Power Connector Type - Silent 700, Model 703

[rzbrk]

Hi all!

This is my first thread in this forum.


Recently, I got a TI Silent 703 from an Ebay seller. From outside, it is in a very good shape. It has a Spanish keyboard layout, on the main-board U16 is missing, instead it has a cartridge installed.





Unfortunately, the power supply aka wall transformer is missing. I plan to build a replacement power supply myself using a bell transformer with 24VAC output. Sufficiently powerful 20V transformers are quite rare here in Germany. What do you think?

Fortunately, the schematics for the wall transformer are given in the manual, section 7:


One thing I did not found out is the type of connector used on the far end of the wall transformer's cable to the teletype. It is a 3 pin connector - female. According to my measurements the spacing between the pins is almost 4 mm. The diameter of the pins is ~ 1.3 mm:




The connector type from the 703 model should be the same as for the 707.

Does anyone know the connector type?

Thanks for your support,
rzbrk

 

[rzbrk]

Hi forum!

Bare with me, I asked OpenAI's ChatGPT if it could help me with the connector. I uploaded a picture of the connector and added some description and measurements. ChatGPT guessed it might be a Molex KK 396 connector. The pitch of this connector type matches exactly what I have measured. And this connector type seems to be used quite often in such applications.

I ordered this type of connector. The shipping will take some days. When they arrive I will see if they fit and provide you with an update.

Regards,
Jan

 

[rzbrk]

Hi forum!

This week, the Molex KK 396 (Amazon link) connector arrived some days ago.

Do they fit? Kind of ... Let me explain.

The connector has the correct pitch and fits over the three pins of the TI 703.

As you can see in one of the above images the power connector on the mainboard of the TI 703 (male) has some kind of clamp. The connector that I received has not a fitting part that could "engage" with the clamp. On the contrary, the female connector has a "nose" that I carefully removed in order that the connector properly slides under the original clamp. But anyway, the connector has a tight friction fit. Therefore, I leave it as it is:



There is also no easy way to reverse the connector as the entry holes for the pins on the female connector are slightly off-center. By reversing the female connector you would risk to brake the clamp from the male connector inside the TI 703. And even if you manage to make connection this way it would not have any harmful consequence as the outer two pins are AC. You cannot reverse polarity.

I hope this helps in case someone else also gets a TI Silent 700, model 703 or model 707 without the original wall connector.

All the best,
rzbrk