Ho much difference does a mA make?

[Chris77]

Hi all.

No electrical knowledge what so ever so please type slowly and use small words.

I've just replaced a hard drive in my MacBook that required 5V and 700mA to one that requires 5V and 800mA.

Is the 100mA difference enough to stop the hard drive working (because it's not)?

Thanks in advance.

Chris.

 

[Deleted member 105166]

It may take fractionally longer to charge.
The MacBook is battery powered, so this will not affect the HDD.

 

[Wilko]

Hi Chris and Welcome to the Forum !
I must say, it's a bit late to ask whether it's ok after you've done it . "Cut the blue wire, turn page, but before cutting the blue wire... " comes to mind. If it's a genuine spare it would likely be designed for it and should work. Otherwise it's an unknown, as the extra current drain may cause the supply voltage to fluctuate and the disc controller may not like that. If it's not working, can you swap back to original?

 

[Deleted member 105166]

It may take fractionally longer to charge.
The MacBook is battery powered, so this will not affect the HDD.

Edit: I have just re-read the OP, on first read I misinterpreted it as you were using an under-specced charger.

 

[static zap]

Do you have any brand info for the hard drives , faster ones use bigger surges . On paper yours is is about 12% more demand ... but that is averaged, and more to do with battery life.
(Other than that -Know little of actual Macs)
(Try a small cheapie from CEX ?)

 

[Richard Burns]

The ratings would be for maximum demand so would not always be as high as that.
If you were using the hard drive to the maximum you would have a little less battery life.
The battery should be able to cope with the drain but may get a little bit warmer and just need charging more often.
If you had made a big change to say 1500mA then the battery might not be able to cope with the demand, but generally Li-polymer batteries can supply a high load fairly well.

 

[Deleted member 26818]

Hi all.

No electrical knowledge what so ever so please type slowly and use small words.

I've just replaced a hard drive in my MacBook that required 5V and 700mA to one that requires 5V and 800mA.

Is the 100mA difference enough to stop the hard drive working (because it's not)?

Thanks in advance.

Chris.

No, it’s just how much extra power the hard drive will take to run.
You may notice a reduction in battery life.

 

[Marvo]

Is it that the macbook isn't booting with the new drive? Did you create a partition and clone your original drive onto the new drive?

 

[telectrix]

just read title. a Ma makes a lot of difference. she breast feeds you for 6 months or so, changes your nappies (pampas to you , essex), feeds and clothes you , sends you for an education, then chucks you out the house, saying go get your own place to dump your smelly, sweaty socks and underpants on the bedroom floor.