On Feb 9, 2010, at 10:00 AM, John Carmonne wrote:
On Feb 9, 2010, at 6:16 AM, Bruce Johnson wrote:
On Feb 8, 2010, at 8:53 PM, JOHN CARMONNE wrote:
Hi All
I want to buy a 5v power adapter that I can use on most of my
stuff ilke external FW USB drives and Pc cards cards and such. I
want to get some that work across the board, Is there something
like this I can get?
John Carmonne
Yorba Linda USA
It depends on the specific power needs and the tip style. RatShack
and WallyWorld sell multi-tip, multi-voltage adapters, just be
aware that you can use higher amperage than the original, but it's
dicey using lower amperage, and the multi adapters I've seen have
been like 900 milliamps, and I've seen drive adapters as high as
two amps.
--
Bruce Johnson
"Wherever you go, there you are" B. Banzai, PhD
OK so do you trust the multi votage, multi tip ones? And I assume
you would buy the highest amp out put? Do the devices adjust to the
increased amperage?
Amperage is how much "oomph" the adapter can provide. Devices will
only draw as much amperage as they need. A device rated as needing a
1.2 amp 5 volt supply can run on any adapter that provides at least
1.2 amp. That device will only draw 1.2 amp even if the adapter is
rated to provide up to 5 amps.
Now if you put a 900 milliamp (.9 amp) adapter on that same device,
the device will still try and still draw the 1.2 amps it needs. Some
adapters can handle short spurts out of spec gracefully, some will
just shut down, or they can try and provide the overrated amount and
overheat and possibly catch fire.
So, higher rated amps are almost always safe. Sometimes you can use
lower rated amps as a test, but I would not run on one.
Note, I am not an electrical engineer, but I do play one occaisionally.
Len
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