Can you use a computer PSU as a replacement for an arcade PSU?

OK, I decided to seperate this because it's not tied to the SF2 machine. I know you can do this sort of thing with a naomi setup and a CPS2 setup, so I imagine you can do it with a good amount of cabs. Basically I have a cabinet with SF2CE in it. Now the dedicated power supply it came with is rusted beyond repair (even though it does work, I'd never leave such a fire hazard in my home). So here's my situation.

I have a spare regular arcade power supply, ala this: http://lizardlickamusements.com/images/parts/power_supply.jpg , and then I have a regular 550w Antec computer power supply. The power supply thats in the cabinet now looks more like the computer power supply than the arcade one. Now I'm thinking about going with the computer power supply, because it has the whole removable power cord thing going on, which means there are probably a lot of parts inside that PSU that I'd be missing if I used a regular arcade one. So, my question is, does anyone here know how to hook up a computer PSU, to an arcade? Keep in mind this isnt powering just the JAMMA board, it's powering everything, monitor, speakers, game board... everything.

Thanks in advance!
Shmenge

Yes, you can.

For an old skool AT power supply, you make a switch for the power, since the switch is directly connected to the PS, where as an ATX is "soft" activated.

For ATX, just make sure you have the PS_ON# linked to ground, so that it is always in an ON state. And DO NOT USE THE 5VSB, its a variable output, and will damage components by under powering it. I've made that mistake

Hope this helps.

thank you very much!!! Gonna test it out in a bit.

Edit- OK I looked further into it this time, and the wires coming from the power supply are going into these connectors, connectors of which I have no fscking idea what the wires attached to them are. Is there any way to tell, possibly by color or something, what wires are what that are connected to the isolation transformers and the like? This is going to be a really bad hack job already I can feel it.

ShmengeTravel said:

thank you very much!!! Gonna test it out in a bit.

Edit- OK I looked further into it this time, and the wires coming from the power supply are going into these connectors, connectors of which I have no fscking idea what the wires attached to them are. Is there any way to tell, possibly by color or something, what wires are what that are connected to the isolation transformers and the like? This is going to be a really bad hack job already I can feel it.

Click to expand...

Here's color code chart for the ATX power supply:
http://pinouts.ru/Power/atxpower_pinout.shtml

Are you referring to the Molex lookin' 4 pole connecters, and the weird looking block connector for the floppy?

I'd use some fuses too so you dont blow up your boards should something short.

bamarquez226 said:

Here's color code chart for the ATX power supply:
http://pinouts.ru/Power/atxpower_pinout.shtml

Are you referring to the Molex lookin' 4 pole connecters, and the weird looking block connector for the floppy?

Click to expand...

No no, like, inside the cabinet the power supply thats in there now, has wires coming out of it that has a plug at the end (just like the molex connectors of a computer psu), and they're plugged in to another connector that goes to the isolation transformer/whatever else. I dont know what those wires are. This is hard to explain. As far as the slow blow fuses, thats a whole nother project I dont want to mess with.

Okay, pulled out a blown AT power supply, the leads for HDD and floppy leads are identical:

Yellow: 12V
Black: Ground
Red: 5V


You could use fuses, but if a power supply blows its gone. I've replaced many in PCs, none have suffered any damage in my experiences. It wouldn't hurt, just inline 10A fuses on the 5V lines, and 5A on the 12V line if you wanted to do that.

ShmengeTravel said:

No no, like, inside the cabinet the power supply thats in there now, has wires coming out of it that has a plug at the end (just like the molex connectors of a computer psu), and they're plugged in to another connector that goes to the isolation transformer/whatever else. I dont know what those wires are. This is hard to explain. As far as the slow blow fuses, thats a whole nother project I dont want to mess with.

Click to expand...

Are you looking at the input side or the output side of the PS? The isolation transformer should be in a Y setup, where the AC voltage passes thru the filter, and is divided between the power supply, and the transformer where its converted for the monitor. Does this help?

Post a PIC if you can.

Uh....

BE CAREFUL if you are using a PC power supply. I would AVOID the ones with the 3.3v outputs as the power supply might self destruct if you don't put some kind of minimum load on the 3.3v output.

Oh, and using the 5vSB power lead won't usually damage a board. What it WILL do is fry the power supply as that lead puts out less than 500ma of current.

RJ

I took the power supply out, heres what it says. Thankfully it was very informative.

"Molex 9-pin Connect Wire

Red (x3) = +5Vdc
Black (x3) = Ground
White (x1) = -5Vdc
Yellow (x1) = +12Vdc

AC output Connect 3 Pin

Black - Pin 1 - Line
Green - Pin 2 - Ground
White - Pin 3 - Neutral

AC input = 115V~ 5.5A 230V~ 2.8A
Aux Out = 115V/2A; 230V/1A
Frequency: 47-63Hz

DC Output: +5V/16A, -5V/0.5A, +12V/6A

Model USP-11-150X
U-San Electron CO
:Peter Chou:"

And the fuse's label reads "F5A 250V".

