Seemingly trivial things that intrigue you
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There are a few YouTube videos on what is inside a phone charger.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
So if my unused toaster is plugged in, should I expect it to draw electricity even if it is not being used? Surely not.
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Depends. Mine has an on/off switch as well as the main lever to toast, so at the very least there's an LED indicator. I'd guess there are a couple of capacitors somewhere on a PCB that will be kept charged in 'standby' as well.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
No, I don't think so. But maybe. Depends what voltage it actually uses and whether it needs a transformer.
I suspect the amount of power we are talking about is very small. But we can thank the Eurocrats for that, I believe. I still have transformers that get warm to the touch just sitting there. And a TV that used to hum happily away to remind me that it wanted me to switch it on and watch Pebble Mill.
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Right, i've obviously not explained it very well. I'm not talking about things that obviously are just drawing a tiny bit of electicity to keep a sensor or a LED light on.
But things like a charger, which doesn't have anything to draw energy from unless there's something attached at the other end? I don't get the physics there, unless there is something actually in the adapter. But then, half the time I'm just sticking my USB cable directly into the socket - surely that can't be drawing anything unless there's a device at the other end.
My feeling is the advice is just generic so anything that has a 'standby' option, like a computer or TV is just included, as well as stuff that doesn't actually draw anything.
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There is a transformer within the USB plug. Transformers use power to transform even if that power is going nowhere. Cables are also more complex than most think.
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
I'd guess with a plain transformer, when the secondary side isn't forming a circuit what you have effectively is an inductor on the primary side. So that will generate resistance to the current a magnetic field and some heat.
I assume the cleverer more modern transformers have a bit more going on, which means they barely consume any energy when the phone they are charging is plugged in.
I wouldn't trust any of the above, as the only reason I passed the electronics module in my degree is that the examiner set the same paper each year, merely changing the numbers in the questions
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A transformer does have a small a/c current through the primary coil even when not under load. There will be an electrical resistance to this, and the ferrous core will also have some, via induced current. I believe that this will be overwhelmingly the biggest contribution, regardless of whether there is any circuit completed to the secondary coil.
Basically. And that's tapping out my knowledge almost entirely, because all the fun stuff that chemists learn about magnetic domains, in relation to which we are taught a bit of physics, is totally irrelevant. It also fell out of my brain at least 20 years ago.
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There are basically two sorts of switches, those that have a physical pole(s) which move and complete the connection to allow current to flow and those that switch a logic circuit which switches something else to make the power flow.
The 'logic' types are always using some current, it's very small, often in milliamps. Besides those, some circuits are continually sending "do you want this on?" type messages around many times a second, and so use a bit more.
In terms of power, the modern switch-mode power supplies are more efficient and don't use as much when plugged in and not being used as the old transformer only type. Generally the switch-modes are very light compared to the equivalent transformer only types (both use transformers, just different ones and in a different way).
Rule of thumb, if it's warm it's using leccy.
The older I get, the better I was.0 -
Second paragraph should be that the chargers barely use any energy when the phone isn't plugged in
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I'm intrigued that reform seem to have used a 10 year old to design their power point deck.
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1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
Just think of the transformer as a device like any other eg. an electric heater. The only difference is that it allows another device to be attached to the system, but that doesn't change the idea.
There are losses all along the entire generation system from generator to consumer. Every inverter, transformer and bit of cable loses electricity (presumably to heat). A 2m USB cable will deliver fractionally less power than a 20cm one.
As to the question about plug sockets with USBs included, I don't know, but they must have a transformer and it presumably must consume some power.
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Transformers can also be robots in disguise though.
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I am surprised how our local sparrows seem to stick to very specific locations. I very rarely saw a sparrow in the garden of my previous house despite it being full of other types of bird and there being a small bush at the end of the road that seemed to be full of them.
Really noticeable now we have moved about a mile away and the neighbours have some bird boxes so we see loads of them every day.
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What does £20,000 of Haribo look like?
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Open One+ BMC TE29 Seven 622SL On One Scandal Cervelo RS0 -
Was thinking more like just a load of cardboard boxes on pallets.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
For me it has been a mixture of being busy and a stone age iPad not liking the new downgrade. I am resisting the urge to use my phone for foruming.
Have I missed anything
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Glad to hear you've not ceased to be or are pushing up the daisies.
I think we might have learned a bit about transformers. Or perhaps we haven't.
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Not really - SSDD. Rick has launched a renewed assault on Boomers but that's not really news.
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
It's been a real sliding doors moment for me: pre upgrade I was worried I was turning into Rick. Post upgrade I'm worried I'm turning into Stevo.
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Cake is just weakness entering the body0 -
Why would you worry about that. Sounds like a big improvement...
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]1 -
Has he widened his definition of Boomer
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I think it always has included Tory voters, Brexiteers etc. Eventually it'll be anyone who doesn't fall into line with the Liberal left agenda.
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]1 -
I've become less inclusive in my politics, and mirroring the boomer politics of 'screw them, as long as it suits me' as I feel the pendulum has swayed so far to the advantage of retirees, at the expensive of working age people, it's almost impossible to swing too far the otherwise.
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Quite funny. 🤣
The current retired boomers 30 years ago were middle aged working labour voters. Apparently they've switched to tory "screw them". You're ahead of the curve.
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
You'll have to explain how my politics is Tory, given they are the retirees united party. Supporting policies for working age people you would have thought is...labour territory?
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