What's with Power Supplies???

sundin13

My monitor power supply has died...its a Seasonic SSA-0501S-1, which, apparently, is a 12V DC, 4.17A output.

Now me, being a bit thick, would have imagined it would have been the easiest thing in the world to replace....quick trip to ebay and away - but I just can't find one, and trying to work out whether others will work in its stead is beyond my feeble brain.

Can anyone suggest an alternative...or does it absolutely have to be 4.17A

Thanks so much

a very broke, and not in the mood for paying for a whole new monitor Sundin13

espresso

sundin13 wrote:

Can anyone suggest an alternative...or does it absolutely have to be 4.17A

Thanks so much

Shouldn't be too difficult to find a suitable replacement. The voltage and polarity at the plug is important but you may not find one that has a rated output of exactly 4.17A.

Here is a possibility.

HTH

Joe_Bloggs

Ordinarily the powered device controls how much current it uses at a given voltage. Lets say you have a 12 Volt DC device that will consume 4 Amps. You can't make this device use more current by connecting it to a 12 Volt 5 Amp or a 12 Volt 50 Amp capable power supply. The feature of a 12 Volt DC supply is that it maintains 12V DC whenever the current taken is less than its current rating. It should be pretty close to 12V DC at all times.

I would say the device required has to have the capability of supplying 12 Volts DC with a current of least 4.17 Amps. The 4.17 is such a specific figure that it must be the typical consumption of a connected device rather than the rated capability of a power supply. So a 5 Amp rating should do the trick.

Are you sure the power supply unit is at fault ? What tests did you use to confirm this ?

J_B.

The term DC is short for direct current (that is in one direction ) as opposed to alternating current that varies direction with a repeating frequency of fifty times a second.

espresso

If you look at the spec on the Seasonic website, you will see that the reason that the PSU have these seemingly strange current ratings is because they are in fact related to wattage figures. i.e. it is a 50W adaptor and that works out at 4.17A @ 12V. It is highly unlikely that the monitor would draw this figure and it would be bad design if it were to draw the maximum that can be provided by the PSU.

HTH

sundin13

Thanks for that guys...I'm pretty sure its the psu as I tried it with a different kettle lead which I know works, and no joy so not the fuse. Could be the monitor itself I suppose but I think the giveaway is that the psu has a little light on it, which isn't lighting.

Right...so espresso recommends a 12v 4A, and Joe_Bloggs a 12v 5A. I'm still a bit confused, but with the explanation given it sounds like I'm ok with the four.

Thanks again for your help....you techies make the world a better place.

Little_John

How long have you had the monitor? most monitor makers have been offering 3 year warrenties whihc also covers the psu contact the manufactureres and see what they say.