Power

[KuffDam]

I have 2 AC power supplies for external disks...

one is rated: 5V - 4.2A
12V - 3A

the other is rated: 5V - 2.0A 10W
12V - 2.2A 26.4W

Are they safely interchangable? Normally I'd just match the voltages.. but as it's for a disk I thought I'd just check...

[invisibledan]

depends what the drives themselves draw

[KuffDam]

as in wattage?

[julian]

wattage willl give you the ampage required, if you know the volts -

Watts = Volts x Amps

...dont ask me any more though, its far too much like maths.

(i just poke at things with a soldering iron when they dont work right)

[julian]

oh... if that isnt clear:

your disks will need whatever voltage, but this will need to be supplied at a sufficient current (ampage)

so your psu needs to supply the right voltage, *and* meet a minium ampage.

do the disks need 5v? i thought (although i dont know) that disks were 12v?

[KuffDam]

well they're both rated at 5v and 12v.. . I'm guessing cos they are the types which can run on on US and european voltages maybe?

[julian]

nahh, it wont be anything to do with that.

maybee they need 5v as well. i really dont know though, so best not take my advice on it... i dont even have an external enclosure here.

surely theres power requirements stamped on the drive cases though?

(or am i missing something?)

[KuffDam]

no you're not missing anything, I just haven't been very clear.

They are both for external drives but the first one is broken, so I wondered if I could use the second one instead (for the same drive).

[julian]

one is rated: 5V - 4.2A
12V - 3A

If its that one thats the working one, you can certainly use it in place of the other one.

Using more amps (within reason) is not a problem.

If its the other way arround, itlld probably be fine, but its not a certainty.

I was trying to get my car hd to spin up on too lower ampage some time back. Sometimes itlld work (ie be recognised by the host), and sometimes it wouldnt. Thats just an mp3 drive though, and i have all the data elsewhere... i probably would have been more cautious if i cared for the data.

(yep, ive just realised the "i dont have an external enclosure" comment was, in fact, a partial lie...)

[KuffDam]

ah no that's the bust one. Ok I'll just get a new one I reckon, the drive has data on that I can't risk at all. cheers.

[julian]

i kinda asked before -

does the drive that you want to run have any supply requirements stamped on the case?

[KuffDam]

nope it doesn't. The more I consider this the more I realise how I don't want to chance anything :) I can get a new one cos it's under warranty.

[e_wann]

(i just poke at things with a soldering iron when they dont work right)

lol