Topic: Tekkeon question

[phil_er_up]

I have a question. I can not tell how many amps are put on on the tekkeon 3300 or 3450 for 5 volts for my video camera. My video camera says it will run only at 5 volts and 1 amp. I have checked tekkeon site and searched the web and I can not find this out.

Anyone know how many watts are put out at 5 volts? Or how I can figure this out?
If the tekkeon puts out more then one amp is there something I can get to convert it to the right amp and voltage?

Thanks in advance.

-p

[hi and lo]

Short Answer: You'll be just fine using a tekkeon. All models will provide enough amperage.

Long Answer: Amperage specifications don't work in the way you're describing the question. The specification for your video camera is a minimum amperage that is needed, so as long the tekkeon is capable of supplying at least 1 A at 5v, it will happily run. It's helpful to use the fire hose analogy when thinking about the relationship between Amperage, Voltage, and Current. I'll probably butcher this but...

Think of Voltage as water pressure within a hose
Think of Amperage as the diameter of the hose.
Think of Current as the total amount of water than can pass through the hose in a given amount of time. Both Voltage and Amperage contribute to total current.

So, let's say you're trying to fill a water tank really fast. There are two ways to do this; increase the water pressure or get a larger diameter fire hose. But what happens if you increase the voltage / pressure too much? Your fire hose becomes almost like a weapon... the pressure can get so high that the stream of water becomes violent, maybe even able to cut things (like a water jet cutter). This is analogous to 'frying' your device - you've increase the pressure/voltage so much and 'boom.' bad things happen.

However, if you wanted to fill up the tank faster you could also do so by increasing the diameter of the hose. A wider hose means more water can flow through (in the same amount of time and at the same pressure), but there's no inherent danger in having a really wide hose because without increasing the pressure, eventually you'll just end up with an enormously wide hose that has nothing more than a trickle of water at the end (because at a certain point, there's not even enough pressure to fill the hose completely). The hose can literally be as wide as possible without any danger of the water coming out too fast or with too much (violet) pressure.

So with your video camera, it's expecting a certain pressure and a hose wide enough to ensure that it can receive enough overall power (current). If you use a battery outputting greater than 5vs, again 'boom.' your camera is going to be fried. In terms of amperage, all the camera cares about is that the available amperage is at least 1 A. You can use a battery rated for 1 A or 5 A and the results will be (more of less) the same.

FYI - USB is spec'ed up to 5 A for devices that need to charge via a usb cable (like an iPad). Most devices that run off of USB need far less amperage and might operate in the .5 A to 1 A range, but a full 5 A is available as needed.

Here's a semi-decent link describing the water hose analogy (probably more accurately than I have). Hopefully this is helpful.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/question501.htm

[hi and lo]

One other note. The Tekkeon 3300 doesn't have a dedicated USB output. It does have a 5v setting and you can buy a USB adapt-a-plug to connect the primary output to a USB device, but you need to use extreme caution. USB ports are nice because the voltage is always regulated at 5v. There are no switches/settings on a USB output that could increase the voltage whereas with the 3300, you can accidentally bump the voltage to > 5v. Not a good thing to happen.

If I'm powering a device via USB, I like to use a battery that has a dedicated USB output which I know is regulated to the proper voltage rather than use a variable voltage battery.

[stevetoney]

^ Your analogy is a good one hi and lo.  That's the same mental analogy I always use to logically understand electricity.

The only correction is that amperage is actually the unit of measure for current.  The diameter of the fire hose is the anlogy of resistance, expressed in ohms.  So to summarize...

Voltage is the water pressure in the hose.  This is a function of the amount of pressure that can be generated from the pump you put on the end of the hose.

Resistance is the resistance to flow which is a function of the hose characteristics...diameter, relative roughness of the inside surfaces, number of fittings or elbows, etc.   

Current is the amount of flow through the hose.  This is a function of the size of the pump you put on the end of the hose.

****

Practically speaking, small pumps can generate lots of pressure (voltage), but can't supply large flowrate (current) 

[phil_er_up]

Thank you hilo and tonedeaf for your very specific and knowledgeable answers. You guys made it so simple.

I will have to watch that I do not turn up the tekkeon from 5 volts or not good news. There is a lock on the tekkeon 3300 that the other models do not have.

You two (and many others) really help this community and I want to thank BOTH OF YOU FOR IT.

Have a great year you TWO -  hilo and tonedeaf...You guys rock!!!