Topic: When a Manufacturer says 'Use ONLY Our Power Supply'

[fanofjam]

Does everyone ALWAYS heed this warning from gear manufacturers?  I mean, tell me if I'm wrong, but if you take care to properly replicate the OEM design specs, then you should be OK to use a non-OEM replacement.  The reason I ask this of course is that some OEMs will charge ridiculous amounts for their OEM wall warts. 

Are there any other design considerations besides...

- tip polarity
- tip design/type
- input voltage
- transformer specifics, ie amperage, and if it has a voltage cut-out at a certain charge voltage in the case of battery chargers.

TIA

[breakonthru]

Remember they are CYA in most cases, and people like yourself are outside of their target audience.

You pretty much hit all criteria tho some supplies may work better for a given design, i.e transformer vs switching power design and how clean that power is to the unit.

Remember audiophiles will spend endless dollars on hi-end power supplies for their gear, but the end result depends on the design architecture of the gear itself and how immune it is to dirty power

in this case its hard to go wrong with "pure" DC battery power at cell voltage, vs say regulated power stepped up or down from cell voltage

[daspyknows]

Its a your break it you own it situation.  If something else works then it works but if you fry the piece of gear any warranty would be voided.    In that case is it worth saving a few bucks and how sure are you that it will work?   

[fanofjam]

Its a your break it you own it situation.  If something else works then it works but if you fry the piece of gear any warranty would be voided.    In that case is it worth saving a few bucks and how sure are you that it will work?   

Got no problem with that line of thinking. 

That said, most of the times I encounter this situation though is years after the gear was purchased new and you've purchased your gear second-hand.  The wal-wart has been long since lost... or wasn't sent along to the second owner.  You retrieve a manual from the web and in bold letters you see the 'USE ONLY OUR PSU' warning.  Except now instead of $80 for a wall-wart from the OEM... IF... they still sold them, they no longer service this particular gear and don't sell OEM parts anymore, so your only OEM option is a $150 wal-wart on ebay because it's the ONLY one available in internet-land.  In this case, I'm definitely going to look into DIY options.

[Gutbucket]

Have never had a problem when taking the appropriate precautions.

As an almost always battery user, the clean power "straight from battery cells" thing breakonthru mentions which avoids all conversion, voltage step-up/down, power ground loops, etc, certainly feels good and may avoid some noise problems, although how much it actually matters will depend on the design of the gear and the particular situation.

But do take the appropriate precautions and don't blow your shit up!

[Chilly Brioschi]

Does everyone ALWAYS heed this warning from gear manufacturers?  I mean, tell me if I'm wrong, but if you take care to properly replicate the OEM design specs, then you should be OK to use a non-OEM replacement.  The reason I ask this of course is that some OEMs will charge ridiculous amounts for their OEM wall warts. 

Are there any other design considerations besides...

- tip polarity
- tip design/type
- input voltage
- transformer specifics, ie amperage, and if it has a voltage cut-out at a certain charge voltage in the case of battery chargers.

TIA

There are a limited few that have charge controllers in the brick or cord assembly, most will warn when that is the case.
There also is "passive" current limiting in some, where the design only delivers as what it can, limiting charging rate.
Apple (I hate them, seriously) actually warned on an older iPhone to not attempt to charge with the bigger iPad charger of its day.
Dumb, dumb,dumb....

Good design puts charge controller inside the device, is voltage and current aware, and saves the device.

Related story...
I once bought a $1000 VHF radio for $275 in "as-is" condition.
Owner warned me that he had plugged it in to a reverse polarity, high current, 12v. auto supply.
I knew the brand, and felt I could get any needed support, even if costly.

A few hours and $20 in parts (capacitor, zener diode, & a resistor), it was repaired and back on the air.
Partly lucky, if I would have billed myself, it would have been $350....

Check, then recheck, if a generic supply works for others
The Internet is a tremendous resource.