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Is A Power Adapter the Same as a Charger?

Views: 607 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: Origin: Site

With the development of technology, more and more consumers use electronic products and they will use various power adapters or chargers. Is the power adapter and charger the same thing? What's the difference between them?


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What is charger?

The charger usually refers to a device that converts AC power to low-voltage DC power. It includes control circuits that meet the charging characteristics such as current limiting and voltage limiting. The power adapter is a power converter that is transformed, rectified, and stabilized. The output is DC, which can be understood as a low-voltage regulated power supply when the power is met.


The flow of the charger is: constant current-constant voltage-trickle. The three-stage charging theory in the charging process can greatly improve the charging efficiency of the battery, shorten the charging time and effectively extend the battery life. Three-stage charging uses constant current charging, then constant voltage charging and finally uses floating charging for maintenance charging.

What is power adapter?

The power adapter is an external power supply, which is a kind of power supply equipment specifically for small portable electronic equipment and electronic appliances. Its role is to convert the high-voltage 220V AC high-voltage to the low-voltage DC of about 3.3V to 24V for electronic equipment. The electronic device can work normally, and is widely used in routers, phone handsets, game consoles, language repeaters, Walkman, notebooks, mobile phones and other devices. 


The traditional linear power adapter is composed of a transformer and a rectifier and filter circuit, which is not only bulky and has a poor voltage regulation effect, but also has low power conversion efficiency. New power adapters generally use miniaturized and fully sealed power modules without power frequency transformers, which have the advantages of high efficiency, small size, good voltage stability and complete protection functions.


The power adapter is a small portable electronic device and a power conversion device for electronic appliances. It has an external power supply and is connected to the host with a cable. This reduces the size and weight of the host inside.

Difference between power adapter and charger

The charger can charge the battery directly while the adapter can charge the battery with the help of a charge management circuit, it cannot charge the battery directly. The power adapter mainly supplies power for electronic equipment. The output characteristics of the two are different. The power adapter is guaranteed to output the rated voltage within the rated load range. 


Strictly speaking, the power adapter and the charger are not the same thing. The former is a switching power supply and is used to provide energy for electrical appliances, such as power adapters for notebook computers. 

The latter is used to charge the battery. Three stages of charging are performed according to the capacity and charging characteristics of different batteries. First, the battery is given a constant current, then a constant voltage, and then trickled. Some batteries may be over discharged during use. If you use an adapter to charge the battery directly currently. It will shorten the battery life and leak the liquid, and severely it will cause the battery to explode.


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