Why would you want to increase current in a circuit?
One reason why is because increasing current will bring more wattage to your outdoor speakers or home theater.
Another reason is it’ll extend the lifespan of your devices. We will share what you can do to increase current in your circuit, and then we’ll explain the different concepts in circuits to help you conceptualize everything.
If you understand something on a deep level, you’ll be able to manipulate things in your favor.
Table of Contents
- How to Increase Current in a Circuit
- Ohm’s Law
- Voltage
- Watts
- Resistance
- Understanding these Components
How to Increase Current in a Circuit
- Small length conductor
- Low resistivity conductor
- Thick wire
- Decrease temperature of circuit
- Use a transistor to increase current
Finding a small conductor helps with current. For those who don’t know, a conductor is material where the electrical current can go through.
The best low resistive conductor is copper material. It’s inexpensive, but the caveat is the durability. It’s not the strongest material. You can get both a small length conductor and low resistance conductor by getting copper. All you have to do for length is cut it yourself, or have someone else do it.
The durability of copper can be remedied by wrapping it with a thick cable. If possible, try to get a thick amount of copper too. You’ll need to measure the cable volume to make sure your wires can fit right.
Another solution to increase current in a circuit is to decrease the temp of your circuit. A low budget way to do this is by placing it in a cool environment. The optimal temps for electrical devices is between 100 degrees and 122 degrees fahrenheit. The hotter the device is, the less time it will last.
The final solution we have is to use a transistor. A transistor can work as an amplifier or a switch. To increase current in a circuit, we need it to act as an amplifier assuming we’re using speakers.
An amp takes an electric signal and produces a bigger current through amplification. The beautiful part about all these solutions is they’re not expensive. You can go to your local electronics shop and get all of these.
Let’s dive into some concepts so you can understand how electricity works in a circuit.
Ohm’s Law
The only mathematical equation you’ll ever see in this post is Ohm’s law. We’ve talked about it in some of our earlier posts. Essentially, Ohm’s law is the relationship between voltage, resistance, and current.
The equation is:
I = v/r
- I = current
- V = voltage
- R = resistance
You can see that current is a product of voltage and resistance. Increasing the voltage will increase the current, and increasing resistance will decrease current.
Looking at this equation makes it easy to understand how current increases or decreases. It makes it easy to understand that to increase current, we need to increase voltage, or reduce resistance.
This equation also makes it easy to figure out voltage and resistance as the equation is interchangeable. You can multiply resistance to the amount of current and figure out the voltage. The same applies for figuring out resistance. But first, let’s understand the variables in this equation at a deeper level. This will help you work better with your devices.
Voltage
Voltage is what pushes current. Think of current as blood in your body. The voltage is the heart as it pushes blood throughout your body. Without it, your current wouldn’t go in the direction we want it to go.
Voltage is also known as “potential energy”. It’s the difference between the highest point of energy, and the lowest point.
Imagine your computer charger that’s plugged into an outlet. The energy coming from the outlet is surging with electricity. Once you plug it into your computer, the energy is so great from the cable that the current has no choice but to move forward into the computer and give it energy.
Watts
Think of wattage as the water in a river. It’s the energy which has no direction. In electrical terms, it’s a measurement of how much force is made.
A common misconception people have about watts is adding more wattage will make their speakers louder. Too much wattage can cause clipping and burn your circuit out. This is why resistance helps.
Resistance
Increasing current depends on how much resistance there is. You can either increase voltage or decrease resistance.
Resistance is the device’s ability to resist the electrons coming from the input. The more resistance you have, the harder your device has to work which raises the temperature of the device.
Resistors in a circuit are needed to prevent too much current from coming in. They protect the weak parts of the circuit. If you can find ways to lower resistance, you’ll be able to increase the current in your circuit.
Understanding these Components
Make sure you understand current, resistance, and voltage. Understanding these will help you fix your devices. Just remember that every component of Ohm’s law is needed. We can’t just lower resistance without facing consequences.
If you’re uncomfortable with getting your hands dirty, talk to a professional. It’s worth it compared to wasting your money with some headaches here and there.
Also, if you have any other tips on how to increase current, please let us know!
