Update: 3.3V vs. 3V dilemma

To bring this little saga to a close, I built a little AC adapter for my Fuji Finepix digicam: brought in 5 volts from a little Samsung wall wart, put the regulator and an electrolytic cap in a film can on a little piece of perfboard, and brought the power out to a 2.5mm power mini jack.

The long and short of it is, the camera doesn't work on this supply. It puts out 3.25 volts alright, even when plugged into the camera, but the camera just sits there and does nothing. My suspicion is that the power jack is just not quite the right size to make contact (or else there's something screwed up inside the camera that makes it not accept external power, which seems unlikely).

So I'll probably bite the bullet and shell out a little $ to buy the AC adapter made for this camera (found one on the internets for about $12).

The camera itself (bought for $1 at Oakland's White Elephant sale) works like a charm; just got the USB cable for it today ($4.75).

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Reply to
David Nebenzahl
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Try cramming a little bit of aluminum foil inside the plug. That'll tell you if the diameter is the problem.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

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Dr Philip C D Hobbs
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Reply to
Phil Hobbs

On 3/12/2010 7:23 AM Phil Hobbs spake thus:

Mmmm, don't think so. I can see inside the sleeve in the camera that there's a spring contact, and I can feel this being displaced when I push in the jack*. I think the problem is with the center contact not mating correctly.

*Hard to say whether this should be called a jack or a plug. The package calls it a jack, even though it appears male and goes into a female hole in the camera. Maybe it's a jug, or a plack.

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Reply to
David Nebenzahl

The usual term is "hermaphroditic connector". "Jug" suggests something female. "Plack" is better, but it's a homonym of two other words.

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

Right, I mean inside the female contact (on the cord). Works great.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

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Reply to
Phil Hobbs

What is the current rating of the AC adapter? Fuji recommends a 2 amp, 5 volt supply for my Fuji Finepix S5200 camera.

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Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

On 3/12/2010 10:57 PM Michael A. Terrell spake thus:

Yeah, I've seen that too. But the camera says "3V 2.5W", which should be fine with my 1 amp supply in theory. Besides, I see absolutely no voltage sag on my VOM when I connect the camera and try to turn it on, which seems to indicate no connection (if the supply were being overloaded, I'd expect to see some sag).

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Reply to
David Nebenzahl

What model number?

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Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

You may not see it without using a scope. A lot of regulation problems don't show up with a meter, when you're right on the edge. :(

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Lead free solder is Belgium's version of 'Hold my beer and watch this!'
Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

On Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:38:02 -0800, David Nebenzahl put finger to keyboard and composed:

I had the same problem with a Kodak camera. However, I never bothered to determine the cause, as I scored a cheap dock.

- Franc Zabkar

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Reply to
Franc Zabkar

What kind of regulator are you using? A lot of regulators will not function properly with only 1.75 volts across them. It might be failing only when the camera wants more then average current -- like when it's trying to focus.

Isaac

Reply to
isw

According to the data sheet, it's *not* similar to a LM78xx because it does have a low differential requirement -- 0.45V.

Yes. Some regulators (LM78xx for example), need more like 2.5V to work properly.

You do happen to be using a low-dropout device, but still, you have to measure the voltage under maximum expected load, not open circuit, to really see whether it'll work.

Does it work if you stick the proper batteries in it?

Isaac

Reply to
isw

Polarity on the jack, or maybe a blown picofuse?

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Reply to
Warren Block

On 3/14/2010 9:01 PM isw spake thus:

It's an NTE 1904 (replacement for ECG1904). Similar to the LM78xx series, I guess; just your standard 3-terminal positive regulator.

Not sure what you mean by only 1.75 volts across; do you mean the difference between input and output? In any case, I assume it's working correctly, since I can see 3.xx volts at the output.

I tried it using a variable DC power supply; no better result. I'm thinking there's something wrong with the camera.

(And by not working I mean the camera doesn't respond to the power switch *at all*. No little beeps, no display, nothing.)

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Reply to
David Nebenzahl

On 3/15/2010 8:56 PM isw spake thus:

Yes, that's how I know the camera works. It just doesn't seem to be connecting to external power, although it does act sorta flaky when the batteries get low--but it does work (camera beeps, lens extends, display comes alive). It also regularly "forgets" settings (in NOVRAM), like date and time. But for $1 ...

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David Nebenzahl

On 3/15/2010 9:12 PM Warren Block spake thus:

Polarity is correct; there's a legend cast into the camera showing the inner post is positive.

Picofuse inside the camera? Just discovered I'd need a special screwdriver (with a 3-wing tip) to get inside the dang thing. I've got a whole set of security screwdriver bits, but nothing that small.

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Reply to
David Nebenzahl

It's likely that you will need a 2A minimum PSU power supply to get this cam to work reliably (switchmode PSU is likely much better than a small transformer type).

I have a HP 215 PhotoSmart cam (bought new) that would barely work with 4 new AA alkaline batteries. The batteries weren't drained, the cam just refused to turn on after only about 8 shots. The manual recommended the new Energizer (silvery-looking) batteries that were about $8-$10 for a 4-pack. The HP AC adapter was about $48, IIRC.

I bought an AC adapter (DigiPower, I think) which is labeled 6V 1.5A, and it's a SMPS type. The cam worked fine with it, and since I wanted the cam for eBay ad and webpage pics, using the wired PSU wasn't too bad (PSU came wih a 10 or 12 ft cable on it).

I thought I'd just make an adapter to hold 4 C cells with a connector for the exernal power connector on the cam, and the cam would give better performance.

Cam wouldn't even turn on with 4 new C alkalines connected, and not with 4 Ds.. or 5 Ds.

The external batteries needed to be connected directly to the cam's internal battery terminals, in a deep well in the cam body. So I made an adapter from some round nylon stock to fit into the 2x2 AA battery space, that had leads for the external batteries. The cam would then work with 4 Cs or Ds, but not much better than 4 AAs.

The final solution was to use 4 AA 2000mAh NIMH cells inside the cam. Perfect operation for a couple hundred shots per charge, all with the LCD viewfinder turned on.

-- Cheers, WB .............

Reply to
Wild_Bill

On 3/16/2010 12:49 AM Wild_Bill spake thus:

That occurred to me too.

Wow; surprising. Wonder why that is? Same voltage, and should be plenty of oomph.

I'm thinking about NiMHs too; they're on the official diet for my camera. Like you, I had planned on using this cam just around the house for shots of stuff to sell on eBay, so I wouldn't have minded having tethered power. I mainly want to avoid having to buy and throw out lots of AA "batteries".

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Reply to
David Nebenzahl

Did I not suggest -- a week ago -- that you use NiMH cells? They can be used in other equipment.

----- The Lady from Philadelphia

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

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