help me w/ dead router; maybe wall-wart is problem??

rogerfederer

determined amateur
Subscriber
my belkin N1 vision router up and died. no lights; nada. called tech support but no help.

instead of going straight to buying a new router thought i'd test the wall wart. rated at 12V 1A. when i test w/ my multimeter i get under 8V.

i found a few threads via google search re testing a wall wart w/ a multimeter and i think they say i should get close to the rated voltage.

however, i also found this: "Regulated supplies, without any load, should measure very close to the target voltage of 12v. Unregulated supplies will generally have a no-load voltage anywhere from a couple of volts to several volts higher. If they measured 12v without any load, they would have no headroom to take care of the drop due to the load."

this is what it says on the wall wart: dve switching power supply dsa 36w 12r-12 aus 120120

this page discussed different types of power adapters:
http://www.apogeekits.com/power_adapter_selection.htm

as i read it, the switching adapters (like mine?) are regulated. therefore, i should see 12 V when i test my wall wart, not less than 8V. so replacing my wall wart might fix my router problem. given that the router doesn't light up at all, at least one possible explanation could be a power supply problem.

this make sense?? thanks!
 
Regardless if regulated or not, the unloaded voltage typically would not be lower than ~12V.

Dunno that 8V is low enough to be the problem or not, but a 12V wall wart should be easy pickings at a surplus store, maybe Goodwill, etc. Just make sure the polarity of the connector is correct with regard to center (+) or center (-), assuming it has DC output. Not all do.

Also, a bit bigger than 1A won't hurt but a lot bigger if unregulated you might not get enough sag to bring the voltage down to ~12V.
 
and...(drum roll) it was the wall wart. as whoaru99 suggested, i found another 12V wall wart and plugged it in and the router lit up! now to set it up again.

thanks, whoaru99:banana:
 
Yep, common problem, and having a few spares from Goodwill, Salvation Army and the like is very helpful. A lot of thrifts have electrical sections where the wall warts are either hung or literally multiplying in a box.

key is to always know the polarity of the center and outer section, that the DC voltage is correct, and at least or greater than mA output. IMO, if the wall wart looks too small, it probably is suspect.

Our Goodwill in SoCal/Orange County has a computer store also so a lot of wall warts end up there, but some other thrifts I've visited in Pomona have a ton of wall warts.

problem is, I have a bunch in inventory of many different voltages and plug types. I guess I hoarded those because they were only a few bucks per.
 
so my new lesson is always check the wall wart 1st. dead router? the wall wart was the culprit.

just had my fiio d3 dac go dead. and what was the issue? you guessed it!
 
Wall wart nightmare....

I got very fed up with the wall wart on my wi-fi router. I cut the cord and bought a DC power supply from the bay. I think 12V DC @ 5 amps. Very cheap. It solved all my problems. I was so happy with the result I bought another one for my cable router from the same place. It is 5V DC @ 5 amps.
They run so nice an cool and definitely make a difference.
Wal warts are a cheapo solution but not the best solution. In my setup they both ran so hot as to be nearly untouchable. The power supply types run very cool.

Paul
 
Hmmm...very strange. Maybe you have some problems with your AC mains.

I can't remember ever having a dedicated wall wart run that hot or problems with wall wart failures across multiple devices.

Don't misunderstand...I have had some wall warts fail or run real hot, but I was using them for purposes other than what they were originally supplied for.
 
Maybe there are some inductive loads on the same power line? If the warts are running excessively warm or hot, usually means they are not adequate for the current draw, or they are failing.
 
Wall wart replace...

I don't care about mains problems. I felt the wall wart replacement as a challenge and it worked.
I will replace any WW on a full time operating device with a dedicated power supply from now on.
I don't feel the wall warts supplied are built with enough power output. Marginal at best. I have found this on may devices. In other words if the device needs 1.2 amps @ 12V DC the wall wart furnished will be around 1.3 amps @ 12V DC. Adequate but the wall wart will run warm/hot.
On a full time on device it may turn to hot.

I ran across this problem with my wi-fi router(1.2 amps @ 12 V DC) and just for the heck of it I found an orphan wall wart at GW with 2 amps @ 12 V DC.
I made sure the polarity was correct when I switched the necessary cord/connector to the new WW. It worked fine. Just the slightest warmth after 2 days running. That led me on to the power supply devices I found on the bay.
Very cheap and output of 5 amps @ 12 V DC. The device runs barely warm. The same was true when I replaced the WW on my cable router with a 5 amp @ 5 V DC power supply.
I also get this uncanny feeling that the routers(wi-fi & cable) both run better with the new power supplies. Maybe I am being optomistic but I feel there are fewer dropouts and unexplained losses with the dedicated power supplies.

Paul
 
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