Help with Power Supply query - UK

[racingclub]

Hi,

just received a Neo which I won on ebay (Boxed - good condition for £130 with Burning Fight & FF2).

The serial is 31,263 & states it should use PRO-POW only & is rated at 8w.

The Neo came with a Megadrive power supply that puts out 9v - the Neo works fine with this & I assume has worked fine in the past for its previous owners. However, reading up on the subject - it appears I should only be using a 5v supply.

Is this correct & if I need a new PSU can someone direct me to a appropriate one in the UK?

Cheers,

Mark.

 

[MKL]

A 9V PSU would fry a 5V (pro pow) machine. There are some revision boards (e.g. NEO AES 3-4) where either a pro-pow or a pro-pow3 input can be mounted. You can see the components outlines for both on the PCB. This means that even if a system says pro-pow on the label, it could in fact be a pro-pow3 (9V input or more). If I were you I would open the system and check things out. If you post a pic of the PCB I can tell you what PSU your system needs.

 

[racingclub]

thanks! the board is a NEO-AES3-3 & the BIOS chip is to the bottom right of the cart connector.

 

[MKL]

Turns out I was right: that 5-pin component screwed to the board in the lower left corner (near the on/off switch) and labelled LM2576-5.0 is in fact the voltage regulator that is found on pro-pow3 machines and has an input compatible with the 9V PSU you have (note that a 10V or 12V would work just as well). Probably the bottom shell was swapped...

 

[racingclub]

sweet! - thanks MKL - you're a nice fella!

my mind is now at rest!