RE: PC power supply conversion question

> I'm considering replacing the linear supplies in some of my games with
> PC
> switchers that I've accumulated over the years. The question is, do
> most
> folks remove the switcher board from the enclosure and just directly
> mount
> it somewhere in the game, or do you leave it in its enclosure for the
> forced air cooling?
>
I tend to leave them in the enclosure. The fan's already there, and you
can drill a couple holes through the case to mount it with brackets or a
couple screws into the cabinet easily...

> Another thought, with some games being more fussy than others about
> seeing
> 5.05-5.10 at the chips, is this ever a problem after a switcher
> conversion
> since the switcher doesn't allow you to adjust/compensate for voltage
> loss
> across the wiring harness, connectors, etc.? For that matter, do
> switchers
> consistently meter at any particular voltage? I just checked one in a
> PC
> under load and it read 5.17.
>
As a general rule I like switchers for regulation and high-current in a
small space. I have run across some boards that don't like the
switchers start-up characteristics. (I think some switchers faster
start-up ramp causes latch-up on some boards. Sky Shark and Choplifter
have given me problems in particular...) The lack of a 5.0V adjust on
most switchers can be annoying, but by and large the benefits outweigh
the problems in my book.

(I've got my Pole Position, I,Robot, and Gauntlet all running on
switchers with no problems...)

Vector games can be a little trickier because they tend to have "odd"
voltages present. I use surplus switchers with "big" outputs (like
+/-36V) and then use a little home-made linear regulator to get the
desired voltages. Most of my Vector stuff runs on original power still
though. (Easy to have a stack of ARII's around. ;-)

-Clay
Received on Thu Apr 15 18:57:54 1999