What is a computer adapter

Computer adapter refers to "power adapter", which is a power supply conversion device for small portable electronic equipment and electronic appliances. It is generally composed of shell, transformer, inductor, capacitor, control IC, PCB board and other components. It The working principle converts AC input to DC output; according to the connection method, it can be divided into wall-plug type and desktop type.

The operating environment of this tutorial: Windows 7 system, Dell G3 computer.

The computer adapter is the power adapter.

Power adapter (Power adapter) is a power supply conversion device for small portable electronic equipment and electronic appliances. It is also called an external power supply. It is commonly found in small electronic products such as mobile phones, LCD monitors, and notebook computers.

Power adapter is generally composed of shell, transformer, inductor, capacitor, control IC, PCB board and other components. Its working principle is to convert AC input to DC output; press The connection methods can be divided into wall-plug type and desktop type.

Instructions for use

There are generally several things you need to pay attention to on the label of the power adapter (hereinafter referred to as adapter). First, it is the model of the adapter. For example, the model of this adapter is XVE-120100. It tells us several information, including its manufacturer, main parameters, etc. The beginning of XVE is usually the ## company code, and 120100 indicates this. The adapter is 12V1A, and the 050200 is 5V2A; the second is the INPUT of the adapter. The one commonly used in China is AC100-240V~50-60Hz, which shows that this adapter can work normally under the AC voltage of 100V-240V. ; The third is the adapter's OUTPUT (output), DC 12V=1A, which represents a DC power with a rated voltage of 12V and a maximum current of 1A. The two numbers can quickly calculate the wattage of this adapter. For example, for this adapter, the voltage is 12V*current 1A=12W (power), which means that this power supply is a 12W adapter.

The power adapter of most laptop computers can be used with 100~240V AC (50/60Hz). Basically, most laptops have an external power supply and are connected to the host with a power cord. This can reduce the size and weight of the host. Only a few models have the power supply built into the host.

There is a nameplate on the power adapter, which indicates the power, input and output voltage and current. Pay special attention to the input voltage range. This is the so-called "travel power adapter". If you go to the market This feature is very useful in countries where the electricity voltage is only 110V. Some parallel-imported laptops are only sold in the country of origin. They do not have this compatible voltage design and even only have a single input voltage of 110V. Under our country's 220V mains voltage, It will burn if plugged in.

Switching power supply products are widely used in industrial automation control, military equipment, scientific research equipment, LED lighting, industrial control equipment, communication equipment, power equipment, instrumentation, medical equipment, semiconductor refrigeration and heating, air purifiers, electronics Refrigerators, LCD monitors, LED lamps, communication equipment, audio-visual products, security, computer cases, digital products and instruments and other fields.

Notes

1. What do the nominal voltage and current of the power adapter (hereinafter referred to as the power supply) mean? First of all, the nominal voltage of a general power supply refers to the voltage of the open-circuit output, that is, the voltage when no load is connected to the outside and there is no current output. Therefore, it can also be understood that this voltage is the upper limit of the power supply output voltage.

When active voltage stabilizing components are used inside the power supply, even if the mains voltage fluctuates, the output is a constant value, like ordinary small transformers on the market, such as power supplies for Walkmans and the like. , if the mains power fluctuates, the output of the power supply will not fluctuate accordingly.

Generally speaking, the real no-load voltage of ordinary power adapters is not necessarily exactly the same as the nominal voltage. Because the characteristics of electronic components cannot be completely consistent, there is a certain error. The smaller the error, the better the electronic components. The higher the consistency requirements, the higher the production cost, so the price is more expensive.

In addition, regarding the nominal current value, any power supply has a certain internal resistance, so when the power supply outputs current, a voltage drop will occur internally, resulting in two things, one is the generation of heat, So the power supply will heat up, and the other will cause the output voltage to decrease, which is equivalent to internal consumption.

2. Both power supplies have the same nominal voltage but different output currents. Can they be used on the same laptop?

The power supply voltage is the same but the output current is different. Can it be used on the same laptop? The basic principle is that a power supply with a large nominal current can replace a power supply with a small nominal current. Some people may think this way, thinking that a power supply with a large nominal current will burn out the laptop because the current is too high. The actual current depends on the load when the voltage is the same. When the notebook is running at high load, the current is larger. When the notebook enters standby, the current is smaller. A power supply with a large nominal current has sufficient current margin. On the contrary, if someone uses a 56w power supply instead of a 72w one, there will be no problem. The reason is that the power adapter is usually designed with a certain margin, and the load power is smaller than the power supply power, so this substitution is feasible for general use. But the remaining power supply margin is very small. Once your notebook is connected to many peripherals, such as two USB hard drives, then the CPU is running at full speed, and there is a base with an optical drive on it to read the disk at full speed, plus simultaneous Charging the battery is probably dangerous. So it is best not to use a small current power supply instead of a large current power supply.

3. Identical machines. Others’ power supply is warm, but mine is always very hot. Why?

Don’t suspect that there is a problem with your power supply. First, take a look at what your laptop is doing. Is it like the two USB hard drives mentioned above? The CPU is running at full speed, the hard drive is reading and writing like crazy, and the optical drive is reading at full speed. At the same time Charging the battery, playing music loudly, maximizing the screen brightness, constantly detecting the wireless network card, etc., it is important to make good use of power management and reasonably adjust the working status of the notebook according to the task.

4. The nominal voltage of the power supply is much higher than the voltage of my laptop battery. Is it okay?

First of all, what you need to know is that the power supply to the notebook is different from the battery to the notebook.

Powered by batteries, the output of the battery is pure DC, which is very clean. It is neither possible nor necessary to design the battery voltage to be very high. The chemical characteristics of lithium batteries determine that the output voltage of one cell can only be It is around 3.6V, so many batteries are connected in three levels in series, and 10.8V has become a very popular battery voltage. The nominal value of some batteries is slightly larger than an integer multiple of 3.6V, such as 3.7V or 11.2V, etc. This is actually to protect the battery.

Power supply, the situation is more complicated. First, the added voltage needs to be further stabilized and filtered to ensure stable operation when the power supply performance is not very good. The stabilized voltage is divided into two parts. One channel supplies power to the laptop, and the other channel charges the battery. The part that powers the laptop is the same as when it is powered by a battery, while the part that charges the battery needs to be added to the battery core through the battery's charging control circuit. The control circuit can It is very complicated, so the power supply voltage must be greater than the cell voltage to have sufficient capacity to supply each unit of the charging control circuit. The final voltage actually applied to the battery will never be the nominal voltage of your power supply. Don't worry.

A suitable power adapter requires safety certification. Power adapters with safety certification can protect personal safety. To prevent electric shock, fire and other dangers.

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