Power

Smart Plugs

In my automations I use smart plugs to power on/off devices using Home Assistant.

Usage of my smart plugs:

  • When opening the TV: lights up my LED strip, and activates my Audio setup

  • When playing retro games: Anker PowerPort 2 Elite powering my Retrotink 4K, and my Hydra 2 Revised. They both boot on power on.

  • When I play PS3: An access point to give it access to the internet

  • When I want to play A Link to the Past Randomizer or cast something while I am playing: It powers on my secondary screen mounted on the wall.

  • And when I want to reboot the TV because sometimes CEC stops working.

Sonoff S31

I am using the Sonoff S31 smart plugs to power on/off devices to save power.

They are not expensive, of good quality, and they are easy to flash with Tasmota.

Tasmota

Tasmota is an open-source firmware for many devices that allows you to control them over MQTT or HTTP.

I followed this guide awesome guide by Luke Knipe that was removed from the internet in 2022 when the author updated his website. I am trying to have the author to put it back on his website.

On chrome: https://tasmota.github.io/install/

USB-C PD

Linus Tech Tips made a video about USB-C PD. It convinced me it was a good way to save space in my setup and have less power consumption when the consoles are not used.

asad

Power supplies take a lot of space

Power supplies

This is a picture of everything I removed when I replaced the SNES, Genesis and GameCube power supplies to a single USB-C PD Charger. The Wii and WiiU are even bigger.

Requirements for each of my consoles

Each console have its own particularities, I had to plan everything properly.

Requirements for each of my consoles

Console

Voltage

PSU Power

Real Max Power

Plug

Notes

SNES

9V

7.65W

Non-standard jack, I used a barrel jack to snes adapter. It also has an inverted polarity so I used a Reverse Polarity Converter Cable. I made my own cable using USB-C 9V Power Trigger soldered to a male barrel jack.

It has a 9V with inverted polarity. I could have soldered the sned plug directly to an usbc-c trigger but I decided not to.

Genesis

9V

9W

Standard barrel jack, I made my own cable using USB-C 9V Power Trigger soldered to a male barrel jack.

The PSU was hot even though the console was off

GameCube

12V

39W

23W

I used the plug of a used power supply I soldered to a 12v usb-c trigger

Wii

12V

60W

18.4W

I used the plug of a used power supply I soldered to a barrel jack. I combined it with Adafruit USB Type C 3.1 PD to 5.5mm Barrel Jack Cable - 12V 5A Output.

WiiU

15V

75W

34W

I used the plug of a used power supply I soldered to a barrel jack. I combined it with Adafruit USB Type C 3.1 PD to 5.5mm Barrel Jack Cable - 15V 5A Output.

Making my own cables

9v with inverter

I am holding an USB-C 9V Power Trigger I soldered to a Male barrel jack. Its then plugged to a Male-to-female inverter barrel jack for the SNES’ inverted polarity.

Choosing the right power supplies

9v with inverter

This 65W GAN Charger is perfect to plug the WiiU in the first socket, and the Wii in the second socket.

UGREEN Nexode 100W

This 100W GAN Charger is perfect to plug the GameCube in the first socket, the Genesis in the second, and SNES in the third socket.