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If you ever wondered what was inside a vintage PSA power supply
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2023 1:33 am
by laurie
My old trusty PSA died. It turned out to be the cord.
It looks like the date code is 1983, so this is one of the first PSA supplies ever made.
The two halves of the case are glued together so it needs a bit of brutality to get it apart. Small hammer, sharp blade and an anvil. Yes, it makes it look bad, but without the repair it was useless and would have been into the parts bin.
While I had it open I did a recap. I mean, why not? If it really was 1983 then it was due.
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Re: If you ever wondered what was inside a vintage PSA power supply
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2023 1:33 am
by laurie
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Re: If you ever wondered what was inside a vintage PSA power supply
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2023 1:34 am
by laurie
Recap complete and glued back together with super glue.
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Re: If you ever wondered what was inside a vintage PSA power supply
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2023 6:37 am
by Pepe
Clear and simple layout. Good rescue job!
Re: If you ever wondered what was inside a vintage PSA power supply
Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2023 3:05 am
by fernieite
Great save!
I did that to my old 1974 Pignose adaptor a couple of years ago. The cord needed replacing too. Never thought to change any capacitors, though!
Btw, nice Canadian Tire clamp set!
Re: If you ever wondered what was inside a vintage PSA power supply
Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2023 6:14 am
by bigtone23
Nice fix, good for another 40 years!
Re: If you ever wondered what was inside a vintage PSA power supply
Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2024 4:50 pm
by snufkin
I have done this to a few PSA-240 also for the cold solder joints that sometime develop off the TX, they open after removing the foam "rods" that conceal the 4 standard screws
Re: If you ever wondered what was inside a vintage PSA power supply
Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2025 7:34 pm
by visserman
A engineer who I know has repaired the power cables on probably 5 to 6 of my PSA's
He puts some kind of rubber around the place where the cable comes out of the case. It stops the cable from breaking.
I transport my PSA's all the time, and it is one of my most used power supplies.
There is something about the place where the cable comes out of the case, it is a weak point, and most of the cables of my PSA's went faulty in that place.
The engineer looked into it and used something which stops it from breaking.
I have not had caps failing, but that may come in future since everything needs to be replaced at some point.