AC wall-Wart adaptor Question

Dan Schafer

Dan Schafer

Danny in Cleveland
Hi All
Looking to come up with an AC wall wart adaptor for my camera. I have a Hewlett-Packard C618. Tired of the dumb batteries always needing a 13 hour charge. I have a properly rated wall wart, but just wondering if for a delicate item like a digital camera if there are protection devices that might be in the OEM wall wart like for line spikes & surges etc. So if the wall wart I found is rated properly...i.e. voltage, current rating and polarity, do you think I'll be OK and not damage my camera? Does anyone know what the OEM adaptor for a HP C618 current rating is? :scratch2:
Danny in Cleveland
 
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The main problem with most cheap AC to DC adapters is that they are (usually) unregulated and unfiltered.

Unregulated means that the voltage potential may vary widely, depending upon load impedence. A regulated supply will have a more steady output.

Worse is the unfiltered problem. An unfiltered power supply or adapter allows AC current to leak through into the output. This is why many of them will cause interference lines in a tv screen or cause a radio or other audio device to hum through the speaker (that's AC hum, usually 60Hz but sometimes 120Hz or another secondary multiple of the primary frequency).

The best adapter is the one the camera manufacturer supplies. Replacement can almost always be obtained from them or ordered through a dealer. Second best is a specialized adapter that is filtered and regulated.

A cheap adapter may be okay but it may also be slowly killing your equipment.
 
Thanks for the sound advise. Kind of what I thought. I wonder if there is any regulation & filtering inside the camera circuit?? Would be nice to see the schematic for the camera.
Thanks
Danny in Cleveland
 
Dan Schafer said:
I wonder if there is any regulation & filtering inside the camera circuit??
Click to expand...
Not a chance. No room, and since it's supposed to be battery powererd anyway, it isn't needed.

Find the DC requirements, and find a regulated wallwart that will do the job.
 
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