Topic: quick question about power cables

[eclark]

okay so what im trying to do is to build a wire from my 9v dvd battery > UA5. the battery is (+) tip (-) outside and the ua5 is (-) tip (+) outside. so basically i have two power adapters which both heads fit and i have the wires cut. how do i know which wire goes to which tip?

on one wire there is a white stip, is that (-)? and on the other wire there is white writing, is that also (-)?

so if the tips are opposite should i connect the wire with the white strip to the wire on the other cable with nothing on it? would that make it so the heads are opposite?

i hope that makes sense, I really dont want to fry my UA5! any help is appreciated 

[Brian Skalinder]

The only way to know for sure is to hook up the cables to the power source and check the connector's polarity with a voltmeter before plugging into the UA5.  Voltmeter or multimeter will run you ~$10 and is a good tool to have around for testing power, mic and interconnect cables, etc.

[eclark]

The only way to know for sure is to hook up the cables to the power source and check the connector's polarity with a voltmeter before plugging into the UA5.  Voltmeter or multimeter will run you ~$10 and is a good tool to have around for testing power, mic and interconnect cables, etc.

how will that help though? would i just test to see if its 9v coming out?
ive never used a voltameter before

[Brian Skalinder]

how will that help though? would i just test to see if its 9v coming out?
ive never used a voltameter before

The voltmeter / multimeter will tell you the polarity of the connector after hooking up the wires.  Touch the black (negative) lead to the center / pin and the red (positive) lead to the outer ring.  If the voltmeter reads +9V, then the outer ring is (+) and the center / pin is (-), which is what you want for the UA5.  If the voltmeter reads -9V, then the center / pin is (+) and the outer ring is (-), opposite of what you want for the UA5. 

[eclark]

how will that help though? would i just test to see if its 9v coming out?
ive never used a voltameter before

The voltmeter / multimeter will tell you the polarity of the connector after hooking up the wires.  Touch the black (negative) lead to the center / pin and the red (positive) lead to the outer ring.  If the voltmeter reads +9V, then the outer ring is (+) and the center / pin is (-), which is what you want for the UA5.  If the voltmeter reads -9V, then the center / pin is (+) and the outer ring is (-), opposite of what you want for the UA5. 

thanks man, thats perfect!