TO: ALL WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS AMATEURS
ALL NON-WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS AMATERUS
FROM: KEN HARRIS WA8LLM
WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS INCORPORATED
WOOD COUNTY BULLETIN NR 11.39 DATE: September 24, 2011
SUBJECT: WALL WARTS, NOT ALL THE SAME
The first thing to do is explain what a Wall Wart is. A Wall Wart is a nick-name for a low voltage power supply that plugs directly into a wall receptacle and provides a low voltage to power all kinds of electronic equipment. Wall Warts come in many voltage and current ranges. They can vary in voltage ranges from about one volt to as high as 50 volts or more. They also can range in several current ratings from 50 millivolts to as much as 5 amps or more
Wall Warts are also be designed to produce Alternating Current or Direct Current. Just because they all look about the same, be sure to use the one that matches the equipment that you're going to power up. A lot of Wall Warts use a connecter known as a coaxial power plug, and may fit into almost any type of electronic device. Just because it fits into the power jack of a piece of electronic equipment doesn't mean that it's the proper voltage or polarity.
The center conductor of the coaxial power plug can be Positive, Negative, or Alternating Current. The only thing that isn't as critical as the voltage and polarity is the current. A device that requires a minimum amount of current can use a Wall Wart that produces a higher Current.
Just don't use a Wall Wart that produces a higher Voltage then what the device needs. If in doubt, contact someone who can tell you if the Wall Wart you have will do the job that needs to be done.
Ken Harris WA8LLM
WCEC
Wood County WV