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Electronics Repair (sci.electronics.repair) Discussion of repairing electronic equipment. Topics include requests for assistance, where to obtain servicing information and parts, techniques for diagnosis and repair, and annecdotes about success, failures and problems. |
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#1
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Determining correct AC/DC adapter for equipment
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 |
#2
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Determining correct AC/DC adapter for equipment
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#3
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Determining correct AC/DC adapter for equipment
wrote in message ups.com... 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? If all else fails, I hook up a multi voltage unit and check the current being drawn. I set the polarity for maximum current, then increase the voltage to either a reasonable current if charging a battery or until the device works. |
#5
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Determining correct AC/DC adapter for equipment
In article . com,
wrote: Many thanks for the reply, Dan. Unfortunately, my problem is that on so many of the devices that require adaptors there isn't even the basic voltage information indicated near the adaptor socket, or anywhere else. Is there a way I can determine a device's power requirements - voltage and amperage - just by examining the components inside? Or do I need equipment like a multi-tester or some such? The current the device draws can be determined after setting the voltage. So if you have say a 1 amp supply with variable voltage that should work for most things. Start at the lowest voltage and work up until it operates normally. Capacitors are one easy way to determine polarity. A DC supply can be used where the original was AC in many cases, but not the other way round. -- *If work is so terrific, how come they have to pay you to do it? Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
#6
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Determining correct AC/DC adapter for equipment
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#7
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Determining correct AC/DC adapter for equipment
wrote: 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 Thank you all for replying, a nice consensus of information. I'll see how I get on. |
#8
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Determining correct AC/DC adapter for equipment
In article om,
wrote: 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. AC adaptors are handy for home build projects. They tend to be higher output, like for like. So send any junked ones here. ;-) -- *El nino made me do it Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
#9
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Determining correct AC/DC adapter for equipment
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#10
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Determining correct AC/DC adapter for equipment
Bennett Price wrote:
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 For those items that also ran on batteries, you can calculate the needed voltage as # of batteries times 1.5. Batteries are DC. You might be able to trace the battery wiring to the jack to determine polarity. or use a multimeter to find that one of the battery conections connects directly to one of the input jack connections. NT |
#11
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Determining correct AC/DC adapter for equipment
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article om, wrote: 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. AC adaptors are handy for home build projects. They tend to be higher output, like for like. So send any junked ones here. ;-) I have a large bin full of them. I'd let you have half, just to thin the herd, so to speak. Alas, they're too heavy to ship economically.... jak |
#12
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Determining correct AC/DC adapter for equipment
"jakdedert" wrote in message ... I have a large bin full of them. I'd let you have half, just to thin the herd, so to speak. Alas, they're too heavy to ship economically.... Flat rate envelope? |
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