[Closed] Power adaptors for electronics - are they all the same?

They are not the same but you should be ok as long as the output voltage is the same and the new one can support the same current draw.

Check also the polarity.
I have a number of guitar effects and an electronic drum kit - the guitar effects are centre negative 9V while the drum kit is centre positive - a less common configuration - so the power adapters are not interchangeable

the branded one will deliver the power it claims to, and one would assume might actually have warranty cover

no-name stuff from the back end of who knows where is unlikely to do so, and is very likely to have cut corners on the electronics inside, and those compliance stickers, they're just stickers, not anything the company will ever back up by, say, meeting the standards

your call, but, end of day, one will work as described, the other might catch fire

see also, cheap USB phone chargers

your call, but, end of day, one will work as described, the other might catch fire

The official one appears to have died after just two years so there's I'm not convinced I'd be paying for reliability.

I'm also not completely sure it's the power brick and if I'm wrong, I'd rather be wrong to the tune of £19 than £154...

I have a number of guitar effects and an electronic drum kit – the guitar effects are centre negative 9V while the drum kit is centre positive – a less common configuration

It's worse than that. Some guitar stuff is centre positive too. Like Line-6. Except they changed that at some point meaning now they're more in line with other guitar stuff (but completely out of step with themselves!).

As long as its from a shop from a reasonable reputation it should be fine. From an engineering point of view there is nothing revolutionary in them. You just want to ensure its been constructed with some reasonable quality. Some of them can have some really shoddy solder connections and poor quality parts that can fail early.

the warranty is irrelevant, for an expensive product just over 2 years old I'd be contacting the retailer or LG themselves and asking them to repair or replace under the CRA!

the warranty is irrelevant, for an expensive product just over 2 years old I’d be contacting the retailer or LG themselves and asking them to repair or replace under the CRA!

Yep, I did (LG support via online chat). They were useless. They have a big banner on their website proclaiming support for sustainability and repair practices. Apparently the UK repair place is out of action, and they can't book anything in. Operator had no idea when it would re-open, only advising I seek a 3rd party repair. Then couldn't direct me to any 3rd party repair places.

I told them I was very disappointed. They did nothing. Could reach out via Twitter I suppose.

things to check:

Voltage output
Centre positive/centre negative
CUrrent Draw (output A or Wattage)
PLug size/shape

Can't find the specs of your monitor Power Supply (a photo of it may helpif you;ve got one) to compare to teh ones you've found. after that its about making sure the plug size is the same.

Otherwise i'd go for cheapest one that is vaguely reputable.
my monitor jsut uses a standard computer three pin shaped plug (like a desktop) but clearly yours is much fancier.

Cheap eBay / Amazon adaptor is fine for a monitor as long as you confirm all the above match. Also likely to get branded second hand there too. The adaptors both LG and Samsung supply are nothing special.

Matters on some things much more where you need clean, quiet, stable supply. E.g high end hifi DAC where you want linear over switching etc.

There's an annoying variety of different connector sizes and shapes. If you are handy with the tools you might be just as well taking the connector off the old power supply and splicing it to the new one.

There should be a diagram on the PSU that shows if it's centre positive or negative.

Checked the fuse?

(+ £35 for the kettle power cable with a slightly modified plug, which I don’t believe I need).

That's not a slightly modified plug, it's an IEC C5 and is very much a standard. They're common as muck, that would still be an obscene price if they moved the decimal point one to the left.

Oh yeah,

And some power bricks are 'smart,' it's unlikely but possible that you're not seeing anything with a meter because the meter isn't a monitor.

Can’t find the specs of your monitor Power Supply (a photo of it may help if you've got one) to compare to teh ones you’ve found.

PSU is an LG DA-180C19. It says 19V 9.8A (centre positive). It looks identical to this image albeit different serial number:

that would still be an obscene price if they moved the decimal point one to the left.

Didn't realise it was a standard. But yeah.

Checked the fuse?

Fuse is fine, which of course I checked before your post because I'm a competent human 🙈

my monitor jsut uses a standard computer three pin shaped plug (like a desktop) but clearly yours is much fancier.

Not really. It's still just the same 3 pin cable but a different ("IEC C5", apparently) connector. Like this:

Anyway, I'm fairly confident the cable is fine. At least, all the connectors conduct which I think is all that it could go wrong.

And some power bricks are ‘smart,’ it’s unlikely but possible that you’re not seeing anything with a meter because the meter isn’t a monitor.

Thanks. That thought had crossed my mind. Is there any way I can test this?

Not really. It’s still just the same 3 pin cable but a different (“IEC C5”, apparently) connector. Like this:

I literally just said that!

Thanks. That thought had crossed my mind. Is there any way I can test this?

Sure. Just buy a new monitor and...

Honestly, I don't know. But if it's 20V then my guess is it's just a generic laptop-style dumb PSU with a barrel connector, that's a common line level. You're probably right in your diagnosis and any random replacement will probably work. Or cause a bush fire in New Zealand. But probably not.

some power bricks are ‘smart,’

Is that true for power bricks like this with just +ve and -ve connections? Wouldn't it need to be something like USB with a more complex plug? Even if it was frequency encoding messages down the +ve and -ve wires it would still need to have some voltage there to boot the monitor up into communicating? So I can't believe this is a smart power brick.

Thanks for the helps so far.

Minor update: I ordered a 'compatible' charger from Amazon. Unfortunately, the charger is not as advertised and is only 2A not 9.5A so will power the screen but can't power my laptop (or apparently even display the screen image). Thankfully, the screen appears fine and can display an image from my Raspberry Pi, so a proper PSU should fix it.

But I can't for the life of me find an LG PSU from a reputable place (except for the ridiculous £154 option from LG direct which I refuse to pay. Is there somewhere I can buy a standard, good quality PSU from? I don't mind splicing the plug if necessary.

EDIT: Perhaps this one will be OK. Anyone ever heard of T Power??
https://www.amazon.co.uk/POWER-150W-180W-Electronics-Ultrawide-Widescreen/dp/B0794HQSV6

Is that true for power bricks like this with just +ve and -ve connections? Wouldn’t it need to be something like USB with a more complex plug?

Dunno. Probably not? My Dells have a third pin.