Nintendo AV Famicom... What power supply?

1010101 · Post by **1010101** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 2:21 am

Sorry to ask something so, well, mundane here, but there's always someone "in the know" floating about...

Just bought an AV Famicom from someone in Japan and it's being shipped to me Stateside. No power supply, though.

Been doing a lot of reading trying to get some real firm data that's relevant to the AV Famicom specifically.

Near as I can tell, the power supply is intended to be one that outputs DC 10 volts/850mA with center negative. Is that correct for the AV Famicom specifically? Do all the genuine Famicoms use this power supply?

I also read that the American model 1 Sega Genesis power supply is very suitable to the task. It outputs DC 9 volts/1.2A with center negative.

So, 1) is the AV Famicom intended to be getting DC 10V/850mA, and 2) is the Genesis DC 9V/1.2A power supply safe to use with it (safe as in "won't kill my Famicom")?

Sorry, but I'm an idiot when it comes to electricity

Thanks!

Mister X · Post by **Mister X** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 6:19 pm

The AV Famicom's power supply is indeed rated for 10VDC, 850mA, with a negative tip. Same as the original Famicom, I gather, buuuuuut...

Japanese house voltage is 100V, while it's 120V in the US, give or take, depending on the transformers in your area. It would be ill advised to use an official AC adapter, because the secondary voltage would be 12V.

Well, it really depends on the quality of the voltage regulator in the system. It would be a component about the size of your thumbnail that's attached to a heat sink. Looks like a MOSFET. You won't fry something by undervolting it, but I can't say for certain if the Genesis 1 power supply will even provide enough voltage for normal operation, as I have no experience with Japanese game consoles, just engineering.

1010101 · Post by **1010101** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 7:00 pm

Thanks for the info!

Regarding the amperage, though...

The official power supply is supposed to be 850 milliamps but the Genesis 1 power supply is 1.2 amps (1200 milliamps, then, right?) Is the difference in amperage something I should be concerned with?

Post by **gannon** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 7:04 pm

Nope, no problem

1010101 · Post by **1010101** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 11:02 pm

Thanks for the information.

The Famicom showed up today (complete with two pads, the box, and manuals; using my modded wireless Messiah SNES pads with it, though... thanks again, gannon), and I've been playing with it for an hour or so now using a Genesis 1 power supply.

I am noticing it getting a bit warm near the cart slot. That having been said, I've mostly been playing American games (no Japanese carts yet other than a crappy "12000-in-1" steaming pile of crap

) using one of the Yobo-made adapters identical to the one at this auction. Is the adapter having something to do with it getting warm (any known issues with them; i.e. is it actually the adapter getting hot?), is the warmth just natural for the AV Famicom, or is it a side effect of the power supply?

On a side note, these Yobo adapters might be decent for famiclones, but on the real deal, the pins on the board are too friggin' short. If you seat the adapter all the way down, the pins actually end up too far inside of the connector to touch any metal and it won't work. I'm going to put some kind of spacer in the adapter to solve the problem.

andoba · Post by **andoba** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 6:03 am

A Mega Drive one.

Ace_1 · Post by **Ace_1** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 10:14 am

1010101 wrote:I am noticing it getting a bit warm near the cart slot.

That's normal. My Top-loader NES does the same thing(it is in essence made the same way internally as the AV Famicom, except with a 72-pin connector and an RF unit). This is because the voltage regulator inside the system reduces the voltage from the power supply to the 5V needed to run the AV Famicom by getting rid of the excess voltage(and current) as heat. In fact, come to think of it, ALL of my classic consoles do that. My Front-loader NES does the same too, as does my Sega hardware and the Super NES(both models).

mikeskates7 · Post by **mikeskates7** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 8:38 pm

Hey guys I have a similar question. I too have an AV Famicom but mine came with a power adapter. However, it says on it 100v, so I'm taking this to mean I shouldn't use it since we use 120v right? I also have an NES 2. My question is should it be ok to use the NES2 power adapter? It says 120v, but the output is 9v 1.3a. Will that be enough to use it without frying anything? Any advice is much appreciated.
Thanks!

jeroen · Post by **jeroen** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 9:10 am

Wont work. nes2 is ac. You need dc. (with the right polarity) Otherwise that crap wil fry. (it should output around 9v)

mikeskates7 · Post by **mikeskates7** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 9:21 am

What about an NES 1 power adapter? I plugged it in for a few minutes and it worked. How do I find out what the polarity is?

mikeskates7 · Post by **mikeskates7** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 9:45 pm

Well, I didn't get too many responses here. I went to Radio Shack today, bought one of their universal adapter jobs, and just put it on 9 volt. I'll just keep my fingers crossed that it doesn't fry anything.