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Hardware and Tech / Re: Electrical for retro consoles

« on: May 13, 2021, 06:49:51 pm »

Thanks for the advice. I definitely plan on moving the second power strip off the daisy chain. I honestly am not sure why I even did it cause I'm an IT person for a living and I know that's a big no no and I'm honestly surprised with myself that I even did it. I think I did because the outlet where everything is plugged in has the top outlet powered by a light switch at the entrance to the basement while the other is always on. I wanted the smaller strip to be on the outlet that is controlled by the wall switch but I guess when I was connecting everything the plug was interfering with the outlet for the larger strip so I just plugged the second strip into the larger one so I could turn everything off at the power switch for the large strip. In hindsight I realize I shouldn't have done this. As for plugging in one at a time I could do that. It's a bit inconvenient but honestly once everything is wire managed it wouldn't be a big deal to plug whatever console in I plan on using and the TV for the retro consoles since I'd have to go to the power strip to turn on power to everything in the first place.

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Hardware and Tech / Re: Electrical for retro consoles

« on: May 13, 2021, 08:08:45 am »

Good point. I'll have to look into the av company thing. Not sure if best buys av installers do anything like that without purchasing anything from them to have installed though.

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Hardware and Tech / Re: Electrical for retro consoles

« on: May 11, 2021, 12:10:58 pm »

I considered the whole swaping consoles in and out as well and connecting them to the TV only when in use and I could still do that I guess however I've already cut holes in walls and ran cables through wire tracks and all that craziness to make it look clean and easy to use by just pressing a button on a rca switcher cause the sapce I'm using them in unfortunately wouldn't be big enough for more than the two tvs I'm using with everything else I have in the room and I don't have any other rooms open to be able to put other tv's in. Do you think it would be worth it to have an electrician come in and take a look at it all and tell me if I need to make any changes or would I basically just be leaving them an open invite to tell me I need to spend a bunch of money for something that isn't really necessary to have new circuits ran and breakers installed?

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Hardware and Tech / Re: Electrical for retro consoles

« on: May 11, 2021, 10:33:23 am »

Thanks for the info. I do know my houses electrical circuits are kind of wonky because I turn breakers that are labeled for one part of the house and it turns off something else that would seemingly have nothing to do with it. I'm pretty confident that the majority of my basement is on the same circuit as far as lights and outlets go but what you're saying makes sense. I'll have to take a day and have my dad give me a hand with figuring out what all is on what circuit and then do like you said and figure out the load from what I'm using simultaneously. I guess my main concern at this point until I can do this is would it be a fire hazard or would I simply have to worry about tripping a breaker from too much load?

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Hardware and Tech / Re: Electrical for retro consoles

« on: May 10, 2021, 11:38:04 pm »

One correction. The 12 outlet power strip is actually daisy chained onto the 24 outlet power strip. I'm guessing this is probably not a great idea however the same applies as in my earlier comments where only certain things would be in use simultaneously. I also forgot to mention that all of this is turned off every night when I am done playing and the things that are in use before being turned off are typically only on for a couple of hours a night. Ocassionally they will be on for an entire day once in a while but it's rare.

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Hardware and Tech / Re: Electrical for retro consoles

« on: May 10, 2021, 11:20:04 pm »

In addition I do plan on adding a few more consoles down the road so I want to take that into account also.

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Hardware and Tech / Electrical for retro consoles

« on: May 10, 2021, 11:18:03 pm »

Hi everyone. I've posed the question before here in the forum asking if having many things plugged into a single power strip would be an issue or not since I have never had the number of devices plugged into a single circuit as I do currently. That being said I have 11 retro consoles, my 27" crt TV, several led strips, an lg cx oled tv, a sound bar, hdmi switcher, a ps5, Xbox one s, a ps4, a nanoleaf, and a 16 port switch all plugged into two separate power strips that are both plugged in at the same socket which I am assuming are both on the same circuit. Obviously not all of these things are on simultaneously however I could see at some point I could potentially have the leds, the nanoleaf, the crt, the oled  TV, one of the new gen consoles, and maybe one of the old gen consoles, and the soundbar all on at the same time. I know these old consoles don't particularly require a ton of power  but I wanted to know if having that combination of devices on at the same time could potentially cause a problem since some of the other devices are getting power even though they aren't on. Also is this too much to have on one circuit even if it's not all on at the same time? For a little more detail the retro consoles, crt, hdmi switcher, 16 port network switch, and two of the led strips are all being powered off a single 24 outlet tripp lite power strip, and the ps5, ps4, Xbox one s, oled TV, sound bar, and nanoleaf are all powered off a single 12 outlet tripp lite surge strip. Each of which are plugged into an outlet at the same spot on the wall. Could I just have a bigger breaker installed for this circuit or would that not help? I would have a separate circuit ran to offload some of the devices onto but my walls are all finished and would have to be cut out most likely to run a new circuit since the joists would all be in the way of fishing any wire through and my breaker box is on the other end of my house. Any help or experience with such a situation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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Hardware and Tech / Re: Sony Trinitron 24" crt tv crackling when turned off

« on: October 04, 2020, 04:50:18 pm »

Thanks for the explanation. I do remember the days of the static buildup on the screen and feeling the hairs on your arm standing up lol. Man that takes me back haha.

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Hardware and Tech / Re: Sony Trinitron 24" crt tv crackling when turned off

« on: September 28, 2020, 10:04:22 am »

Thanks. Glad its not some weird behavior or something that is going to be a safety issue. From doing a little bit of research I understand this can be alleviated somewhat by having the TV in a less humid area. Mine is in my basement but my basement is above ground so it doesn't get terribly humid if at all but I may get a small dehumidifier just to see if it makes a difference.

