5v regulator Mod doubts

[Blehstor]

Hello everyone! I've always been interested in the Lynx, but because i lived in south america for most of my life, it was out of reach to me..

Ive been in Spain for the last 4 years and I bought a very good condition Lynx 2 on Ebay

It has never been opened before and it works perfectly fine. I have a LynxDrive and I'm going to install an IPS screen too

Im really scared about the zener/mosfet failure and I dont want it to die because of this.. Also, I want a permanent solution

Ive read in this forum about a 5v mod with a RECOM regulator. Ive bought said regulator (model R-78E5.0-1.0)

So I just need to install this regulator, remove all the 9v power parts and then I'm set right?

[xhul]

Hello there, welcome to the forums =]

I have no idea how the RECOM mod works, so i can't say how reliable it is.

However, there's an alternate solution that works like a charm: https://atarigamer.com/pages/installing-the-5v-usb-mod-into-an-atari-lynx-model-2

At least that one is safe if you want to avoid bad surprises with the MOSFET|zener.

Cheers.

[Blehstor]

9 minutes ago, xhul said:

Hello there, welcome to the forums =]

I have no idea how the RECOM mod works, so i can't say how reliable it is.

However, there's an alternate solution that works like a charm: https://atarigamer.com/pages/installing-the-5v-usb-mod-into-an-atari-lynx-model-2

At least that one is safe if you want to avoid bad surprises with the MOSFET|zener.

Cheers.

I would need a seller in Europe to go for that item, since buying outside the EU is almost impossible.. do u know any?

[+karri]

1 hour ago, Blehstor said:

I would need a seller in Europe to go for that item, since buying outside the EU is almost impossible.. do u know any?

Perhaps Yastuna games has something similar. In EU. No tax problems. And no need to open your Lynx or solder in anything.

USB to Atari Lynx converter (yastuna-games.com)

 

Edit: Sorry, this does not help with your zener, mosfet scare. You could just change the zener and mosfet to modern ones. There is nothing wrong with the design of Lynx power as it is. Console5 sells kits with new capacitors and power parts like power plug, zener, mosfet.

[xhul]

3 hours ago, Blehstor said:

I would need a seller in Europe to go for that item, since buying outside the EU is almost impossible.. do u know any?

Both my LCD and USB kit went all the way to france without trouble.

You just have to check your e-mails regularly for the customs payment (less than 10€ if i remember correctly), but other than that, it's pretty smooth if you're patient enough.

 

You could also grab a micro USB port elsewhere, but it won't be as convenient as the kit from k-retro.

 

By any chance, did you keep the link to that other mod (the RECOM regulator thing)?

Maybe some of us could tell how reliable it looks.

[Blehstor]

1 hour ago, xhul said:

Both my LCD and USB kit went all the way to france without trouble.

You just have to check your e-mails regularly for the customs payment (less than 10€ if i remember correctly), but other than that, it's pretty smooth if you're patient enough.

 

You could also grab a micro USB port elsewhere, but it won't be as convenient as the kit from k-retro.

 

By any chance, did you keep the link to that other mod (the RECOM regulator thing)?

Maybe some of us could tell how reliable it looks.

Lol yeah its a legendary post in this forum.. i thought you knew what i was talking about  

 

[xhul]

18 hours ago, Blehstor said:

Lol yeah its a legendary post in this forum.. i thought you knew what i was talking about

Interesting read, thanks a lot for the link.

That honestly looks a bit too experimental for my taste.

Also, the mod seems to have some side effects, like the drained batteries even when the lynx isn't powered, and the potentially blinking power led.

But i would more be concerned about compatibility issues with some specific motherboard revisions, and some more recent LCD upgrades (untested at the time).

 

On a more recent topic, the original author actually said he was biased about that mod, and ended up just replacing the MOSFET+zener, link:

 

I would definitely go for the USB mod as a wiser solution, but that's the paranoia speaking, considering my knowledge of electronics.

That said, you should probably wait for more advice from different entities.

Edited February 25 by xhul

[Blehstor]

48 minutes ago, xhul said:

Interesting read, thanks a lot for the link.

That honestly looks a bit too experimental for my taste.

Also, the mod seems to have some side effects, like the drained batteries even when the lynx isn't powered, and the potentially blinking power led.

But i would more be concerned about compatibility issues with some specific motherboard revisions, and some more recent LCD upgrades (untested at the time).

 

On a more recent topic, the original author actually said he was biased about that mod, and ended up just replacing the MOSFET+zener, link:

 

I would definitely go for the USB mod as a wiser solution, but that's the paranoia speaking, considering my knowledge of electronics.

That said, you should probably wait for more advice from different entities.

