Emax

So I have heard it many times that internal Zip drives take too much  
power and will cause the Power Supply to fail.

I am thinking this is bollocks.
So it was time to do my own little episode of Myth-Busters.

Well- I have in my possession:

Internal Zip 100MB Drive
Miniscribe 8425 20MB Drive
Conner CP3040A
PCD-50 and MicroTech DPAI-SCSI PCMCIA drives

So, to put this to rest once and for all I rigged up:
Ampmeter on 5v and 12v power rails and I measured the drives several  
times to come up with some average numbers.
Peak is highest  value hit ever, and occurs on first power on.

Here is the comparison.....


12v Amps
12v Amps
12v Amps
12v Amps

5v Amps
5v Amps
5v Amps
5v Amps
Drive Description
Peak
Load (r/w)
Idle
Label Rating

Peak
Load (r/w)
Idle
Label Rating
Miniscrbe 8425SA � Full Height
1.12
0.86
0.86
0.9

0.6
0.58
0.56
0.9
OEM equipment for Emax









If I am incorrect, someone let me know



















Conner CP3040A � Half Height
0.56
0.52
0.12
0.25

0.51
0.5
0.4
0.28










Zip 100MB -Internal
0
0
0
None

0.58
0.43
0.41
0.8










SCM PCD-50B PCMCIA / CF adapter
0
0
0
None

0.58
0.54
0.21
1.5


As we can see from my readings, the Label Rating may or may not be  
accurate - look at the Conner....
Is that an average of the load and idle numbers on the label for the  
12V???
:-)

But we can see from my tests that the Miniscribe would be hardest on  
the power supply and has the highest power consumption.....

We can see that from my tests the 5v power distribution is no harder  
hit by a Zip or PC Card drive than the original Miniscribe, and once  
into idle mode after data read, is lower by an obvious margin.
Additionally, they completely remove any load that occurs on the 12V  
power rail.

Your Mileage May Vary, but from what I can see, neither internal Zip  
or PC Card drive is a bad option.

Regards,
Ted




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