Відео

No kidding? You're the first person to say that after all these years. If you have questions let me know and I'll try to answer them.

Well, thank Adrian for me! I am a big fan of his fun and interesting repair videos. Anyway, there are some different theories about this, but Bil Herd said that he thought it was for fire protection. Can't start on fire with no oxygen! Definitely a PITA to repair though!

@@ottumlandLOL! Probably correct!

LOL, I never noticed that! I never wanted to be a YT star. I just had people asking me how to get the epoxy out of the case, which led to the series. Naturally my production value is...well, nonexistent!

I know exactly what you mean. I really like and appreciate the videos where the content is more important than the production. Your video is great by the way, and when I finally drag out my VIC-20 I’ll be sure to check the brick supply. It’s a little strange to me as I’ve used a lot of 7805 regulators in my professional and hobby life and I’ve yet to see one short. Any regulators that have failed for me have gone open. In this case it must have to do with the encapsulation and the inability to dissipate enough heat.

@@larryhuff3383 I always thought it was because Commodore used very cheap 7805 regulators.

Thanks. The parts list is here in the comments. While I DO sell these from time to time, the purpose of the videos was to show others how to do it themselves. Having said that, I do build a few every year, and sell them. It might be a few more in the next several months, because my case supplier for my Nu-Brick (my version of this power supply with all new parts) is no longer selling the case, so I will be out of cases soon. But you can email me. My handle is my gmail address.

@@ottumland thanks, im pretty handy when it comes to electronics, just purchased 3 untested c64s but all with original supplies. thankfully only problem across all of them was one bad vic chip! ill try your update and if it goes pear shaped i'll certainly buy replacements from you.

It is a labor of love. I got it done, but it wasn't pretty. No matter how careful I went, the base plastic tore while trying to break it away from the case and I had to chisel the wires out on both sides. Left with no base, I 3D printed a new one and added mounting points for the circuit board while I was at it, so done but I wont be doing any more!

@@ddacombe4752 Yeah, that's part of the reason I started doing the Nu-Brick. This project really is a labor of love. I get a majority of the covers off intact, but I've broken quite a few as well. The beige ones are the worst, it's like they epoxy holds better. So did you build it upside down then? Or rightside up, I should say, since my design is actually upside down!

@@ottumland i built it right side up and also have a slot in the printed base where i glued in the transformer. Thanks again for your work to guide me through the process 👍🏻

Someone, might have been Bil Herd, said it was for fire protection. Cant burn if there's no oxygen, I guess! But that's at the expense of overheating. Kind of ironic...

LOL, I think I answered this question under part 3, but here it is again for folks who don't make it that far! I usually bring somewhere between 5 and 10 Re-Bricks to the Vintage Computer Festival Midwest every year, but I haven't built any at all this year. These days, I focus most of my energy on building the Nu-Brick 64, which uses all new parts. Find me on the Commodore 64/128 Facebook group for one of those!

I haven't built or sold one for about a year now. I never say never, so I may do some again. But I focus my energy on my PS with all new parts, the Nu-Brick.

Yes Edwin I think you're right. I'm not doing these quite the same way anymore but that's a good idea.

Yes, you are correct. That was brought up early on, it's in here in the comments somewhere but I know those are hard to get through. We've been doing it the correct way ever since, but there's absolutely no harm in mentioning it again.

Yes, I've had no problem with the beige bricks. That's not to say that they sometimes don't crack and/or fall apart. I would say that 1 in 5 breaks in some way, sometimes repairable, sometimes not. One of the things I don't think I mentioned in the video is that you want to make sure the block comes out evenly, or that can also break the case.

Great question. So my supplies have 3 fuses. The first one is a line fuse. The AC coming into the case is fused right away, so that if something comes loose inside the case and shorts out, it protects against shock or fire. The 5vdc switcher also has a PCB mount fuse from the factory, as you mentioned. Finally, I put a 2A fuse on the output of the 9VAC transformer. This is to keep the transformer from melting down in case of an extended dead short across the secondary. Commodore did the same thing, by the way.

I haven't made any Re-Bricks for over a year. It's on my list. But I also make the Nu-Brick 64, which has all new parts. I do build those regularly. They are $60 plus shipping. Drop me an email at my username at gmail.com!

Hi, you can easily service the wedge shaped bricks. I did a vid on it a few years ago. Good luck.

