (colored green) were unreliable. If you open up the console's cartridge port dust door, what color is the body of the female card-edge connector? Even if it's not one of the green ones, leaving a cartridge in it for long periods of time or other forms of abuse could have weakened it.

 

Your problem could still be elsewhere too, like the power jack. I had one person send me a console for repair that he thought had a bad cart port, and it was really the switch.

Edited December 24, 2006 by A.J. Franzman

[bradhig]

the cartridge slot connector is white but the door covering it won't close all the way. how do you clean the cartridge slot?

[A.J. Franzman]

It's normal for the cart port dust door to not close fully - it's a design flaw which was never corrected (unless you consider its removal in the Junior and 7800 as being a "correction").

 

There several threads which describe cleaning the cart port; try a search. Here are a couple that I've posted in to get you started. Please ignore any posts you find that mention using stuff like sandpaper, WD-40, Armor-All, etc.

 

What's wrong here?

Cleaning Atari 2600 cartridges

Edited March 22, 2007 by A.J. Franzman

[bradhig]

I think I might just get another 2600. Should I get a heavy sixer or another four switch unit like I have?

[atwwong]

I think I might just get another 2600. Should I get a heavy sixer or another four switch unit like I have?

Before you do that (and I would recommend a 4 switch because the cart slot will work easily with all games), are you handy with a soldering iron? Open up your 2600 and check if the slot (the power jack) that the power supply plugs into the console is loose. If so, a tiny bit of soldering to improve the connection is all that you may need. Instructions to open up the console are posted in the forums; just remove all the screws from the bottom of the console and gently separate the top from the bottom, being careful with the console switch area. Everything that comes apart can be put back together if you take care.

 

Replacing the cartridge connector (if that is what is causing the problem) is more difficult; I haven't attempted that yet.

[A.J. Franzman]

Replacing the cartridge connector (if that is what is causing the problem) is more difficult; I haven't attempted that yet.

Oh, they're loads of fun to remove! </sarcasm>

 

I've only removed one, to extend it by ribbon cable for use in a handheld unit (not finished yet). I managed to break off one of the clips on the back of the black cartridge guide part, but fortunately I won't need the clips in the handheld unit. To remove the cart port from a 4-switcher, you need to either: remove all of the solder with a desoldering iron, solder wick or solder sucker, then pry on each pin until it wiggles freely to be sure it's not still stuck at one side of the hole, and finally unclip the guide from the circuit board; or: melt the solder on all pins at once while simultaneously unclipping the guide (the method I tried). Only after being removed from the circuit board together, can the guide be separated from the female edge-connector by removing two screws.

Edited December 27, 2006 by A.J. Franzman