UNIVERSAL AC ADAPTERS AINT WHAT THEY USED TO BE (a question)

June 4, 2009 5:40 PM

How do I buy a universal AC adapter from Radioshack?

So I went into a Radioshack today and was all like "Ay, man. Gimme a universal ac adapter," and the lady was all like lookin at me like "Yeah, AAANNND?". Turns out that Radioshack (at least in downtown Philly) only carries universal adapters in two parts: (1) the block that you actually plug into the wall and (2), the little connection piece that goes into the hardware you're powering. At Radioshack, they sell the little connection piece in a variety of sizes of different "letter" types (i.e. "Y" size, "C" size, "G" size). So....

If I want to power a Korg Electribe ES-1, which adapter type (I know it's a 9V, but Radioshack has two different varieties of those) and connection piece type do I need to buy?

P.S. I lost the original adapter so please don't tell me hurtful type things like "I AM A THE NOOBZ"".

THANKS EVERYONE FILTER!

posted by defmute to technology (8 comments total)

Bring your electribe to RS so you can try out some of the different connectors. Make sure you get the polarity right!
posted by b1tr0t at 5:55 PM on June 4

9VDC 600mA
Tip Negative
Probably between a J to P "Adaptaplug", is there any reason you can't bring your unit in and try them all until you find one that fits?
posted by davey_darling at 6:03 PM on June 4

Any chance you could find an OEM adapter on EBay or somewhere? I wouldn't risk the life of anything I held dear to the likes of RadioSlack.
posted by torquemaniac at 7:47 PM on June 4

I've brought gadgets into RS before and wouldn't buy a plug/adapter until they worked on the gadget. The staff is always perfectly happy to help me figure it out.

I'd buy a Korg adapter, though, I don't trust RS stuff with my music equipment.
posted by mmoncur at 5:22 AM on June 5

Ex-RadioShack employee here: Either bring it in and test the plugs, or go buy an OEM Adapter. Preferably the latter. RadioShack sucks.
posted by SansPoint at 5:53 AM on June 5

yes, bring it in, I did this to rig up a cord to run my camcorder off of AC power from the battery charger. The people at Radio Shack were happy to find an outlet and let me try it out.

I feel a little weird recommending Radio Shack... but my local shop has really gotten better than the "You've Got Questions, We've Got Acne" joke they were for quite a number of years.
posted by jrishel at 9:41 AM on June 5

Typically the Rat Shack has a mutant octopus bundle of all their tips attached to wires. Bring in your synthesizer and figure out which tip fits. Sometimes multiple tips will fit, so if one is out of stock you can get something similar. Then buy that tip and a one of the universal adapter (two pins plug into the tip). Make sure you get the polarity right when you plug in the tip to the two-pin DC output of the wallwart.

Or you could also ask the underpaid retail clerk for help
posted by ostranenie at 10:38 AM on June 5

On preview:
"You've got questions, we've got blank stares."
"You've got questions? We've got questions." (from a senior engineering manager at work)

There's also nowhere else to go with you absolutely need a 47uF cap at 8:30 PM. and you don't want to rip anything else apart

One more thing - Sprawl-Mart and Tar-zhay both sell DC adapters with multi-plug tips for cheaper than the Shack. YMMV
posted by ostranenie at 10:42 AM on June 5