POWER SUPPLY Question

[Robert]

The saga continues. My Amiga is plagued by spontaneous resetting, so after consulting with the KOA community I ordered a lightweight PSU from Amigastuff.co.uk.

One month later it has finally arrived, courtesy of Parcel Force, in a shabby box with no plug attached. I don't recommend using these guys. They have actually broken the law in supplying it without a plug, but it's not so much that which bothers me as the downright rudeness of it.

Anyway - onto my question:

Electronics was never my strongpoint, and even wiring the plug is something that fills me with concern, but I am especially keen NOT to blow up my Amiga.


My ORIGINAL power pack says the following on the underside: Commodore A600
OUTPUT:
+5V --- 3.0A
+12V --- 500mA
-12V --- 100mA


My REPLACEMENT power pack says: ZYDEC POWER SUPPLY DSP-A500
OUTPUT:
+5V --- 4.5A
+12V --- 1.0A
-12V --- 0.1A


My AMIGA 1200 says underneath:
5vDC 3.0A
+12vDC 500mA
-12vDC 100mA


Now am I right to be concerned about this?

It looks like the power pack supplied is for an A500, not an A1200, despite the totally untrustworthy Amigastuff website stating that their Lightweight PSU's are fit for the purpose of A500, A600 and A1200's.

It seems like the ZYDEC A500 PSU is giving me too high an 'amperage' our whatever the collective term is for amps.

I don't want to spend 15 mins putting a plug on the thing only to attach it to my A1200 and hear fizzle, pop, bang.

1) Is this going to work?
2) Is there ANY possible danger to my A1200 of connecting it?
3) What fuse should I put in the plug...3 Amp maybe?

I may sound a little overcautious, but if the problem's with the PSU and not the computer, I don't want to increase my woes by carelessly causing further damage. What's running at the back of my mind is that my original PSU (which came with the machine) is bloody heavy, and they also sell 'heavyweight' PSU's at Amigastuff.

My very limited technical knowledge tells me that there is something called a transformer inside the PSU which turns the 240v AC into 5v and 12v DC. I imagine that the heavyweight one has a much bigger transformer. That is maybe because it is transforming the mains to an even smaller current.

Should I have ordered a heavyweight one?
Does anyone else use such a PSU with their A1200?
What do I do now?

Answers like "you should be OK, at least I think so, why not give it a try, fingers crossed" are not really what I'm looking for <IMG SRC="/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_confused.gif">

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Robert Swift on 2002-03-16 02:17 ]</font>

[Ely]

Robert I have a lightweight PSU for my Amiga and it works fine (A500 Plus). But it does say it's puts out 4.5A rather than 3. Me, i'd plug the bugger in and see what happens it's very unlikely yo blow anything up seeing as it's producing less power (in AMPS). Don't know enought techy stuff to be sure tho. Sorry mate.

[JamesHBeard]

Robert.

Do not risk it mate..

That extra 0.01 amps could fry those chips in a few months time..

[kofoed]

as i remember it... the power packs were the same for a1200 and for a500 whilst there was another one for the a600.....

[Robert]

Ely, what type of Amiga are you using your 4.5amp power pack with? If it's working OK with an A1200, then fine, everything will be OK.

I am specifically asking whether this should be used with the A1200. I'm sure it does a great job on A500 but they would appear to have different power requirements.

And just to clarify: the amperage on this one is 50% higher than my existing one (i.e. 4.5amps rather than 3amps). So this is why I am concerned.

[Ely]

Robert if you re-read my post you'll see i'm using an A500+. So that's why I cannot give you a definitive answer <IMG SRC="/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif"> <IMG SRC="/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif"> I'd still try it to be honest. If Amigastuff are selling the thing for all Amigas they must have tried it.

[Robert]

They even say on their website that the lightweight PSU's are for Amiga 500,600,1200. However if I put it in and it's bad news, I have absolutely no legal recourse against them. These are the people that don't have a phone number, even from Directory Enquiries, and use Parcel Force to send you things a month late without a plug.

I do not trust anything they might say.

I am majorly annoyed about this. I have stuck a plug on and don't have the inclination to connect the thing and switch it on.

This specifically says it is the supply for an A500 and I have an A1200. The wattage appears to be different. I am not keen to experiment if the continued existence of my 'pride and joy' is in question.

Can anyone advise?

[Steve Camber]

you should be OK, at least I think so, why not give it a try, fingers crossed


<IMG SRC="/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif">


Here's what I reckon, based on simple knowledge of electricity.
The important thing to note is the voltage, and it's spot on, just what the Amiga requires. The Amiga will draw all the current it needs, and no more.
The amp value on the PSU states what the maximum it can produce is.
So.. as long as the Amp value on the PSU is greater than or equal to the value on the Amiga, everything should be fine. (there's that word 'should' again)

SteveC

[VKafiris]

I'm using an A1200 power supplier on my A500 and no problem has occured so far.

[MJB]

I *should* try it...

[Steve Camber]

Been chatting to some _very_ techy dudes here at work, and they say you've got absolutely nothing to worry about. My thoery was correct, so plug your PSU into your Amiga and load up ko2 without worrying ! <IMG SRC="/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif">

[Danny D]

Just do it <IMG SRC="/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif">

[JamesHBeard]

Go ahead punk.. make my day..