Recent content by fulmenatrum

Okay, I went back and reviewed how relays are wired and I realized that I had incorrectly wired my circuit. The LEDS should not have been grounded but rather should have been in series with the relay via the NC and NO contacts. Thanks for bringing up the common terminal because that part was...

I'm trying to figure out how a relay functions in a circuit and I'm having trouble figuring why it has the effect it does in a circuit. I set up a simple circuit (see picture) using a 5 pin [ouaz-ss 105D] relay where the LED on the bottom lights up while the push button is not pressed. When...

It's running well enough, though I always assumed that it draws as much current as shown on the label. I wonder if the aluminum foil switch I made increased the resistance.

Recently, I made a laptop cooler using an old CPU fan (rated 12V, 0.37A) I removed from a desktop. The cooler was comprised of the cooling fan, a base for the laptop to go on, and a DC power adapter (rated 12V, 1A)...nothing too complicated. Now from what I know, the current being drawn by the...

I've been doing a project recently that requires a UB1250ZH Universal Battery rated 12V and 5Ah. Although I understand the concept of Ah, I'm having a difficult time in figuring out what the ratings for standby and cyclic use mean. For an example, it says - Standby Use: 12.6-13.8V, the...

I just wanted to try and see if batteries were that different than the AC/DC adapters. So you mentioned that once you give it a push, the fan should pick up on it's own and start spinning. I did try this though and it just wasn't strong enough to spin on its own. The fan clearly calls for a...

I think I understand now...the AC to DC adapter acts as a voltage source that supplies the noted voltage and has a max current that it can handle without breaking. The current in the circuit is solely dependent on the electrical device(s) which basically draws the amount of current based on...

So what you are saying is that I should use a power adapter with preferably a current greater than what the fan requires and then use resistors to drop the current down? Would it be alright if I were to use a adapter that actually had a higher voltage AND current rating and use a appropriate...

Thanks! However, I'm still curious why the different batteries seem to be able to supply different currents.

So I've been trying to work on this project that requires me to take a 12V AC to DC adapter (says 300mA on it) and supply power to a CPU fan (11.8V, 0.57A) and several LEDS (20mA forward current, 3.2V). My question is what does the 300mA exactly mean as I thought that there was no such thing as...