[misterwight]

I recently purchased a Panasonic SX500 from a fellow head-fi'er, and it came with a UK power adaptor. This is a problem, because I live in the US, and I don't have endless funds for batteries. I *do* however, have one of those nifty Radioshack universal adaptors. This one is rated for 3-12 volts, and labelled "800 mA". The UK adaptor spits out 4.5 volts, but at 500mA. Does this matter? Will my ratshack wall wart (which can be set to 4.5V) fry the unit? Thanks for your help!

 

[TMC]

It will work just fine as long as you use the same voltage with the same polarity as your original adapter, the cdp will just draw as much current as it needs.

 

[john_jcb]

The ampere rating tells you what the power supply is capable of supplying under load. If your unit requires 400 mA that is what the power supply will give it. It will not cause any problem to use yours.

 

[misterwight]

Thanks for the replies! Just one stupid question - how do I tell whether the polarities match or not?

 

[Duncan]

The polarity should be etched into the plastic / metal of the discman just beside the power inlet... Sony swapped them from centre negative to centre positive a few years into the production of CD... so its always best to check / have a switchable PSU

 

[misterwight]

What does it mean if there is a "+" and a "-" like so:

Also, how can I find out what the wall wart is spitting out? The only place I saw +/- signs were on the side of the adaptaplug.

 

[Duncan]

That means centre positive - which is the standard for all of todays players... so as long as the rat-shack adapter is the same (which it should be if it is as a replacement unit)... all is fine

 

[aos]

With RatShack adapters you can change polarity by rotating the plug - i.e. the interchangeable plug can be connected to end of the cable in two ways (the other is 180 degrees rotated). It is usually marked on it what do you need to align to get center positive or negative.

 

[misterwight]

Everything makes sense now.

Thanks for all of the help, folks!