Identification of uncommon power connector/component

[CZroe]

I spent years looking for replacement connectors that fit the Atari 7800. It could not be proprietary because it was used in several other products (completely unrelated). Even so, I never found the supplier, though I did identify a newly discontinued product where pigtails could be scavenged cheaply. I’m now trying to do the same for a different connector.

Next up is the connector from a Sharp Famicom Titler, multiple MSX2 computers (Sony, Panasonic), and all three models of the SNK Neo Geo CD/CDZ. I believe I’ve managed to find several options for the receptacle but not the cables with the mating end.

Gallery:
https://imgur.com/a/tS9VjMp

Component product page:
http://unitopelectronics.m.sell.everychina.com/p-97917887-3-pin-power-connector-with-dc-250v-50m-minimum-insulation-resistance.html

It should be pretty easy once you ID the connector, right? Well, that’s what I thought but I must be wrong. I mean, how can the component suppliers expect to sell these if you can’t get the cable that mates with it? Regardless, I seem to have hit a dead-end.

The connector doesn’t seem to have a name. Unlike the Atari 7800 connector that I had also seen on American products from Texas Instruments, Brinkmann, and more, this definitely seems to be more popular in Japan. Perhaps they have a colloquial name for it. The pages I’ve found for the Unitop-brand connectors sure don’t give a clue.

I’ve submitted a sales inquiry but they definitely aren’t expecting to deal with hobbyists. Best I can do is get someone like Luke from Console5.com to order 500+ if they do offer the cables. It worked for those Atari 7800-compatible pigtails when some eBay seller was about to scrap 1,000+ Brinkmann Maxmillion spotlight chargers (same plug) for the copper. I let the cat out of the bag just in time, the very day the seller was removing them.

As a designer, let’s say you spotted this component and wanted to use it in your design. How are you supposed to go about getting the mating cables? Do the component suppliers expect you to get custom built cables from another vendor to fit their component? Seems a little... backwards.

To clarify: I’m not actually interested in the component... just the mating connector from the cables that utilize this connector. I would like to source it to make replacement power supplies for all of these devices.

Any help is appreciated! Thanks.

Edit:
Similarly, I might end up trying to do something similar with the connector used on both Texas Instruments TI-99/4A and Colecovision so I might as well mention it. Only reason I’m not actively hunting it right now is because someone in the community is already working on a replacement PSU with a 3D-printed connector but it may never be viable.

[german77]

I know that you probably want to keep the original connector. But if you had spend years isn't easier to replace the conector with a comercial one?
The worse thing that could happen is that the pins and the hole doesn't mach. But even if that happens it's really easy to make it fit by doing some modifications to the case.

I would prefer that, than a 3D printed connector. Specially because it's a 240v conector.

[CZroe]

Well, these are available for cheap so I jumped on it last night:

Yes, the connector will fit... if they send me one like the picture and not one of the DIN variants. They have several so I’m crossing my fingers!

I’m still interested in how an engineer might be expected incorporate this component into his/her design and then find a compatible cable (my original Q). Are they expected to get a custom cable made for an existing/stocked part? I’d worry about it being patented or something.

The HP SDD018 adapter I ordered is serviceable so I can switch up the output pins if they don’t already match. It looks like MSX2 computer fans take advantage of the serviceability to make a replacement board that fits inside this PSU! A YouTube video tells me that a 5V/10V Neo Geo CD will work just fine with 5V/12V due to internal regulation so there shouldn’t be any reason to go that far here.

https://youtu.be/dxKUICk-7Js

I won’t assume that it works. I’ll be mindful of the excess heat and build an alternative if need be. Heck, it might not have enough amps but there was probably a lot of overhead in the original spec (home cartridge version of the Neo Geo is usually 10/11v, 1A). I’ll just slap the cord on an external hard drive PSU if it needs more amps (plenty of higher amp 5V/12V bricks).

I know that you probably want to keep the original connector. But if you had spend years isn't easier to replace the conector with a comercial one?
The worse thing that could happen is that the pins and the hole doesn't mach. But even if that happens it's really easy to make it fit by doing some modifications to the case.

I would prefer that, than a 3D printed connector. Specially because it's a 240v conector.

The one I spent “years” on was something else (Atari 7800) but I can still answer the question from that perspective.

It was intended as a successful anecdote to hopefully plot a course for this similar situation with the Neo Geo CD. Of course it’s easier to just replace the 7800 power connector, and most people do, but I wasn’t trying to solve it just for me. I’m fact, I had several variants of the original 7800 adapters when I started my hunt so I personally didn’t need to replace the connector either.

