A question about amperage

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by madlabs

Amps is the amount of current flow. Amp hours is how much total current a battery can provide. So, if your radio draws one amp of current a 7 amp hour battery could run it for 7 hours. If your radio draws 7 amps the battery would run it for an hour.

So, your three amp power supply can provide 3 amps forever because it is connected to the mains. Your battery has a limited amount of chemicals to produce electricity with and so is rated by amp hours, so you can figure out how long you should be able to run a device on it. Amps and amp hours, while related are two different things.

Thank you. Okay, but taking it one more step, does the 3.0 amp rating of the ARBE III battery eliminator have any importance to the operation of the radio? What would be the advantage/disadvantage if it was say 12 or even 20 amps? Just so curious to know and understand what that amp value in the eliminator means to the user.

[madlabs]

Originally Posted by decojoe67

Thank you. Okay, but taking it one more step, does the 3.0 amp rating of the ARBE III battery eliminator have any importance to the operation of the radio? What would be the advantage/disadvantage if it was say 12 or even 20 amps? Just so curious to know and understand what that amp value in the eliminator means to the user.

If your radio needs three amp and your power supply can provide 3 amps it will work but the power supply will run hot and most likely die an early death. A wiser rating would be to find a power supply that can provide at least 5 amps. The radio will run the same but the power supply will run cooler. If you had a 20 amp power supply the radio will run the same and the power supply would be essentially stone cold.

So the upshot: Once your power supply's rating exceeds the radio draw by around 20% there is no benefit to using a larger power supply. No harm will be done but your power supply will be under employed. :-)

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by madlabs

If your radio needs three amp and your power supply can provide 3 amps it will work but the power supply will run hot and most likely die an early death. A wiser rating would be to find a power supply that can provide at least 5 amps. The radio will run the same but the power supply will run cooler. If you had a 20 amp power supply the radio will run the same and the power supply would be essentially stone cold.

So the upshot: Once your power supply's rating exceeds the radio draw by around 20% there is no benefit to using a larger power supply. No harm will be done but your power supply will be under employed. :-)

Thanks very much. It seems I'm getting more no votes on using the ARBE III for my "A" supply with it's 3.0 only continuous amps, which is the minimum I need. I will use the ARBE for the "B" supply, and the 6V-20amp battery for the "A". This battery I have ordered is designed for prolonged use, so I think it will be fine with the limited use the set will get.