Do You Leave Your Retro Consoles/TV Plugged In?

[jmbarnes101]

Other then the Wii U and oxBox in my living room, which I keep plugged in I keep stuff unplugged; kind of. I keep the adapters plugged into the power strip but I only plug them into the console when I'm going to play them and then unplug them when done. Not sure if this helps any at all but I feel better about it.

[Fragems]

I used to leave everything plugged in but I've gotten to the point that I only keep 2-4 consoles plugged in at a time in each of the 3 rooms I play in. The rest I keep boxed until I feel like playing them.

In my bedroom I do have 9 systems setup and ready to go but they are spread across 3 power strips and I only ever plug in one strip at a time.

[Jagosaurus]

My main reason is in line with Hobie, why not.

I know my home insurance policy will cover damage to appliances & electronics due to power surge. I know I can get funding to cover my LCD TV... but doubt I'd get much from them for my 2005 CRT & my Sega Genesis

For you folks handy with electrical... can it be harmful to not plug in a system for say, 6 months+? Do the components need the occasional charge to prolong life?

[Hobie-wan]

For you folks handy with electrical... can it be harmful to not plug in a system for say, 6 months+? Do the components need the occasional charge to prolong life?

Rechargeable batteries can be unhappy if they get totally discharged, but otherwise, no it's fine.

[Blu]

I leave everything that I am playing, plugged in. If it's not being played at least the week of, its cord might be nearby the surge protector (plug multiplier), but not plugged in.

Off the top of my head, here's what I have plugged in in my game corner:
1. Dreamcast
2. SNES
3. Gamecube
4. Genesis
5. N64
Not Plugged In:
1. NES
2. Wii
3. Xbox
4. PS2

In the living room, I keep them all plugged in.
1. Wii-U
2. PS3
3. Dreamcast
4. XBox 360

Is there any risk of having them explode, if the currents going through them are fairly stable? I like to think Ack and Hobie know, since they're our resident Benjamin Franklin / Dr. Frankensteins here on the matter.

[Hobie-wan]

Generally no, but you never know when a component that's plugged in could decide to give up the ghost due to power fluctuations because a tree fell on a power line or someone shoved a fork in a socket. One that has no power going to it (or its power brick) should be safe short of physical trauma.

[Bikeage]

Out of my three newest gen consoles, PS2, 360, and Wii, only the Wii is always plugged in, as is the CRT it's hooked up to. It's full of Virtual Console goodness, so it gets regular enough play to justify. And frankly the only reason the 360 and PS2 are not is because they share a plug on a power strip with my Apple TV, which gets far more use.

But the other consoles in the entertainment center which are ready to play, Saturn, Dreamcast, Genesis, NES, Gamecube w/GB player, TG16, and Vectrex are only plugged in when played and them promptly unplugged. The cords are tied neatly and it just looks better that way, not to mention who knows what a power issue could do. I lost not only a router, but an HDMI and VGA input on a nice LED TV last summer due to a nearby lightning strike, hate to think what that could have done to 30 year old electronics.

[CFFJR]

I usually leave everything plugged in unless I'm going out of town for a while.

I should probably develop the habit of unplugging though, especially since I made it a point to set everything up so its easy to do.

[Ack]

The only stuff I currently have plugged in is a PS3 and my SNES.

[8bit]

All of my modern and last gen consoles stay plugged in at all times. My retro consoles only get wired up whenever I am going to use them. I don't think this serves any other purpose than it being simply the way I have things organized.