P1 Power-Up (2018)

PSUs made by Commodore were low quality even new, imagine them some 30+ years later. It was good time to do some improvements.

Disclaimer
All information on these pages is provided "as is". The information may be misleading, inaccurate or completely incorrect. I take no responsibility if you break, brick or in other ways demolish your assets after following these instructions. These pages contain graphic images of violence towards valued Commodore hardware. Viewer discretion is advised.

Main supply

The original PSU from the 80's had nominal input voltage of 220VAC and modern era it is now 230VAC. Some may say that, the C64's 9VAC input is slightly overvoltage driven. Bigger issue is the 7805 regulator in +5V line. It is from the cheapest end of the catalog, basically lacking adequate protection against overload/-voltage/-temp and short-circuit.

Keeping up the retro look, I decided to stuff the new guts to original PSU. The C64C version of the PSU is more block shaped and most important - it is closed with screws, not glue, like the brown'ish edition.



Mean Well EPS-15-5 found its place. Added bonuses: external fuse and power switch. One of my C64s has always-on stuck power switch, so having one in primary side is convenient and also ecological.



The epoxy attached spare transformer was tolen from a Telewell ADSL modem, it is rated 9VAC 1A. All critical parts are of course coated with every modders favorite hot glue.


Fast & Furious inspired power led glowing under the chassis.

Floppy Powa!

My Turbo 9900 (clone of Oceanic) disk drive was getting intermittent due bad solder joint in +5V regulator. While digging thru the resin covered internals, I noticed something smelly. The PSU feeled like a rebadged hack. I peeled off the silver stickers and got a surprise.



Some twenty years later it was time to put those drive PSUs in retirement. A good planning is half made.



I had a IDE-SATA-USB-adapter with external PSU, which gives "plenty" of amperes at +5V and +12V. If I make an adapter, I should be able to power both drives with single PSU. Of course the IDE kit had cheap Chinese PSU and it (luckily) died before I finished the adapter.


Female DIN holding the male.


Nice double action from the behind.

Well Being (2020)

To replace somewhat iffy PSUs from the 80's/90's, I purchased MeanWell PD-25A. It should provide hefty +5V/2A and +12V/1A.



The low-end case from the local parts supplier was not a perfect fit. I had to hope that high volt and low volt clearings will be enough. As with PSU for the Amiga, I had to dremel out one of the top cover mounting studs. With just three screws it should be sturdy enough.



Please pay attention to the markings on the silk screen. If it says V1 (+5V) next to a pin, it actually means V2 (+12V), so measure output voltages before connecting anything. As usual, connectors and switches were salvaged from obsolete Cisco routers.

Jump to
Part 1: Main Attraction
Part 2: Expanded Universe
Part 3: Power supply