Need some help with 110-220 converters....

[KenW]

I've got a family member getting ready to spend a year or two in Seoul. He's been advised to pick up a couple of converters in the US before he leaves. Seems a couple of his colleagues picked up a unit or two that were of suspect quality which led to some equipment damage.

Anyone here have some top flight units they'd recommend? I'll confess to knowing nothing about the converters, what's out there or what's good. Thanks in advance. Hope things are well with the Head Case gang!

[omendelovitz]

Ken, you're cousin should be careful as suspect quality may not be the only contribution to fried componentry. Keep in mind that many places in the world (Korea included, I'm pretty sure) run on 220V, 50 Hz AC systems. This means that even through your high quality converter/transformer, you're not adjusting the delivery frequency - this typically leads to under-volting (not a real word) and over-currenting (also not a real word), which will overheat parts and is a fire hazard if you're using power cables designed for 60 Hz systems (thinner wire is used). I hope this helps.

Oriel

[KenW]

Ken, you're cousin should be careful as suspect quality may not be the only contribution to fried componentry. Keep in mind that many places in the world (Korea included, I'm pretty sure) run on 220V, 50 Hz AC systems. This means that even through your high quality converter/transformer, you're not adjusting the delivery frequency - this typically leads to under-volting (not a real word) and over-currenting (also not a real word), which will overheat parts and is a fire hazard if you're using power cables designed for 60 Hz systems (thinner wire is used). I hope this helps.

Oriel

Thanks, Oriel. Sounds like a real problem. Any suggestions on transformers or possible solutions? He's paranoid about frying his Mac and other electronics....and I don't know enough about transformers to help him.

[Torpedo]

I wouldn't be much concerned about the frequency issue unless you were to drive a turntable. Most modern electronic devices can work perfectly at 60 or 50Hz without a single problem. Otherwise the thousands of americans travelling to Europe would have fried a lot of laptops and many other electronics, and europeans travelling to USA had done the very same

Make sure that Korea has 220V and not 230 or 240, that could cause a higher voltage delivered to the device when a surge happens. In fact getting there a decent surge protector wouldn't be a bad idea.

Regarding trannies... not sure what to advice, it largely depends on how many devices he's planning to take and the power consumption they'd add altogether.

Rgrds

[omendelovitz]

I wouldn't be much concerned about the frequency issue unless you were to drive a turntable. Most modern electronic devices can work perfectly at 60 or 50Hz without a single problem. Otherwise the thousands of americans travelling to Europe would have fried a lot of laptops and many other electronics, and europeans travelling to USA had done the very same

Make sure that Korea has 220V and not 230 or 240, that could cause a higher voltage delivered to the device when a surge happens. In fact getting there a decent surge protector wouldn't be a bad idea.

Regarding trannies... not sure what to advice, it largely depends on how many devices he's planning to take and the power consumption they'd add altogether.

Rgrds

start your research here: World Electric Power Guide

Most computer and electronic equipment have built in voltage adapters (i.e. universal voltage) and others have switches (e.g. some PC power supplies) that can be adjusted from 115V to 230V to cover worldwide voltage systems. In these cases, I'd suggest getting a local power cord that fits the power supply input; that should cover it. It's best to check the power supply section (i.e. the wall plug or the PSU input section on the equipment) of each unit to see what their specs are; most of the time with electronics you'll see "~100-240V, 50-60 Hz" printed on the power supply or wall plug (in which case you just need a plug adapter). Other times you will notice a switch (usually a red colour) that moves b/w 115 and 230 V settings - these will usually need a power cord change (again, no big deal).

What you want to do is inspect the equipment and avoid taking units where the power supply reads "120V...60Hz". These units are designed for use in North/Central America only (for the most part), and WILL have some trouble even with a good transformer - most likely it will work for awhile (even if not exactly like it did in the USA), then just die an early death (irons, vacuums, microwaves, etc. usually follow this pattern).

Here's an example - specs taken from Apple's Imac page:

Electrical and operating requirements

[*]Line voltage: 100-240V AC

[*]Frequency: 50Hz to 60Hz, single phase

[*]Maximum continuous power: 200W (20-inch models); 280W (24-inch model)

[*]Operating temperature: 50

[KenW]

start your research here: World Electric Power Guide

Most computer and electronic equipment have built in voltage adapters (i.e. universal voltage) and others have switches (e.g. some PC power supplies) that can be adjusted from 115V to 230V to cover worldwide voltage systems. In these cases, I'd suggest getting a local power cord that fits the power supply input; that should cover it. It's best to check the power supply section (i.e. the wall plug or the PSU input section on the equipment) of each unit to see what their specs are; most of the time with electronics you'll see "~100-240V, 50-60 Hz" printed on the power supply or wall plug (in which case you just need a plug adapter). Other times you will notice a switch (usually a red colour) that moves b/w 115 and 230 V settings - these will usually need a power cord change (again, no big deal).

What you want to do is inspect the equipment and avoid taking units where the power supply reads "120V...60Hz". These units are designed for use in North/Central America only (for the most part), and WILL have some trouble even with a good transformer - most likely it will work for awhile (even if not exactly like it did in the USA), then just die an early death (irons, vacuums, microwaves, etc. usually follow this pattern).

Here's an example - specs taken from Apple's Imac page:

Electrical and operating requirements

[*]Line voltage: 100-240V AC

[*]Frequency: 50Hz to 60Hz, single phase

[*]Maximum continuous power: 200W (20-inch models); 280W (24-inch model)

[*]Operating temperature: 50