Re: [OT] Electrical question

[Jim Noble <yahoo-groups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ho Yin wrote:
> Thanks to Mr. White I managed to source a PSU that is near what I
require
> from CPC.
> However I require a 16V 1.6A DC
> The PSU from CPC is 16V 1.25A .. will this still work? I have read
that you
> should actually get a PSU that has a higher Amps output than what you
> require as the unit will just not use the excess Amps?
> Any ideas? Anyone?
>

If the thing you're powering is really taking all 1.6 Amps, the psu
could get hot and/or the output voltage drop.

With a decent quality (under-rated/over-specified, regulated) psu, it'll
just run a bit warm. A very badly designed psu could go pop in a
spectacular way. Options in between include blown fuses, tripped
over-current protection devices, premature benign failure, escaped
smoke, funny smells, and randomly deciding to catch fire at a random
point in the future.

An oversize psu would indeed just not supply the extra current. However,
an unregulated psu used below it's rated output might put out a higher
voltage than specified, which your appliance might take exception to.

Chances are the widget you want to power doesn't actually need 1.6A most
of the time, if not at all. Running it on an undersized but regulated
psu will probably work for a short time without killing it. You'd
probably not want to run it for any length of time though, without being
sure just how much juice it's expecting to use...

Jim