@@Plan-C Sorry, what I was referring to was a question about whether or not you could use MY parts on the wedge-shaped bricks, and I didn't know. I've seen enough videos and forum posts that I can see that they're actually much easier to service than the US ones.

It's called Stick-Fast. I get it at a local woodworking store. I despise the syringe type, they're wasteful and always end up coming out uneven, despite the fact that they're supposed to be designed to not do that. This is two separate bottles.

I have actually never even thought of that. I'm sure there are applications were this is something that would matter, but in this case it doesn't. If you were tying two Transformers together than the phase would obviously matter, but I can't think of any reason it would in this case. I build a modern equivalent called the Nu-Brick that is the same design with all new parts, and I've sold hundreds without ever considering the phase of the AC.

Sorry, it's been 6 years, and that Tecate ran about 5 minutes and has been sitting ever since. the bracket holding the headlights kept breaking and the headlights had to be removed. Then the machine died and I never got back to it. But yes, I do remember now that using one flood and one spot gave it better depth. I don't think you need to do anything besides point them forward. LEDs are difficult enough to focus as it is, you'll have no problems covering side trails. I have a nice rectangular 15-element LED module on one of my Yamaha 225DXs that fits right inside the headlight shroud. That one is also more than enough. Seems to me like anything more than that ends up being obnoxious.

Oh, and I forgot something else. I used the Trail Tech regulator/rectifier, AND the Trail Tech battery on the Tecate. The output was far too unstable and flickery without it.

@@ottumland good notes. I'll be sure to fabricate a sturdy mount with some sort of vibration isolation. As for VR. I intended on using the same cheap 4 pin regulator you would find on a Chinese quad, they're about 7$ on eBay and have a single bolt hole. Paired with a small lithium ion package, that should do fairly well. This bike is gonna be used A LOT. So I want night riding available in good lighting. Out here in the middle of nowhere, its dark when you get more than 20 ft from the house. 😂

I do have a follow up question. Would it be viable to rescue the 9v AC transformer from the epoxy? Or is that too much of a hassle to undertake since it's in that brick of epoxy?

When I make a batch, I sell them for $50 USD. I dont do it very often though!

That's really smart. And you don't have flying plastic bits hitting the dog!

Thanks. I think lately I've been using a slightly larger drill bit that lets you put the LED as far through the hole as you want. I think when I was using 7/64" it stopped at the lip, but when I went to 1/8" you could place it wherever. Don't quote me on that, because it's been a little while since I've built one.

I completely forgot this video existed! I used it to post to some folks who helped me in a forum. As I recall, I think I had to replace some RAM to get the rest fixed. Anyway, the beep is there. Turn your volume up!

LOL that's what you got out of my video? 3 years later, it's entirely possible I've replaced that drill bit.

These kind of comments are *everywhere* man. Drives me insane. Really enjoyed this series, any chance you'll get back to making videos again?

@@PJBonoVox It's not a problem. Usually people are just trying to have fun. I've got some ideas, but this was the only thing that I felt I *really* needed to do. I wasn't planning on trying to become a youtuber, I just had some information I wanted to share. I'll probably do a video on my for-sale power supply, the Nu-Brick 64, at some point. But that would be more of a 'how to buy' rather than 'how to build'.

Yes I sure have. Better yet, something with posts to hold screws in the cover. I dont currently own a 3d printer though.

Congratulations on being even more of a nerd than me. I had to look it up to see what you were talking about! Sadly, I've only seen Season 1.

@@ottumland that was in season 1 when they were on the Krill ship. lol

According to Bil Herd, it was fire-proofing. Can't burn without air! As far as running hotter, folks continue to argue about that to this day. I suppose the epoxy did have a heat sinking effect, spreading the heat out to the whole case rather than just on the 7805 regulator. But did it actually keep the regulator cooler? Hard to believe

My wife said it would make a good murder weapon while looking fixedly at me.

so it was just another way to be a little too cheap. Anyway interesting recycling. I don't have one to recycle though. The one I bought is just the computer without cables. I actually have a 9v 1amp AC adapter. I was shocked. I figure between that and USB I can get a PSU working. I hope I ordered the right DIN cable on amazon. It is 7 pin and I hear that's correct.

