Recomendations - bulletproofing RFM PC

[pinnies4me]

Traditional wisdom is to -

1. Replace CPU fan;
2. Replace whole power supply (as getting to the fan can be awkward).

Anyone done this, and sourced parts locally, and if so, what and where?

[wiredoug]

I had a look out of interest and given new power supplies are $73 roughly  - I doubt it would be economically viable to work on the old one unless you're bored or have designs on improving its quality in some way

[pinball god]

Power supplies Mr pin and psp have some. Fans I think I bought some from an online electronics place in Perth will see if I can find some paperwork or something

[wiredoug]

its worth thinking of the fact its just an old pc really.. any AT power supply that fits would likely do the trick.

In general with power supplies - capacitor quality and airflow are what make a long happy life so if you want to work on it buy the best ones you can find.

[pinball god]

Couldn't find invoice but took photos of the packet. Hope this helps and it cost me $12au plus postage

[pinnies4me]

Thanks guys. Not being a PC person, not sure what "best" is, hoping someone with some PC expertise might have some guidance for me.

As the machine sees 110v at the power supply, does it need to be sourced from the US? Or are they "smart" and detect the voltage being supplied?

[wiredoug]

is the old one broken?   if you arent overly technical a NOS genuine bolt in replacement seems like the best plan.
http://pinball.co/Products/29699-power-supply.aspx looks like the right thing but you would need to ask them for specs to be sure.
I would be surprised if its not auto switching from 110-230V but the label on the box that you cant see in the bad photo would hold the answer.

[Strangeways]

You would need a power supply that has a manual switch from 240V to 110V.

For example, if you look at this power supply;

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/AT-Power-supply-230watt-/271243490170?pt=AU_Components&hash=item3f275f337a

Down the bottom, it references "Input Voltages - 115-230V" - There will be a switch for 110V and the only time you need to switch it to 240 V is if you take the power supply and computer out of the game.

In the Wiki - they refer to the power supply as "baby AT" - http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Pinball_2000_Repair#Power_Problems

There is lots of info there on the power supply and suggestions on replacements.

[beaky]

Jay car have the cpu fans.
just take your old one in with you to match the size.

[casperthefriendly]

its worth thinking of the fact its just an old pc really.. any AT power supply that fits would likely do the trick.

what he said.

I used an old ATX power supply from a junked PC that was lying around after my RFM one died - you may have to do a tiny bit of wiring modification as it will be unlikely you can track down a AT power supply, but an ATX will work 100% if you ground the green wire. For originality & perfection, you can wire up the green wire to the switch on front of the PC box so that still works, though you'll never need to use it.

Great guide here - http://antelopearcade.com/forum/yaf_postst4_Pinball-2000-AT-to-ATX-Power-Supply-Replacement.aspx

IMHO, leave the replacement of the power supply until it actually dies as it's unlikely to cause any problems when it does die, BUT replace the CPU fan ASAP - if/when that dies, you run the risk of cooking the CPU. Try and find a decent fan that has proper bearings - jaycar should be able to help.