ATARI power supply conversion kit?

NEGAMES

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Does any one know if they make a power supply conversion kit for the ATARI ARII power supplys? I have seen them for Williams,Bally,Tatio etc. I thought somone was talking about them at one time but I may be wrong.

THANKS
 
I'm not entirely sure what a "power supply conversion kit" is, but if you're looking for an easy way to replace an ARII with a modern switched-mode PS... There are a couple of things about an ARII that would make it a less-than-ideal candidate.

1) It provides audio amplification too (that's the "A" in AR). Off-the-shelf PS units do not do this, so an audio amp would have to be included.

2) Some varieties of the ARII supply some odd-ball voltages (+22 & -22) that few (if any) other PS units generate.

3) Even IF problems (1) and (2) were addressed, and you managed to replace the ARII... many games would still require the transformer block, as it supplies AC for vector PCBs and monitors, and AC for PCBs that have an EEPROM for HS save (and perhaps other things on games I'm not familiar with).

Given all that, most people just fix their ARII boards as they're not very complex and relatively easy to diagnose & repair.

If your main concern is efficiency, the Biggest Loser by far on there is the +5V supply, wasting 20 or 30 Watts. It should be possible to supply the +5VDC from an efficient switcher, but leave the ARII in place for ±22 and audio amplification. This might save you as much as 1/4A of draw from the wall...
 
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ATX-ARII.jpg
 
That'd do it.

Audio amp in the middle; ±22VDC generation on the right; +5, -5 & +12 from a switcher. As I pointed out, such a device wouldn't obviate the need for the big transformer ass'y (except in games that don't need any of its AC outputs).

And something like that, plus the cost of the switcher, would presumably cost more than the going rate for a working ARII board. Until that equation changes, I don't see much demand for it. It's still cool looking, though. :)
 
I see what you are saying. The reason I asked is I picked up a pole position two a while back and it was in poor condition as far as cabinet goes. However it worked it still had its origanal power and audio boards present but it also had a switcher that looked to be hooked up and running. I wish I would have studied it closer before taking it apart. Anyways my crystal castles and Asteroids have a hum to them and I think it has somthing to do with the power or audio board. So where is the best place to get a rebuild kit for ARII or ARI? Will it include all things needed for complete overhaul?

THANKS
Steve
 
I see what you are saying. The reason I asked is I picked up a pole position two a while back and it was in poor condition as far as cabinet goes. However it worked it still had its origanal power and audio boards present but it also had a switcher that looked to be hooked up and running. I wish I would have studied it closer before taking it apart. Anyways my crystal castles and Asteroids have a hum to them and I think it has somthing to do with the power or audio board. So where is the best place to get a rebuild kit for ARII or ARI? Will it include all things needed for complete overhaul?

THANKS
Steve

Bob Roberts sells the AR and ARII rebuild kits. They don't include the audio amp ICs (TDA2002). Sold Seperately.

My first thought for audio hum is: connectors-connectors-connectors. Before digging into an AR board, I'd check out those edge connectors, pins, PCB edges, and molex connectors. Try very lightly touching/wiggling the PCB edge connector and the connectors on the AR and see if the hum changes or disappears. Replace pins, rebuild connectors, and clean edges as required. Only after that proved unsuccessfull would I mess with the AR board.

Turns out Crystal Castles the PP are two games that only use the ARII for audio and +5V. Not sure if they need any other AC out of the xformer without checking the schematics. Asteroids, if course, uses the older original AR (I) board.

It's very possible that someone hacked in a switcher on your PP for the 5V, and left the ARII in just as an audio amp. Sounds like you'll have some fun untangling that wiring harness...
 
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