New Adaptor 1000mA vs. 500mA

[adrianx]

Hi

There was a power surge at my place today which took out 2 of my transformers. One was for my ADSL modem and the other was for my network switch.

I have already replaced the modem's adaptor with a generic 6-way adaptor and it works. The modem (1 port) uses a 12V 1A adaptor. My ethernet switch, however, uses a 12V 0.5A adaptor.

So, my question is; will it be okay for me to use a 1A adaptor on my 0.5A ethernet switch?

P.S. Damn - why did I always bunk physics?

 

[Big Kriss]

Yes,absolutely.
Your new power supply is rated at twice the required rating needed ,ie: 1 amp vs 1/2 an amp.
As long as its more ampere wise its ok.
The same CANNOT be said for voltage.

 

[gboy]

i doubt it, you would probably blow the circuit. Also check the polarity

 

[Big Kriss]

i doubt it, you would probably blow the circuit. Also check the polarity

Do you have any inkling as to what you just wrote ? You have no electronics background whatsoever !
That is very easy to see..

Better to keep quiet and be though an idiot than to open your mouth and proved to be one..just an old saying worth remembering.

 

[adrianx]

Yes,absolutely.
Your new power supply is rated at twice the required rating needed ,ie: 1 amp vs 1/2 an amp.
As long as its more ampere wise its ok.
The same CANNOT be said for voltage.

Thanks Big Kriss

Makes sense. It's one of those variable voltage adaptors - it can be set to 12V and my switch uses 12V. Like I said, it works fine on my modem. I shall schtick it in!

 

[sn3rd]

As Big Kriss said, a higher current rating is fine (even better), but voltage needs to be the same.

The device will only draw as much current as it needs. If your supply is not able to provide enough, you'll experience "clipping" (basically the amount of current supplied will just be cut short, and you might damage your supply). But if your supply is able to provide more than the device requires, the device will still take as much current as it needs. With voltage however, you're FORCING 12V (or whatever) across the device's terminals (which could be bad if the device actually only wants 6V).

It's easier to simply remember that the voltage is a requirement, while the current is a rating (i.e. this supply can be used on a device that requires 12V (devices requiring different voltages won't work), and this supply is able to provide 1A (if your device requires more, it won't work)).

 

[adrianx]

After reading Big Kriss' advice, I decided to test the new power supply on my network switch and it worked perfectly. Tomorrow, I'm going to buy another power supply - luckily they are not that expensive.

It is the second time in 4 months that this has happened to me. The first time, I had to replace my computer's PSU, my cellphone charger and the modem's power supply.

Two months ago I bought a second PC and because my modem has only one ethernet port, I had to buy a network switch as well (didn't want to install an additional ethernet card). Today, it happened again. I'm lucky that my motherboards and monitors are still fine! Also, my cellphone charger wasn't plugged in.

B.t.w., I checked with my neighbours on both occasions and they also experienced lights that were "too bright", noisy microwave ovens and kettles that seemed to boil in record time, so I don't think that there is something wrong with my wiring.

 

[JohnnyQ]

i doubt it, you would probably blow the circuit. Also check the polarity

Looks like you already blew one.

 

[detritus]

You may also want to check if the existing power brick puts out AC or DC, I had two bricks that looked identical for my router and switch, one output AC and the other DC.

Not sure why one device would use AC power, but I made sure to label the bricks themselves.

 

[Claymore]

You may also want to check if the existing power brick puts out AC or DC, I had two bricks that looked identical for my router and switch, one output AC and the other DC.

Not sure why one device would use AC power, but I made sure to label the bricks themselves.

I've had that before - a D-Link ADSL router that used something ludicrous like 16V AC and 2A. No ways you'll easily find a non-Dlink power supply with those characteristics.