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Hardware and Tech / Sony Trinitron 24" crt tv crackling when turned off

« on: September 27, 2020, 11:03:34 pm »

I was wondering if anyone can tell me if something I'm experiencing with my 24" sony trinitron crt tv is normal or not. I just got done playing some nes and genesis games on it and when I turned the tv off and unplugged it it was making this static sort of crackling sound. It eventually dissipated and stopped after about a minute or two. I havent used a crt tv or monitor of any kind if well over a decade and I dont recall if this is normal behavior for CRT's or if it is something I should be concerned about from either a safety standpoint of longevity of the tv standpoint. Any info would be appreciated.

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Hardware and Tech / Re: Powering retro consoles

« on: August 04, 2020, 10:24:30 pm »

Thanks for all of the advice. It sounds to me like as long as I dont have everything on simultaneously that it shouldnt be a problem having the 24 outlet power strip. I do like the idea of the individually controlled outlets on a strip however I havent come across any that have more than maybe 7 outlets on them so I would need quite a few of them. Tripp lite makes one with 6 individually controlled outlets on the strip and one always on outlet but that goes back to the point of not having too many plugged into the same circuit or daisy chaining them. I have to have a new outlet ran where I plan on plugging everything in so I may have them throw a 20amp breaker in for it so it has overhead just in case and that should take care of any doubt there may be plus having a separate circuit just for the consoles wouldnt be a bad idea anyway. I'll be running ethernet to the same closet this outlet is in so i can hardwire all of my network able devices in the house so I'll be needing power in that closet anyway for the switch that will be going in there so it's the perfect spot to plug all of the consoles in so long as that 24 outlet strip wont be an issue.

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Hardware and Tech / Powering retro consoles

« on: August 03, 2020, 04:46:06 pm »

I am sure this has been asked a thousand times so forgive me if it has already been answered. Maybe someone can direct me to a thread with the info I'm looking for if it has. My question is, I have quite a few consoles I am going to be hooking up at one time on the same circuit in my basement. I am trying to connect everything in terms of power in the most efficient way possible so as to not have to constantly be plugging and unplugging power cables in when I want to play a specific console. That being said I was looking at a 24 outlet surge strip (https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Heavy-Protector-Mounting-Brackets/dp/B07SJ823RC/ref=sr_1_8?crid=35NAKC1WE623D&dchild=1&keywords=12%2Boutlet%2Bsurge%2Bprotector&qid=1596482341&sprefix=12%2Boutlet%2Caps%2C148&sr=8-8&th=1
) from amazon which should cover pretty much everything I have to plug in at the moment. I may get two of these to have extra for any additional consoles or other items I may add down the road to my collection. My concern is whether this is going to be a fire hazard having that many consoles plugged into one spot at the same time. I would be turning the surge strip off when the consoles are not in use so as to reduce the amount of impact on my electric bill but I wasn't sure if having everything on the same strip get power at the same time when the strip is turned on even though the consoles aren't actually turned on would be a problem for the electrical circuit or if there would be any kind of possible surge that may affect the consoles in any way. One of the things I need to plug in in addition to the console is my Sony WEGA 24" CRT TV. I understand from the little bit of research I have done that it is not good to cut power to and restore power to these TV's often and that its better to leave them with constant power. Is this true or would having power cut to it along with the consoles since it is all on the same surge strip be ok? I figured some of you probably have the same situation I do and hopefully have determined a best way to do this. Thanks for any help you can provide in advance.

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Classic Video Games / Re: Removing stickers from game art

« on: June 26, 2020, 03:54:26 pm »

Hey Cobalt,

Coming from a perfectionist, I've learned some times its best to leave well enough alone.  As someone who's always trying to improve the condition of his games, sometimes it can backfire if your not careful.  If you've had the stickers on the label for 25 years, then why not just leave the sticker on there. It's part of it's history and charm now.

If you MUST remove the sticker from the label, I would try using a hair dryer on low heat for 20-30 seconds at a time, about 4-6 inches away.  See if you can peel a little up at a time.  If it doesn't feel like it's going to budge with ease, just leave it alone my friend.  At best you'll be left with some sticker residue on the label.  I wouldn't use any harsh chemicals on the label.

Just looking out for ya man.

No, i appreciate th advice and ive been kind of contemplating doing just that. I figured I could try some of the un-du stuff that masamune suggested on a game that I could easily replace and that doesnt have as much sentimental value to it for me and if it goes well then I can use it on the other ones but if it doesnt I may just leave things alone. The good thing is I dont really have any games that are crazy vaaluable beyond the sentimentality but obviously id like to preserve them as much as possible. I do agree with sworddude though that as far as the asthetic of the cartridge it does look better without the stickers on it especially when they have my name written on them which I think kind of takes away from them artwork. This a learning experience for me since I am just starting to collect but i am glad I am learning about it early on so i know what to do in the future.

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Classic Video Games / Re: Removing stickers from game art

« on: June 25, 2020, 09:53:41 pm »

Thanks for the options. I will have to give them a try and hopefully not ruin the original labels. I'll be really dissappointed if they get messed up because I've had them since I was a kid so their going on probably 25 years old so i really appreciate the advice.

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Classic Video Games / Removing stickers from game art

« on: June 24, 2020, 03:51:02 pm »

Hi, i am new here so forgive me if I am posting this in the wrong place. I am looking for ways to remove a sticker that was placed over the original sticker art on some of my sega cartridges, many years ago, without damaging the original game label on the cartridge. I was going to try goo gone but was worried that it would cause the original sticker to come off as well. If anyone has any suggestions or things that you've tried successfully without damaging the original sticker I would be greatful.