Is there a difference between a Power Supply and a Power Adapter?

[shaker]

 

Hi All; 

 

Electronically, is there a difference between a say a 48V 4A Power Supply (metal box) and a 8V 4A Power Adapter (plastic brick)? 

 

If so, does it matter for powering coils and motors? 

 

Thanks!

 

   - Mark

[LegoYoda]

You can read that question 2 ways:

 

If you're talking about how these things are advertised then they are functionally the SAME THING (both are power supplies). the subelty is that the "adapter" is generally a power supply designed for ONE appliation (so, say, a laptop or monitor power brick).  Usually with one output connector (like a barrel plug or USB-C). a Power supply generally lets you connect to it via plugs or connectors and is design to power "whatever".

 

in your example, when a component is rated for , say, 48V 2A then it's going to need that voltage (+/- a few %) and draw that amperage (i.e.96 Watts when on).

So, in your example you have a 192Watt PSU (Metal box) and a 32Watt (plastic brick).  The difference is that the brick wont give enough voltage to power the coil and is unlikley to have the right connectors or terminals to allow you to anyhow....

 

I hope that helps