Atari Jaguar Issue

[trackercowe]

Hey, I really hope someone can help me with this issue, I doubt it but you never know.

My buddy and I just bought a nice lot of retro systems (Saturn, Genesis, NES, Dreamcast, SNES, and Jaguar). Now most did not come with power adapters and such, and we wanted to make sure they worked.

Now I have power adapters for pretty much every system possible, so he suggested I find one with the correct wattage for the Jaguar just to make sure it turned on. At first the light turned on and everything, but turned off. When we tried it again it stayed on longer, but then it started to smell like something was burning and something in the system blew and smoke came out.

It wasn't on fire or anything, but obviously something went horribly wrong. Now I have no idea whether it is dead for good, or if I should try and salvage it. Obviously finding someone to fix it wouldn't be worth it, so I hope someone on here has a suggestion, as it would just be one giant waste.

Any information would be helpful, since it can be a tough system to find.

Thanks

[gokugohandave]

sounds like a capacitor blew, or the regualtor. they are replacable in about 15 minutres with a soldering gun.

[jb143]

When it comes to power supplies, polarity is going to the most important thing, followed by voltage, current, then wattage. I'm guessing that the polarity was wrong. The Jaguar uses a center negative plug which is a bit less common than center positive. Plugging in the wrong polarity will almost always let the smoke out of a part.

I'd crack it open and look for a burnt out part. It'd probally be near where the power supply plugs in. It's probally regualtor or a diode, or a capacitor like was already meantioned. It should be an easy and cheap fix regardless. Let us know what you find when you open it up.

Also, here's a list of power supplies which can be used on different systems along with the ratings...
http://www.digitpress.com/library/techdocs/powersupply.htm

[FABombjoy]

With the Jag, you don't even get the benefit of turning it on/off real fast to see if the power supply is right. A good portion of the power supply circuitry is active all the time.

The regulator isn't a plain old 7805, either. It's a less common, I think surface mount deal.

[gokugohandave]

Hopfully whatever it was didnt screw anything else with it. Pics are your best bet. Damn if FABombjoy's right then thats gonna be hell.

[trackercowe]

Thanks for all the quick help. I was thinking about cracking her open to see what was wrong with her, so I will do that in a few hours and post some pictures. I have never had a system break on me before, so it would be pretty nice to get this sucker fixed. Can play all the great games for the Jaguar if there are any.

[jb143]

If it is a surface mount part it will be a bit more tricky to remove and replace. You'd more than likely need special hot air tools to remove the old part without burning up the board with a soldering iron. Either way, you should be able to see a part that looks burned up. There should be black char on it or it'll look like someone pushed a hot soldering iron into for a while.

Also, I sent you a private message that you can check at the top of the screen.

[ooXxXoo]

Hopfully whatever it was didnt screw anything else with it. Pics are your best bet. Damn if FABombjoy's right then thats gonna be hell.

He is right.....

And when opening the Jaguar, you are most likely going to need a pair or pliers to undo the upper RF Metal shielding case holding metal tabs....
....
....

[Mitch]

Frying a Jag with the wrong power supply is unfortunately somewhat common. At one point someone had a website detailing everything that needed to be replaced to fix it after a bad power incident but I can't find it now.

Mitch

[gepeto]

The funny thing is I saw a jag power supply at a flea market last week. I was going adaptor hunting for a jvc eye power supply. I will be going back this weekend.