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A question for people from the UK (about UK voltage)

post #1 of 11
8/17/04 at 12:46pm
Thread Starter 
I have a question for people from England that have used European devices , such as CD players.

I have a potentian buyer for my EUROPEAN CDP that works in 220Volt countries like Germany for example.

The manual says at the specs page "230V 50/60Hz"

Would it work in the UK normally with just the need of the plug adaptor?

I have seen people using UK devices in my country by using the simple 2 dollar plug converter.

In other words are EUROPEAN and BRITISH electronic devices common?

If the buyer buys it will it work perfectly for him?

Thanks!
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post #2 of 11
8/17/04 at 12:54pm
I just looked on the back of my TV, and it says exactly the same thing. You should be fine.
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post #3 of 11
8/17/04 at 4:54pm
yes
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post #4 of 11
8/17/04 at 5:37pm
When I go to the UK, I plug my continental Europe electronics into the wall outlets using a "mechanical" adaptor. So it should be OK.
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post #5 of 11
8/17/04 at 6:00pm
No problems at all, it's within spec. He will just have to fit a 3 pin mains plug which is a 5 minute job :-) You use a 2 pin mains plug we use a 3 pin plug......... that's the only difference..... it will be the exact same component we buy here apart from the mains plug.

Edit: UK 3 pin mains plug fitted with a 3 amp fuse.
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post #6 of 11
8/18/04 at 2:16am
I've been living around europe and buying electronic equipment from all over the place for a while and everytime I've gone back to england it's worked fine. There are 3 options available....
1. Use a small flat head screw driver to push down the safety over the two bottom pins then plug the 2 prongs directly into the wall, it's the lazy way of doing it and i've been doing this for years now
2. buy an adaptor from eu to uk
3. change the plug completely
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post #7 of 11
8/18/04 at 4:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by marios_mar
I have a question for people from England that have used European devices , such as CD players.

I have a potentian buyer for my EUROPEAN CDP that works in 220Volt countries like Germany for example.

The manual says at the specs page "230V 50/60Hz"

Would it work in the UK normally with just the need of the plug adaptor?

I have seen people using UK devices in my country by using the simple 2 dollar plug converter.

In other words are EUROPEAN and BRITISH electronic devices common?

If the buyer buys it will it work perfectly for him?

Thanks!
European voltage was "standardized" at 230V about 15 years ago I believe.

However, it'll take at least 30 years (if ever!) for everyone in Europe to be on 230V. The real voltage in Europe is anything between 220V and 240V and varies from city to city and country to country.

The tolerance of your electronic components can be critical - +- 10% in the AC voltage means an allowable range of 200-260V - which will severely impact some components. I know people with Mark Levinson & Krell equipment that really can't be used without power conditioners because the AC varies so widely in their area and their amps won't work!

In general, yes, your CDP should work perfectly fine in the UK.

--Jatinder
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post #8 of 11
8/19/04 at 11:04am
Thread Starter 
thanks people for the answers!!!


Would a TT bought from the UK work fine as well? I assume 50Hz is the UK freq.
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post #9 of 11
8/19/04 at 11:31am
No problem. Actually, if you measure a typical wall outlet over here, you usually get ~ 235 V and electronic products usually have a tolerance of at least +/- 5 % (in fact it's more like +/- 10 % - there were only a few exceptions, for example the Commodore 1541 floppy for the C64 some people over here modiefied to use the 240 instead of the 220 V tap of the tranny in order to generate less heat...).

Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini
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post #10 of 11
8/20/04 at 4:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by marios_mar
thanks people for the answers!!!


Would a TT bought from the UK work fine as well? I assume 50Hz is the UK freq.
The frequency of the AC throughout Europe is already standardized. In any case, if there is a frequency variation, you would just need to alter the speed of the TT if the TT is running too fast/slow.

--Jatinder
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post #11 of 11
8/20/04 at 6:27am
Thread Starter 
So after having undestood that my last question would be why do they say in Britain that they have 240V and we in the rest of EUROPE say we have 220V. What is the historical background of this?
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