# Wall Wart Regulation



## groovie ghoulie (Nov 12, 2008)

Hey all, does anyone know of a circuit I could add to my non regulated wall warts to make them regulated? I know that I could just go buy regulated ones, but I already have a bunch that I'd like to convert. Thanks in advance


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Radio Shark sells fixed voltage regulators that you can solder to a small perf board.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062599
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062600
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102861

Cut off the power connector on the wart and strip the wires. Test the polarity. Use a terminal block to connect the wires to the regulator that's soldered to the perf board and for connecting to the regulated outout. Typically, the left-hand pin of the regulator is the input+, the center pin is ground, and the right-hand pin is output+ (when looking at the printed side of the reg.). The ones I linked to above have a max load of 1A, so make sure that your prop (or whatever) won't draw above that limit. Also, if you're converting a 12VDC wart to say, 5VDC, and the current draw is likely to be close to the 1A max, you'll want to use a heat sink on the regulator. It bolts to the tab on the top of the regulator.


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## Sickie Ickie (Jun 20, 2006)

Actually, that's helpful for me, too. Thanks!


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## Mudbeast (Aug 14, 2009)

I am new to the forum, What is a wall wart?


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Mudbeast said:


> I am new to the forum, What is a wall wart?


A wall wart is one of those black cube-shaped transformers that typically convert AC wall power to low voltage DC power. They come in lots of voltage and current ratings.
Welcome to the Forum!


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

Don't feel to bad Mud, I been here for about four years and I just figured that one out. This is the only place I ever heard them called that.


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## toymaker (Aug 7, 2009)

> Don't feel to bad Mud, I been here for about four years and I just figured that one out. This is the only place I ever heard them called that.


really i thought wall wart was a universal term


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## hpropman (Jul 27, 2008)

A wall wart is old slang term used by the early ham radio guys. It has been used for years.


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

Well my secret is out now. I'm not from this universe and we dont use radios where I come from. And one more thing, the invasion fleet is on its way and should be here in the middle of June in the year 2012 ( by your calender) .


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## DoomBuddy (Mar 1, 2009)

Could they wait until November 1st.


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## hpropman (Jul 27, 2008)

OH then I guess we have time to start building our war props. We will use the bride of articulation as a base armature, wiper motors on all joints, armor, rocket launchers, rail guns, a bunch of prop controllers, sensors, and of course a jet pack. (think Iron man)  - don't mess with haunters!


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## fritz42_male (May 5, 2009)

I've got the Skynet software dumped on a 256 Terabyte drive and to be safe I've done a substitution to change all bits where it says 'HUMAN' to 'ALIEN'

Propman - I can let you have a copy if you think you can compress it enough to fit in a Picaxe 08M memory space?


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## Mudbeast (Aug 14, 2009)

Sorry guys, I reffered to them as a step down transformer. Thanks for the replys. I will have to catch up with the lingo.


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## Decrepit Desecr8shun (Aug 10, 2009)

fritz42_male said:


> I've got the Skynet software dumped on a 256 Terabyte drive and to be safe I've done a substitution to change all bits where it says 'HUMAN' to 'ALIEN'
> 
> Propman - I can let you have a copy if you think you can compress it enough to fit in a Picaxe 08M memory space?


HaHAAhaa!!! ROFL!!!! I've got a infrared laser diode bundle and plenty of I.R. sensors! We could set an invisible anti intrusion grid...unless they see in infrared n then we'll just change it to ultraviolet instead!!LOL!!! Motion sensing mini-guns for perimeter defense(I'm thinking CWIS anti missle guns @ 20mm/6000 round per minute). Will be a bad day for you alien types!!



Mudbeast said:


> Sorry guys, I reffered to them as a step down transformer. Thanks for the replys. I will have to catch up with the lingo.


 Don't worry 2 much,electronics techs are mostly made,few of us are born w/the gene...me? I had my 1st soldering iron @ age 6 and printed my 1st board @ age 9. I was the take it apart,hack it 2 do what I wanted,and put it back 2gether kid. And yes you are correct,that is what they do...but they also filter A/C to D/C as well which it y the generic term is used,they don't exclusively step down(or in some cases up). Older techs always refered 2 them as wall warts,n their are a bunch of them into haunting...like Scary Terry and quite a few others


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## fritz42_male (May 5, 2009)

I reckon the reason so many of us old techies are into haunting is because of our early experiences playing with electrics and electronics.

I too used to hack stuff around. Built a single valve (yes!) radio at 11, had one of the first Sinclair DIY computers (Serial number 00012) and so on.

Halloween gives me an excuse to go back to those days and also allows me to play with other things such as pneumatics and so on. We never grow up!


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## hpropman (Jul 27, 2008)

fritz42_male said:


> I reckon the reason so many of us old techies are into haunting is because of our early experiences playing with electrics and electronics.
> 
> I too used to hack stuff around. Built a single valve (yes!) radio at 11, had one of the first Sinclair DIY computers (Serial number 00012) and so on.
> 
> Halloween gives me an excuse to go back to those days and also allows me to play with other things such as pneumatics and so on. We never grow up!


Amen Brother!


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## berzerkmonkey (Oct 31, 2006)

I am glad I saw this thread - I purchased 3 12v wall warts a couple of hours ago online. They're unregulated - did I make a mistake? Is unregulated a bad thing, and if so, can I do something to correct my error?


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## bradbaum (Jul 26, 2008)

It depends on what you are doing with them.

If you are driving inductive things like motors, relays and solenoids then the unregulated is fine. If you are driving prop controllers or other sensitive electronic equipment you will want a regulated one.


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## hpropman (Jul 27, 2008)

No you did not make a mistake. You will be able to use them for what you need. 12 volts is a lot less critical than 5 volts because it is normally used for inductive loads (Motors, relays, etc.). Inductive loads will handle higher voltages then they are rated for. For example a wiper motor will work fine at 12 volts as well as higher voltages such as 16 to 18 volts. Most wall warts (unregulated) are normally 3 to 4 volts higher then they are labled. As for using them with prop controllers, all prop controllers that I know of today use the ULN2803A driver chip that will handle up to 50 volts so you should not have a problem. If any electronics today require 12 volts they will normally include a voltage regulator which will make it 12 volts. As I said earlier 5 volts is much more critical then 12 volts. this is because most electronic chips today will run on a maximum of 5.5 volts (there are 3.3 chip versions also). Anything higher then 5.5 volts will damage the chips. Again almost all commercial electronic circuits that you purchase today will have a regulator circuit on board. It would be stupid not to have it. So to answer you question you will be fine. If you ever have any doubt just ask us we will be here for you. Also one last thing on my website there is a free electronics course in the links section it will be beneficial to any prop maker to learn some basic electronics and how to use a multimeter. Here is a great site on how to use a multimeter. I highly recommend that you get one if you do not already have one.

http://www.ladyada.net/learn/multimeter/index.html

Here are some nice multimeters:

http://www.robotshop.us/elenco-m-1000c-digital-multimeter.html

http://www.robotshop.us/elenco-m-1750-10mhz-digital-multimeter.html

http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=14213+TE

http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=16372+TE


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## berzerkmonkey (Oct 31, 2006)

Whew! I'm going to use them for wiper motors, so that's good to know. Thanks HPropman!


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