Is it OK to use a 17 V adapter instead of a 16.8 V adapter?

Question

I have an old model mixer which uses a 16.8 V, 500 mA adapter. The adapter broke and I cant find any adapter that provides the specific voltage and current. What I found is 17 V, 600 mA instead. My question is: can I use this adapter without breaking my mixer?

Should be fine. Just make sure the output matches the old one in terms of DC or AC. — DKNguyen, Dec 24 '21 at 03:23

score 3 · Accepted Answer · edited Dec 27 '21 at 16:07

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I’m 99% sure you can use it. 16.8 V to 17 V is a 1.2% increase in supply voltage, and almost every product can operate perfectly within that range.

edited Dec 27 '21 at 16:07

ocrdu

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answered Dec 24 '21 at 03:40

Goola

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score 2 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 27 '21 at 16:08

Every electronic component, and every electronic circuit has a tolerance for its parameters. It is highly likely that a 17 V power supply delivers a voltage which is within the tolerance range of the required 16.8 V input of your circuit. If this were a life-critical situation, say for aircraft or medical usage, I would reject using "the wrong" adapter out of hand. But for everyday circuits, I would without any misgivings use the 17 V supply.

score -1 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 27 '21 at 16:02

Plug the power supply into AC (without connecting to your mixer) and measure the output voltage. If it is 17 V (with and without a load), you'll be fine. This means it is a regulated power supply with actual regulation.

Some older power supplies or low cost power supplies from things like low-voltage desk lamps, or other constant-load devices will have a voltage that changes significantly with the load that is connected to the supply (ie. an unregulated power supply). Unregulated power supplies are designed for a specific load. Regulated supplies deliver the same voltage to all loads.

If you plug your mixer into an unregulated power supply, the supply may have a significantly higher voltage than 17 V without a load. An unregulated supply is designed to deliver a specific voltage at a specific load. Google "unregulated power supply" for details.

Just measure the output to make sure, before you plug it into the mixer.

"Unregulated power supplies are" – It looks like the rest of the sentence is missing. (I didn't downvote this answer.) — Cassie Swett, Dec 24 '21 at 19:22

Is it OK to use a 17 V adapter instead of a 16.8 V adapter?

3 Answers3