Electrical type question

[Justin00]

I have this little device that I want to power via batteries... It comes with an AC adapter.
On the adaptor it ses the following:

Input: 100-240v ~ 50/60mhz 0.8A
Outout: +2v (solid line with a dotted line under it) 2.0A

How do I work out how many batteries I would need to power it.. and what should I be aware of ? And is their any way to figure out how quickly it would chew they batteries ?

I have one of those kill-a-watt devices that measures electrical type data... just not sure what its telling me :p

thanks

[1715089954]

1715089954

[haploid23]

Zero knowledge of electrical stuff  . But that's ok, we can't be experts at everything. I'm no electrical engineer, but here's now I reasoned it:

100-240v is your outlet (AC). Your adapter converts the AC to DC, and puts out 2 volts at 2 amps. Batteries also provide DC, so if you want the equivalent, you'll have to figure out which battery you're using. AA and AAA cylindrical battery are 1.5v, and the square ones are 9v. How fast they drain depends on their mili-amp hour (mAh), which is their capacity. It looks like the 9v is out of the question since it'll fry your device, so most likely use the standard AA or AAA.

You have to figure out how much juice the device drains. Just because the AC adapter can output 2amps doesn't mean it uses the max all the time.

[Justin00]

Thanks for the info guys. I'll be honest I don't fully understand.. Do I just need to match the volts ? or does the amps come into play ?
Like I said I have the kill-a-watt device which tells me a hole heap of ermm electrical things about what is going through the A/C unit. If that helps at all i could run that.. and report back on the numbers of various settings  ??

I was actually intending of hooking my 2.4ghz amplifier upto my new quadcopter/drone controller; However I've just discovered the controller is 5.8ghz whilst the video download is the 2.4ghz part grrr... So I'll need to look into purchasing a 5.8ghz amplifier if I want to go ahead with the idea.. which is a shame because I have like 4x 2.4 ghz amplifiers just sitting in boxs I bought from someone here on the forums a year or two ago...

Would still really like to understand how to do it, just for the sake of education though
So batteries can either be AC or DC depending on what you buy ?
What would typical AA/AAA batteries be ?

and lets say I get batteries to match the 2v AC... then err what is the next step ? can you pretend your giving the answer to a 5 yr old ??

Much appreciated boys and girls

[haploid23]

Do I just need to match the volts ? or does the amps come into play ?
Like I said I have the kill-a-watt device which tells me a hole heap of ermm electrical things about what is going through the A/C unit. If that helps at all i could run that.. and report back on the numbers of various settings  ??

So batteries can either be AC or DC depending on what you buy ?
What would typical AA/AAA batteries be ?

and lets say I get batteries to match the 2v AC... then err what is the next step ? can you pretend your giving the answer to a 5 yr old ??

No, batteries only provide DC power, there's no such thing as a AC battery. AA/AAA size batteries are 1.5v DC. You power adapter takes AC from your outlet and converts it to DC for your device to use... that's why it's called an adapter.

You kill-a-watt is useless in this case, because it only measures your socket and the power adapter, not what your device uses. If you want to figure out the device, you'll have to properly hook up multimeter to the correct places.

After using the multimeter to figure out the voltage and current (amps) that your device needs, you'll have to figure out how to connect the proper battery to it. This is possible to do, but based on your background on this sort of thing, it's probably not worth the effort to do. You can't just go out and buy a 2v battery, I don't think any exist. Closest is the standard household 1.5v alkaline battery, or stack two 1.1v lithium polymer for 2.2v (although I don't suggest you messing with these, could explode if you don't know what you're doing).

Devices typically have a range of voltage they work with. A little under might be ok, but if it's too low, it won't run at all. A tad higher might be ok too, but if voltage is too high you'll fry the components.