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Question for the electrical guys about amp draw

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8BitZ80

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I need to power a computer fan from a wall socket for my project, and have a spare AC adapter that I'm thinking of sacrificing for the cause.

Problem is, I still don't know the basics of how electrical current works.

The computer fan requires 12V DC and has a max input current of 0.08 Amps. The AC adapter can supply 12V DC and 1.5 Amps.

If I hook up the fan directly, will the fan draw only 0.08 Amps and run just fine, or will the power supply push 1.5 Amps of current into the fan and destroy it?
 
Athlonite

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It'll do fine and only draw the current necessary to run, the 12V 1.5A rating is it's max draw it's rated for so anything from 0.0001A to 1.5A is fine to run on it
 
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8BitZ80

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Great, thanks! Just what I need to know. So as long as the voltage is identical, then it's just making sure the amp supply is equal to or higher than required. Awesome.
 
Ahhzz

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PooPipeBoy said:
Great, thanks! Just what I need to know. So as long as the voltage is identical, then it's just making sure the amp supply is equal to or higher than required. Awesome.
Click to expand...
And technically speaking, even drifting a half volt either way won't seriously cause any issues in my experience, but if you stray much farther than that, you'll break something. But yes, @Athlonite is correct: the voltage is the critical part, and as long as the current available is as much or more than required, you're good.
 
Caring1

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Ahhzz said:
And technically speaking, even drifting a half volt either way won't seriously cause any issues in my experience, but if you stray much farther than that, you'll break something. But yes, @Athlonite is correct: the voltage is the critical part, and as long as the current available is as much or more than required, you're good.
Click to expand...
Depends on the fan as some have a listed start up voltage as low as 7V although they are 12V fans.
 
Athlonite

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Caring1 said:
Depends on the fan as some have a listed start up voltage as low as 7V although they are 12V fans.
Click to expand...

doesn't really matter to the OP though he's using a 12V fan on a 12V DC wall wart so even if it had a 7V start up voltage it'd still work
 
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