DIYbanter - View Single Post - Determining correct AC/DC adapter for equipment

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wrote:

My new family owns a large selection of light toys collected over the
years. Unfortunately, in many cases the adapter is missing. Now, we
also a cache of old adapaters of varying voltages, ampages (is that a
word?) and polarities - AC/DC and AC/AC. Without the benefit of manuals
and, in some cases, no information on the toy casing either, I have had
a few mishaps blindly attempting to match up adapters to toys (mishaps
involving the smell of burning component).
My question is, in the absence of the usual information (or a
multi-tester), is there a way to determine what adapter is required for
a particular toy/appliance? Maybe opening up the toy and calculating
something from the components used inside?
In hope
Dean

Junk the ac output adaptors, because dc output wll work for pretty much
all devices, including those dedigned to take ac, whereas ac will
damage many.

Normally the v i and polarity are marked semi-invisibly near the
socket, the info is shallowly moulded into the casing, so holding it
upto the light usually reveals a fair bit.

Opening it and looking for a diode or capacitor will indicate polarity.

Start at lowest voltage, say 3v, and increase until it works.

You'll succeed in nearly all cases this way.

NT