A question about amperage

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by decojoe67

I spoke with someone I work with that's trained in electronics and he said you have to go above what you need in amps due to loss with the terminal connections and wiring. I need 3.0 minimum, so I am going to just use the ARBE III for the B and the 6V-20AH battery I have on order for the "A". This "Power-Sonic" battery (http://www.atbatt.com/power-sonic-6v...Fc1KDQodpJEK5Q) appears to be designed for several types of applications, so I am fairly sure it will do the job with the limited use the radio will have. I can easily return back to the "A" tubes and just use the ARBE III exclusively, but I really want to stick to my goal of operating the set with the early tubes.

He did a very good job summing up what I was saying, except I disagree on terminal losses....You loose voltage with terminal resistance, not current.

IIRC about 2-4 years ago I saw a presentation on the design of the ARBEIII from it's maker at the MARC Extravaganza meet. It seemed like a fairly conservative design to me. If your radio needs 3 amps and the supply can handle 3 amps (on the output terminals you intend to use), then it should probably work....I'd try it, and see if the supply runs reasonably cool, and that it is not adding hum...If you see excessive hum or heat then you are overtaxing the supply and should try another.