In a humorous and artistic teardown, published on April Fool’s Day, EDN contributor Brian Dipert revealed what was (or more accurately, wasn’t) under the cover of a common AC/DC transformer-based wall adapter, investigating the mystery of why these simple power supplies can cost so much.
While Hackaday concedes that the article may have been an elaborate joke, the attention to detail in the photos and text suggest that the amount of work that went into the piece would have warranted a more substantive reveal.
In any event, the article does illustrate the contrast between the brute force used to open the adapter and the more refined, aesthetically-pleasing interior components that are normally the subject of such a teardown.
Finally, while modern, compact and lightweight switching wall adapters may be more efficient, the author does lament the passing of the “big-iron” adapters such as the one torn down, which were more friendly to ham radio enthusiasts and didn’t cause so much interference.
