Convert 110 V(US standard) equipment to 220V(Indian standard) without transformer !

[mav]

Evening Folks !

I was in discussion with one of the esteemd members of our forum -Mr Navin Advani and he told me something which was a pleasant surprise to me.

Mr Advani informed me that its possible to change 110 V equipment like AVR/amplifier brought in from the US to 220 V for usage in India without any need of a step down converter. Now this is of particular interest to me as I am using a US issue 110 V Yamaha 671 along with a step down converter.

He said that in most amplifers the primary section is actually two 110V primaries wired in parallel for the US market and in series for the EU market. If this is true of your AVR simply change the parallel wiring to series (on the primary of your AVR's power transformer).

He also gave the following pointers when I asked him if I could share this info with members on the forum:

"1. Many amps (I am not sure about modern AVRs) come with a 110/220 switch at the rear which does exactly this.

2. Some amps do not have this switch but have the same internal transformer and can be swithced with a few solders.

3. Commutator amps espcially those that have active power supplies (with opamps in the priamry) might have seperate SKUs for 110V zones and 220V zones.

So by all means pass along this information with these caveats."

If this can be pulled off then I am sure we are in for a BIG drop in price/increased savings as most of us hesitate to import equipment from US because of this reason. I would request the forum members to share their input. I am wondering if anyone has tried doing this earlier?

 

[captrajesh]

Re: Convert 110 V(US standard) equipment to 220V(Indian standard) without transformer

What Mr. Advani is saying is correct.
In fact this was discussed in the forum sometime back in one of the threads. After I read about it somewhere I checked it by opening a NAD pre amp & found the addl terminals. Since I was selling it, I suggested it to the buyer, a forum member to check it out & he could do the conversion.

 

[santhosh]

The NAD 1020a pre that CaptRajesh mentioned was bought by me. FM Anilva helped me by converting into 220v and it is working well without any issues. Perhaps he might be able to add more detail on how he did it.


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[srinisundar]

Re: Convert 110 V(US standard) equipment to 220V(Indian standard) without transformer

What Mr. Advani is saying is correct.
In fact this was discussed in the forum sometime back in one of the threads. After I read about it somewhere I checked it by opening a NAD pre amp & found the addl terminals. Since I was selling it, I suggested it to the buyer, a forum member to check it out & he could do the conversion.

The NAD 1020a pre that CaptRajesh mentioned was bought by me. FM Anilva helped me by converting into 220v and it is working well without any issues. Perhaps he might be able to add more detail on how he did it.


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I dont think so it has been discussed elaborately. Senior and knowledgeable members like you should point out occasionally wherever the querry related to above is raised.

Why cant this thread can be made sticky for further inputs for pro's can con's and also clear feasibility to convert all the equipment's.

USA sellers are charging $100 to change the equipment to 240V... May be they are aware of these tricks.

 

[digitalv]

Re: Convert 110 V(US standard) equipment to 220V(Indian standard) without transformer

This is true for most equipment (probably not the cheapest) but please be well aware of what you are doing since you can spoil your equipment or transformer easily if a wrong tapping is used. If in doubt, take the help of a professional.

 

[rbalagopalan]

Re: Convert 110 V(US standard) equipment to 220V(Indian standard) without transformer

Hi,

In my experience I found most of the Rotel gears come with a jumper or Set of jumpers which we have to remove from 110V position and to place them in 220V position( It is clearly mentioned on the PCB), and that's it you are done. You are all ready to use your equipment in India with out the hich of improper stepdowns.

In the case of changing the Parllel input to Series input to the Transformer and connecting it to the wall plug of 220V be CAUTIOUS about the following.

1. The Input supply directly goes to the Transformer with out giving 110V supply to any of the components in between. (for example In case of Bose it does uses some component with a operating Volt of 110V before going to the transformer) Other wise you will end up in blowing up the unit.

2. If there is a fuse in between then ensure that the fuse rating is changed to 250V with appropriate Amps rating.

Thanks

R. Balagopalan

 

[srinisundar]

Re: Convert 110 V(US standard) equipment to 220V(Indian standard) without transformer

How about Krell or Bryston amps ?

