Hardware Foolish or safe?

[ConraDargo]

So, my Wii has finally arrived

DHL delivered it two days ago and needless to say I'm thrilled and as happy as a child on Christmas.

But for a moment there, as I was setting up the console, I froze and felt a chill running down my spine. My old power converter which had served me for many years since I purchased a US GameCube, could only withstand up to 50W and on the back of the AC-adapter it said "52W"... Was this it? Would I really have to go on a search for a more powerful converter and if so - when would I actually be able to play??
But then I remember reading an article two months ago on power consumption - Wii vs. Xbox 360. I quickly entered the webiste, searched for the article and found a test showing that the Wii only consumed 17W while running Zelda and 10W in idle mode!

So I went back to my livingroom to continue setting the console up and afterwards hit the power button... Yay, it boots! Yay, there's the Wii menu! Yay, I'm exploring the UI!

And yesterday I played Wii Sports for nearly 4 hours with no problems whatsoever.

Still, I'd like to ask you fellow members (especially those of you who have some kind of experience/knowledge in electricity and stuff) - do you find my act foolish or am I safe? Have I so far only been lucky not to blow a fuse (or worse) or is there nothing to worry about?

 

[thegame07]

i would say your safe look at it this way if it blows up you will get a replacement i dont know anything about electricity :"> so i dont know for sure but i dont see any harm coming to your wii "ITS NICE"

 

[Veho]

The Wii only comes close to 52 Watts when it's running a hardware-consuming game, using a GC controller with continuous rumble, in multiplayer, online, with the WiFi hotspot really far away, while writing something to the SD card, and with the sensor bar "sensitivity" at maximum, all at once... Meaning, when every device within the Wii that can use electricity is using electricity at the same time. And even then, the consumption should only come close to 52 Watts, not actually reach them. And bear in mind that adapters have a safety margin, meaning that if the label states "50 Watts", the adapter should be able to provide at least 75 Watts continuously without failure or breakdown.

I think you're safe.

 

[shtonkalot]

What veho said is close enough to the truth.
The Wii power adapter is designed to use up to 52 Watts, it will normally never consume so much power.

Bottom line you should have more than enough power and even if you didn't it is extremely unlikely any harm would befall the Wii AC adapter or console.

 

[Veho]

What veho said is close enough to the truth.

Bar the oversimplifications and the graphic details, of course.

 

[ConraDargo]

Thanks a bunch for replying, I now most definitaly feel safe enough to continue having it this way

 

[shtonkalot]

What veho said is close enough to the truth.
Bar the oversimplifications and the graphic details, of course.

Yes, of course. Hope I didn't come across too harshly there, you had the right info.

 

[Veho]

Yes, of course. Hope I didn't come across too harshly there

Not at all

I tend to have weird explanations and wild analogies, and I want to use every analogy I think is good, and then get the analogies mixed up halfway through (I like analogies). So it's very possible that my post was a bit off.