Mark, It is very important to supply the correct voltage to the device. Too little will possibly damage the device, and too much almost definitely will. Remember that the device itself determines the currrent flow. The operating device will pull the amperage that it needs, and if the supply line or adapter cannot provide enough, then some part of the supply line will be damaged or shut down. The most common result of this is that the adapter will blow a fuse if there is one, or will start smoking and/or burning. Home electric lines have fuses and circuit breakers to protect the wiring should too much current be demanded of the line. Remember that the amp rating of a power supply refers to the maximum amps it can supply; it's not pushing that amperage through every device connected to it.
Hope this helps, Ken > I understand the idea of the current being drawn but my question is > not just what will work but what could one use as replacement that will not > harm the firewire hard drive that needs a power supply. One of the list > members who was kind enough to reply in detail, thought that the 1.5 might > work, with a drive that listed 2 amps as necessary, but that 5 might damage > the unit. Would having too little amperage damage the unit? Was it > necessary in any event to have 12 volts supplied to it? > An additional question suggests itself. Why are these units so > different in their requirements? I can understand why printers and external > hard drives or zip and syquest drives have different needs but not why > there is not a more standard for the externals, particularly the firewire. > Again I can understand why the bus driven models when they need an external > supply have a much smaller one than those than can not be bus driven, but > not why ones basically in the same category pick so many different amperage > ratings. And finally, what is safe, if one is shopping for a generic > replacement? > > Mark -- SuperMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | Service & Replacement Parts [EMAIL PROTECTED] | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> SuperMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/supermacs/list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/supermacs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
