Discussion:
Alphaserver 200 4/233 power supply needed
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Z
2006-10-17 20:55:44 UTC
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I have a dead Alphaserver 200 4/233. The power supply has decided to retire.

The power supply is an ASTEC MODEL SA180-3505. ASTEC no longer makes them.

Would anyone here have a spare they'd like to get rid of?
V***@SendSpamHere.ORG
2006-10-17 23:21:25 UTC
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Steven M. Schweda
2006-10-17 23:42:28 UTC
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Post by V***@SendSpamHere.ORG
Post by Z
I have a dead Alphaserver 200 4/233. The power supply has decided to retire.
The power supply is an ASTEC MODEL SA180-3505. ASTEC no longer makes them.
Would anyone here have a spare they'd like to get rid of?
I thought those were just crappy old PeeCee type power supplies. I'm not
up on all the PeeCee nomenclature (for obvious reasons). Perhaps somebody
else here can explain they type.
I know nothing, but it sure doesn't look exotic, just old. Only 180W
rated output, and a real power switch. On my budget, if I needed one,
I'd probably look at generic PC units to see if anything matched up in
the ratings and connector(s).

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steven M. Schweda ***@antinode-org
382 South Warwick Street (+1) 651-699-9818
Saint Paul MN 55105-2547
WWWebb
2006-10-18 00:04:42 UTC
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Post by Steven M. Schweda
Post by V***@SendSpamHere.ORG
Post by Z
I have a dead Alphaserver 200 4/233. The power supply has decided to retire.
The power supply is an ASTEC MODEL SA180-3505. ASTEC no longer makes them.
Would anyone here have a spare they'd like to get rid of?
I thought those were just crappy old PeeCee type power supplies. I'm not
up on all the PeeCee nomenclature (for obvious reasons). Perhaps somebody
else here can explain they type.
I know nothing, but it sure doesn't look exotic, just old. Only 180W
rated output, and a real power switch. On my budget, if I needed one,
I'd probably look at generic PC units to see if anything matched up in
the ratings and connector(s).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
382 South Warwick Street (+1) 651-699-9818
Saint Paul MN 55105-2547
Non-standard power connectors going to the motherboard.
Just like Dell.

Somebody may have pinned them out and posted the findings here.
Richard B. Gilbert
2006-10-18 00:38:33 UTC
Permalink
Post by WWWebb
Post by Z
I have a dead Alphaserver 200 4/233. The power supply has decided to retire.
The power supply is an ASTEC MODEL SA180-3505. ASTEC no longer makes them.
Would anyone here have a spare they'd like to get rid of?
<snip>
Post by WWWebb
Non-standard power connectors going to the motherboard.
Just like Dell.
No, just like Digital. Digital just didn't believe in using industry
standard components! Until VERY late in the game I believe that just
about every component of every machine was designed from scratch!
Remember when the RZ26 came in about 25 different variants? It was the
same disk drive but 25 different sets of mounting hardware; one for each
machine that supported it!!!!!
Michael Moroney
2006-10-18 04:45:25 UTC
Permalink
Post by WWWebb
Non-standard power connectors going to the motherboard.
Just like Dell.
Somebody may have pinned them out and posted the findings here.
I have two Alphastation 200's and both had the power supply die. When the
second one died, I bought the cheapest ATX power supply CompUSA had and
replaced the plugs with the ones from the dead power supply. This wasn't
easy because not only did DEC and the PC world disagree on the type of
plugs, they disagreed on the color codes of the wires. (well, they did
agree on black for common). The colors for the +/- 12V are actually
swapped.

This worked out well, the system still works.

It helped that I did some qual work for DEC on Alphastation 200s and
was used to tearing them apart and putting them back together again.
Dave Froble
2006-10-18 17:10:05 UTC
Permalink
Post by Michael Moroney
Post by WWWebb
Non-standard power connectors going to the motherboard.
Just like Dell.
Somebody may have pinned them out and posted the findings here.
I have two Alphastation 200's and both had the power supply die. When the
second one died, I bought the cheapest ATX power supply CompUSA had and
replaced the plugs with the ones from the dead power supply. This wasn't
easy because not only did DEC and the PC world disagree on the type of
plugs, they disagreed on the color codes of the wires. (well, they did
agree on black for common). The colors for the +/- 12V are actually
swapped.
This worked out well, the system still works.
It helped that I did some qual work for DEC on Alphastation 200s and
was used to tearing them apart and putting them back together again.
Do you have any details on the replacement? Did you splice the wires,
or change the pins in the plugs, or what? How about wire color x-ref?
--
David Froble Tel: 724-529-0450
Dave Froble Enterprises, Inc. E-Mail: ***@tsoft-inc.com
DFE Ultralights, Inc.
170 Grimplin Road
Vanderbilt, PA 15486
Michael Moroney
2006-10-18 23:41:10 UTC
Permalink
Post by Dave Froble
Post by Michael Moroney
I have two Alphastation 200's and both had the power supply die. When the
second one died, I bought the cheapest ATX power supply CompUSA had and
replaced the plugs with the ones from the dead power supply.
...
Post by Dave Froble
Do you have any details on the replacement? Did you splice the wires,
or change the pins in the plugs, or what? How about wire color x-ref?
I'll enter a full writeup shortly. (I knew I should have photographed
each step and put up a 'how to' web page...)

