Moved to the E.U. Need 60hz

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r0ck1r0ck2

Active member
Joined
Aug 13, 2005
Messages
43
Location
Barcelona!!
so what are my d.i.y. options here..?
are there any reasonable premade converters?

certain devices..(monitors, ad/da converters, yadda) require that 60hz..
oh yes they do..

what am i gonna do?

oh please ..let me know what you think
 
pretty broke right now, so i'm leaning towards building one..

a ups is in my future but the nice models are really expensive..

any chance to diy the frequency converter only?
 
Why do you think you need 60Hz?

The only things I can think of that depends on mains frequency are stuff like clock radios and synchronous-motors like in some tape recorders and record players.

But you'll probably need 230V>115V conversion, if your units are not settable to 230V. In that case, get an autotransformer.

Jakob E.
 
1147452343_c76d43b5c2_o.jpg


1148290354_1abf5d9a81_o.jpg
 
indeed...i need to try talking to lynx..

apparently they have really good support..

however..

event is less than crap when it comes to getting back..

thanks for the reminder
 
I'll lay long money down that you can run them at 50Hz.

unless it's a (VERY old) television mains-derived frame-sync timing, or synchronous motor issue (turtables, B3 tonewheel motor, leslie motors etc) then There's no problem.

Look at the first picture and apply a moment's thought, if you could.
1147452343_c76d43b5c2_o.jpg


That device runs quite happily at 60Hz... -they say so on the next line down!!!

The only reason that they say 120V 60Hz and not 50Hz is that 120V is ALWAYS 60Hz.

The second device is also 'configured for 120V 60Hz'. They just say 60Hz because 120V is ALWAYS 60Hz.

If the regulator dropout margin is so tight that 50Hz ripple (being about 20% longer between pulses) will be exposed, then what you have there is a piece of crap gear.

Run them at 50Hz. I'll make a bet with you that they all work PERFECTLY. Not a single one of the devices you've listed takes any timing or speed information from the mains, and all have adequate power supply designs. -When I win (not "if"!!!) you can pay me out of what you saved! :wink:

Keith
 
thanks for all the help!

now, when you say good money you're talking about

$1000 for the monitors
$3000 for the AD/DA
and a measly $225 for the Compressor

of course it is much more expensive in europe..
i would put it at about $5500 usd..

you really want to put up that much?

that said..

i opened up the monitors and there is a way to swap the power cables for 230 volt operation..
the monitors have a big fat toroidal transformer and i don't even want to think what that would cost to replace if blown..

it could be speced to run at 60hz only..
i think they use something like 300watts each..maybe more..

dunno..

i'm waiting for event to get back to me on this one..
i'll probably be waiting a long time..
 
No.

This is how the power supply works:

Fuse... Toroid... Rectifier... smoothing. From that point on it's DC.

The smoothing will work at 100Hz about as well as 120Hz, remember that the decay is largely asymptotic. The toroid core won't be 'tuned' to 60Hz either... or if it is, it'll still be well within an acceptance window at 50Hz. Transformer manufacturers have an easier time by building 'universal' transformers: make them happiest at around 55Hz and you serve the whole world as a market.

you really want to put up that much?
Sure.

Because it's not a gamble, it's a bet.

It's only a gamble if there's a chance of losing. I won't lose.

Keith
 
Search (good luck) for a PRR thread started on this topic. He was dealing with vintage guitar amps that would overheat when the PSU tranny was exposed to the wrong frequency mains.
 
ok...i'm at ease..thank you soo much..!

remember that the decay is largely asymptotic.

this i don't understand..
what decay are you talking about..?
please explain...please.

Search (good luck) for a PRR thread started on this topic. He was dealing with vintage guitar amps that would overheat when the PSU tranny was exposed to the wrong frequency mains.

found it and bumped it..no response yet..
i'm waiting with bated breath..


again, i thank you for all your help..it's a great relief..
 
Before the world was opened up as a common marketplace, older electronic equipment built for North America often was fitted with power transformers designed for 60Hz operation and didn't have enough core laminations to handle 50Hz. without running warm (or HOT) . Niagra region even had 25 Hz. power well into the 1950's IIRC, and 60Hz. transformers became effective space heaters.

I think nowadays this isn't so much a concern with modern equipment, and with switching supplies becoming even more common there isn't even requirements for line voltage switching. It all gets chopped up into little slices and converted to DC.

Try it on 120V 50Hz. for 5 or 10 minutes and see how warm the transformers run. They certainly won't burn up in 5 minutes of running, and will give you an indication of any potential problems if they seem any warmer than usual.

Wall warts may be a potential problem because I find a lot of them run hot on 60Hz, and moving them to 50Hz. might be just pushing the limits.
 

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