If the device says something like “DC-12V-IN”, will any 12V AC adapter with the correct connector work?
And why don’t they mark the adapter somehow so it’s obvious which device it goes with?
In: Technology
Power supplies are not designed for an exact device and only. They are sold with exact devices, but they are as good as any if parameters are the same (might also be more powerful than the genuine one).
You DO have marking on devices and power supplies what kinda input/output the require.
Power supplies has output parameters saying what kinda electricity it provides:
– polarity, which is usually a small icon showing where + and – are on the plug, either + is on the outside or on the inside of the plug. The image below shows both polarities:
[https://i.sstatic.net/zsp7C.png](https://i.sstatic.net/zsp7C.png)
– voltage, which has to parameters: value and type e.g. 12VDC means 12V of DC voltage, can also be 12VAC, which means 12V of AC voltage, but you won’t see it much, our whole customer electronics world runs on DC, but just beware that AC/AC adapters are also a thing, just not for what we typically need to power.
– current, which is stated just as value e.g. 10A or can be smaller units e.g. 1mA (milli, which is 1/1000 of 1 A)
You will see the same params on your device you wanna power, but it’s gonna be marked as input params and it means what kinda electricity must be plugged into the power port.
Rules are as below:
– polarity MUST be the same
– voltage MUST be the same
– current MUST be AT LEAST the minimum your device requires, but can be higher
That’s it.
One more thing, you will sometimes see AC and DC labeled as symbols, that is another way to figure out if it’s AC or DC:
[https://electricalinstallationservices.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/AC-vs-DC-scaled-e1674633632251.jpeg](https://electricalinstallationservices.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/AC-vs-DC-scaled-e1674633632251.jpeg)
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