SNES Questions

[gobbo]

OK, number one. I've heard that the SNES runs on less power than what is supplied to it. (Like the Atari) Does it go low enough to allow it to run off of a rechargable 9V battery (Like VCSp Rev.1).

Number two. My friend's SNES looks like it has a bad GPU or something like that. In Mario All-Stars when you play Mario 1 or Lost Levels there are white garbage sprites all over the screen (if you send Mario through them they disappear.) and in Mario 2 or 3 every other group of 5 pixels (up and down) is static. (Looks like a checker pattern) The pretitle Nintendo log/Mario coin looks fine but the title graphics are scrambled. I never tested with another cart so it COULD be the game (though my friend said it happens to every thing. So, if the GPU is toast, couldn't you desolder one from a SNES with a different broken part and desolder the broken GPU and solder back on the working one? If that would work then the only obstacle would be the dreaded... NINTENDO STAR!!!!

(PS. It's one of the FIRST SNESs (Circa 1991))

[bicostp]

Try another cartridge and get back to us.

Also, when you shake the system, does it sound like there's something looke inside it? I had an NES that had graphic problems. It turned out that a screw was shorting a couple connections.

[nos_slived]

OK, number one. I've heard that the SNES runs on less power than what is supplied to it. (Like the Atari) Does it go low enough to allow it to run off of a rechargable 9V battery (Like VCSp Rev.1).

You shouldn't use a 9V for any portable. It doesn't have enough capacity. Usually a 9V only has about 2/5 of the power of a AA, sometimes less.

[bicostp]

What does the power output say on the back of the SNES AC adaptor? Could you tell us the voltage and amperage it puts out? The power draw is always something to keep in mind when building something like this.

[sanityisoverrated]

i have the older SNES


the AC adaptor output is

10V DC, 850mA

[SNESguy]

The older SNES draws about 380-410 mA depending on what game you're playing. If you are playing older games like mario world, then it is very low. However when playing a higher graphics game such as Starfox, it uses a larger amount of current. The current on the adapter is called over-engineering. The current supply is much higher so it won't run as hot.

[sanityisoverrated]

yeah my teacher always says when u figure out waht u need double the power which makes sense on the SNES because it more reliable if u run stuff at its max all the time it will have a higher chance of screwing up.

and it will overheat a lot