I was trying to update the firmware in my GS tonight and the magic smoke escaped. Has anybody bought the Universai Power Supply Kit from Reactive Micro? If so was it as easy to install as they say on their website?

I won't be buying it any time soon, but I thought I'd solicit comments and maybe any other ideas about fixing/replacing the GS power supply. Before anyone suggests recapping the one I have realize that as my wife says I can't turn a hammer or swing a wrench.

Any helpful suggestions will be wlcome.
magnus

On 6/20/22 8:44 PM, magnusfalkirk wrote:
> [...]
> I won't be buying it any time soon, but I thought I'd solicit comments and maybe any other ideas about fixing/replacing the GS power supply. Before anyone suggests recapping the one I have realize that as my wife says I can't turn a hammer or swing a wrench.

You don't need either a hammer or a wrench, but you would need to know
which end of a soldering iron to hold in order to fix that power supply.
There's one component that pops, the X2 filter capacitor, that needs
replacement - it will be obvious once you open the metal housing which
is that component. But in the mean time, besides the smell, there
really isn't much danger in continuing to run that power supply even
with the blown filter cap...

On Monday, June 20, 2022 at 11:53:54 PM UTC-5, schmidtd wrote:

> You don't need either a hammer or a wrench, but you would need to know
> which end of a soldering iron to hold in order to fix that power supply.
> There's one component that pops, the X2 filter capacitor, that needs
> replacement - it will be obvious once you open the metal housing which
> is that component. But in the mean time, besides the smell, there
> really isn't much danger in continuing to run that power supply even
> with the blown filter cap...

Something else must be blown in there because It's Dead, Jim. I just tried turning it on to see if I could still run it and nothing. I'm not very good at soldering, that was what the 'turn a hammer or swing a wrench' was meant to imply. Besides I haven't done any soldering in over 50 years. So I guess my best bet is to eventually get the Universal Power Supply Kit from Reactive Micro. In the meantime I guess I'll use KEGS to run GS software on my Mac. Unless there is some infitesimally small chance that Sheppy, or someone else, can update Sweet 16. That is by far my favorite GS emulator. And, of course, there is Virtual II to run all my standard Apple II software. Unless I dfig out the IIc+ with the FloppyEMU.

magnusfalkirk wrote:
> I was trying to update the firmware in my GS tonight and the magic smoke
> escaped.

What a coincidence! I had a Mac 128K powered on just two evenings ago and
its magic smoke escaped too. That was some bad juju. It gave me a headache.
:-/

magnusfalkirk <dean.phares@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Monday, June 20, 2022 at 11:53:54 PM UTC-5, schmidtd wrote:
>
>> You don't need either a hammer or a wrench, but you would need to know
>> which end of a soldering iron to hold in order to fix that power supply.
>> There's one component that pops, the X2 filter capacitor, that needs
>> replacement - it will be obvious once you open the metal housing which
>> is that component. But in the mean time, besides the smell, there
>> really isn't much danger in continuing to run that power supply even
>> with the blown filter cap...
>
> Something else must be blown in there because It's Dead, Jim. I just
> tried turning it on to see if I could still run it and nothing. I'm not
> very good at soldering, that was what the 'turn a hammer or swing a
> wrench' was meant to imply. Besides I haven't done any soldering in over
> 50 years. So I guess my best bet is to eventually get the Universal Power
> Supply Kit from Reactive Micro. In the meantime I guess I'll use KEGS to
> run GS software on my Mac. Unless there is some infitesimally small
> chance that Sheppy, or someone else, can update Sweet 16. That is by far
> my favorite GS emulator. And, of course, there is Virtual II to run all
> my standard Apple II software. Unless I dfig out the IIc+ with the FloppyEMU.
>

It is likely, then, that when the X2 capacitor failed, the momentary short
caused the power supply’s fuse to blow—also easily replaced by someone
willing and able to do it. So if you replace the power supply, try to get
the failed one to someone who can repair it (and I don’t mean a full
re-capping!).

--
-michael - NadaNet 3.1 and AppleCrate II: http://michaeljmahon.com

On Wednesday, June 22, 2022 at 2:42:39 PM UTC-5, Michael J. Mahon wrote:
> magnusfalkirk <dean....@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Monday, June 20, 2022 at 11:53:54 PM UTC-5, schmidtd wrote:
> >
> >> You don't need either a hammer or a wrench, but you would need to know
> >> which end of a soldering iron to hold in order to fix that power supply.
> >> There's one component that pops, the X2 filter capacitor, that needs
> >> replacement - it will be obvious once you open the metal housing which
> >> is that component. But in the mean time, besides the smell, there
> >> really isn't much danger in continuing to run that power supply even
> >> with the blown filter cap...
> >
> > Something else must be blown in there because It's Dead, Jim. I just
> > tried turning it on to see if I could still run it and nothing. I'm not
> > very good at soldering, that was what the 'turn a hammer or swing a
> > wrench' was meant to imply. Besides I haven't done any soldering in over
> > 50 years. So I guess my best bet is to eventually get the Universal Power
> > Supply Kit from Reactive Micro. In the meantime I guess I'll use KEGS to
> > run GS software on my Mac. Unless there is some infitesimally small
> > chance that Sheppy, or someone else, can update Sweet 16. That is by far
> > my favorite GS emulator. And, of course, there is Virtual II to run all
> > my standard Apple II software. Unless I dfig out the IIc+ with the FloppyEMU.
> >
> It is likely, then, that when the X2 capacitor failed, the momentary short
> caused the power supply’s fuse to blow—also easily replaced by someone
> willing and able to do it. So if you replace the power supply, try to get
> the failed one to someone who can repair it (and I don’t mean a full
> re-capping!).
>
> --
> -michael - NadaNet 3.1 and AppleCrate II: http://michaeljmahon.com

I'd like to thank David Schmidt for taking the time to repair the power supply in my GS for me. I know, had I tried to do it, I more likely than not would have either burned myself with the soldering iron or somehow manage to destroy the mother board. I've found that there are a lot of great people in the Apple II community and one of these years I'm actually going to make it to Kansasfest to meet many more. When Apple came out with their 'Think Different' slogan I decided to make it perfect 'Think Different - Apple II Forever!'. That defintely applies to this group.
magnus