FC System Power Adapter

[christian5]

Hello,

I am looking for the specs of the FC system's power adapter.  Can you give me this information?  Where can I find one?

Thank You,
Christian
christianhhunter@hotmail.com

[NintendoKing]

AC100V 50/60Hz 18VA
DC10V 850mA

(+)------@------(-)

[UglyJoe]

AC specs can be found here: http://famicomworld.com/workshop/tech/famicom-power-adaptor/ (although you don't really need the step-down converter if you're in the US).

[mrdomino]

its also the same kind of adapter used by the Mega Drive/Genesis model 1 in all regions, for what its worth.

[jpx72]

I think all this Adapter information should be in one place and stickied, there has been many topics lately about it.
Also the FW page http://famicomworld.com/workshop/tech/famicom-power-adaptor/
should be updated if possible with a picture of a Famicom adapter and not a stepdown converter, and also with information from this excellent site:
http://www.appropedia.org/Low_voltage_connection_basics

and maybe with info from here also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarity_symbols
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_connector

together with a table of most used console adapters that can be used with famicom, both PAL and NTSC...

Just a thought...

[UglyJoe]

Yeah, the article could use an update.  It's on my ever-expanding todo list.

[Xious]

From an electrical perspective, that's not the best advice: Not using one will at the least result in excess heat on the internal circuitry of the power supply, and possibly other malfunctions down the road. You can use the adapters without one, but it's not a good idea for the long-term, especially considering that one $50 500W step-down transformer off of Amazon will run all of your consoles worry-free.

I strongly advise getting one to anybody intending to use original JP100V power supplies or devices. Each to their own though...

[UglyJoe]

Yeah, I know (I do use one, personally), I was just answering the anticipated "do I really need the converter" question.  I think most people are trying to game on the cheap and forgo getting one once they hear it's not entirely necessary.

[satoshi_matrix]

IIRC, the 9v DC center pin negative is also the Super Famicom standard isn't it? Anyone happen to know what the Yobo FC game console uses? I'm pretty sure its the same one, but I seem to have lost that tiny ac!

[NintendoKing]

Yobo uses like 5v, but sadly I dont remember the exact spec.

[mrdomino]

as far as I know most famiclone adapters are indeed 9v DC centre negative (not all though, i do have one thats 6v), but the current usually isnt sufficient for an original famicom because clones have much lower power requirements. IMO the MD/Gen adapter is probably your best bet, if you can get one (although i'm not guaranteeing anything, i don't actually own an original famicom, just a few clones - but it does power all of those, from an old Micro Genius thats pretty much an exact copy of the original hardware right up to modern cheapy ones)

[jpx72]

I have several famiclones and many of them don't have the power stabilisator 7805 for converting 10V to 5V inside. So the only difference in power requirement (regarding original famicom) is that they use 5V instead of 10V adapter. The nintendo CPU or the NOAC glob top require 5V to run (but from personal experience I can tell that it can hanlde up to 12 V but depends on the quality of the chip how long it will last untill it bursts in flames )

[mrdomino]

ah, I didn't know that - every Famiclone I own takes 9v (either its marked on the console or they were supplied with a 9v adapter), except the one 6v one. None of mine are actually rated at 10v like the original, even the old Micro Genius, but they still work fine with the 10v sega adapter.

[jpx72]

The 7805 (which should be in every famicom/famiclone) is able to handle wider range of voltage, it's described in the datasheet in detail, but I would say from 6 to 15 V should work. The more voltage you provide, the more heat it will produce. Output from 7805 will always be 5V.

[Xious]

Optimal range on the 7805 is 10V +/- 10%. You can safely go to 20% tolerance, although -20% can be flaky at times, but anything past that is unwise, as it's likely to cause thermal damage to the VR, or fail to work as expected. Amperage is key though. You really need at least 700mA to even begin to think of using a PSU on Famicom; clones aren't as needy, and I think 500mA may suffice for some of them but remember that everything draws current, including controllers and the game pack, and the save RAM, etc..

I'm not sure how many extra times I can cover this topic before I go bonkers. Can someone make a sticky out of it to help newcomers (so that it isn't buried in the repair help section)?