AC Adapter / Volt Question

[NachT]

Hi guys

I've got one of those wireless box's that uses an AC adapter. The adapter I got with it was 5V, but it went on fire in an accident I had with candles

I've looked around the house for another 5V adapter and the lowest voltage one I can find is a 9V. Would it be ok to use the 9V adapter with it?

Thanks!

 

[Corasik]

I wouldnt, thats an 80% overvoltage, could do some serious damage, secondly a lot of wireless gear draws quite a heavy current, Mine for instance is 5v but 2 amps!. Most cheapy plugin power supplys only deliver in the region of 350ma, so you'll blow the supply.

Finally you also need to make sure the polarity is correct, some equipment uses tip positive, and other devices are tip negative. Unless the equipment has internal protection reversing the polarity can cause damage, this is especially true of routers due to the higher than average amps they draw. (Plus as most routers/wireless devices come with supplied PSU's their protection against inverted polarity may not be as good as a device designed for any adaptor)

Check the amps, and the polarity, and go down to an electrical shop and get something comparible. A multivoltage adaptor will be fine as long as your carefull to set it up correctly, AND it has sufficient amps to power your device.

Almost forgot, some devices run on AC, not on DC, so be sure to check to see if the 5V adaptor is 5V ac, or 5V dc. Using the wrong type may cause damage, an AC supply could damage a DC device, while a DC supply may not cause damage, but certainly wouldnt power up an AC device and I certainly wouldnt recommend getting it wrong anyway.

 

[NachT]

Thanks for all that mate!

I'll check all those out now.