If you connect two identical AC to DC converters together in series does the output amperage change?

Answer 1

Wiring the DC outputs of the 2 converters in series would double the DC output voltage but not the current (amperage). The maximum safe output current would just be the same as the rating of the convertor which has been designed for the least current output. So be sure to check the rating plates of the two convertors to see which one has the lowest output current: that is the maximum current your load device should take. Yes you can do them in series. You take the positive of one and connect it to the negative of the other, then the other positive and negative are still pos. and neg.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, This will double the VOLTAGE but keep the AMPERAGE the same. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I do not know if it will actually work or not on A transformer though. For parallel : You connect the pos. to pos. and neg. to neg., This will keep the VOLTAGE the same, and double the AMPERAGE.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I don't know if this will work or not either. This will work on BATTERIES, I am not sure about Transformers. Re the parallel case mentioned above, that is a very well-worded answer because it is cautious about saying what is likely to happen! To illustrate that case: you have a 12 volt DC car light bulb which is rated at 60 Watts so it takes a current of 5 Amps. You want to power-up the bulb from the mains using two AC to DC converters which each have a 12 volt DC output voltage but a rated output current of only 2.5 Amps each. Wiring the DC outputs in parallel could work to allow double the current output of a single converter to be produced BUT ONLY IF THE TWO CONVERTERS WERE CAREFULLY WIRED with their DC + terminals (or wires) connected together and their DC - terminals (or wires) connected together. *** (See note below.) However, whilst the resulting output voltage might be close to the output voltage of one of the converters, that cannot just be assumed! Particularly if the converters were not identical (if they were of different makes and/or power outputs, say) then the different slew rates of the convertors could cause the final output voltage to hunt around as the two converters tried to control each other. This voltage hunting would be accompanied (or caused by!) a current circulating between the two converters that was much higher than they were designed to handle. If they were badly matched such an unstable situation could lead to serious overheating and maybe a burnout of one of the convertors, if not both, even if there was no actual visible smoke and/or fire. (However this is not likely to be as bad as the situation described in the Note *** below.) Such voltage hunting and higher than normal output current circulating between the converters (please note this does not involve the attached load - say a light bulb - at all!) might not be visible using normal test meters but, if present, would be seen on an oscilloscope. To be safe - and to help avoid any overheating or burning-out of one or both of the converters - if you wished to try using them in parallel it would be very wise to wire a proper lab-type variometer into the AC mains feed and, whilst everything is switched off, attach your desired load to the parallel-connected outputs of the two AC to DC converters. Then do this test: very slowly bring up the AC supply voltage from zero, measuring both the DC output current and voltage of each converter all the time. You should also watch and feel the adapters throughout the test to be able to detect any signs of overheating well before the full mains voltage is tried. If you don't have the right kinds of controllers and instruments to measure what is really happening it would be best not even to try to do the above parallel-connecting "blind" at all. ("Blind" meaning "without instruments".) Instead the best plan would be to obtain a single AC to DC converter which has been designed to give the desired output current at the desired voltage. *** Note : IF THE CONVERTERS WERE WRONGLY WIRED with the DC + terminals (or wires) of one connected to the DC - terminals (or wires) of the other THERE WOULD BE A MASSIVE CURRENT CIRCULATING BETWEEN THE TWO CONVERTORS AND, IF FULL MAINS VOLTAGE WERE SUPPLIED, BURNOUT IS PRETTY MUCH GUARANTEED!