I know it’s the old round pin we used for phones back in the day but can someone send me a link to the exact one because I’m seeing too many round pin charges of different sizes. Also where do I go for tech help related questions like these? Is this the right community?
Barrel
So that’s a DC power connector, but we’re going to need more info before we can give you specifics.
For starters, we need to know the polarity. Basically, the pin is going to be one side of the charge, and the sleeve around the circumference is going to be the other. Look for something to see what the polarity needs to be. The center dot is the pin, and the C shape is the outer contact.
Next, we need to know the voltage and amperage. This should be listed somewhere on the device. Most barrel connectors are 12v, but you occasionally see 5v (when they’re powered via USB) or 20v. So that 12v isn’t a 100% guaranteed thing and it’s worth double checking. For amps, you simply need something above whatever the device is listed at. Amperage is basically how much power the device actually uses, and bigger devices will draw more power (and need a bigger power supply.) If it shows that it draws 1A at 12v, then a 12v 1.5A power supply will work, but a 12v 500mA (that’s 0.5A, since each milliamp is 1/1000 of an amp) power supply will overheat.
Lastly, we’ll need to know the diameter of the barrel. These connectors are standardized sizes, but there are a lot of different sizes. . So you’ll need some way to measure the connector and see how big it is. Easier said than done.
If you’re able to figure out the first two parts, (polarity and voltage/amps) you can get a universal power supply (with the appropriate voltage and polarity, and rated for something at/above the device’s listed amperage) that comes with a variety of barrels. Then you can simply find the right size barrel via trial and error.
Is there any brand and/or sticker (or embossed voltage information) on this lamp? Anything to ident it? Because i’ve found similar ones, but they’re modernized, using USB ports rather than the old barrel plug. The information found on that sticker or any information, really is more valuable than the picture, because we can probably guess exactly what you need to buy down to the voltage.
Yeah! the other end of the barrel plug is a usb port. I found the amazon listingof my lamp and it is 5V/1A, 3Watts but the diameter of the barrel plug is not mentioned in the description.
Barrel plug, same as you’d find on the power supply for many laptops etc. You need to know:
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the voltage/amps of the adaptor (may be listed on the bottom or side of the lamp). It must be the matching voltage, amps can be higher than listed
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The barrel size (outer diameter, inner diameter, length), can be measured with calipers
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Polarity of the tip
If there’s an electronics repair place anywhere nearby they might be able to figure out the barrel size etc for you.
See also:
