can a plasma globe that requires 12 volts and 500 mAmps be put to 12 volts and 12 Amps?

i have a project idea and need this information before starting.

Comments

[Vyger]

OK, maybe I am not understanding this correctly but as far as I know its the Volts that matter and not the amps. If you have a higher amperage power supply it won't matter, it will only use the amps it needs. Kind of a waste though to have that capacity and not use it for anything.

[katman101]

so it will work?

[Vyger]

Think of it this way:
You have a 12 volt lantern that runs on those square batteries. It will run for 24 hours. If you replace the 12 volt lantern battery with a 12 volt car battery the light you get will still be just as bright. However because the car battery has a lot more amperage potential the lantern might now run for 5 or six days. The light will only use as much amperage as it was designed to use no matter what is available. In the case of a larger battery it will run longer because it has more in reserve. In the case of a power supply it will just ignore the extra capacity and only use what it is designed to use.

[katman101]

cool beans.

[mpilchfamily]

The globe needs 12V and will only pull 500mA. If you give it a power supply that offers 12V at up to 12A it will still only pull the 12V @ 500mA. Leaving the rest of the available amperage unused. It won't effect the globe in any way.

[bwrussell]

If you could provide a little more info as to why the current is taking such a huge jump it could possibly change the answer.

[lemonie]

No

[steveastrouk]

Hmm. From 6 W to 144 W ? What do you think ?

Steve