Timeline for Why did Commodore fill their power supplies with epoxy?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
15 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jul 1, 2022 at 15:03 | comment | added | Maury Markowitz | Every time I read stories about CBM I'm more appreciative of the level of engineering Atari, and later Apple, put into their products. | |
| Feb 21, 2020 at 23:09 | comment | added | x457812 | So maybe the decision also had to do with trying to avoid lawsuits from potential fires. Anyway I used my C-64 quite a lot back in 80's in Sweden (I had 3 of them at different times) and I don't remember any issues with the power supplies ever. Made me wonder if they were better made on the European market. | |
| Jan 1, 2018 at 17:29 | history | edited | Dale Mahalko | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
misspelling: sage -> sag
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| Aug 9, 2017 at 15:49 | comment | added | rackandboneman | Maybe some safety standard for toys was met that way, given the target market included very young segment.... | |
| Aug 8, 2017 at 16:47 | comment | added | RichF | @RBarryYoung I edited my answer to include the word "cartridge" within my note. Hopefully that clarifies my meaning. | |
| Aug 8, 2017 at 16:44 | history | edited | RichF | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
hopefully clarified quote note
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| Aug 8, 2017 at 16:41 | comment | added | RichF | @RBarryYoung Thanks, but I know. If you are responding specifically to my internal quote note where I referred to "CP/M", I believe in that one instance Bil meant "CP/M cartridge" and not "CBM cartridge". The Z80 processor and other components within that cartridge would have added a noticeable load on the power supply, which in context is exactly what is being discussed at that point. FYI, Bil Herd is the lead engineer for the C= 128, and the one who decided to add the Z80 to its motherboard. So it makes sense that he would specifically reference the C64's CP/M cartridge. | |
| Aug 8, 2017 at 14:10 | comment | added | RBarryYoung | FYI, "CBM" is Commodore Business Machines. | |
| Aug 7, 2017 at 19:27 | comment | added | Zac67 | Even without overloading those C64 PSUs died regularly. I used to fix them by piggy-backing a new 7805 on and replacing the removed case bottom with a generous heatsink - did at least two dozen of them. | |
| Aug 7, 2017 at 19:06 | history | edited | RichF | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
CBM -> CP/M
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| Aug 7, 2017 at 17:43 | comment | added | user722 | The explanation I remember hearing at the time was it was done for safety reasons, maybe even specifically to get certification, and that the usual failure mode was that expansion and contraction would eventually crack the voltage regulator or break one of the connections. | |
| Aug 7, 2017 at 17:22 | comment | added | cbmeeks | That is an excellent answer. And, it makes total sense. I guess Commodore wasn't as stupid as I thought they were. Too bad they didn't design a better PSU before they potted it. :-) | |
| Aug 7, 2017 at 17:21 | vote | accept | cbmeeks | ||
| Aug 7, 2017 at 16:15 | history | edited | RichF | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added reference year
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| Aug 7, 2017 at 16:08 | history | answered | RichF | CC BY-SA 3.0 |