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PowerBook Duo 230 compatible power supplies

CircuitBored

Well-known member
Hi all,

I recently came into possession of two Duo 230s in a lot of six random old Apple laptops. Sadly, these machines were the only ones in the lot without power supplies. I'm obviously going to have to buy a new power supply or two but I was wondering if the supplies from any other PowerBooks were compatible. I have a 1400c supply and the voltage and connectors match but I'm not sure about the connector polarity. I vaguely remember there being some oddness with certain PowerBooks being centre-negative while others were centre-positive... or is the power connector actually tip-sleeve and the metal shield is just structural? I don't know PowerBooks very well outside of the G4 era. Can anyone here confirm that a 1400 supply is safe to use with a Duo 230?

Any tips on compatible third-party power supplies would be well appreciated!

Thanks all.
 

3lectr1cPPC

Well-known member
1400c power supply should be fine. The duo adapter is center positive. I wouldn’t try it though, since the duo boards have leaky caps that are known to cause a bad short that kills the board. You should get it recapped before you test it to prevent any irreversible damage. The screen needs caps as well.
 

CircuitBored

Well-known member
1400c power supply should be fine. The duo adapter is center positive. I wouldn’t try it though, since the duo boards have leaky caps that are known to cause a bad short that kills the board. You should get it recapped before you test it to prevent any irreversible damage. The screen needs caps as well.

Sorry! Forgot to watch the thread!

Thanks for this info. I was able to use my 1400c's supply to give these machines a quick test. I inspected the boards before power-up and there was no sign of cap leakage so I may have gotten off lightly. That said, the screens on both units are in a sorry state and need a recap!
 

3lectr1cPPC

Well-known member
You're fine :)

I believe the Duo 230's display is the same as the PowerBook 100's, which uses 8 3.3uf 35v caps. I recapped a similar panel in an old PC laptop with ceramics and it worked out just fine. They are extremely small though, smaller than a grain of rice.

Even if you got off lucky with the mainboard caps, you should still get those changed before they have the chance to ruin the board. Enjoy your Duo!
 
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