Mega Drive I power supply alternatives

[MikeyW]

Hello, all.

Today I bought a Mega Drive model I from my local Gamestation for a tenner. I've been looking to get one on the cheap for a while now, so I was pretty excited and didn't look over it properly before I parted with my cash.

Unfortunately, the guys at Gamestation didn't think to even check if the power supply they got with it was actually the correct one; I got a MD II power supply instead. This is extra annoying because I was also going to use the power supply to fuel a Game Gear I picked up weeks ago at a boot sale for £5.

My question is if there are any power supplies from my other consoles that I can use with it instead. A replacement plug costs just as much as the console on the internet and even though I could take the console back and get a refund, I'd really like to play the damn thing.

Also, I found a guide online on how to convert a MD I power supply into a MD II one. Is there a way to do this the other way round? I have no proper knowledge of electronics however, so that may be a bad idea...

Anyway, thanks in advance.

[Hobie-wan]

You'd need to match the physical plug obviously, then the voltage and polarity needs to be the same. The mA needs to be the same or higher on the brick as to what the console itself says it wants. I don't have specs on the European consoles, but there were a few posted in the same thread so you might have a look at the link in my sig.

*checked the thread myself again*

Someone posted PAL info a few posts up from mine. I see that a model 2 brick for PAL puts out 850 mA versus the model 1 is 1200 mA (1.2 A). So a converted model 2 brick might power a model 1 if someone made a 'guide' for it, but it isn't going to be happy with it and will probably run very warm and could die and take the MD with it.

[yosh]

yeah i'm not to sure about Europe, but here in NA an NES power supply will work in a
model 1 Genesis.

edit: do not do this. see below.

[Hobie-wan]

yeah i'm not to sure about Europe, but here in NA an NES power supply will work in a model 1 Genesis.

NO NO NO NO NO!

NEVER use a US NES power brick in anything else. The US NES power brick puts out AC not DC and you will blow shit up.

[MikeyW]

I realised I actually have a UK plug for the PAL Master System II (I have a lot in storage at the moment so I loose track). I'm pretty sure I read that that power supply is compatible with one of the MDs, but whether or not this applies to UK. I'll have a Google of it now.

Results are in: The MS II plug does work with the MD I.

Sorry if this was an obvious solution that I wasn't aware of..!

[Breetai]

yeah i'm not to sure about Europe, but here in NA an NES power supply will work in a model 1 Genesis.

Can we ban this guy?* Seriously, the dangers of doing what this guy said are well documented.



*Doesn't really need a ban, but something had to be said after "no, no, no, no" was already stated. This is Racketboy after all! I don't really want to go down too hard on a fellow Canuck, especially one who is obviously into forestry if you look at his avatar.


On another note, I'm pretty sure the North American Game Gear uses the Genesis II power supply. I am not 100% sure though, since I haven't had a North American Game Gear for about 15 years. My current one is Japanese, which does use the MD mark I power supply.

So:
US Game Gear = Genesis II power supply (I think!)
JP Game Gear = Mega Drive I power supply
UK Game Gear = Mega Drive II power supply (according to the OP?)

This is confusing!

[Hobie-wan]

*Doesn't really need a ban, but something had to be said after "no, no, no, no" was already stated. This is Racketboy after all! I don't really want to go down too hard on a fellow Canuck, especially one who is obviously into forestry if you look at his avatar.

Yeah, I didn't want to be a asshole, but trying to keep anyone from blowing their stuff up.

On another note, I'm pretty sure the North American Game Gear uses the Genesis II power supply. I am not 100% sure though, since I haven't had a North American Game Gear for about 15 years.

Correct, and already noted in my power adapter post linked in my sig.

So:
US Game Gear = Genesis II power supply
JP Game Gear = Mega Drive I power supply
UK Game Gear = Mega Drive II power supply (according to the OP?)

This is confusing!

Fer sure, fer sure.

[Breetai]

Somewhere I had a link to a site with ALL the NEC power supply units. Anyway, the PCE, PCE Core Grafx and CGII are all the same PSU.

Yeah, that has nothing to do with this thread really.

[yosh]

Oh sh*t! I honestly didn't know. Seriously. I think my dad gave me a power supply that worked on my Model 1 and I used that on my NES, and thats where i got confused. My apologies

[Breetai]

Oh sh*t! I honestly didn't know. Seriously. I think my dad gave me a power supply that worked on my Model 1 and I used that on my NES, and thats where i got confused. My apologies

This way does work. Now you know.