 

[rbalagopalan]

Re: Convert 110 V(US standard) equipment to 220V(Indian standard) without transformer

How about Krell or Bryston amps ?

They need to be opened up and ascertained for the possibility of this up conversion. I haven't come across so for. There is nothing wrong in opeing up casing and see the feasibility. Again do the following before venturing out if there is a feasibility.

Just measure the out put voltage from the transformer without load and withload. Just in case if any thing happens to the transformer you have the data in your hand readily so that the same can be wound to that requirement and measured before connecting it to the circuit.

R. Balagopalan

 

[spirovious]

Re: Convert 110 V(US standard) equipment to 220V(Indian standard) without transformer

Thats correct many times.I had also posted a link showing similar one.Only thing,Yamaha 671/667 has a PCB board connected to primary & has more connection than only 2 as Primary.
I discussed the same with some HFV members & pointed out this as both US & Asian AVR weighs same.If Power supply was different/specific,AVR weight of US & Asian models(of same )should have been different.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMePE7NZcxw

@MAV-You AVR is in warranty,so no tweaks pls.

 

[mav]

Re: Convert 110 V(US standard) equipment to 220V(Indian standard) without transformer

lol Yeah I would refrain from any experiments till the time the warranty expires !! However in future am surely going to tinker around so gaining knowledge in the meanwhile !!

 

[GeorgeO]

Re: Convert 110 V(US standard) equipment to 220V(Indian standard) without transformer

I think Bryston amps can have their voltage changed.

 

[mav]

Re: Convert 110 V(US standard) equipment to 220V(Indian standard) without transformer

One of the members had posted this info regarding conversion of BIC sub. Am reposting it here.

 

[deepak12]

Re: Convert 110 V(US standard) equipment to 220V(Indian standard) without transformer

Guys - I had read somewhere, that the difference in frequency (US vs India) could also cause issues to US AVR's plugged into 220 V sockets via step down transformers. Is that true?

 

[borg]

Re: Convert 110 V(US standard) equipment to 220V(Indian standard) without transformer

that will depend on the powersupply transformer design(assuming there is one),50hz will push up the flux in it by 20 percent so if the trafo is designed only for 60hz and is quite close to saturation then this could be a problem

 

[NetFreak]

Re: Convert 110 V(US standard) equipment to 220V(Indian standard) without transformer

Hi all,

Just checked service manual for the AVR that I have (Yamaha 665). From the manual, it seems power supply might have an option to be run with 220 V.

This is the diagram:



Is this understanding correct? Some more diagrams at PCB level:

Main PCB:



Voltage Selection in PCB:



Possible Some Jumper:



Power Transformers:

 

[NetFreak]

Re: Convert 110 V(US standard) equipment to 220V(Indian standard) without transformer

Got actual picture of this PCB from a thread on this forum:

 

[prasun.gera]

Re: Convert 110 V(US standard) equipment to 220V(Indian standard) without transformer

There's also the 10Hz difference in the frequency. Might not matter for most devices, but check just in case. Probably the ones with motors and stuff - CDPs, Turn tables etc. ?

 

[NetFreak]

Re: Convert 110 V(US standard) equipment to 220V(Indian standard) without transformer

Fortunately, AVR does not have any moving part.

Frequency difference might push transformer to saturation, hopefully Yamaha et. el. have taken care of that to have common components across 120V and 200V markets and this is just "configuration".

 

[maddr1ver]

Re: Convert 110 V(US standard) equipment to 220V(Indian standard) without transformer

What i would love to hear about is people changing the ever so popular US model Onkyo 609's voltage from 110 to 220 !

 

[spirovious]

Re: Convert 110 V(US standard) equipment to 220V(Indian standard) without transformer

What i would love to hear about is people changing the ever so popular US model Onkyo 609's voltage from 110 to 220 !

I think 609 transformer doesnt have option,still there is a capacitor connected to middle lid -


http://www.bestreceiver.net/test-be...receiver-tx-nr609-introductionprocessing.html