 

I hadn't seen his follow-up. Considering this is pretty old (original from 2015 and follow-up in 2016) there were not a lot of regulators in the market at that time

 

I'm going to try it with a step-up regulator from Aliexpress which I have. This is the one: HW 626 módulo de potencia de aumento de DC DC, 0,9 5V a 5V, 1,5 V, 1,8 V, 2,5 V, 3V, 3,3 V, 3,7 V, 4,2 V a 5V|Circuitos integrados| - AliExpress

 

With this regulator, I would need to use 4 rechargeable batteries (4.8v in total) and 2 dead batteries to try it out

[xhul]

5 hours ago, Blehstor said:

I hadn't seen his follow-up. Considering this is pretty old (original from 2015 and follow-up in 2016) there were not a lot of regulators in the market at that time

 

I'm going to try it with a step-up regulator from Aliexpress which I have. This is the one: HW 626 módulo de potencia de aumento de DC DC, 0,9 5V a 5V, 1,5 V, 1,8 V, 2,5 V, 3V, 3,3 V, 3,7 V, 4,2 V a 5V|Circuitos integrados| - AliExpress

 

With this regulator, I would need to use 4 rechargeable batteries (4.8v in total) and 2 dead batteries to try it out

Good luck there, don't hesitate to let us know how it went =]

[+Stephen Moss]

On 2/24/2023 at 1:46 PM, Blehstor said:

Im really scared about the zener/mosfet failure and I dont want it to die because of this.

Well I doubt there is little I could do to quell your fears about this, but what I would say is that at the moment it is working, so perhaps better to let sleeping dog's lie as they say.

There have been a few posts on where some parties have swapped parts out that did not need it as the Lynx was working fine result in a Lynx that was work no a non working one. 

[sirlynxalot]

2 hours ago, Stephen Moss said:

Well I doubt there is little I could do to quell your fears about this, but what I would say is that at the moment it is working, so perhaps better to let sleeping dog's lie as they say.

There have been a few posts on where some parties have swapped parts out that did not need it as the Lynx was working fine result in a Lynx that was work no a non working one. 

I've been worried about the mosfet failing in mine as well. So much so that I don't even really play on it anymore.  It does still work fine last I tested a few months ago, but since the downside of the failure is basically complete destruction of the console, and it doesn't seem like there would be signs of gradual failure to warn me in advance without periodically opening the console up and checking voltages (which I don't want to do since the case plastic is brittle) my lynx is relegated to shelf queen status for the moment.

[Blehstor]

Bad news guys... I killed my Lynx..... i bought this regulator from AliExpress: 10pcs Mini Dc-dc Boost Step Up Converter 3v 3.2v 3.3v 3.7v 5v 9v To 12v Voltage Regulator Pcb Board Module Can Set 5v/ 8v/ 9v - Integrated Circuits - AliExpress it says there that if you remove A and B components then it outputs 5V... I did that but the output was 9V for some reason.. Maybe i put the cabling wrong i dont know....

Long story short, i pumped 9v directly so now the Lynx is dead... the speaker makes noise when i jiggle a cartridge and turn it on but its completely dead otherwise.. very sad

 

 

[xhul]

Condolences, though maybe some cheap components may be replaced, not sure.

Also, i hope you didn't install the new LCD yet, or that it had a zener on its PCB.

Anyway, if you ever decide to give it another shot on some new hardware, i couldn't recommend the USB mod more.

[+Stephen Moss]

18 hours ago, Blehstor said:

Bad news guys... I killed my Lynx..... i bought this regulator from AliExpress: 10pcs Mini Dc-dc Boost Step Up Converter 3v 3.2v 3.3v 3.7v 5v 9v To 12v Voltage Regulator Pcb Board Module Can Set 5v/ 8v/ 9v - Integrated Circuits - AliExpress it says there that if you remove A and B components then it outputs 5V... I did that but the output was 9V for some reason.. Maybe i put the cabling wrong i dont know....

Long story short, i pumped 9v directly so now the Lynx is dead... the speaker makes noise when i jiggle a cartridge and turn it on but its completely dead otherwise.. very sad

First, 10 units for £1.80 = 18 pence each. Not only does that seem awfully cheap for something so important to your Lynx' well being, I don't know how they can break even on that never mind make enough profit for it to be worth the effort of making them.

 

Second, it is always a good idea to check the output voltage is correct before connecting it in case you had made a mistake with the voltage selection.

 

Third, it is difficult to tell but it looks like you have taken the input from the Anode side of D9 and connected the output to the Cathode side. In which case...

1. If I am correct in how you have connected it and you you were getting 9V out and not any nasty overvoltage spikes then I am not sure how that voltage would have damaged anything as theoretically it should be no different to the regular 9V supply voltage you would normally use. 
2. Why you would connect it there does not make any sense to me as it would then only work with an external power unit and not with batteries where it would still be running off the battery voltage, i.e. 9V. Personally, I would have taken the input from across D11 so that it works with both external and battery power, connect the 5V output across C41 and remove the perceived problematic parts.

Speaking of C41 have you tried removing that DC-DC converter and connecting 5V from say a USB charger across C41 (make sure the polarity is correct) to confirm whether or not the Lynx has suffered major damage.

[sage]

wow. you must hate your lynx if you replaced the zener circuit with a cheap some china import without any further testing.

[Blehstor]

On 3/6/2023 at 9:22 PM, sage said:

wow. you must hate your lynx if you replaced the zener circuit with a cheap some china import without any further testing.

what do you mean by further testing? yes, i didnt test the output because i removed the 2 components mentioned so it can output 5v.. so i thought without them it'd be impossible to output more than 5v.. but i was wrong.. and the zener circuit is a ticking bomb, so no thanks

[Isgoed]

Have you tried already what Stephen Moss suggested, connecting 5V across C41?