Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange
Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [adapter]

In electronics the term adapter is normally used to describe something that converts from one connector or package to another. For example a BNC to SMA adapter is an example of a connector adapter, while an SOIC to DIP adapter is an example of a package adapter.

434 questions
57
votes
1 answer

What does this symbol mean on my Samsung travel adapter?

The charger was bought in Austria two years ago, and I know about all symbols/labels except this one. Google reverse image search did not help.
Hallo1234 Hallo12235
  • 661
  • 5
  • 4
33
votes
2 answers

What is the reason for yellow tape on top of USB mini-B?

I have noticed that occasionally some USB mini-B connectors have what looks like a transparent yellow tape on their top. It might be Kapton tape, but I am not sure. As an example, please see the below image: (source) Usually, I leave this tape on. …
Intrastellar Explorer
  • 467
  • 1
  • 7
  • 20
18
votes
4 answers

Cellphone charger has no transformer?

I opened up a really tiny mobile phone charger I have, to see how it is designed. The entire "charger" is integrated into a small 2-pin mains plug, 1 x 1.25 x 0.5 inch, that has an USB socket for the phone's USB charging cable. I could not find…
Seemingly So
  • 592
  • 1
  • 4
  • 14
18
votes
1 answer

How do these new-fangled phone chargers achieve step-down?

There appear to be two kinds of power supply adapters in market. The first/older kinds were such that they were reasonably heavy and had a small transformer inside the adapter itself. The newer ones in market (those that come with a mobile phone for…
Everyone
  • 3,011
  • 8
  • 35
  • 49
17
votes
2 answers

Is it normal for DC wall adapter power supplies to provide voltages above the nominal ones?

When I measure a 9V DC wall adapter power supply with a multimeter it shows 11.8V. When connected to my board this voltage lowers to 10V. Is this normal? Should I be afraid of toasting my 1117CD-5.0 supplied board when using this adapter? Edit: This…
Jader Dias
  • 1,963
  • 5
  • 23
  • 27
14
votes
2 answers

Digital data coming out of a cell phone headset mic?

I want to connect a sound board / mixing console / whatever-you-prefer-to-call-it to the headset jack of my Motorola Android phone. I know the typical TRRS pinout of Left/Right/Ground/Microphone, and I know about the mic being phantom-powered by…
AaronD
  • 5,596
  • 10
  • 36
14
votes
7 answers

Is it possible to power a cordless drill from wall socket adapter?

I have a dewalt 18V cordless drill. I am wondering if it is feasible to build an adapter that can power the drill from a standard US wall socket? A typical DeWalt drill needs 2.6 amps with no-load. I am assuming this jumps significantly higher under…
aaronfarr
  • 325
  • 1
  • 2
  • 7
13
votes
4 answers

What is the purpose of oscilloscope-probe-to-BNC adapters?

What are these adapters used for? (Image off Google, source) They fit over the tip of a passive oscilloscope probe, like this: (Image excerpted from https://www.caltestelectronics.com/public/attachments/GE_series_manual.pdf].) Why would you want…
polwel
  • 1,396
  • 11
  • 27
13
votes
4 answers

How do those 3.5mm stereo to mono adapters work?

I have one of those 3.5mm Female Mini-phone mono to Mini-phone stereo which I was hoping to use for connecting the output of an MP3 player (stereo) to a pillow speaker (mono). But then it occurred to me that I may be causing damage to the output…
WinWin
  • 233
  • 1
  • 2
  • 5
12
votes
3 answers

Why do laptops need larger transformers than mobile phones?

I was wondering why a laptop power adapter is so huge. Most laptops that I have seen use a ~19V power supply. Using transformer equation, and considering 100 turns in the primary(just an assumption), and a 220V power supply, I calculated that there…
mayank budhwani
  • 293
  • 2
  • 4
  • 10
10
votes
3 answers

Reading and understanding electrical specs on laptop AC adapters

My Dell laptop comes with an AC adapter with the following specs: 65 W Input AC: 100 - 240 V, ~1.5 A, 50 - 60 Hz Output DC: 19.5 V, 3.34 A My HP laptop: 65 W Input AC: 100 - 240 V, ~1.7 A, 50 - 60 Hz Output DC: 18.5 V, 3.5 A I have 3…
user3320
9
votes
1 answer

Why would a USB-C adapter have a pull-up resistor?

I'm talking about a USB type-C male to USB type-A female adapter, the ones you need to connect a USB flash drive to the latest MacBooks. According to USB-C specification, this sort of adapter needs a 5.1 kΩ pull-down resistor on type-C plug's A5…
user2623008
  • 193
  • 1
  • 1
  • 5
9
votes
5 answers

Difference between these RF adapters

Can someone explain me the differences between these two RF adapters. I know the one on the right is better (and much more expensive as well) but is there a difference in the functioning of these adapters ? Thanks a lot.
Ultra67
  • 383
  • 2
  • 16
9
votes
8 answers

Is it safe to use a DC power adapter that isn't UL Listed or CSA certified?

I picked up a 9V switching DC adapter from SparkFun a while back, but I've been hesitant to use it because it doesn't have any of the usual "safety" approvals that you normally see on power adapters (UL listed, CSA approved, etc.) Is this just…
Owen Thomas
  • 215
  • 3
  • 7
9
votes
6 answers

DC adapters: why so few amps?

If I have a device that draws 5 amps at 12 volts, I can use any 12 volt DC adapter that can provide at least 5 amps. Why don't all DC adapters have the capacity to provide loads of amps!? If all DC adapters provided e.g. 1000 amps, we would only…
Rich
  • 211
  • 2
  • 3
1
2 3
…
28 29