power supplys

Jul 23, 2005 7 Replies

possibly a little off topic for you guys but please humour me. i've got this electrical device which requires a 5 volt input and 2A max supply. what the hell does the max mean?? can i use a supply which provides less current?? in general how important is it to match an exact power supply for a component? for instance would the above device run fine with a 6 V 2A supply?



cheers


5 volts may signify TTL logic circuits an it will need a regulated voltage. The supply must be capable of 2 amperes or more current. John

Supply should be 5 volts +- 10% and more than 2 amps, like 2 to 5 amps.

You can always use the "try it, fry it" method of electronics design.

You may want to consider using a power supply intended for a PC. They are very cheap (I pay about 1GBP each for them) and have a stabilised 5 volts output (amongst others).

There are some potential snags - some supplies need a minimum load* and ATX supplies are more complicated to switch on and off. So maybe an AT supply would be a better choice.

  • Your load is /probably/ going to be enough - but it depends on the /minimum/ load that your device applies, not the maximum. If it doesn't work, you may need to stick an extra load on - say a one ohm five watt resistor. Without this minimum load, the power supply won't run properly - a feature of many switch-mode power supplies.

HTH Sue - another one, I'm afraid.

an interesting idea but this is a little beyond my electrical know-how. i'll speak to one of my boffin mates to see if he can do what you suggest. cheers.

P.

Oops! Sorry - should have been a five ohm, five watt=20 resistor. Which you can make using five one ohm one watt=20 resistors.

--=20

Sue

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 12:58:54 +0100 Palindr?me wrote: | Palindr?me wrote: | |> Phil wrote: |> |>> thanks both. will haveto try the "try and fry" i guess. cheers |> |> |> You may want to consider using a power supply intended for a PC. They |> are very cheap (I pay about 1GBP each for them) and have a stabilised 5 |> volts output (amongst others). |> |> There are some potential snags - some supplies need a minimum load* and |> ATX supplies are more complicated to switch on and off. So maybe an AT |> supply would be a better choice. |> |> * Your load is /probably/ going to be enough - but it depends on the |> /minimum/ load that your device applies, not the maximum. If it doesn't |> work, you may need to stick an extra load on - say a one ohm five watt |> resistor. Without this minimum load, the power supply won't run properly |> - a feature of many switch-mode power supplies. | | Oops! Sorry - should have been a five ohm, five watt | resistor. Which you can make using five one ohm one watt | resistors.

Or with five 25 ohm 1 watt resistors.

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