12V PD Adaptor

I bought this 12V PD to use with my Syntakt which needs 12V 2A and it works great using a 20W PD quick charging USB-C powerbank

Can I also use this with my Digitakt, which only requires 12V 1A?

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This is my powerbank specs

Am I right in saying that the Syntakt is fine as it’s getting 12V 1.67A (so slightly lower amperage than the 2A it requires), but the Digitakt only needs 1A so 1.67A could damage it?

I believe it’s the voltage, polarity and ac\dc-ness you have to watch out for. I think the device will draw the current it needs.

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No. It draws what it needs

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So if they are both 12V DC they should both be okay with 1.67A?

Thanks, how do I find that out?

So does this mean you could use the official Syntakt charger with the Digitakt as both 12V DC (assuming same polarity)?

There’s also a whole thread somewhere here about battery powering the DT

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So I guess you set the Voltage on the powerbank. My understanding of PD is that there’s a negotiation between compatible devices so that you don’t send 12v to a phone expecting 5v

Anyway this raise a question in my mind, given that USB C plugs are reversible, how do you ensure correct polarity … i guess one way won’t work, but I am unfamiliar with the usb C plug pinot and how ‘smart’ it is when inserting in compatible devices.

The way I remember it is Voltage is pushed and Current is drawn, so a device will consume what it needs.

The Syntakt doesn’t need 2A it just needs 1.2ish Max at boot iirc … the digitakt will draw less current , so the spec of 1.67A is fine for both cases … however, let’s assume e.g. the AR draws more so it may not be safe to power that with that powerbank (if needing >1.7A) even though both are specifying 2A 24W PSUs on the rear chassis

I’d be nervous thinking about the solution as power delivery though as it conveys a certain negotiation happens, which can’t with the DT … so taking a laptop supply which can run at 20v 12v 9v 5v and plugging that in could be an issue, it works with my laptop and phone as they are proper PD setup to prevent any issues

No, there’s no voltage selection

It works both ways. I guess the adaptor sorts out the polarity?

It could have active components when powered I guess … linking to the item would be handy in any case for the curious

The PD adaptor has circuitry which negotiates the power bank to deliver 12v. If the power bank doesn’t deliver 12v (a lot of Anker ones are like this), it just won’t work. This is different from the older USB A adaptors which do the conversion themselves.

Amps are a capacity. The device draws what is needed. It could be 12v 1 million amps and it would be okay.

If it works on the syntakt, it should work just fine on the digitakt, since it has less draw.

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I bought it on recommendation from @sinedied

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That’s a nice small adapter! Does it get warm pumping out 1+ amp constantly? I made some step up converters myself using small pcb’s but nothing as small as having it contained in the plug itself. Where did you get yours? I’d like to grab a few for testing purposes.

No it doesn’t seem to get warm at all. I bought it from the link above, took a few weeks to arrive.

Sorry, totally missed you linking to it :aw:

A step up converter is a nice cheap way to power gear from power banks or usb ports. The boards are very cheap and can output any voltage between like 2-20 volts and are usually rated up to 2 amps. They do get warm after a while (not dangerously) but I would like to experiment with power delivery stuff as its a lot smaller and likely more efficient.

As far as I understand the little plug does the negotiating, it tells the power source to give it 12 volts and output that. It should work fine with any power bank/wall wart that can do power delivery.

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I also found some from a different seller, they also offer 5V 3.5x1.35mm which I think should be suitable for the model cycles/samples. The only thing I’m not sure about is how you check they are centre positive?

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/1005004610155858.html?spm=a2g0n.productlist.0.0.2136WGRLWGRL6K&browser_id=2fa5a057ca3a4b9f99b7598e2fd6d876&aff_trace_key=&aff_platform=msite&m_page_id=uchagz7h0eycavyo183ff785f3922f64b7525d6c24&gclid=&pdp_npi=2%40dis!GBP!1.12!0.72!!!1.72!!%400b0a01f816664384223355177e5494!12000029821009293!sea&curPageLogUid=mxSitSOh8XYG&algo_pvid=b23809ee-aac8-4bdf-8461-5cff7c3d60cc