AC to DC adapter

[Lazarus]

I just don't get it. I bought a Colman catalytic heater. It has a built in fan that runs on two D size batteries. On the bottom of the fan unit is a jack that said 3 volts. Thinking that I could get the adapter for it I called Colman to see about it. They tell me there is no adapter. The jack was only for factory testing of the fan. ??? So do I have this right? They can use it to give the unit the 3 volts to run it and test it but not make an adapter so you don't go through a ton of batteries?! To think someone got paid to design this.
I can see the wires to the jack and they are hooked up so I am thinking I should be able to get a 3 volt adapter. Only problem is they came in different milli amps. Most from 200ma to 600ma. It looks like the diameter of the jack is the same on some of the ones I have seen. Any Ideas on what milli amps to get?

[alstonj1]

a 300 or 600 should do fine .personally id go for the 600 its only gonna use as much as its designed to use . this things a heater and it runs on 2 batteries must not last long on 2 d cells and not much heat either .

[luckydog]

i think the batteries only run the fan, coleman fuel must run the heater.

[birdbrain]

these things are designed to be portable (ice fishing, garage, etc) if i remember the fan last about 30 hours run time on a set of batts. so actually about a week or two when heating a room with it.

[daverob]

If the fan runs for about 30 hours on a set of batteries then it's probably best to select the 600mA one. This is assuming the batteries in question are decent quality alkaline ones, which should be capable of outputting around 500mA for 30 hours.

If you do use an adapter, then make sure that there are no batteries in the compartment. As if the adapter socket is only intended for testing then it might not isolate the batteries, which would mean that the adapter power would try to charge up any batteries that are in there, which would be a very bad idea.


BTW, I'm guessing that the manufacturer didn't plan for anyone to use a portable heater like this if they had access to mains electricity. I expect that they thought that people would use an electric heater in this situation.

[Lazarus]

Thanks for the info. The heater may have been intended for portable use but it uses less fuel than others for the same BTUs. I will have access to AC more so in the long run will pay to use an adapter.