Atari 800 Power Supply Question

[Jason1024]

Hi Everyone,

 

Hope this finds you well. I have a few of the 51 Watt power supplies from various sources, mostly eBay. They all of these seem to output @ ~10.8V AC per my multimeter.

• Is this too high for use with an 800 (guessing yes)?
• What is the best practice for addressing this--fix or replace?
• If fix, is there a "go to" article or blog post for this?
• If replace, Best pops up on Google but wondering if there is another vendor the community prefers?
• Finally, aesthetics aside is there any downside of going with one of these?:
  https://www.jameco.com/z/GST60A09-P1J-MEAN-WELL-9-Volt-6-Amp-54-Watt-3-Wire-Regulated-Switching-Table-Top-Power-Supply-2-1mm-Plug-Level-VI_2224374.html

 

Many thanks in advance for any guidance. Regardless of how this pans out a big thank you to the many people who contribute their time and knowledge on the forums here.

[cwilbar]

Atari 9V AC power supplies are just a transformer and a fuse inside.  If you have voltage between 9ish and 11ish volts AC (depending on your meter) then it is good.

 

The most common problem with these is the fuse blows.  Then you have to get inside (usually involves cutting/prying/coaxing them apart) and replacing the fuse.

 

The genuine 800 uses 9V AC, not 9V DC.  That Jameco supply will not work on an 800 (or any 9V AC powered ATARI computer or peripheral).

 

 

[Paul Westphal]

Besides OEM power supplies, I have found that the modern 400/800 power supplies from 8 bit classics are excellent.

[Jason1024]

49 minutes ago, cwilbar said:

Atari 9V AC power supplies are just a transformer and a fuse inside.  If you have voltage between 9ish and 11ish volts AC (depending on your meter) then it is good.

This is good to hear. I've read a few posts about transformers aging leading to higher voltages so was worried.

49 minutes ago, cwilbar said:

The most common problem with these is the fuse blows.  Then you have to get inside (usually involves cutting/prying/coaxing them apart) and replacing the fuse.

Have read about this.

49 minutes ago, cwilbar said:

The genuine 800 uses 9V AC, not 9V DC.  That Jameco supply will not work on an 800 (or any 9V AC powered ATARI computer or peripheral).

 

 

D'oh--for some reason I read that as an AC to AC power supply. My mistake.

 

Thank you!

[Jason1024]

21 minutes ago, Paul Westphal said:

Besides OEM power supplies, I have found that the modern 400/800 power supplies from 8 bit classics are excellent.

Thank you for the suggestion. This one seems the closest:

https://www.8bitclassics.com/product/atari-400-800-1050-ac-adapter/

 

I was hoping to find a power supply rated at 3-5 amps (vs. 1.5). From what I've read 1.5 is OK for stock but may not be enough for all configurations/mods.

 

Thanks again!

[cwilbar]

I found a 1.5A from Jameco for half that (not sure how shipping would compare between the two).

 

https://www.jameco.com/z/ADU090150-9-Volt-1-5-Amp-13-5-Watt-AC-AC-Wall-Adapter_2227444.html

 

Finding > 1.5A 9V is not an easy search.  For every AC supply you find dozens of DC supplies.... no matter how well you try to eliminate them in the search results.