I cut the motherboard plugs off both power supplies, and connected the old
plugs to the new P/S. For each bundle I slid a lage piece of heat shrink
tubing. For each wire I slid a small piece of heat shrink, stripped the
ends, soldered the spliced ends together, slipped the small heat shrink
over the joint and shrank it. When done with a bundle, I slid the large
heat shrink over the bunch of small ones and shrank it.
Jim Mehlhop
2006-10-19 15:58:14 UTC
Permalink
Post by Michael Moroney
Post by Dave Froble
Post by Michael Moroney
I have two Alphastation 200's and both had the power supply die. When the
second one died, I bought the cheapest ATX power supply CompUSA had and
replaced the plugs with the ones from the dead power supply.
...
Post by Dave Froble
Do you have any details on the replacement? Did you splice the wires,
or change the pins in the plugs, or what? How about wire color x-ref?
I'll enter a full writeup shortly. (I knew I should have photographed
each step and put up a 'how to' web page...)
I cut the motherboard plugs off both power supplies, and connected the old
plugs to the new P/S. For each bundle I slid a lage piece of heat shrink
tubing. For each wire I slid a small piece of heat shrink, stripped the
ends, soldered the spliced ends together, slipped the small heat shrink
over the joint and shrank it. When done with a bundle, I slid the large
heat shrink over the bunch of small ones and shrank it.
If you get a chance to simply include the color coding that would be
great. I have an old 200 4/233 too with a DOA powersupply. Would be
useful if I need to boot an old version of VMS for support work as my
PWS500 won't boot the old versions.

Thanks in advance,
Jim
Ray
2006-10-19 20:00:02 UTC
Permalink
Post by Michael Moroney
I cut the motherboard plugs off both power supplies, and connected the old
plugs to the new P/S. For each bundle I slid a lage piece of heat shrink
tubing. For each wire I slid a small piece of heat shrink, stripped the
ends, soldered the spliced ends together, slipped the small heat shrink
over the joint and shrank it. When done with a bundle, I slid the large
heat shrink over the bunch of small ones and shrank it.
Might I suggest making an adapter cable instead? The only missing
piece would be a PC-style motherboard power connector, which you
could scavenge from a dead PC. The level of effort ought to be the
same, and the *next* time you have to replace the power supply it
will be a whole lot easier.
Dave Froble
2006-10-18 04:43:56 UTC
Permalink
Post by Z
I have a dead Alphaserver 200 4/233. The power supply has decided to retire.
The power supply is an ASTEC MODEL SA180-3505. ASTEC no longer makes them.
Would anyone here have a spare they'd like to get rid of?
Did a quick search. Only price I found was $299. Better to put such
amounts into a DS10L from David.

If you find a source, I'd appreciate knowing. I've got at least 2
systems down due to the power supply fan. Tried to fix one with new
fan, but system wouldn't run. I'm not a HW guy. Probably something
simple, but not for me.
--
David Froble Tel: 724-529-0450
Dave Froble Enterprises, Inc. E-Mail: ***@tsoft-inc.com
DFE Ultralights, Inc.
170 Grimplin Road
Vanderbilt, PA 15486
Z
2006-10-18 18:53:28 UTC
Permalink
Post by Dave Froble
Did a quick search. Only price I found was $299. Better to put such
amounts into a DS10L from David.
If you find a source, I'd appreciate knowing. I've got at least 2
Issue resolved. I went with the $299 source.

Was hoping to save some $, but no such luck; maybe next time.
David J Dachtera
2006-10-20 21:16:36 UTC
Permalink
Post by Z
Post by Dave Froble
Did a quick search. Only price I found was $299. Better to put such
amounts into a DS10L from David.
If you find a source, I'd appreciate knowing. I've got at least 2
Issue resolved. I went with the $299 source.
Was hoping to save some $, but no such luck; maybe next time.
When I searched, I came up with a source offering it for $163. Didn't save the
URL, tho....
--
David J Dachtera
dba DJE Systems
http://www.djesys.com/

Unofficial OpenVMS Marketing Home Page
http://www.djesys.com/vms/market/

Unofficial Affordable OpenVMS Home Page:
http://www.djesys.com/vms/soho/

Unofficial OpenVMS-IA32 Home Page:
http://www.djesys.com/vms/ia32/

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http://www.djesys.com/vms/support/
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