Why so many kinds of wall warts?

[summers2]

The fact of using a wall wart in manufacturing keyboards has its advantages. Some are; cheaper, lighter weight, less space used inside the unit, and on and on.

They also have disadvantages. To me, the greatest disadvantage is the fact that they are not universal as power cords are. Each manufacturer uses a different kind of wall wart, even for different keyboards that they make. To me it makes little sense to have different wall warts for keyboards from the same manufacturer.

Seems like a wall wart could be made that would work with all boards. Failing that, I am sure that the manufacturers could get together and have two or maybe three wall wart specifications that would be applicable to all boards across makers in two or three levels. Seems that they would gain more in acceptance of wall warts than they would lose in wall wart replacement sales.(they wouldn't lose all that business)

A user could then carry one extra wall wart for all his boards. He could use them interchangeably. He could pick one up anywhere.

What do you think? Would that make you less determined against wall warts?

[Chriskk]

That won't happen.

Korg, for example, can charge higher prices for its AC adpters because they are proprietary. It's all about business.

[Scott]

That won't happen.

Korg, for example, can charge higher prices for its AC adpters because they are proprietary. It's all about business.

I think that's silly, to be honest. I doubt that sales of extra/spare AC adapters contributes anything of significance to Korg's bottom line.

[Chriskk]

I guess you are naive when it comes to business. Every dollar counts in business. When you can easily make extra $$, nothing's silly.

[michelkeijzers]

That's the reason I don't like adapters ... rather I have a 120/220V standard power cable. I carry several spares anyway when gigging and they almost never break (despite to adapter cables which are mostly way too thin).

[wojtek666]

When you're connecting a regular power cord you still have a power adapter inside the unit (like in kronos) so that can break as well. As to power cords being stronger than the thin cable between the adapter and the keyboard - agreed these are easily breakable.

[ShaunKorg]

I’ve read somewhere (probably on a musician’s forum, so take this with a grain of salt) that several governments place extra regulations on internal power supplies that don’t apply to wall warts. So, electronics manufacturers can avoid months of testing and red tape by going with a wall wart.

That being said, I don’t know why they can’t be universal and I don’t know why they all have flimsy cords.

[cjj]

Well, it is true that most governmental agencies require extensive safety testing of electrical devices that plug into mains power. This testing can be quite expensive and can add significant cost to a product.

If the product has an external power supply, it generally falls into the category referred to as "SELV" which means Separated or Safety Extra Low Voltage. This bypasses a lot of the expensive test requirements.

Now, the "wall warts" are almost always made by some company other than the manufacturer of the equipment that uses them. These power supply companies specialize in making power supplies and since they do it all the time, are almost always set up to "self certify" their products to meet the test requirements, making the testing cheaper...

[FatFingers]

From what I've read, it is not only the expense of test requirements but also the 'time to market' factor that makes the use of wall warts so attractive to manufacturers. The ones Korg buys have already been tested and certified for use, so once Korg finishes designing and starts to manufacture their low-voltage keyboards, it is ready for immediate sale. If Korg instead designed their keyboards to accept higher, line voltage, it might be a few months after production before their keyboard could be certified and sold.

I just purchased an interface from Motu, and really appreciate their approach: while they include a power adapter with the interface, their manual states that any standard DC power supply that provides 9 to 18 volts, 5 watts can be used (and regardless of tip polarity). That is very consumer-friendly in my book, in case I ever need to replace the power supply.

[morty]

That's the reason I don't like adapters ... rather I have a 120/220V standard power cable. I carry several spares anyway when gigging and they almost never break (despite to adapter cables which are mostly way too thin).

I agree wholeheartedly thats what I like about my Kurzweil PC3 a standard cord.It used to be like that in the old days with almost every keyboard, standard cords!! "it's probably another way to save money or make money"lol

[summers2]

I understant the manufacturer's reasoning for using the wall wart. It just seems to me that they could make them universal. At least for sure, they could have two or three types according to power required. Say for example, Type A, type B, type C. They could then say, use type B adapter, etc. Of course they would provide one with the unit clearly marked, Type B adapter.(or whichever that unit required) To have all sorts of random adapters just doesn't make sense to me. It would seem to be a win/win situation to make them universal to as great an extent as is possible.

[michelkeijzers]

It would seem to be a win/win situation to make them universal to as great an extent as is possible.

I'm afraid it's not a win win situation. When they are all equal (or only have a few types) every company can make them, and some will probably be cheaper (with cheaper materials).