Voltamp to milliamp conversion.
by Beans on 12/13/04 at 23:59:15

I have some christmas lights with no transformer that I know are 12V but don't know the A, or mA.  What is a VoltAmp, do they equate with milliamps and, more to the problem, what is an adequate amperage at 12V to run 100 'fairy lights' on a 40 meter (about 130f) cable?

Thanks for reading,

Beans

Re: Voltamp to milliamp conversion.
by Robert Fogt on 12/14/04 at 03:54:58

A VoltAmp is the load of a circuit.  It is the product of the potential (voltage) and the actual current.

Normally, you would call it Watts, as:
Watts = Volts * Amps

But in AC circuits, the voltage and the current can be out of phase with each other, causing it to draw more current than you'd think based on the Watts.

For purposes of comparing different lights, you can consider VoltAmps to be Watts.

If the lights are listed in VoltAmps, then they are not 12 volt lights. They are 120 volt AC lights.

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