Running US gear on 220 volts 50Hz?

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Boogiepack

Boogiepack

Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2015
Messages
31
Location
Sweden
A major problem for me in expanding my quad equipment is the fact that most stuff available were made for US standards, and not having selectable voltage. For example, the only Q8 player i have found that can work here is the AKAI CR-80D-SS...and i have been outbid on everyone so far, since its quite a bit of shipping costs to add. If the seller will ship to Sweden at all.:(

Now, these things with motors like tapedecks and turntables - i know they cant be used with a transformator only as the 50Hz will make them play at wrong speed. I have restored a RCA 45 EY recordchanger, that time it could be solved by fooling with the capstan diameter and a transformator... but thats to much trouble to do with a tape deck....so i guess PART ONE of this thread is, please give me advice on Q8 players to look for on Ebay..:rolleyes:

PART TWO is; Is it ok to run recievers, decoders, amps on 50Hz through a transformator like this for example(the one i have is 300watts):
1



In some occasions i have seen gear that have a 50/60Hz switch but no voltage switch so i guess they´re ok with a voltchanger but there have not been to many.
 
Hey Boogie

I am over 50 but a proud "all digital HDMi" kid, so I can't help you with part one, but I am an electronics guy so I can help with part 2.

Yes, your transformer is fine. You can only run a piece of electronics at 220 or 110 only if it has both transformers inside(like some Cisco switches which also have a switch to select 220 or 110).

USA gear needs 110VAC. Any 220/110 transformer that can handle enough current will work for you (check the wattage requirement of your gear) remember watts is power and is current times voltage. Don't worry so much about the math, the above transformer seems beefy enough for one piece of gear.

A/C motors are used in industrial applications or in your home's heater blower unit. Yes, if your A/C blower motor was rated at 60 cycles and you fed it 50 cycles, it would run slower. It'd work fine, just slower. But....

Stereo gear uses DC motors so you need not worry at all. Each piece of stereo equipment inside its power supply converts A/C to DC for all its circuits and motors. The power supply has a "bridge rectifier" circuit which converts the A/C to DC and then a "filter" circuit that cleans up the DC to provide a stable DC voltage for the motors to use. So 50 cycles should be in range of what the amplifier or tape deck's power supply can "rectify" into DC.

If for example, you had a turntable with an A/C motor rated at 60 cycles then you would have problems in Sweeden. It would run slower on 50 cycles, but NOT a DC motor turntable.

Bottom line, you are fine using the transformer above for your USA gear, just don't run several pieces of gear from that single transformer.

And you need not worry about the 50 or 60 hertz power.

Cheers!

DMJ
 
Have you tried Buyee.jp ? They run a proxy service for Japanese Yahoo auctions, their equivalent to eBay. I see Japanese 8-tracks like the Technics RS 858 with 100 volt AC 50 and 60 hz, which only needs a transformer. It isn't the cheapest, but might solve your needs if you give it time. I bought one from Clarion that worked just fine here in Canada. The prices don't always skyrocket and I have gotten some serious deals. Just a word of caution, bid with shipping and auction and proxy service fees in in your mind. They estimate for you ahead of time, but give their tool a little extra. That is how I got a Sansui QS-D1000 and a QSD-1.
 
DennisMoore Jr. said:
Hey Boogie

I am over 50 but a proud "all digital HDMi" kid, so I can't help you with part one, but I am an electronics guy so I can help with part 2.

Yes, your transformer is fine. You can only run a piece of electronics at 220 or 110 only if it has both transformers inside(like some Cisco switches which also have a switch to select 220 or 110).

USA gear needs 110VAC. Any 220/110 transformer that can handle enough current will work for you (check the wattage requirement of your gear) remember watts is power and is current times voltage. Don't worry so much about the math, the above transformer seems beefy enough for one piece of gear.

A/C motors are used in industrial applications or in your home's heater blower unit. Yes, if your A/C blower motor was rated at 60 cycles and you fed it 50 cycles, it would run slower. It'd work fine, just slower. But....

Stereo gear uses DC motors so you need not worry at all. Each piece of stereo equipment inside its power supply converts A/C to DC for all its circuits and motors. The power supply has a "bridge rectifier" circuit which converts the A/C to DC and then a "filter" circuit that cleans up the DC to provide a stable DC voltage for the motors to use. So 50 cycles should be in range of what the amplifier or tape deck's power supply can "rectify" into DC.

If for example, you had a turntable with an A/C motor rated at 60 cycles then you would have problems in Sweeden. It would run slower on 50 cycles, but NOT a DC motor turntable.

Bottom line, you are fine using the transformer above for your USA gear, just don't run several pieces of gear from that single transformer.

And you need not worry about the 50 or 60 hertz power.

Cheers!

DMJ
Click to expand...

He is aliiiiiiive! :woopie:woopie:woopie:brew
 
I got a Technics SL-V5 turntable a few years ago (only available in USA - 110V/60Hz) - I ended up making a pcb that was same shape as original inside the unit - to run off 220-230V/50Hz.

The unit has been working for past 10 years with no issues - the main issue with any turntable is that if you do not change the 50Hz/60Hz setup then you run the risk or transformer saturating & overheating, also if you have digital control that also relies on the mains frequency then other stuff will be off & may cause other issues........it is a tricky issue but there are various well known ICs that fix the frequency problem.

Steve in New Zealand
 
I solved this with two common things you can easily find out. I bought off ebay a pure sine wave US inverter, paid it about 90$. I took an old PC transformer (ATX will be fine) and took from that the 12V I needed. I fed the inverter and I have the 110V/60Hz I need, I could run my old JVC reel-to-reel with it that has a 60hz AC synchronized motor.

If you buy a non pure sine wave inverter you could have lots of noise in the signal

To find out how to power up the transformer look at this video

http://youtu.be/m4uRnID7G_Q



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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