Used wrong plug on my camcorder!! hELp!!

The only way I would think that it could damage it from plugging a 9v power supply into a 11v camcorder would be if the polarity was backwards on the 9v psu.

Check the labeling on the transformers and see if they both the same polarity.

Example of center positve

- Mike

It may be reversable by the service center, but if your camcorder doesn't have a user-accessible fuse that is likely the only way you'll get it to work again.

In today's world with hundreds of consumer devices using 'wall warts' and each of them having different power supply voltages, modes, and polarities you'd think that there would be both more standardization of the plug / device interface and also better protection in the consumer device itself. But hey, it is either a $ervice opportunity for the manufacturer or an opportunity to sell you another camcorder, right?

If the manufacturer won't fix it for shipping costs only then I suggest you help us all out by buying another camcorder from a different manufacturer - and be sure to tell your current brand's customer service organization why you won't be buying any more of their products.

As others have said, if it was just 9 versus 11 volts, no damage should have resulted. If you of them had positive and negative reversed, then you quite likely blew a fuse or a voltage regulator chip. The fuse may be super-miniaturized and hard to recognize. If I were asked to repair it, I'd start with the first few components right inside the power inlet.

Also... Try it again. Are you sure your 11-volt (correct) power supply is actually working?

Or if it was an unregulated 9V wall wart which in reality puts our a much higher voltage than 9V.

Dave

Help me understand this. You plugged in the wrong adapter. 'Nothing happened' meaning it didn't work? Did it subsequently work on battery, or not? Did you try it? What I don't understand, is that you say you 'didn't think much about it'. Why not? Did you use it after that, or just put it in a drawer somewhere.

If so, 'something's' fried. It's hard to say what, but it needs to be serviced by a local professional or a service center.

jak

And this is the reason I bought a cheap etching tool. Every wall wart, and power supply in the house gets the item name and model # etched onto the back of the power supply as soon as it comes out of the box. It really helps when all it says on the back of the power supply is voltage, and made in china.

That's great. Way to go. Good idea.

OTOH, why in hell is this necessary? Besides the obvious danger to equipment, this is IMO a safety issue. Sure the chances of something burning up and perhaps causing a fire is remote, but it exists.

This is one of my pet peeves. I wonder how much gear gets trashed every day because of this? Power plugs should be standardized so that 'one size' *doesn't* 'fit all'....

jak

I agree!

Amateur astronomers often have Meade telescopes and SBIG CCD cameras. Both run on 12 volts, a couple of amps. They take the same power connector. With reverse polarities. The SBIG gear has reverse polarity protection. The Meade gear blows a fuse and (if it's an early model LX200) explodes a capacitor which is upstream from the fuse.