# A question about wall warts power...



## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

I used tyco X2 high performance wall warts power - my question is, is there any difference between tyco X2 HP and newer wall warts from the (superbird/charger) set? do they both provide same power or both different? I am not the voltage type of guy. Any info would be appreciated.

I dont know if you call it wall warts? or am I wrong?

Thanks
Wes


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## stew22 (Jun 3, 2005)

look on the adapters and see what the "output" is. that will tell you if its the same or not. the new hotwheels set adapter is 14 vdc. hope this helps.


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## car guy (Nov 22, 2003)

I have some of the X2's and off the bat I think they're 21V output. I could be wrong but they're definetly a higher output than the regular units.


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

The VDC output is a good general indicator, but I think the VA is important too.. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the relation of voltage output to amp draw. The higher, the better. I'm kinda thinking that the higher the number, the higher the amperage, hence the less your lane will be affected when a car on the other lane starts from a stop or deslots. Even the bigger X2 packs don't eliminate that effect, though. Here are the numbers I'm seeing on the Tyco stuff I have here:

Big gray X2 pack: 21.8 VDC, 6.3 VA
Smaller gray "Electric Racing" pack: 20.8 VDC, 4.9 VA
Small black Mopar Musclecar set pack: 14.0 VDC, 4.9 VA

On my 4x16 layout, I use one old Aurora DC-2 transformer per lane:

Beige Aurora DC-2 transformer: 20VDC, 12VA

--rick


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

ahh thanks for the info guys.. I used (4) X2 HP packs (one each lane). I guess I'll keep the new wall warts for future in case mine goes bad. 

Thanks
Wes


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

> I think the VA is important too


Absolutely. The VA rating indicates the maximum power that the power supply can put out. All of the wall warts listed above fall into the "anemic" category, with maximum current at the full rated voltage in the 0.2 to 0.4 amp range. Fortunately, box stock cars don't require a lot of current. The best power supply of the bunch is the old Aurora unit. It can put out 0.6 amps at the full rated voltage. That's really not too bad for powering a single lane for just about any box stock type of car.


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

AfxToo said:


> Absolutely. The VA rating indicates the maximum power that the power supply can put out. All of the wall warts listed above fall into the "anemic" category, with maximum current at the full rated voltage in the 0.2 to 0.4 amp range. Fortunately, box stock cars don't require a lot of current. The best power supply of the bunch is the old Aurora unit. It can put out 0.6 amps at the full rated voltage. That's really not too bad for powering a single lane for just about any box stock type of car.



what does "VA" stand for? if you dont mind me asking. 

Wes


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## car guy (Nov 22, 2003)

WesJY said:


> what does "VA" stand for? if you dont mind me asking.
> 
> Wes



Voltage Amps


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

car guy said:


> Voltage Amps


ahh thanks.. now i understand a little so far and I am looking at howstuffworks.com about this and i am getting the picture.

thanks guys.
Wes


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

VA stands for volt-amps, or the power capacity of the power supply. You could also call it "watts" for a DC output power supply and not be far off the mark.

Consider this: If you were designing a power supply to produce a specific output voltage and current, say 20VDC and 5A, you would design the power supply circuitry and use electrical components that can support that requirement. The power supply VA rating would then be 20 x 5 = 100 VA. That's simple enough. 

Here's where those wall wart power ratings come into play: Note that they give you the output voltage and the power rating. What they are not telling you directly is the designed current rating. But you can calculate that easily enough by dividing the power rating (VA) by the voltage. This yields a small number, like 0.2 to 0.6. This small number really means the components in the wall wart power supply are pretty insubstantial and are designed to put out very little current. This is probably done both for safety and cost reasons. But the bottom line is that you cannot get more than that amount of current from the wall wart.


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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

AFXTOO- Thanks for the break down on the VA rating!

What's interesting on wall warts is if you put a meter on the rails and go WOT on the controller you get a much higher voltage reading than labeled. This drops when you put a load (car) on it.


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

Slott V, that's the hallmark of an unregulated power supply. Their no-load output voltage is too high and their output voltage under heavy load is too low. 

A regular voltmeter measures the no-load voltage. This is why voltmeters are fairly useless for diagnosing your car's battery. It can show the full rated voltage under no load but drop into the weeds when you try cranking the engine. Ammeters are much more useful for diagnostic purposes.


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

AFXTOO - thanks for the info. i m learning about the differences in voltage. I didnt know that aurora has more power. hmm

Thanks
Wes


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## 22tall (Jul 28, 2002)

WesJY I have sent you an email.


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

22tall said:


> WesJY I have sent you an email.


I replied to you - FYI.. thanks

Wes


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