Walker

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Slow down a second, Ben.

I don't know what your "old cable box" cord was, but in your first post, you said you used a old wall wart, which is NOT going to work. That's DC power and not AC, which is why Bjorn asked if you were feeding it 120VAC.

Your other response only confirmed that it was a 120VAC controller, but not whether you were feeding it 120VAC for power.

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wyzazz

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And if you did in fact feed it 12VDC you may have fried the controller...

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mattd2

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I would think it would be highly unlikely, the contorller side is most likely 5-12V dc anyway, the 120V ac would go through a small stepdown transformer, to a bridge rectifyer to a voltage regulator (maybe, but probably). Feeding it with 12V dc would probably just heat up the transformer a bit. (disclaimer, I am no way an expert in electronics but do have some basic knowledge. Anyone else done Electrical Engineering 101?)

originalben

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Thanks, guys.
I understand what you're saying and I got it going.


The wart does have a transformer which made it inappropriate for the application.
I had just gotten a bit frustrated after having no luck with the initial 'straight' power cord...and I had not hooked up the sensor or held down the power button long enough, apparently...which I now see is necessary.


It works and I appreciate the assistance.

Bjornbrewer

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Glad you got it working Ben.

Yeah....no, not even close There's no transformer in that little thing...it would be a solid state buck power supply. No harm would be done at all feeding it 12VDC.

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“Happiness? A good cigar, a good meal, a good cigar and a good woman - or a bad woman; it depends on how much happiness you can handle.” ~George Burns

mattd2

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Oh... ok, yeah I didn't think any damage would be done to something designed for 120 V if feed with 12 V. How much would one of those buck supplies cost? and do you still need to rectify the ac first or does the chip do that too?

wyzazz

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I wasn't concerned about the voltage but rather the current, DC vs AC. Not that I'm an EE or anything, just thought that it could have possibly damaged the unit in some way.

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mattd2

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Yeah, the way I look at it though is ac is design for the electrons going both ways so feeding it with dc the elctrons only go one way and most likely the thing won't work but probably won't break either. Feeding dc equipment with ac however forces electrons round the wrong way in the circuit leading to problems. I'm no EE either but thats just how I look at it in my mind.

wyzazz

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Darn you and your logic!!!

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Bjornbrewer

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we're getting off topic here, but this is an example of what could be used internal to the temp controller for the power supply.

http://www.datasheetarchive.com/pdf-datasheets/Datasheets-26/DSA-506818.html

note the bridge front end...doesn't really matter if you feed AC or DC into the thing.

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Sand Viking Brewery

“Happiness? A good cigar, a good meal, a good cigar and a good woman - or a bad woman; it depends on how much happiness you can handle.” ~George Burns