without a charger......

[Rexcamera]

I bought a dcs 420 on ebay, but it doesn't come with a charger, what should I do, I don't want to buy a charger, is there any way to modify it?

 

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

Nope. You need to feed power into that connector. And the right power, volts and amps. I used to know what that was, but I forget. They were bog common (at one time) notebook PC power supply bricks. I forget who made them now, as well.

Stan

 

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

Ah! I recalled it. And found a reference for it squirreled away:

ELPAC POWER SYSTEMS

MODEL: MI2815 POWER SUPPLY

INPUT: AC 95 - 250V 47 - 63Hz 0.6A

OUTPUT: 15VDC 1.90A

So you need to push 15v with up to 2 amps in. This could be from a bench power supply. Doesn't have to be Mr Elpac.

Note these are NiCd packs in there, so you probably need to rebuild it...

Stan

 

[SQLGuy]

I bought a dcs 420 on ebay, but it doesn't come with a charger, what should I do, I don't want to buy a charger, is there any way to modify it?

You can make one. I did. The details about the connector are here: http://www.nikonweb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15

IIRC, I bought a 7-pin mini-DIN cable and cut that to splice with the output of a 14V 3A power brick that I bought off of eBay. Works fine.

Correction: it was an 8-pin mini-DIN cable, and I had to cut out one of the center pins to make the connector fit correctly. The description from eBay was: 6FT Mini DIN 8 Pin Serial RS-232 Extension Cable 28AWG MDIN 8 Pin M/F Device Mac

Edit: here's the thread with some photos from when I rebuilt the battery in my 460c: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4457508

 

[Rexcamera]

Thank you, SQLGuy

What kind of power supply specification or AC power supply are you using?

I'm worried about the risk of burning out the board

 

[Rexcamera]

In 2022, this kind of charger seems to be difficult to find

 

[SQLGuy]

Thank you, SQLGuy

What kind of power supply specification or AC power supply are you using?

I'm worried about the risk of burning out the board

14V 3A

Here's the ad. Looks like they're sold out, but there should be other, similar enough ones available. https://www.ebay.com/itm/263793268281

 

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

I see them in $2 boxes at hamfests all the time. A hamfest is a flea market for amateur radio operators. They are the final resting place for all sorts of Obsolete Electronics. And Elpac made the power supplies for dozens of models of IBM notebook PCs.

But, mainly, I had to recall the supplier name and then dive into my information for that maker. Then it was easy for me to find what the power supply for the Kodak 400 series delivered. Now the OP can find something which can be made to work. Doesn't have to have been made by Elpac.

I probably have some with the correct output in one of my boxes on my own Shelves of Obsolete Electronics. Heck, I probably have several made by Elpac. Now having one with the connector Kodak used, maybe not. I am more likely to have one with a coaxial connector as that is what IBM used.

Stan

--
Amateur Photographer
Professional Electronics Development Engineer
Once you start down the DSLR path, forever will it dominate your destiny! Consume
your bank account, it will! Like mine, it did!

 

[SQLGuy]

Here's mine. Ground is on the left bottom pin, and the shield. 14V is on the right bottom pin. You can also see the left center pin I cut out of the 8 pin mini din connector to make it fit correctly.





If you have a bench power supply, you can also use that, and a couple pieces of resistor or capacitor leads in the alligator clips as pins to stick into those two sockets. That's what I used before building the charger.



--
A7R4a with SEL2470Z, 55Z, and a number of adapted lenses (Canon FD, Minolta AF, Canon EF, Leica, Nikon...); A7R converted to IR.

 

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

Yep. That would do the trick. Any old notebook PC power supply with the right output and the correct plug. Actually, that's what Elpac made for Kodak in the first place.

Stan

 

[SQLGuy]

Hi,

Yep. That would do the trick. Any old notebook PC power supply with the right output and the correct plug. Actually, that's what Elpac made for Kodak in the first place.

Stan

There are places that sell them, like these guys: https://www.impactcomputers.com/mi2815-760.html

But nobody shows a photo of the connector, and these guys (https://elcodis.com/parts/5400497/MI2815-760.html) at least are saying that it has a 2.5mm barrel connector, not a non-standard mini-DIN 7.

I'm guessing that the -nnn part of the part number indicates different connectors. Frankly, I don't remember ever seeing laptop power supplies that used more than a 4-pin connector. I really wonder whether this version was specific to Kodak.

Around here, we haven't had a Hamfest or other types of indoor swap meets since Covid. The Denver Photographic Society swap meet has been cancelled at least the last four times (it used to be in May and November). Waiting to see if we have one this May.

 

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

We kept on having the outdoor hamfests all along and began having the indoor ones last Fall. All of them will be back in NC this year. And they just had Hamcation down in FL and Dayton is back in May. The biggies. I didn't go to FL but will head to Dayton as I'm one of the licence examiners.

But there's always eBay for a brick on the cheap and getting a 8 pin DIN has to be ordered anyway. I doubt one would find that at a hamfest. And snapping off the extra pin is easy.

I'm unsure now just why Kodak used that 7 pin one. I think there was a Keying piece involved. But I don't have one of the original supplies to check. I did look in my boxes of old supplies and don't have one any longer.

Stan

 

[Rexcamera]

你好，我找到一張顯示電路圖的圖片，當我丟失了插頭的中間部分時，機身中間的插針有用嗎？

資源

https://flic.kr/p/V3CJsu

尼康的定時器有同樣的插頭

 

[SQLGuy]

你好，我找到一張顯示電路圖的圖片，當我丟失了插頭的中間部分時，機身中間的插針有用嗎？

資源

So, Google says this translates to:

Hi, I found a picture showing the circuit diagram, do the pins in the middle of the body work when I lose the middle part of the plug? resource

https://flic.kr/p/V3CJsu

尼康的定時器有同樣的插頭

Nikon's timers have the same plug

I have no idea what you're asking about. The "same plug" that Nikon timers and remote releases have is the 10 pin one on the N90s body, not the 7 pin one in the DCS part.

And this diagram is for a cable release. What are you trying to do? Wire in a cable release into the 10-pin connection? You could probably do that, but that doesn't help with your need to charge the battery.

--
A7R4a with SEL2470Z, 55Z, and a number of adapted lenses (Canon FD, Minolta AF, Canon EF, Leica, Nikon...); A7R converted to IR.

 

[Rexcamera]

I'm just curious, what function does the Kodak socket represent? Because I'm not sure if the cable I bought can be used correctly for charging

 

[SQLGuy]

I'm just curious, what function does the Kodak socket represent? Because I'm not sure if the cable I bought can be used correctly for charging

Further down in the link you shared it shows all the functions - serial data, color wheel motor signal, remote release, and power.

What cable did you buy?

 

[Rexcamera]

As you said, I bought a mini din 8-pin cable, just need to remove the middle part of the pin and connect it with the transformer to charge, I understand right?

 

[SQLGuy]

As you said, I bought a mini din 8-pin cable, just need to remove the middle part of the pin and connect it with the transformer to charge, I understand right?

Yes. That cable should be fine.

Did you already get a power supply as well?

You'll need a meter to find which wires go to pins 1 and 2.

--
A7R4a with SEL2470Z, 55Z, and a number of adapted lenses (Canon FD, Minolta AF, Canon EF, Leica, Nikon...); A7R converted to IR.

 

[Rexcamera]

Hello, do the pins of the mini din line have to be the positive and negative poles of the Samsung power supply at the Kodak 1 and 6 pins?

 

[Rexcamera]