TG16 mini power supply

[dsullo]

Has anyone found a compatible power supply for the TG16 mini? 
there is one on Amazon but it’s power rating is under the specs.  I know that incompatible ones can brick the system. Any help would be greatly appreciated 

[Tanooki]

22 hours ago, dsullo said:

Has anyone found a compatible power supply for the TG16 mini? 
there is one on Amazon but it’s power rating is under the specs.  I know that incompatible ones can brick the system. Any help would be greatly appreciated 

This is the one mine has, works perfectly.  Pretty sure this is that unbranded one that has been on amazon this whole time.  I bought this all new, but second hand new, not direct a year or two back.

[dsullo]

Ok great this one seems to match the specs of the one you have

[Atariboy]

If you have a NES or SNES Classic Edition around the house, the bundled USB power supply works great for my TG16 Mini. I believe it's slightly under spec, but iirc the theory was that too high of an amp rating (such as some of Apple's fast chargers) were what was killing the usb controller module chip.

 

And since Nintendo's systems aren't picky about power in the least, I just run those off the tv's own USB ports. No reports of power supplies killing those, no reports of input lag and crashes from inadequate power, and they start up just fine powered off the television where as some of my other plug and plays like the Sega Genesis Mini apparently don't get enough juice from the tv's own USB port (I'll briefly get a red power light before the system turns itself off when I have it plugged into the tv).

Edited June 13, 2023 by Atariboy

[Tanooki]

That's what i remember it's over-amperage that did it.  For the longest time people just screamed doorstop and brick when it happened, but this kind of YT nobody named Steve a year or so back had a busted one, went at it deep dive with each part checking each thing and he figured out what was causing the failure and what needed to do to cheaply and easily bring one back to life too.

Here's the research/repair.  Was the first time I saw someone actually resurrect one of these things.

 

[dsullo]

6 hours ago, Atariboy said:

If you have a NES or SNES Classic Edition around the house, the bundled USB power supply works great for my TG16 Mini. I believe it's slightly under spec, but iirc the theory was that too high of an amp rating (such as some of Apple's fast chargers) were what was killing the usb controller module chip.

 

And since Nintendo's systems aren't picky about power in the least, I just run those off the tv's own USB ports. No reports of power supplies killing those, no reports of input lag and crashes from inadequate power, and they start up just fine powered off the television where as some of my other plug and plays like the Sega Genesis Mini apparently don't get enough juice from the tv's own USB port (I'll briefly get a red power light before the system turns itself off when I have it plugged into the tv).

I believe I was using the nes mini power supply but then when I read about bricking it, I got scared and stopped using my tg16 mini.  I want to play it again so I guess the nes power supply should be ok then.  

[Atariboy]

5 hours ago, dsullo said:

I believe I was using the nes mini power supply but then when I read about bricking it, I got scared and stopped using my tg16 mini.  I want to play it again so I guess the nes power supply should be ok then.  

I think you're safe.

 

I did some research back when these were new back in 2020 since I was curious if it was a widespread problem. The issue with every report that I came across seemed to manifest itself upon initial bootup the very first time they connected a USB power supply that was capable of delivering more amps than the system needed.

 

I didn't see any reports of people experiencing a bricked system after continuing over time to use what initially seemed like a compatible power supply. So if the power supply initially worked, you should be safe and the chip won't fry. Yet if the power supply was capable of putting out more amps than the system was rated for (my TG16 manual says 2A/5V), the chip would immediately fry the very first time it's powered on with the problematic power supply.

 

Hence all these brand new but bricked PC Engine/TG16/CoreGrafx Minis out there like the one that YouTuber fixed. The chip failed the very first time they powered it on due to using a power supply that exceeded the ratings that the manual calls for.

 

Of course this is all quite unscientific and I don't think any expert has pinpointed the problem. But when folks that experienced this issue would post what PSU they used, the capability of delivering more than the called for 2 amps seemed to be a common link between them.

Edited June 14, 2023 by Atariboy