AV:Triad Power Supplies

Mitch1256

High quality power supplies for classic consoles are very hard to find.  While yes, there's plenty of cheap adapters on Amazon and eBay, many are extremely poor quality that will result in video interference, audio hum, or potentially even damage the console itself!  Unfortunately, we're also at a point where the original PSU's that shipped with consoles are starting to die and often changing the capacitor inside isn't enough to keep them going.  Luckily, a brand of power supply's has been identified that are approved by some of the most discerning eyes in retro gaming development and have even been approved by the MD Fourier team.  This page is dedicated to providing links to those PSU's, which currently ship under the brand "Triad".

Disclaimer / Pigtail Adapters

Before continuing, please note that some model Triad PSU's can connect directly to a console, but others require a short pigtail adapter.  PLEASE BE CAREFUL!!!  These pigtails don't just fit the correct size power jack, they also make sure power and ground are distributed through the correct lines!  Trying to force a connector to fit, or forgetting to use the pigtail adapter could harm your console!

PSU's Compatible With Worldwide Power

FirebrandX, along with Ste from HD Retrovision and many others have determined the exact models needed for international PSU's.  FBX's website is currently the most up to date and is recommended referencing there for PSU's outside the US:  http://www.firebrandx.com/triads.html

Also, CastleMania Games offers a "Tower Of Power PSU" that can safely supply power to a Genesis, Sega CD and 32x, all at the same time.  Simply select which model Genesis you're using from the drop-down menu and you'll get a kit with everything you need:  https://retrorgb.link/toppsu

Turbo Duo / PCE Duo:  This PSU will power either of the "Duo" consoles and there's a drop-down menu with a choice of North American, or Worldwide PSU's:  https://retrorgb.link/duotriad

PSU's for use in North America

If you're located in the US, purchasing kits from CastleMania Games is the easiest way to get the correct PSU.  Here's links to all their kits:

Tower Of Power PSU:  https://retrorgb.link/toppsu Triad PSU:  http://bit.ly/wsu090-1300 This PSU is directly compatible with the NES front-loader and top-loader, with no pigtail required. 5.5mm x 2.1mm "> 7.0mm x 4.0mm x 1.0mm w/ reverse pol:[1] The above PSU and this adapter is compatible with NTSC, North American Super Nintendo consoles, SNS-001 & Super Nintendo Jr. SNS-101, as well as the Virtual Boy. 5.5mm x 2.1mm "> 5.5mm x 2.5mm:  https://bit.ly/2Qaz4Ox The above PSU and this adapter is compatible with PAL Super Nintendo consoles. 5.5mm x 2.1mm "> 4.75mm x 1.70mm:  https://bit.ly/2FxhodR The above PSU and this adapter is compatible with the Genesis / Mega Drive 2, Genesis 3, 32X, Nomad, Game Gear, JVC X’Eye, PC Engine Duo R, PC Engine Duo RX. 5.5mm x 2.1mm "> 5.5mm x 2.1mm w/ reverse polarity:  [2] The above PSU and this adapter is compatible with Genesis / Mega Drive 1, Master System 1/2, Sega / Mega CD 1/2, Famicom HVC-001, AV Famicom HVC-101, Turbografx-16, PC Engine, CoreGrafx, Atari Jaguar, Super Famicom SHVC-001, Super Famicom “mini” SHVC-101. 5.5mm x 2.1mm "> 6.3mm x 3.0mm:  https://amzn.to/32o00Aj The above PSU and this adapter is compatible with the TurboDuo and PC Engine Duo. CastleMania Games is also offering PSU+Pigtail bundles, so if you’d like to save a few dollars, figure out which bundle is compatible with your console by referencing the info above and just buy one of these:  [3]

Why the Triads?

While I'm sure there's other PSU's out there that are safe to use, the main reason for recommending Triads is consistent test results:  MANY people in the retro hardware dev scene have been using Triads and if any got a bad batch, their product test results would show it - And these are real test results, with data and measurements to prove their performance.

Internal PSU's

At the moment, replacement power supplies for consoles who house them inside the shell (as opposed to an external brick) are much trickier to recommend.  It's always recommended to first try replacing the capacitors in the original PSU if you're having trouble.  Console5 is a great resource for this:  [4]