jsd@UMass.BITNET (Jonathan S. Drukman) (12/27/88)
Hello World, I've had two power supplies die on me, the life span of both was approximately a year and a half. With power supplies costing from $50 to $70, this is not a welcome expense. Most people I know with 1040's haven't had this problem at all. (I have an upgraded 520). So, I've heard that for other computers there are 3rd party or "after-market" supplies available for less. If anyone could point me towards a source of cheap power supplies, I'd be eternally grateful. Also, I need to know the voltages of the secondary output from the transformer in the Atari supply. Lastly, has anybody else burned out their external supplies and is there maybe something I'm doing wrong that's causing these deaths? I do use my computer a hell of a lot, but dropping $50 every year and a half is not appealing (and out here the supplies are $75 which is ridiculous). Help!!!! Reply to me personally, please. I will post a summary to the net, if there's interest. ------------- ! !\ BITNET: jsd@umass \!on !/rukman ARPANET: jsd%umass.bitnet@mitvma.mit.edu
ugthomps@cs.Buffalo.EDU (Gregory Thompson) (01/05/89)
I am surprised to hear you have had such problems with your power supply.
I have a 520st that I purchased back in February of 1986. It has since
served me quite well in the power supply area. I once heard a rumour that
the power supplies on the earlier STs were flaky and that after a time,
they would burn out the computer when the computer was turned on. The
purpoted solution was to leave the ST on constantly, which was supported
by many people on the net at the time. Since then I have left my machine
on round the clock every day of the year except when I go away for more
than a day. I have had no problems with the power supply what so ever.
Recently, I put my ST into storage because I had the opportunity to
bring home a 1040 that had a blown monitor that some of you may have
heard of. I have noticed that the 1040 gets quite warm after a few hours
of uptime. As a result, I shut the machine down when I am done using it.
Is there any problem with leaving a 1040 on for extended periods of time
as a result of the power supply getting too warm?
- G
jsd@UMass.BITNET (Jonathan S. Drukman) (01/08/89)
Thanks to all who responded to my question about why my power supply has seen fit to die every 18 months or so. Basically, nobody had any real solid facts, but some interesting suppositions came to light. Particularly, one fellow suggested that my RAM expansion kit (I have a 520 with one meg) may be putting a heavier load on the supply than it is accustomed to. Also, it turns out that most people out there leave their machines on 24 hours a day. I've decided to adopt that policy since it can only lower stress on the supply. I do shut the monitor off though. I was unable to find out the voltages coming out of the transformer though - I suppose I'll open up my new one some day and figure it out and try to get a replacement so I can keep a backup supply around. Thanks again for the help, guys! ------------- ! !\ BITNET: jsd@umass \!on !/rukman ARPANET: jsd%umass.bitnet@mitvma.mit.edu "This is a journey into sound..."
to_stdnet@stag.UUCP (01/11/89)
From: dynasoft!john@stag.UUCP (John Stanley) [ugthomps@cs.Buffalo.EDU (Gregory Thompson) writes...] > I have noticed that the 1040 gets quite warm after a few hours of > uptime. As a result, I shut the machine down when I am done using it. > > Is there any problem with leaving a 1040 on for extended periods of > time as a result of the power supply getting too warm? I've left my 1040 on almost continiously for the last 3+ years. (Maybe that's why I haven't had any power supply problems?? :^) It does get somewhat warm, but I'm just careful to not let anything block the air vents on top just to the left of center (right over the power supply). You can find out where this is just by letting your ST warm up for a few hours, and then feeling the diagonal grill on top for the 4 inch wide area that's warm. Keep this area (and 2 inches to either side) cleared and a lot of problems related to power supply failure should be a thing of the past. -- PS: Please note that my Reply-To address gets munged by the gateway I'm currently using for news access so you can't just <r>eply to this article and have your message get to me. Please use the address below. --- John Stanley <dynasoft!john@stag.UUCP> Software Consultant / Dynasoft Systems