I frequently revisited the issue for years because I would encounter people asking for help and I continued to find the consoles without power supplies. I eventually gave away a couple original PSUs to people who did not want me to cut their consoles. I still had a couple and I wasn’t selling my extra systems so I still didn’t need one for myself.

Online communities would frequently misinform others that it is proprietary and discourage people from even looking for an alternative. I knew better because it was used on old TI portable calculators back when you’d actually consider plugging in to save batteries (late ‘70s, early ‘80s). The persistence and awareness paid off and I was ultimately able to find the replacement pigtails at an affordable price for the community when I found the Brinkmann portable spotlight and Shark “Euro Pro” handvac chargers.

Yes, many people were hacking the systems up with custom power jacks but a large percentage of the people still interested in these old consoles are preservationists and collectors who won’t jump to drilling if another option is available. The supplier must exist even if no one seems to know who it is. Heck, last month I found a latching variant on DiSH Network’s “Joey” but no one will be salvaging those (leased equipment; yes, it fits 7800).

I’m still curious to know who the supplier is, not just so I can get them directly but so that I can better identify and source other components going forward. That’s why this thread is really more about how an engineer/designer is expected to use that component when the cables seemingly aren’t available. It’s bizarre to me and I assume I’m missing something fundamental about the whole process.

Perhaps Delta Electronics was the original supplier all along? Similarly, I found a 4-pin variant of the Neo Geo CD connector being used on Sony adapters. Before finding the HP adapter, this got me thinking that the connectors may come from Sony, since everything else using it seemed to be only a degree of separation from Sony. Sony made the laser assembly in some (all?) models of Neo Geo CD and there’s a good chance that the Panasonic MSX2 was also rebranded from Sony’s HitBit MSX2 with the same uncommon plug. Sony and Sharp did a lot of work with Nintendo on the Nintendo Family Computer, Sharp Famicom and Nintendo Super Famicom and they also made a Family Studio Sketch Titler themselves, which may explain the connector being used in the Sharp Famicom Titler. If supply of the cheap HP adapter dries up I will pursue that lead.

Oh yeah: it’s 10v and 5v (not 240v), so a 3D printed connector would probably be fine. I was looking for the bare cables (pigtails) or connectors to make cheap DIY 5/10v adapters, not because I intend to carry mains.

It does look like a smaller version of an IEC connector intended for mains voltage, doesn’t it? I was really hoping it was some similarly-named or standard connector that I could find cables for but I’m satisfied with these ~$6 HP adapters as long as they continue to be available cheaply.

I’m in North America (110-120v) but my console is actually from Brazil (mostly 127v with smaller 240v regions), not that it matters now that we’ve clarified that the input is DC. It only took a resistor and moving jumpers to convert to NTSC.

In case this thread is referenced for future DIY Neo Geo PSUs, here are the original 100v Japanese specs:

5v 2A
10v 1A

Pin on the tapered side is 5V.
With that on top, the other two pins are Ground (left) and 10v (right), assuming the diagram is the plug tip and not the receptacle (I will verify).

[totalmedtech]

go for it, it`s not hard to do

[barbeque]

I actually found this while trying to figure out if there was a good way to resuscitate all the Sony/Panasonic MSXes that are sold without a power adapter.

Sourcing an adapter seems a little more difficult on the MSX front, because like the C64 they provide both AC and DC power to the machine (18VAC, 9VDC). Probably a similar approach to the C64 (do two adapters wired into a single plug) is the easiest way forward.



But the tip is a huge part of the problem as well, so I'm glad you found something that might fit.

Has the eBay adapter arrived yet?

[CZroe]

I actually found this while trying to figure out if there was a good way to resuscitate all the Sony/Panasonic MSXes that are sold without a power adapter.

Sourcing an adapter seems a little more difficult on the MSX front, because like the C64 they provide both AC and DC power to the machine (18VAC, 9VDC). Probably a similar approach to the C64 (do two adapters wired into a single plug) is the easiest way forward.



But the tip is a huge part of the problem as well, so I'm glad you found something that might fit.

Has the eBay adapter arrived yet?

It fits. I found what the HP power supply was originally intended for too (HP CD Writer 8200 series), which gives us something else to search for. Ended up finding one at a Goodwill for under $5.

That said, it wasn’t as “serviceable” as I was led to believe. I had to crack my way into it. The MSX community’s ustom power supplies designed to drop in to these bricks for certain models must use a European version that can be taken apart.

Here’s a PSU kit:
http://www.msxvillage.fr/forum/topic.php?id=3352#m76716