Centre positive charging.

[James M]

Morning All.

Hope you are all ok in these troubled times.
A quick query. I want to charge an Essel loco but I need to use a right angled plug as the ones I have won’t fit in the space. I have an extension lead from a axtronics smart charger which will fit in the space. My query is as follows. The charger is set to centre positive as it should be, if I put the extension lead on will it change the polarity? I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to electronics or similar.
Regards Alan.

 

[PhilP]

It shouldn't..
Do you have a meter? - Or if not, a battery and a bulb/buzzer??
You can then check, by seeing if you get a circuit from centre, to centre.

However, the Axtronics smart-charger will not be damaged, and will not charge, if it is wrongly connected. So it should not do any harm to try it.

PhilP.

 

[JimmyB]

It really depends on the lead, a standard lead"should" be centre to centre, so not changing the polarity, but there are "twisted" leads that do. If you do not have a multimeter (WHY NOT ), but seriously just a battery and lamp to check continuity.

 

[Rhinochugger]

It really depends on the lead, a standard lead"should" be centre to centre, so not changing the polarity, but there are "twisted" leads that do. If you do not have a multimeter (WHY NOT ), but seriously just a battery and lamp to check continuity.

I've not had any dealings with these concentric extension leads, as I've tended to simply change the plug where necessary.

However, I did have a 5-pin DIN lead that reversed polarity, so I simply bought another and extended the range - two reversals gave me the right answer, so sometimes two wrongs do make a right

 

[James M]

Thank you all for your help and advice. I dug out a multimeter and checked the lead. It’s ok, loco now on charge.
Regards Alan.