Can I substitute a 6v for a 4.5v power supply?

G

Gary

Guest
I just bought a portable CD player whose specs call for a 4.5V/300mA power
adapter. The player doesn't come with an adapter, just two AA batteries. I
found a couple of adapters in my house that are 6V/300mA. Can I (safely) use
these adapters in place of the 4.5V the specs call for?

Gary
 
"Gary" <gf1701@att.net> wrote in message
news:L%isb.50655$Ec1.3341004@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
I just bought a portable CD player whose specs call for a 4.5V/300mA power
adapter. The player doesn't come with an adapter, just two AA batteries. I
found a couple of adapters in my house that are 6V/300mA. Can I (safely)
use
these adapters in place of the 4.5V the specs call for?

Gary
Click to expand...
I think you would be playing with fire. Apparently, the unit actually
requires 3v DC (as evidenced by inclusion of the 2 AA batteries). Using a 6v
supply (assuming that the voltage doesn't drop under load - which may or not
be a valid assumption) would be overating the player by 100%...not a good
idea, at least if you want it to last.
 
"Baphomet" <fandaDEATH2SPAMMERS@catskill.net> wrote in message
news:vr45gg3h3jkh84@corp.supernews.com...
"Gary" <gf1701@att.net> wrote in message
news:L%isb.50655$Ec1.3341004@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
I just bought a portable CD player whose specs call for a 4.5V/300mA
power
adapter. The player doesn't come with an adapter, just two AA batteries.
I
found a couple of adapters in my house that are 6V/300mA. Can I (safely)
use
these adapters in place of the 4.5V the specs call for?

Gary

I think you would be playing with fire. Apparently, the unit actually
requires 3v DC (as evidenced by inclusion of the 2 AA batteries). Using a
6v
supply (assuming that the voltage doesn't drop under load - which may or
not
be a valid assumption) would be overating the player by 100%...not a good
idea, at least if you want it to last.
Click to expand...
I agree.

4.5v appears to be one of the standard items at RadioShack
and you can select the proper connector and leave the store
with a complete solution for likely <$15

OTOH, I need 5V (which is a very common voltage for TTL
logic, etc, etc. and they had nothing.
 
No, this would probably damage your CD player. However, if you splice a
a resistor into the low voltage line, 5 ohm half watt, you have made
yourself an unregulated 4.5 volt/300 mA adapter.

Gary wrote:
I just bought a portable CD player whose specs call for a 4.5V/300mA power
adapter. The player doesn't come with an adapter, just two AA batteries. I
found a couple of adapters in my house that are 6V/300mA. Can I (safely) use
these adapters in place of the 4.5V the specs call for?

Gary
Click to expand...

--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark W. Lund, PhD ** Custom Battery Chargers
CEO ** Bulk Cells and Custom Battery Packs
PowerStream Technology ** Custom Power Supplies
140 S. Mountainway Drive ** DC/DC Converters
Orem Utah 84058 ** Custom UPS
http://www.PowerStream.com ** Custom power management electronics
Brigham Young University Alumni e-mail: lundm@xray.byu.edu
 
"Gary" <gf1701@att.net> schreef in bericht
news:L%isb.50655$Ec1.3341004@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
I just bought a portable CD player whose specs call for a 4.5V/300mA power
adapter. The player doesn't come with an adapter, just two AA batteries. I
found a couple of adapters in my house that are 6V/300mA. Can I (safely)
use
these adapters in place of the 4.5V the specs call for?

Gary
Click to expand...
Gary,

Something does not fit. Two AA batteries account for 3V max. Most of the
time it will be less. For 4.5V you would need three batteries. So if your
battery box only has place for two batteries - and the CD player works fine
with it - 6V will be a substantial overkill. It may even worse when the
converter is unregulated. If you have a regulated 6V converter you can
nevertheless use it but you have to use three diodes - let's say 1N400x - in
series. If you have an unregulated supply, you have to add a regulator
circuit. A new converter will be much easier and even cheaper.

petrua


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.532 / Virus Database: 326 - Release Date: 27-10-2003
 
It does seem strange, but my CD player uses 2 AAs and it is marked 4.5 volts
on the DC input and, in fact, came with a 4.5v wall wart. My digital camera
uses a 3.7 Li-ion battery and comes with a 5v AC adapter.

These devices have an internal power supply that converts to several
voltages as a computer's PSU for the various electronics inside. While the
OP's CD player may work with the 6volt adapter, the dissipation may be
excessive and damage the player.
John

"petrus bitbyter" <p.kralt@hccnet.nl> wrote in message
news:Jqxsb.101708$di.25240148@amsnews02.chello.com...
"Gary" <gf1701@att.net> schreef in bericht
news:L%isb.50655$Ec1.3341004@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
I just bought a portable CD player whose specs call for a 4.5V/300mA
power
adapter. The player doesn't come with an adapter, just two AA batteries.
I
found a couple of adapters in my house that are 6V/300mA. Can I (safely)
use
these adapters in place of the 4.5V the specs call for?

Gary


Gary,

Something does not fit. Two AA batteries account for 3V max. Most of the
time it will be less. For 4.5V you would need three batteries. So if your
battery box only has place for two batteries - and the CD player works
fine
with it - 6V will be a substantial overkill. It may even worse when the
converter is unregulated. If you have a regulated 6V converter you can
nevertheless use it but you have to use three diodes - let's say 1N400x -
in
series. If you have an unregulated supply, you have to add a regulator
circuit. A new converter will be much easier and even cheaper.

petrua


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.532 / Virus Database: 326 - Release Date: 27-10-2003
Click to expand...
 
Gary wrote:
I just bought a portable CD player whose specs call for a 4.5V/300mA power
adapter. The player doesn't come with an adapter, just two AA batteries. I
found a couple of adapters in my house that are 6V/300mA. Can I (safely) use
these adapters in place of the 4.5V the specs call for?

Gary
-----------------
Click to expand...
No. You clearly have no idea what you're doing.

-Steve
--
-Steve Walz rstevew@armory.com ftp://ftp.armory.com/pub/user/rstevew
Electronics Site!! 1000's of Files and Dirs!! With Schematics Galore!!
http://www.armory.com/~rstevew or http://www.armory.com/~rstevew/Public
 
"R. Steve Walz" <rstevew@armory.com> wrote in message
news:3FB45B82.18A6@armory.com...
Gary wrote:

I just bought a portable CD player whose specs call for a 4.5V/300mA
power
adapter. The player doesn't come with an adapter, just two AA batteries.
I
found a couple of adapters in my house that are 6V/300mA. Can I (safely)
use
these adapters in place of the 4.5V the specs call for?

Gary
-----------------
No. You clearly have no idea what you're doing.
Click to expand...
Which is why he posted in the first place.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Welcome to EDABoard.com

Sponsor

Back
Top