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Can anyone recommend a specific powered USB hub they know works well for my new BIAB external hard drive ? And I noticed there is apparently a power input jack on the drive itself. Is it possible to plug a power source/wall wart in there directly, and if so, what is the voltage and is the ring or tip positive on the female plug ?

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good day,

bob

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Hi Bob

I can't absolutely guarantee that every single PG Music case ever sold would be the same, but I just verfied that this works with one of the nice black PG Music pocket drives that came with BB 2010.5.

It works fine with a 5 volt DC wall wart power supply. Tip positive.

The little PS I tested claims 1.6 A current capacity. I suspect even a smaller one might work with the newer drives which do not usually require as much current.

I have bought a lot of different brands of 2.5" hard drive enclosures over the years, and every one which had a DC jack, was spec'd for 5 volts DC tip positive. So there may be odd ones out there with some other spec, but it seems pretty standard.

Some of the external enclosures I've bought came with such transformers, so there are several of em laying around in my house. They all look about the same, and there may be one factory in asia somewhere that makes em for everybody. Or maybe it is a very standard item that many transformer factories crank out.

The transformer I just tested with the PG Music drive is one of the transformers that came along with some random hard drive case from years ago.

Unless you are in a real hurry, maybe it would be a "little better" to order a small transformer from one of the computer webstores because the little transformers have the perfect size plug and do such a good job, and are no bigger than they have to be for the task.

You could get something from Radio Shack that would work fine, but unless they now sell one "special" for the little hard drives, a generic would be, well, more generic!

Last edited by JamesChandlerJr; 12/25/10 01:59 PM.

James Chandler Jr
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Most all powered USB hubs out there should work, no problem. I know I've had success using several differently labled lowcoast brands.

I have also used a separate wallwart on my small black pgmusic USB drive in the past, tip is positive here also, my wallwart is spec'd for 5.1VDC and 1.8A. While the drive itself is spec'd at 5V, I don't think that extra tenth of a volt will cause it any undo pain **gg**


--Mac

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This was something I also discovered a few years ago when I just could not power my external drive with the Y cable on any combination of USB ports. I then tried using a powered hub just for the extra power, and it worked. I reported my success to PG Music; they approved the method and started to recommend it. The USB hub was nothing special, a cheap Belkin.


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My past experience was the same at Matt's. I'm using a powered usb hub and all is fine. It's a Cables To Go brand.


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There's a plug for 5V on the shipped BIAB drive. Any 5V source will work on this if the plug fits (Including USB-to-power cables).
And that's most phones and small gadgets. I've got quite a few of those USB/power cables.

note: I've found that nowadays almost all these things things (polarity) are positive center tapped.


BTW, just to throw a monkey into the wrench, check out this 'audio' USB hub.

http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/review_usb_hub.html

probably a gimmick, but then again Griffin makes the iMic and a lot of audio USB stuff, so who knows.

I

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