Zenith Transoceanic 3000-1 Wall Wart

[mcdmgb]

Anyone know the specs for the wall wart used to power this radio? I know that its 12V DC, but don't know the amps. Anyone know?

Thanks

[old_coot88]

Originally Posted by mcdmgb

Anyone know the specs for the wall wart used to power this radio? I know that its 12V DC, but don't know the amps. Anyone know?

Hi. I also have a 3000-1 which came without the wall wart. The radio draws 25ma. (up to 30ma. on volume peaks). Bear in mind that unregulated wall warts put out 'waaay higher no-load voltage than their label rating (a 12V labeled one puts out about 19V no-load). So from my stash of WWs I selected one labeled 9V, 200 ma. It puts out 15V no-load, dropping to 13V with the radio turned on. The radio's quite happy since that's just about the same voltage it see with batteries. A series resistor could be added to drop it a little more if desired. But with a 12V regulated WW, all of the above is moot.

You're probably aware that the submini jack and plug are of 'backwards' polarity, ie., the shell is positive and the center pin is negative.

A little heads-up if you're using batteries.. on my radio, the battery feed-through socket had developed leakage paths between lugs and between lugs and chassis. With batteries installed, there was 200 microamps of leakage with the radio off, which woulda drained the pack in a few weeks. Another 3000-1 owner also mentioned having a leakage problem in the feed-through socket that drained the batteries. Bill(oc)

[mcdmgb]

Originally Posted by old_coot88

Hi. I also have a 3000-1 which came without the wall wart. The radio draws 25ma. (up to 30ma. on volume peaks). Bear in mind that unregulated wall warts put out 'waaay higher no-load voltage than their label rating (a 12V labeled one puts out about 19V no-load). So from my stash of WWs I selected one labeled 9V, 200 ma. It puts out 15V no-load, dropping to 13V with the radio turned on. The radio's quite happy since that's just about the same voltage it see with batteries. A series resistor could be added to drop it a little more if desired. But with a 12V regulated WW, all of the above is moot.

You're probably aware that the submini jack and plug are of 'backwards' polarity, ie., the shell is positive and the center pin is negative.

A little heads-up if you're using batteries.. on my radio, the battery feed-through socket had developed leakage paths between lugs and between lugs and chassis. With batteries installed, there was 200 microamps of leakage with the radio off, which woulda drained the pack in a few weeks. Another 3000-1 owner also mentioned having a leakage problem in the feed-through socket that drained the batteries. Bill(oc)

Bill,

Thanks much for the timely information. I Was just getting ready to wire up a 12V WW and give it a try. I was aware of the pin polarity, but didn't think about the effects of loading on voltage. I will take your advise and use a 9V one.

The radio is a bit rough and doesn't have a battery box. I want to power it up with a WW to see if it works before I consider doing anything else with it.

Mike