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AX8 power supply idle voltage.
Has anyone measured the idle voltage at the output of the power supply AD2003F10 of the AX8 router with a voltmeter?
I did some testing with the 19V adapter, and it holds stable at 19V, it seems like they may be using a power supply that has a sense line connected to the output and likely adjusts voltages as needed to maintain a consistent output.
In cases like this, in order to determine the true voltage input range, you would need to find out which type of DC to DC converter they are using on the 19V rail, and see what their datasheet shows as the input range.
9 Replies
Not alot of home users have a need for this.
Are you looking for actual voltage, or power draw?
For Netgear and pretty much every other consumer WiFi router maker, the power supply is a single rail switchmode power supply that runs at a constant voltage, and the product can pull anything from 0A-the max rated amperage of the power supply.With consumer routers, as well as most modern electronics that use a single DC input or batteries, will basically have a primary voltage rail given by the main power supply. They will then take that single large rail, and then they will have multiple DC to DC switching regulators that will generate the various other rails that the device needs, e.g., 3.3V, 1.8V, 5V, etc.
PS, if measuring voltage rails that are of a high switching frequency, or a variable frequency for power savings when it comes to the VRMs, lower end multimeters, (e.g., the basic $20-30 ones), will not measure accurately (though at low voltages and proper isolation you can use even a basic 20MHz oscilliscope to get accurate measurements on VRM outputs).
If your concern is more of overall idle power consumption, then you will need a decent power meter and measure power draw at the outlet. (no need to try and measure power consumption at the PCB level (it is extremely difficult and is often destructive due to the modifications needed), and usually from a total cost of ownership standpooint, power draw at the outlet is what matters.Sadly this is also tricky to measure accurately since most of the common/ basic meters such as the kill-a-watt and other similar devices, are not very accurate when measuring devices with a very low idle power draw; they will end up reading wither way too low or way too high.
For me personally, I have not done much power consumption testing on my Netgear products since I do not have an accurate enough power meter.
Must consumer level meters are targeted more at appliances and other higher drain devices, and even then, they can have a +or-3% or higher margin of error.Thank you for your interest in my topic.
The essence of my question is that due to the loss of my native 19V power supply, I plan to use power supply with idling voltage (measured by a Fluke 190 oscilloscope) 19.55V (enough power). It isn't possible to get the original power supply yet. Netgear specifies 19V reference voltage for the RAX75.
The situation causes concerns that the router will soon burn out due to overvoltage.
Other power supplies which I have are marked 19V by the factory and have an idling (no-load) voltage of up to 20V and I believe it is more dangerous to use them than a 19.5V power supply.I just want to be sure that 19.55V is acceptable for the Netgear router RAX75.