@@awilliams1701 Good luck! I'm not a huge fan of using USB chargers, because I don't think they output very clean power, but I don't imagine it will cause any damage. Give it a try! If it DOES fail, you'll know, because you'll see garbage in the video. Keep us posted!

Nope, sorry! You'll have to do a little homework! ;-)

Yes that's correct. I think all I was trying to say is that the Transformer itself doesn't have a hot and neutral per se. The hot side goes through the fuse first and the neutral side connects directly to both the Transformer and the Switcher. I'm building some of these today, to be sold at VCF Midwest!

@@ottumland Gotcha. Thanks! I learned the hard way that the little crimp-on connectors from Digikey should not be over-soldered. It requires a bit more delicacy than I originally provided. Since I did not have enough spares to complete the job today, more are on order. :)

@@jdryyz Oh, I think I know exactly what you mean. So you soldered the actual contact spring shut, didn't you? After over 300 of Re-Bricks and Nu-Bricks built, I still do that once in a while!

@@ottumland Exactly!! It only requires a dab. Admittedly, I wasn't aware of the spring clip function at first so I over did it. :)

Yeah, you got it. I just remove the PCB with the diodes and capacitor, then it's just a plain 9vac transformer. 1.11A should not be a problem.

@@ottumland I noticed your transformer leads on the input side are both black wires. Isn't it important to keep the hot and neutral identified? My transformer has black and white wires on the input side. Both are black on the output side although in looking at it carefully, there is a white broken stripe on one of the wires. This connects to the internal "hole" side of the plug as I expected. :) Sorry to ask so many questions, by the way. I am moving slowly through this project to avoid any mistakes.

No, there's not really any hot and neutral on the transformer itself. So it doesn't matter.

@@ottumland So you're saying it does not matter which pair I choose to work with as long as it has continuity on the other end? There still has to be a hot 9VAC on the output which is electrically connected to the hot on the input side, right? Forgive me, this is another area where my electronics knowledge is lacking. DC is a little easier to follow as there is always a plus and negative and you do not want to get those mixed up.

@@jdryyz When it comes to working with line voltage, you can't be too careful. So I want to be sure we're talking about the same thing. The last question that I answered was to say that there's no hot and neutral on the primary (120v) side of a transformer, so there's no wrong way to connect those wires. But I'm not sure I understand the question about "which pair" you choose to work with. Anyway, there should NEVER be any continuity between primary and secondary. Have a look at a transformer schematic, and you'll see that the primary and secondary windings are not physically connected at all. The AC voltage is transferred via induction, which is a bit beyond the scope of our conversation here. Make sense?

I think the style between the 2 videos is the same, though the specific case changed due to my not getting good video during assembly. It's been a couple years, so I don't remember precisely. Yes, I've had to remove some of the internal plastic to get the nylon pieces to fit.

@@ottumland I am thinking you probably used a Dremel tool for that. :) I never got around to getting one of those. I am afraid I could wreck the case even more trying to get them out using other means. Maybe I can just create notches for the nylon.

@@jdryyz shame on me for not remembering exactly what I had done. Yes, I actually end up cutting two slots in the nylon block itself not cutting away the ribs on the inside of the case.

@@ottumland Yeah, that's what it looked liked in the earlier videos, then you switched to the case without any of the pieces in the way. Maybe the transformer or the switcher couldn't be fitted properly which is what I am concerned about. Sounds like I will have to clear them out also.

Hi Johan...because they are so time consuming, I usually only build Re-Bricks once a year, for VCF Midwest. However, due to the demand, about two years ago I started building an all-new PS using similar components, called the Nu-Brick 64. I don't have a website, because I don't want it to be a full-time job. But you can find me as KevinO on vcfed.org forum, Frankencelery on Lemon64, or join the Commodore 64/128 group on Facebook and look me up there (that's where I spend most of my time). Thanks for asking!

@@ottumland Thanks! I'll look you up on FB :)

@@TGFungus Yeah, if you join the Commodore 64/128 group, just search for Nu-Brick and you'll find a bunch of posts. Thanks!

I can't disagree with that! Apparently it was only the US ones that were completely epoxy-filled. Many of the UK ones are not, and are actually repairable.

I agree. Someone suggested that a 3d printed "liner" would help with all the mounting issues. I liked that idea, but don't currently own a 3d printer. But yes, it's a time-consuming but rewarding project!