Power supply help

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jancoj
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Power supply help

Post by jancoj »

Hi all,
I have to Canon Powershot A495 cameras and I want to use AC adapter to power them both. I have tried to use 12V 4A Power supply. My friend helped me to get 3,2V from that. As we connceted it to camera we saw only "Charging" and after a few minutes the camera was dead. Now it is not working even on batteries. What could be the problem? I am sure that there was only 3,2V, because we use voltmeter. On the back side of camera is written that it should use 3,15V max 1.5A.
Now my camera is dead an I do not know what to do. Can anybody give me an advice how to connect AC adapter and make cameras working. I am thinking about buy this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Canon-A ... 5396595230

Can I connect both cameras to one adapter if I solder one more connector.Many thanks for help. I have one more camera and I want to keep it alive and working...I gues thebroken one is really dead.

When I use AC adapter do I need batteries inside the camera? Does it need to be set up in CHDK?
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dbmoura
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Re: Power supply help

Post by dbmoura »

I have 2 Canon A495 and I intended to use power adapter with them. I didn't test it yet, although I have long expirience with electronics. I describe here what I intend to do, in case it help your question.
If you have connected the 3,2 V to the camera using the same plug as the original Canon power adapter, the importance of polarity of each wire is the first thing I would check. The power supply shows the correct position and it is NEGATIVE on the outside of the plug and positive inside.
If the power is connected using a original plug or a correct compatible, it should cut the power from batteries left inside. I would take the batteries off for power adapter operation, anyway, but it is an over precaution because of possible corrosion, as time goes by. Any direct connection without the use of the plug should be made with no batteries inside, in my way of thinking. The manual of the Canon A495 does describe the use of the power adapter with the camera "CANNOT be used to charge the batteries inside the camera".
connector.jpg
original plug
(6.38 KiB) Downloaded 63 times
good luck!
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Gerard
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Re: Power supply help

Post by Gerard »

i have also some canons a495

if you buy a cheap power adapter compere the images (with battery), some cheap adapters cause noise in the dark areas

my experiments with an atx power supply was a failure, 3.3 V was enough to start the cams, but they showed "battery low" and every time they took a picture the atx power supply turned off, (i can't explain what was wrong, the atx power supply (200W) should gibe 16A on 3.3V Rail)

and be careful, wrong polarity and you have a brick
jancoj
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Re: Power supply help

Post by jancoj »

Hi,
Thanks both for the answer. I do not know what could be the problem in my case. I think we have right polarity. The possitive was inside. I am afraid we use to much voltage (3,2V). The camera even didn´t switch on to shooting mode, only playback mode and after a couple of seconds it was dead. But when you said you used 3,3V and that was low I am confused. Anyway, the camera doesn´t work now fortunately it has still warranty, so I will try to send it for repair.

So Gerard, what kind of adapters do you use now? Do you have two separate adapters? Do you leave batterise inside the camera?
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daniel_reetz
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Re: Power supply help

Post by daniel_reetz »

There was an interesting post on Hackaday about the Canon PSUs available on eBay. We've had at least one user here report failure... but we've also had successes.
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jck57
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Re: Power supply help

Post by jck57 »

Just ordered two of the genuine Canon power supplies from Ebay. Seller accepted my offer of $7.50 per unit.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/230676586768?ss ... 142wt_1136
jancoj
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Re: Power supply help

Post by jancoj »

Looks good. I cannot find any genuine one with shipping to the EU and I am not sure with the replacemant after watching the video from Dan´s link
Is it possible to use only one adapter if I solder one more connector to it?
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Gerard
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Re: Power supply help

Post by Gerard »

jancoj wrote:Looks good. I cannot find any genuine one with shipping to the EU and I am not sure with the replacemant after watching the video from Dan´s link
Is it possible to use only one adapter if I solder one more connector to it?
maybe, in idle mode the cams don't need so much current, but to charge the flash or after an image was taken, you can add an big capacitor to reduce the risk
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