Weird electronics question

[pasta]

swear to god, i'm losing my mind............but should alarm clocks, surge protectors, and cordless phones not NATURALLY be a little warm to the touch? perfecly normal, right? help me settle a bet with a friend. he claims NO, i claim YES. anything powered by electricity gets warm in those cases..........like hard drives do, tv's etc. ask cats, they love warm tv's. electric alarm clocks even have tiny vents on em.............! HOT stuff or HOT cords, i agree, is bad juju............

Edited July 28, 2005 by pasta

[Use3D]

Electrons moving causes friction, so any electrical device gets hot on some level, even if undetectable by humans. That's why computers need fans.

[pasta]

exactly! my old pal matt argues that the alarm clock should NOT be warm. he can believe the phone battery getting warm, ditto the surge protector if there's a lot plugged into it.....................the alarm clock baffles him.

[.:.impossible]

I've never had a hot alarm clock. Just fyi. I wouldn't be too surprised if mine was hot though. I bought it for $2.50 off a guy selling rock 'n roll photo magnets and various designer handbags.

[Use3D]

exactly! my old pal matt argues that the alarm clock should NOT be warm. he can believe the phone battery getting warm, ditto the surge protector if there's a lot plugged into it.....................the alarm clock baffles him.

←

It's probably a cheapo alarm clock with a transformer on the inside. The transformer gets quite warm converting voltage. Other kinds of clocks, like those found in a radio, use a wall-box, or external transformer, on the cord that plugs into the wall.

[pasta]

ge clock..................

[Use3D]

Yeah I have the same type. Small clock, so it gets hot from the big transformer inside. If you hold it near your monitor for a sec you might see a distortion on the screen from the transformer's electromagnetic field.

[pasta]

sorry, sony.............