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2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/vr/ - Retro Games

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539460 No.539460 [Reply] [Original]

Hey /vr/,
I recently picked up a gameboy color, and I am looking to make it usb powered.
I got this car charger with it, I won't ever use it, so I opened it up and found >pic related
Can I just solder the power wires from a usb cable to it, or am I oversimplifying it?
Or can I make it even easier and just solder some resistors to the usb power wires, and connect this to the battery tray?
As you can tell I know next to nothing about electronics, so please excuse my possible retardedness.
Thanks in advance!

>> No.539520

USB operates on 5V DC. The AC adapters for the GBP and GBC output 3V DC. You'll need to drop the voltage, perhaps with a resistor, or by setting up a divider, and I recommend adding a capacitor to the chain to provide a buffer.

Don't do this without studying first. I have a damn degree in electronic engineering, and even I forget most of what I learned.

>> No.539543

>>539460
>As you can tell I know next to nothing about electronics, so please excuse my possible retardedness.

Get someone else to do it. If you're not familiar with electronics, you're more than likely gonna blow it up. Start slow, with broken things and familiarize yourself with them before moving on to modifications like this.

>> No.539554

>>539520
Is there a reason I can't use the circuit I posted?
I looked up the 'KIA' part, and it looks to be a voltage reducer.

I know usb is 5v and I need to drop it, but I'm just not sure on how, I've done some simple things before, but the whole math behind it is still a mystery.

>> No.539661

>>539554
Well, I wouldn't use it because it's inelegant, and some of the components are overkill, but yeah, looks like it would work. I would try to run the output to the Gameboy's DC-in jack, instead of the battery connectors. The hard part would be getting the needle-thin barrel plug required for the GB end of the solution, but it saves you from having to modify a Gameboy for such an ugly hack.

Anyway, on the voltage drop/divider, in that circuit, it appears that the LED and the resistor are doing that job, and I guess the diodes keep the capacitors from running in reverse, in a rectifier capacity, but without seeing the schematics, or at least the underside of the board, I can't make much more sense out of it.

Of course, if I hadn't spent the last five years at a shitty office job doing NOTHING related to electronic engineering, this wouldn't be the case.

>> No.539689
File: 2.55 MB, 3264x2448, 20130425_170801.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
539689

>>539661
It's from a gameboy car charger, the dc jack pins are on the end of the cable.
It has output for both GB (6v 200mA) and GBC (3V 200mA).

>> No.539705

OP, if you can't do something as simple as this you shouldn't even try.
It's bound to fail..

>> No.539779

Well, you shouldn't use the original board because the power outlet in a car is 12V DC, and since the board is made to drop 12V down to 6 and 3, feeding USB into it would drop it figuratively to 2.5 and 1.25, and you'd get nothing out of it.

I wouldn't hack this apart at all. It's worth more as it is. Building a new adapter and using this as a guide is best. You still have the issue with the plug for the Gameboy, though. If you want serious guidance, I'd suggest checking out Ben's forum over at http://forums.benheck.com/

That's pretty much the go-to place for game and computer modding and projects, and I'll again admit that my memory for my poorly-chosen field is not what it was in 2007.

>> No.539783

>>539705
What a retarded attitude to have

>> No.539814

>>539783
Not him, but we don't really want him to accidentally blow up his gameboy just because he's not familiar with how electronics and electricity works.

>> No.539829

>>539814

that's why he's asking

>> No.539837

>>539705
I didn't say I couldn't, just that I'm not into electronics. I know my way around em, but the math and logic behind it to actually make something are often lost on me.
If you give me instructions and parts I can build it. If you give me parts and tell me "I got input x and need output y" I'm lost.

>>539779
>>539783
Thanks.

>> No.539868

>>539829
That's the problem though. If you're relying solely on what other people tell you, you're bound to get something wrong if you aren't familiar with how everything works.

It's not that I'm deliberately putting down his skill, I'm just saying that he needs to familiarize himself with how the components function before he tries building an adapter like this on his own.

>> No.539904

>>539868
I understand your point, but I feel I exaggerated my lack of knowledge somewhat. I'm sure I can pull this off with a little guidance on what parts to use.

My best bet seems to be a small step down transformer from one of them chinese sites, and solder that to the usb power wires.

>> No.539898

>>539868
sounds like you dont have any idea how this stuff works either. At least OP has taken the thing apart and busted out his soldering iron.

Do you think all those hard-ass old men at the truck stop learned all their shit from a school? No, when their 2-stroke broke, they borrowed a book from the library and did it themselves. Thats how shit gets done. Go buy a drill and a basic tool kit and start fixing shit, son

>> No.539928

>>539898
You understand the way I'm thinking.
I've always wanted to try to fix/build shit myself, before buying a ready-made solution.
Add to that the fact that my parents were short on money when I was growing up, so I don't like throwing things away. I really enjoy it when I can put something that seems old and useless to most people, to good use.

>> No.539946

>>539460
To be safe, I'd ask /diy/ to help you make a usb/dc converter battery pack thingy.

>> No.539954

>>539946
My best friend did something similar with some dc converters from dx.com, so I'm not foreseeing any problems with that. It just would've been nice if I could use the things I had lying around.
I'll talk to him later, and order one of 2 from dx, maybe I'll salvage the dc jacks from the car charger. I could always put some plugs on them so I can put em back on the car charger when needed.

>> No.539983

>>539898
I have a cursory knowledge of electrical engineering, and I've blown plenty of things up in my time.

I wouldn't trust myself to build a converter with the knowledge I have (and have forgotten), and I've seen how badly one can go wrong if you mess it up. (Have you ever blown up a DVD player so bad it caught fire?)

>> No.540005

>>539983
>and have forgotten
If you used Anki you wouldn't forget anything.

>> No.540004

>>539898
>he doesn't really know what he's doing
>BUT AT LEAST HE'S DOING SOMETHING FUCK YEAH!!1

jesus christ, murrika

>> No.540018

>>539554
7806 would imply that it's a 6v voltage regulator, the positive voltage ones have names like that: 78XX where XX is the voltage. (79XX is for negative voltage, btw)

>> No.540024

>>540004

What the fuck? Seriously with this retarded post?

>> No.540058
File: 4 KB, 300x57, oscillating europoors.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
540058

>>540004

>> No.540067
File: 9 KB, 400x211, lm7805.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
540067

>>539460
OP, just build your own.
Use this circuit and exchange the 7805 for a 7803.
In your case I think the capacitors are pretty much optional, since USB voltage would be pretty well regulated to begin with.