Could you operate NES with 9V battery?

electro · Post by **electro** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 7:49 am

The original NES adapter says 9V 1.3A.

Would a 9V battery do the job?

Thanks,
T

blargg · Post by **blargg** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 8:26 am

Sure, for a few minutes. Take a look at the discharge curves for a 9V battery at 1000 mA. I believe this means it'd last around 15 minutes powering a NES. If one replaced the inefficient 7805 regulator with a switching type, it might last longer, as most of the heat seems to come from the regulator in a stock NES.

atari2600a · Post by **atari2600a** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:15 pm

as blargg stated, the regulator makes quite a dent in power consumption. If you could rather find a 5v battery (or combination of batteries making such voltage), you could bypass the regulator altogether.

Post by **tepples** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:18 pm

Didn't the Game Boy and Game Boy Color use 5.0 V, from either four 1.5 V alkaline cells (GB) or two 1.5 V alkaline cells (GBC)? I wonder if we could steal such a regulator and power the NES that way.

Celius · Post by **Celius** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 7:38 pm

I made the NES operate with a 9V battery for about an hour, strangely enough. I basically clipped the cord off of the NES 9V adapter, and soldered the end to one of those 9V battery snap connectors. I hooked that up to a portable TV to play NES in the car. I don't know why every time I've done it it's lasted so long.

atari2600a · Post by **atari2600a** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 8:25 pm

Benjamin Heckendorn did exactly that once...

Celius · Post by **Celius** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 8:47 pm

Yeah, I was planning to build a simple thing that connected the controller with the small TV so it would be like a GBA kind of. I see he did something similar, but a step further (Making the whole NES hand held).

blargg · Post by **blargg** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:25 pm

Read up on the basic difference between a linear and switching regulator IC, then take a look at a drop-in high-efficiency 7805 replacement.

Bregalad · Post by **Bregalad** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 9:41 am

As far I know, switching regulators can have a lot of noise, especially if a lot of current is drawn. But I guess it would work with the NES as it's good old solid electronics (no recent tiny gay electronics that breaks after 2 years).

peppers · Post by **peppers** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 11:13 am

the NES really uses one full amp at 9 volts?

Did anyone ever check the amperage used after the regulator cuts it down to operating voltage?

and @ Celius if your in your car why not just use the bulit in power supply?

NotTheCommonDose · Post by **NotTheCommonDose** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 11:25 am

I hope you don't drive while playing to make life more like a video game.

Celius · Post by **Celius** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 12:03 pm

peppers wrote:the NES really uses one full amp at 9 volts?

Did anyone ever check the amperage used after the regulator cuts it down to operating voltage?

and @ Celius if your in your car why not just use the bulit in power supply?

Well, I intended it to just be portable, not just for the car. But I do have something that you can hook up to the cigarette lighter that has an outlet on it so I could also play my PS1 in the car.

CKY-2K/Clay Man · Post by **CKY-2K/Clay Man** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 8:03 pm

Celius wrote:I made the NES operate with a 9V battery for about an hour, strangely enough. I basically clipped the cord off of the NES 9V adapter, and soldered the end to one of those 9V battery snap connectors. I hooked that up to a portable TV to play NES in the car. I don't know why every time I've done it it's lasted so long.

Haha that's great

jason_m · Post by **jason_m** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 7:57 am

The nes doesn't use more than about 300ma. The regulator should handle 13-14v dc from a car.