Well I've done it (Again)

chinnyhill10 · 02:40, 04 November 15

Quote from: CraigsBar on 00:27, 04 November 15
Hmmm, having played about with this now. I notice I have very quiet audio on the right channel. A websearch later and a visual inspection of the caps.... Oops! OK does anyone know of a retro recapping service in Galway area?

First have you checked the PSU? The Amigas sound is dependent on a stable -12v from the supply. Amiga PSU's are pretty rubbish and about 18 months ago I replaced mine with a modern zero load PC Power supply. Sound quality improved and the faint smell of capacitor death from the PSU vanished.

Sorting a replacement PSU is easy. Took me a few hours. Cut the lead from the Amiga PSU and wire it into the PC PSU. Can be done quickly but I did it in such a way that I chopped all the feeds I didn't want from the PC PSU, wired it all up internally and left extra taps in there if I needed extra feeds in the future. Sounds complicated but was very interesting and easy. Zero load PSU is the key as cheap PC PSU's won't power up unless they have a load on all the rails.

Amiga Kit do a recapping service but they are in Wales. Or you can ask on Amibay as people on there do it.

Must get my A1200 done. Time to do that is when the new cases are ready (I backed the project and have one reserved). As for the A600 I bought that is due this week, goodness knows if it actually works :-)

CraigsBar · 12:49, 04 November 15

How about something like this?

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=221926775131&alt=web

chinnyhill10 · 12:54, 04 November 15

Quote from: CraigsBar on 12:49, 04 November 15
How about something like this?

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=221926775131&alt=web

Would do it but seems an expensive way to go about things. What he fails to mention is that you are still going to have all those ATX wires everywhere (as most supplies have several feeds) which are tidier if cut and removed. But each to their own.

Wonder how he is sourcing the square plug as they are apparently impossible to get hold of new as the only people using them were Commodore.

CraigsBar · 13:07, 04 November 15

The PSU I plan on using has all the feeds detachable from the main box

it's also 1400w so plenty of ooomph!

chinnyhill10 · 13:25, 04 November 15

Quote from: CraigsBar on 13:07, 04 November 15
The PSU I plan on using has all the feeds detachable from the main box it's also 1400w so plenty of ooomph!

As long as its stable at the relatively low power the Amiga requires. Which is why a zero load rating is good.

Some big ass cheaper PSU's when they get below a certain load can have problems. The zero load ones are designed to be able to supply a PC with a trickle feed so are fine at low loads.

I also stuck some LED's inside the PSU to make it look nice and also indicate when it was on or off. And a Commodore logo to finish it all off as I'm sad.

CraigsBar · 13:26, 04 November 15

Quote from: chinnyhill10 on 12:54, 04 November 15

Would do it but seems an expensive way to go about things. What he fails to mention is that you are still going to have all those ATX wires everywhere (as most supplies have several feeds) which are tidier if cut and removed. But each to their own.

Wonder how he is sourcing the square plug as they are apparently impossible to get hold of new as the only people using them were Commodore.

Hmmm and the same guy is selling the same leads on adverts.ie for 23 euro.

CraigsBar · 13:29, 04 November 15

Quote from: chinnyhill10 on 13:25, 04 November 15

As long as its stable at the relatively low power the Amiga requires. Which is why a zero load rating is good.

Some big ass cheaper PSU's when they get below a certain load can have problems. The zero load ones are designed to be able to supply a PC with a trickle feed so are fine at low loads.

I also stuck some LED's inside the PSU to make it look nice and also indicate when it was on or off. And a Commodore logo to finish it all off as I'm sad.

it was certainly not a cheeper PSU. I got it for my last Linux machine, it out lasted the mobo and graphics card lol. The phenom black edition still works, but I have no mobo for it these days.

Bryce · 13:41, 04 November 15

Quote from: chinnyhill10 on 12:54, 04 November 15
Wonder how he is sourcing the square plug as they are apparently impossible to get hold of new as the only people using them were Commodore.

If you take a close look at the connector you'll see it's home-made. It looks like he took a piece of extruded square metal piping and jammed a DIN connector into it and the shrunk-wrapped it with white plastic. I certainly wouldn't trust that device! If the metal has any sharp burrs from cutting it will go out with a massive bang when the wires short.

Bryce.

chinnyhill10 · 13:55, 04 November 15

Quote from: Bryce on 13:41, 04 November 15
If you take a close look at the connector you'll see it's home-made. It looks like he took a piece of extruded square metal piping and jammed a DIN connector into it and the shrunk-wrapped it with white plastic. I certainly wouldn't trust that device! If the metal has any sharp burrs from cutting it will go out with a massive bang when the wires short.

Bryce.

Better to repurpose your existing lead then as I did. I also took the precaution of buying a spare supply so I had another original connector in the future

The case of the old supply also found a use as it was used for my first experiments with Retrobrite. Good to test on something that isn't important!

chinnyhill10 · 13:57, 04 November 15

Quote from: CraigsBar on 13:29, 04 November 15
it was certainly not a cheeper PSU. I got it for my last Linux machine, it out lasted the mobo and graphics card lol. The phenom black edition still works, but I have no mobo for it these days.

Do check the voltages its supplying under the "Amiga" load so you are happy it's supplying the right voltages. 2 minute test that is well worth doing.

Bryce · 14:02, 04 November 15

I have four or five Amiga PSUs lyign about if anyone needs one. But back to your original question: I doubt a PSU problem would cause one channel to be quieter than the other, most likely the caps are just dying.

Bryce.

chinnyhill10 · 14:07, 04 November 15

Quote from: Bryce on 14:02, 04 November 15
I have four or five Amiga PSUs lyign about if anyone needs one. But back to your original question: I doubt a PSU problem would cause one channel to be quieter than the other, most likely the caps are just dying.

Bryce.

True. I had a definite improvement over BOTH channels when I replaced the PSU.

IIRC the -12v line was down to about -8v which explains it.

Bryce · 14:20, 04 November 15

You mean up to -8V

That's definitely not good, something was on its last legs in that PSU.

Bryce.

pelrun · 14:28, 04 November 15

Quote from: Bryce on 13:41, 04 November 15
I certainly wouldn't trust that device! If the metal has any sharp burrs from cutting it will go out with a massive bang when the wires short.

If you look a bit closer the inside of the tube and the pins are all insulated, except for the very tips of the pins. There's no reason such a construction can't be robust, or a mass-produced plug can't be a piece of crap.

Bryce · 14:34, 04 November 15

Although it does look like the pins are separately insulted from the picture, I think that's just a shadow. They can't actually be insulated, otherwise the connector wouldn't work. The contact point for these connectors is the side of the pin, not the tip. Either way, this isn't the bit I'd be worried about, it's where the wires leave the tube at the back would be the highest risk for shorts to the tube.

Bryce.

chinnyhill10 · 15:07, 04 November 15

Quote from: Bryce on 14:20, 04 November 15
You mean up to -8V That's definitely not good, something was on its last legs in that PSU.

Bryce.

Well the other giveaway was the faint smell of electronic death coming from the PSU. It wasn't long for this world!

VincentGR · 17:47, 04 November 15

Quote from: CraigsBar on 12:49, 04 November 15
How about something like this?

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=221926775131&alt=web

I made one like this.
You just need a multimeter, the amiga psu plug and sort the green/black wires if you have a new pc psu and just turn it on via it's switch.

Sorry no time to read the whole page

but did you switch rca cables?
Maybe it is the cable or just the device amiga is connected.

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Well I've done it (Again)