I have been using the efika with an pico 60w psu and a old 12v ac adaptor (from an old modem i believe). Yesterday evening whilst unpacking the linux kernel source the efika decided the shut itself down (lost its power) and was unable to start again. This evening i decided to try the 24v adaptor from my photoprinter and it worked again, phew the efika survived. So the 12v adaptor is exit.

When buying a new adaptor what should it specs be? a 12v or a 24v one and what other spec should i be aware of?

Thanks for your answers in advance.

What? PicoPSU is a DC to DC converter, so you must use DC adaptor (with built-in rectifier).
The output voltage has to match allowable PicoPSU range (6 to 26 V
DC). Then you have to paid attention to maximum output current.
It should match Efika power consumption. For 12 V output at least 2 A
are needed (with some safety margin), for 24 V, 1 A should be probably
enough. If you have a choice, use higher voltage and lower
current.

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http://krashan.ppa.pl

Oops i was not awere of that and only looked at 12v. It did work though, could it have been bad for the efika or picopsu?

Looking closer at the adapter that is now connected it states 24v DC 2.2a . So i propably should by something like that. Or is the 2.2a overkill?

It was bad for your adaptor in the first place. It could damage PicoPSU, but fortunately it worked at some 25% of its rated power. Then if PicoPSU was damaged, it could hurt your Efika too.
It's not overkill that you can damage something. Just the adaptor is bigger, weighter and more expensive. Output current is maximum rating, the real output current just depends on the load.

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http://krashan.ppa.pl

just one of these : http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=10#ac80
i use it with a 120w pico-psu here on my Efika

the voltage the picopsu takes is dependent on the model. if it has the -WI suffix it'll take voltages from 6 to 26V no probs.
(as i think you have)

I use a 3A 12V-PSU (36W max) for my 120W picoPSU and everything
works just fine.

mvdhoning:
As the others have told you - you must be very careful when it comes
to PSUs. You just can't plug in every PSU that psysically fits..