Sanity check for a component on a receiver

[n3vti]

Hey guys, it's been forever since I've been here on this forum. (But that's a different story, different topic.) I'm doing a repair on an old stereo receiver. The part I'm looking for is a 50 Ohm, 1 Watt resistor, and unfortunately, I don't have one.  However, I do have 150 Ohm, 1/2 watt resistors. Could I use 3 of them in parallel (would give me the 50 ohms I need) and still get the same result? I can't remember if Power adds up in a parallel circuit, or if it stays the same. This is just more of a sanity check for me.


Thanks in Advance,
Chuck

[fzabkar]

That should be OK.

Each 150 ohm resistor passes a current of I/3, so the combined power dissipation of 3 resistors is ...

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P = 3 x (I/3)^2 x 3R = 3 x I^2 / 9 x 3R = I^2 x R
where R is the resistance of the 50 ohm resistor and I is the total current.

[n3vti]

OK, that's what I thought. I kinda figured the substitution would work, but wanted to double check and confirm before I did anything. It's an old receiver (1975) and I don't wanna let the magic smoke out.

[mzacharias]

A 47 ohm resistor would be in spec - you could measure a few to get a little closer to 50.

It would make no difference in an audio circuit.