[Dixielandjazz] Re: Technical help requested

[Jtnt at aol.com]

Gunter wrote:
 
<<Hi Don (and all),
You admonished: 
>Never -- repeat, never put something in that is larger than would will carry 
it -- >electric of not.You might find yourself with a blivet on your hands -- 
putting >ten  pounds of you know what in a five pound bag.They put these 
little >notices about miliAmps on for a reason. If it calls for a specific 
voltage, use >nothng else. 
I suppose there could be something to this advice. However, I've been assured 
by others that the mA rating on such devices tells you that you need at least 
that amount of amperage to run the thing. If you have more Amps than you need 
it's not a problem, only if the device doesn't provide at least the necessary 
amps. 
On the other hand, since I respect your opinion quite highly I'll take that 
into consideration when I wend my way over to the local electronic supply house 
(possibly a Radio Shack) and see if they have an adapter with the precise 
voltage and Amp ratings as that called for on my keyboard.>>  
Don-- 
You're right on when it comes to volts, but not amps.  Voltage requirements 
shouldn't be exceeded, or an unexpected "smoke test" may result.   
But amps are different. The amperage requirement for a device only sets the 
minimum required to operate it, and the adapter should have at least that 
capacity.   
Adapters provide the voltage the adapter is set for regardless of what the 
device (keyboard) requires, and if the adapter voltage is lot more than that, 
smoke test! 
But adapters only provide the amps that the device calls for, not the 
amperage capacity of the adapter. If the device wants 50 ma and the adapter capacity 
is 300 ma, then the adapter only provides the needed 50 ma and not 300. It's 
in fact better to have an adapter with more capacity than the device requires 
so it isn't trying to operate at full capacity all the time.  
So Bill, save yourself a trip to Radio Shack. Your friends are right. Match 
the voltage and polarity of adapter and keyboard, but let the adapter have more 
amp capacity than the keyboard requires; which is what you have now, it 
sounds like. 
Jack Thomas