Author Topic: Digikey power converter  (Read 7315 times)

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Offline rnvinc

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Digikey power converter
« on: January 22, 2010, 05:08:37 PM »
I finally received my 120vAC/12vDC @ 2amp power converter from Digikey that Robert suggested here....

There are 2 wires (of course)..

1 wire has writing on it...
2nd wire has greyish colored dashes on it...

I don't know much about DC voltage...but I know Robert and maybe others have used this exact power converter...

Which wire is the positive...??

Also....What is the black "choke" looking thing inline in the wire...??




 


Offline George

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Re: Digikey power converter
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2010, 06:55:25 PM »
You should have received a document which stated which wire is positive and negative.  I will look to see if I can find my doc.  Also, do not forget to put a fuse in line to protect your unit.

If you have a multi-meter you can plug the converter in and determine which is positive and negative.

Ok I just removed the electrical tape from my converter, the line with dashes (on mine) is positive, I have it hooked up to an inline fuse then to the unit's power cord. I also soldered my connections (after trying it first) and used shrink tubing to protect the connections.

George
« Last Edit: January 22, 2010, 07:16:57 PM by George »

Offline rnvinc

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Re: Digikey power converter
« Reply #2 on: January 23, 2010, 10:18:24 AM »
Thanks for your reply George...

Can you explain how to test this with my multi-meter as I know little about DC voltage...??

If I hook the leads of my multi-meter up to the 2 wires....will the meter read "up" when I have the leads correct....and/or "backwards" if I have the leads wrong..??

Also ...what is the black plastic cylinder looking thing inline in the wire of the converter...??

Offline George

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Re: Digikey power converter
« Reply #3 on: January 23, 2010, 11:03:06 AM »
First keep the wires apart (shorting will blow the transformer).

Make sure you have your multimeter's wire are in the right socket, the red (+) in the red port and the black (-) in the black port - one of them should be marked. 

Setting the dial is not a problem, plug in the transformer connect the wires to the probes, if you do not get a reading you are on AC move the dial to the other which will be DC, you should see the indicator move right or left.

Depending on your multimeter analog or digital the analog's indicator will go to 12 volts if it set up correctly, if the indicator goes left reverse the probes. 

My problem with my digital meter is that it does not indicate the polarity => positive or negative readings.  I ended up using a cheap analog meter, this worked very well.

I have the same transformer and the voltage stays very close to 12 volts.

Hopefully this helps, I am going from memory.

George


Offline rnvinc

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Re: Digikey power converter
« Reply #4 on: January 23, 2010, 11:23:33 AM »
Can you tell me what the black plastic cylinder looking thing inline in the wire is...??

Some kind of interference "choke"...??

Offline George

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Re: Digikey power converter
« Reply #5 on: January 23, 2010, 01:52:28 PM »
You are correct it is a choke, to reduce noise coming through your electric lines or the converter might make.

George
« Last Edit: January 23, 2010, 03:26:21 PM by George »

Offline rnvinc

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Re: Digikey power converter
« Reply #6 on: January 23, 2010, 06:48:37 PM »
Thanks again George...

Offline mlakrid

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Re: Digikey power converter
« Reply #7 on: June 22, 2010, 07:53:03 AM »

My problem with my digital meter is that it does not indicate the polarity => positive or negative readings.  I ended up using a cheap analog meter, this worked very well.

George
I was looking for how to power the unit outside, and wasn't sure if anyone reccomended using an outside power source.

Since you do, one tip for anyone who is not electronically proficient is to explain that DC refers to the type of power.

So:
AC = Alternating current
and
DC = Direct current

That being the case, there is only ONE correct way to have the leads on the device... if you have it connected to your multimeter correctly it will read +12VDC if not, since it is Direct Current it will read the opposite which in this case would be -12VDC...

So move the leads on the wires until you get the +12VDC reading... and mark the wire which you have the red lead attached to (Again ensuring your red lead is plugged into red/ positive on the multimeter) This is how you can easily ensure your + wire is connected to the right connection.

I am enjoying this site ALOT... I can wait to help more around here...

Sorry to post in such an old thread but I figured if anyone else who is not technically savvy reads this, my post will make it very clear how they can determine which connection is which.

Cheers,

Mike A!

Offline vahntitrio

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Re: Digikey power converter
« Reply #8 on: June 22, 2010, 11:58:29 AM »
I hate it when companies don't use the red/black wire pair for DC power. In most cases if both wires are the same color, the one with the stripe is the negative and the other is the positive. It will say for certain in the manual or the datasheet. And yes the inline cylinder is a noise suppressor. Just about anything with decent power draw will need one to meet EMC standards.

Most DC items will be ok if you accidentally reverse the polarity. If you hook it up and nothing works, simply switch the wires. I know the wires in my boat were backwards (I broke a pin on my nav light, so when I replaced it rather than a grey-grey/white-white connection I had to go grey-white/white-grey). The only way I found that out is my nav light didn't work on the first try.


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