Now I have a couple questions. I have a computer power supply I could replace it with, which reads the following:

"Antec True 550W

AC Input: 115V/12A, 230V/6A; 60Hz/50Hz

DC Output (chart)

DC Output | +5V | +12V | +3.3V | -5V | -12V | +5SB |
Max. | 40A | 24A | 32A | 0.5A | 1.0A | 2.0A |
Min. | 0A | 0.8A | 0A | 0A | 0A | 0A |

+5V, +12V, and +3.3V Max load 530W"

And I also have a regular arcade power supply like this one: http://lizardlickamusements.com/images/parts/power_supply.jpg , but that one obviously lacks a power cord. All the while I have no idea how to hook EITHER of these things up. And the power button to turn the game on is built into the PSU. To make a long story short the way the wires run is as follows. The power from the wall runs through the power cord to the back of the power supply. From the power supply there are two connectors, the 9-pin and the 3-pin. The 9-pin is the one stated above that had all the 5V and 12V leads. The 3 pin, which is throwing me off, is the line, neutral, and ground, from the power cord? Wtf? I'm checking to see where these wires lead now. The 3 pin leads up to the marquee it seems. EDIT - OK I traced them, the green, black, and white three prong connector splits two ways. One, to the light fixture, and two, to the isolation transformer. The 9-pin connector with all the 5v rails and everything runs to the jamma, buttons, coin door etc.

Edit- On a side note, (sorry for all the reading) I vacuumed the fanes on the power supply and it eliminated the grinding noise, so maybe this thing isnt in that bad of shape as I thought. There is still a dent in it, right where the walls power cord goes in, almost as if someone jammed it in there. The plastic that holds the power cord in place is also cracked.

Uploading pics...

Pic 1 - http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/2378/dscf0988eos6.jpg
Pic 2 - http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/7951/dscf0990erb7.jpg
Pic 3 - http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/171/dscf0991eds6.jpg
Pic 4 - http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/7544/dscf0996etg1.jpg
Pic 5 - http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/1766/dscf0998emy8.jpg
Pic 6 - http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/7203/dscf0999ecz7.jpg
Pic 7 - http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/1797/dscf1000ezm7.jpg
Pic 8 - http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/7583/dscf1001eap2.jpg
Pic 9 - http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/5568/dscf1002egu3.jpg

Do you has what it takes to use that power supply in YOUR arcade cabinet?

The rust thats in that last pic (pic 9) on the top of the unit that almost looks like something was spilled on it was me, trying to use a something to remove the rust for whatever reason came out as a gigantic blob of rust in the picture. Go figure.

Edit just to make this post even longer- I used some metal sand paper to remove some of the rust. I was able to remove it on the outside on top except for where the plug goes in, and one half of the inside panels (only half because unfortunately I could *not* remove the pcb from the bottom of the PSU). I then sprayed canned air, vacuumed, and wiped down every part I could to make it as clean as possible, even removed all of the dust left in the psu fan. Now it's nice and quiet, AND a lot safer. Plus removing all that dust helps. 90% of the dust was removed so maybe this thing can stay. (BTW, tested, working! So I dont kill everything I touch )

Don't take this the wrong way, but if you can't figure out the arcade PSU, you really shouldn't be trying to adapt a computer PSU.

The PSU you referenced at lizard lick is a standard arcade PSU. The reason it dosen't have a place for the cord like a computer PSU is because a cord is connected right to the power supply (strip the power cord wires and attach at PSU terminals).

By reading your posts, I see you really need to stop and do a little research before you hurt yourself badly. That Peter Cho PSU (lizard lick link) is REALLY simpe to wire up and only requires a BASIC understanding of electricity to hook up.

Also, post a pic of your current supply already inside your cab and someone can tell you where to get an identical one.

That is the power supply thats from my cab... it goes to the two wires I posted in the pics before it. And like I said over and over again, I have no idea how to hook either the new arcade PSU or the computer PSU. Hooking up a computer PSU would be easy for me, provided I was just powering the board. Hooking up that other newer arcade power supply would be easy for me as well, provided there was another one just like it already inside the cab. But this is the equivalent of taking a dell computer, removing the computers power supply, and replacing it with that lizard lick arcade power supply. I, like most people, have no idea how to do that. Something tells me there's a lot missing from that new arcade power supply than the Peter Chou one I have in there now. But this is something I have to learn, and theres no better time than now, especially considering the fact that this Peter Chou PSU is a potential fire hazard.

Just buy these if you really must replace your working stuff:
http://www.happcontrols.com/powersupplies/80007200.htm
http://www.happcontrols.com/powersupplies/80210000.htm

Look at the pic, if it is not exactly the same as yours, browse the other power supplies on the site and you'll find one like yours.

For the record, the fuse on the PSU in your cab will blow before you have any problems, so you really don't need to swap out your psu.

If I posted a pic of one of my PSU's you'd probably shit on yourself in horror, but when I start blowing fuses in it then I'll replace it. Peter Chou's are designed to last a really long time in really fucked up enviroments and in worse shape then yours. Anyway, if you do switch it out, sell it here or on ebay as I garauntee someone will buy it. Seriously, if it powers up without blowing it's fuse, then it's fine and won't burn your house down. Good luck in whatever route you take. Hope you don't fry your arcade board or yourself.

lol thanks for all your help, and everyones here in this thread I really appreciate it. I think I am going to leave it in there then. Yeah, when I first saw it I was in shock at how filthy the thing was, but then I opened it up, took off some of the rust, completely dusted the thing out, and if these things are designed to last a long time then I'm not too worried about it. I just got finished completely cleaning every square inch inside the cabinet, completely disinfecting and soaping everything I could. Thing looks brand new outside of most of the artwork...

Post some pics of your cab in the show the woodies thread or here when you get a chance. I really want to see how it looks. There are a couple of places that sell replacement artwork if you want to get it back to pristine condition.

Glad you got everything straight with it, and enjoy the hell outta it.

The problem with fuses in a cab is that different boards draw different ammounts of amps.....

The amount of amps needed to power a Hyper64 may be enough for a short to destroy a MV1-c