Power centers were and unassuming computer accessory from bygone decades, but they helped to solve a real problem. And they are one of the very few vintage computer items you can still find routinely at a thrift store or estate sale at a thrift store price rather than a boutique price.
Power centers were billed as exactly that. One place where you could centrally power your computer peripherals on or off as needed, without having to remember where each individual power button was. Sometimes the power button was on the side of the device. Sometimes it was on the back. So having one place you could plug everything in and then toggle the power individually was convenient.
The centers also provided rudimentary surge protection, and late model units also had an indicator to tell you if your outlet was properly grounded.
The problems they solved
The external power bricks on many systems, including Commodore and Atari, drew power regardless of whether you powered the system on or not. This caused phantom power draw, but it could also cause the power brick itself to overheat and fail prematurely. Plugging the power brick into a power center alleviated that problem. If you toggled the switch off, the power brick didn’t receive any power.
The second problem they solved was saving was wear and tear on the system power switches. The push button power switches on monitors manufactured by Phillips, such as a Commodore 1084, were notorious for getting stuck in one position. This was an especially big problem when they got stuck in the off position. Phillips did not have a monopoly on this problem, but it did seem more common with theirs.
And while the rocker type switches on the computers and disk drives seem more robust, a misbehaving power switch on a Commodore 64 is a very underrated problem. If you are ever troubleshooting a Commodore 64, checking the voltages coming out of the power switch is a quick test that can save you a lot of unnecessary and fruitless troubleshooting.
The power switches on the power centers weren’t necessarily any more robust, but if they wear out, it tends to be a bit more obvious, and it was definitely easier for the average consumer to replace a power center than it was to open up a piece of equipment and replace the power switch. And if they couldn’t replace it themselves, we’re talking a $50 repair versus $25 to buy a new power center.
Why they don’t make power centers anymore
Computer power centers fell out of favor in the early 2000s as soft power switches became the norm. The modern equivalent today is a smart power strip. This device delivers power to one outlet all the time, and cuts power to the others. When you power on the device plugged into that mean outlet, it then delivers power to the rust of the outlets. This addresses the phantom power draw problem and has the advantage of working with a remote control.
Troubleshooting a vintage computer power center
These devices are rather old, so when you get them, they don’t necessarily always work completely. If you hear something rattling around inside, you definitely don’t want to put it to you so without giving it and inspection first.
The designs vary, but generally they are held together by four screws on the underside. Removing those four screws usually loosens the top enough that you can figure out how to remove the top cover. Sometimes I find a broken standoffs inside, and sometimes I find loose wires inside.
When I find loose wires, I can usually tell from looking at the other switches or outlets where the wire should go. If you are not familiar with working with AC power, find a knowledgeable friend to help you.
Testing
Before unplug anything important into one, I plug it into a GFCI protected outlet. Then I test the power outputs with a multimeter. AC current in the United States can vary, with a voltage between 115 and 120 being normal. If the outlets aren’t in that range, chapter wiring again. It’s also possible you have a faulty switch or outlet.
So far I haven’t found a power center that I wasn’t able to fix. But even though the brands varied, many of them appeared to have used the same OEM. Even dissimilar units had a lot of parts in common. If I had one I couldn’t make fully operational, it’s only a matter of time before I find another one. I’d be able to use parts from both to make one fully operational unit.
These power centers are a very unheralded accessory, and nobody ever wrote much about them when they were new. They were just something computer stores sold until they went obsolete. I like having them because they save me other, more difficult repairs, and they complete the look of a retro setup.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.