ColecoVision Power Supply Question

[ReddMcKnight]

I've heard that the US Power Supply is unreliable, and that the Canada Power Supply is the way to go. How do I tell the difference between the two?

[Hannacek]

The US power supply has the plug attached directly to the brick, and only has 1 wire that comes out of the brick, which goes to the console. The Canadian power supply has 2 wires that come out of the brick, one that goes into the wall, and one that goes into the console.

 

I think the Canadian power supply being more reliable is just a myth. Until someone with electrical and engineering experience gets the technical info on both power supplies and compares them, or takes apart one of each and compares them, I won't believe there is a difference.

I image that they used the exact same parts on both power supplies. They wouldn't want to spend the money to design and build two different power supplies unless they absolutely had to. I think they had to design the power supply in Canada with two wires because of a Canadian safety law. But I suspect that is the only difference.

 

If someone has proof that they used cheaper parts in the US power supply, or made the Canadian power supply in better factories, then that would support the theory. Anecdotal evidence that the Canadian power supply is more reliable is all I have heard.

Edited September 21, 2014 by Hannacek

[ColecoDan]

The US power supply has the plug attached directly to the brick, and only has 1 wire that comes out of the brick, which goes to the console. The Canadian power supply has 2 wires that come out of the brick, one that goes into the wall, and one that goes into the console.

 

I think the Canadian power supply being more reliable is just a myth. Until someone with electrical and engineering experience gets the technical info on both power supplies and compares them, or takes apart one of each and compares them, I won't believe there is a difference.

 

I image that they used the exact same parts on both power supplies. They wouldn't want to spend the money to design and build two different power supplies unless they absolutely had to. I think they had to design the power supply in Canada with two wires because of a Canadian safety law. But I suspect that is the only difference.

 

If someone has proof that they used cheaper parts in the US power supply, or made the Canadian power supply in better factories, then that would support the theory. Anecdotal evidence that the Canadian power supply is more reliable is all I have heard.

 

Canada forces a higher quality product for specs which is why the canadian one is better. I don't have specifics but I do know out of a lot of people complaining that their bricks have gone dead I have never heard anyone say their canadian version died. That is why I have bought canadian versions for my colecos so that I will always have a good plug.

[freewheel]

 

Canada forces a higher quality product for specs which is why the canadian one is better. I don't have specifics but I do know out of a lot of people complaining that their bricks have gone dead I have never heard anyone say their canadian version died. That is why I have bought canadian versions for my colecos so that I will always have a good plug.

 

Canada has the ULC sign off on electrical equipment - a higher standard in some cases. Whether that means higher quality/longer lasting is another thing. I can confirm that anecdotally, CV power supplies don't seem to be problematic here - so if their failure is a common thing in the US, then there must be something better with the Canadian ones. They never seem to fail - mind you I've only gone through a dozen or so, so not sure if that's a large enough sample size to prove much of anything.

[+5-11under]

I just tossed (recycled) about 7 broken Canadian CV power supplies, so they're definitely not immune to failure (yes, I kept the connectors).

[Hannacek]

If you have only ever come across 1 Canadian power supply, and it worked great, and you came across several US power supplies that were broken, you would come to the conclusion that the Canadian power supplies were better and more reliable.

 

The truth is probably that there are a lot of broken Canadian power supplies that never leave Canada, becasue it wouldn't be worth it for the shipping costs and the hassle of importing them. While it is worth the shipping costs and importing hassle for a working power supply, especially when people think they are better and are willing to pay more for them.

[iscout62]

Heat and old age are just doing what they do to the components.

Slowly waisting away.

[thecrypticodor]

 

They're all over 30 years old now none are going to be reliable. However replacing all the electrolytic capacitors the two tip41 transistors as well as the 7905 regulator will go a long way to help improve their reliability.

[Rik]

They're all over 30 years old now none are going to be reliable. However replacing all the electrolytic capacitors the two tip41 transistors as well as the 7905 regulator will go a long way to help improve their reliability.

Holy crap, that's pretty much the whole damn thing you have to change, isn't it?

Edited September 30, 2014 by Rik

[mightywiz]

Holy crap, that's pretty much the whole damn thing you have to change, isn't it?

yeah but parts are cheap, less then $10 US.

mouser.com or digikey.com are good places to get parts cheap.

 

myself I use mouser cause they are fast with shipping if parts are in stock.