Re-use power supplies by changing the plugs

It happens from time to time that a power supply gets lost or does not work anymore. On the other hand I have a couple of old power supplies not being used any more but which cannot be re-used due to a different type of plug.

Over the last few years I noticed, that an output tension of 5 or 12 volts becomes a global standard. This standardisation of the voltage has the advantage that old power supplies can be re-used for new devises or interchanged between various devices. Nevertheless, most devices do still have special plugs which do not allow the free use of other power supplies. The good news is that more and more the USB-5-Volt plug becomes a global standard.

By experience it does not make sense to exchange the plugs of the power supplies. It is easier to splice the cable of the old device with the cable of the new device. Power supplies do usually provide a direct current over two separate cables. It is essential to splice the two cables in a way that the plug is correctly poled at the end. I have also noticed, that the polarisation in the plugs gets more and more standardised in a way that the center nail is usually positive and the drum of the plug is negative. I do warmly recommend to check the right polarisation with a measuring instrument before it gets connected to the device. A wrong polarisation may lead to the damage of the power supply and the device.