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Looking for a Power Adapter for Aiwa AM-F5

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ulisse

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This Mini Disc was given to me as a gift and sent from Europe.

It came with its own original Power Adapter, but, being for the European use (240V. 50Hz), it's useless for me living in US.

I bought at Radio Shack another Power Adapter (RadioShack brand).

Everything is OK: Voltage, mA and polarity.

It works, but, depending how I lay down the AM-F5, the power arrives discontinued and the Li-ion LIB-902 battery won't charge.

You know that the power Adapter comes with an universal plug at the end. Then you have to find the plug with the right fit for the device and insert it into the universal plug.

So my guess is that the problem lays in the Pwr. Adpter.

Do you have any idea where I could turn to find an original one?

I looked around and got frustrated.

The part number should be Aiwa AC-D401.

All help will be very much appreciated.

Thanx.

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What DC voltage does that adapter do, is it 4.5V? My Am-F70 has the same battery so I think it uses the same adapter.

I know that I bought my Aiwa AM-F70 from someone that got it either in Japan or HK and the adapter it came with was 4.5V dc ouput but 100V AC input.

It worked fine but it was giving out about 8V DC (no load) on 120V AC North American outlets! I thought that was a bit high so I looked for something else...

I have a Panasonic portable CD player and have two AC adapters for it (one was from a similar Panasonic that broke and then I got the 2nd one under warranty).

Anyhow they are both rated at 4.5V and have the same positive tip, negative ring AC adapter plug and it is the same EIAJ size and fits the Aiwa fine. The first one (from the old Panasonic portable) worked but the unit thought it was on batteries I think because the backlight didn't work (continuously) and the battery wouldn't charge.

So I tried the second one and it worked fine, batteries charge, backlight works. Both were rated at 4.5V but only the second one worked...

Anyhow you can probably get that adapter from Aiwa themselves or just use a Sony one rated at 4.5V with the same plug. You can try stepping up the univesal to 6V--that will probably work. I doubt 6V would damage the unit (though it might) but if it doesn't charge on 4.5V it probably has to get more voltage than it is getting. Also make sure the AC adapter's cord isn't broken. Lots of those things get broken inside (even brand new ones!) and the power cuts out on the cord depending on how you twist/turn the plug!

The Panasonic adapter I use it with now give out an actual no load voltage of 5.61V DC, so maybe that will help you.

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Oh yeah the other thing you can do is get a "travel" transformer which will convert the 120V, AC 60Hz NA voltage to the 240V AC, 50Hz you need (along with giving you the right plug to plug the adapter into). That way you could use your original adapter (and other devices you may have that are 240V).

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Thank you MDX 400.

Yes, the voltage used by the AC adapter is 4.5 V.

See, the adapter I bought is a 4.5 V. / 700 mA.

The original (european) is 500 mA.

I couldn't find one running on 500 mA, besides, I thought that having more "juice" it should be better.

Anyhow, as you say and, as I guessed, the problem should be from the power cord down.

My strong feeling is that the EIAJ, although it fits the AM-F5, doesn't make proper contact.

I am not a hell of a technician when it comes on wiring etc.

But here goes one question:

what if I cut a segment of the power cord with the EIAJ off the european adapter and sold it to the new one ?

How would I know the polarity?

On the Radio Shack adapter the wires of the power cord are both white.

Which one would be which?

I would like to try, if possible, the above solution.

The travel transformer thing it would be too complicate and expensive, because I would need a transformer that convert from 120 ACV to 230 ACV to use the original adapter.

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The mA rating on the adapter is not actually how much it "gives out" but rather how much current can be drawn without the adapter overheating or failing.

The 700mA rating simply means that the adapter can supply up to 700mA of current at any voltage set on the switch.

So you could have a 2A adapter and use it with a device only requiring 200mA and it would only be outputting the 200mA that the device draws.

As for the cutting and reconnecting the old connector, I was actually thinking that the adapter you got was defective and you might find if you exchange it for another it would work.

If you do want to cut and solder there is no problem with that but if the wire is damaged somewhere already and you don't fix that part you'll just be cutting the wire and they you won't be able to return/exchange it. My advice is to try an exchange first and then if it still doesn't work then cut/solder the other connector.

You are correct you have to determine the correct polarity. Now you might get lucky and get red and black wires inside of both adapters and it would be simple, but somehow I doubt that would happen (but it might). The only thing you can do to accurately determine the polarity is to use a DMM on the wires. First you'd cut the adapter ends (with about an inch or two of wire as well) off on both units. Then using the continuity checker you could testand then connect the wires inside to determine which wire on the plug was the "tip" and which the outer ring on the original AIWA end.

Then you'd connect the ends of the wire from the radio shack adapter to the meter's + and - and put it on VDC (and select the range if necessary). Then put the adapters "tip" switch so the tip is positive (+) (what the AIWA requires).

Then determine which lead is + and which is - using the DMM. Then you'd connect the wire you know is + to the wire you determined to be the tip on the original adapter plug end. Then solder up the + and - (I recommend using heat shrink instead of tape on the connections. Use shrink around the interior wires and then another peice over the entire connection just like the wire casing). That's it you'd be all set.

I'd then double check with the DMM to make sure that you have the tip as + and it should work fine thereafter.

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I bought another power adapter and returned the piece of crap to Radio Shack.

Now everything works fine: the battery is charging and there is no power loss if I move the unit while connected to the AC Adptr.

The funny thing is that, although Made in China (oh, well, nowadays almost everything is manufactured over there !!), it is cheaper than RShack plus it comes with different voltage settings and a set of different EIAJ plugs.

For the community and whoever might be interested the URL goes below:

http://www.bestbuy.com/Detail.asp?m=1&cat=...cat=&e=11043637

You might be lucky as I did and find a return (they are checked and tested) and save some extra bucks.

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