Currently i have read up to post #8 at the time of writing post below.
Hi. Thankyou for your reply. I have a 10 year old (about the same age as the JVC in question here) native PAL/220volt region
HR-J695 JVC here and it says 110-240v 50/60hz so that means its got a auto switching power supply I guess or can just handle anything in those ranges, and I have also seen some VCRs that have a switch on the back to select 50 or 60hz. From memory some 220/240 regions use 50hz and some use 60hz..
Now the VCR in question is a native US 120v 60z type. It does not say 110-240v or 50/60z. It would definitey need a step down voltage converter. I can do that but I am only going to end up with 110v @ 50hz and not the 60hz as specified by the manual. Does the transformer/rectifier inside the VCR care if its fed 110v 50hz or 110v 60z? can it still make the proper DC voltages inside the VCR from 50 or 60hz?
So the question is if the frequency matters? We have voltage under conrol and as all the insides are running on DC, do you think it would work totally fine and the 50hz input instead of 60hz would not matter at all? I am not going to have any issues? If the frequency is not so critical, why would they specifically 60hz only? It is it just because this VCR was specifically made for US/CAN only and not a worldwide one and the label is just like that to avoid confusing consumers or something?
If all consumer AV electronics like this run with DC inside and are fine with different frequencies, is the 60hz spec more of just a labelling thing?
As I mentioned before some devices such as the US market Panasonic AG1980 VCR which although specified for 110/120v, also has 50 or 60hz in the spec. My Vidicraft proc amp from the 80’s says 115v 50-60hz (also has 12v DC direct input too) so does that mean USA had 50 and 60hz power once upon a time, perhaps up to the late 90’s and that’s why the AG1980 says 120v 50-60hz too? Did things change and now you only have 60hz?
I am thinking this might end up being ok after all. The worst thing that can happen is I end up with a $90 door stop. My only worry is that it plays the tapes at correct speeds and all the electronics inside work correctly producing the correct NTSC output etc..
There was a guy recently in Australia who imported current Panasonic TV from Amazon US (thousands of dollars, big screen plasma etc) All he did was chop the plug off and attach an australian one, actually he had the ‘installer’ do it because the installer said there would be no problems and it would work fine here.. Anyway they blew something up in it and it was a big learning curve for the guy. Think he conned amazon into accepting a return. It was labelled 120v device. So I guess when a US product says 120v 60hz it does really mean it!. If 220v was ok the lable would have shown it as 110-240v. So I am not going to take the risks or make assumptions that this VCR labled 120v only would handle 220v fine because it most likely would not, and I would use a step down for sure.
After reading that table above, it kinda seems confusing. Is that a worldwide JVC service manual or does that mean those specs are found on/in just the US model VCR? To me it seems like the manual is worldwide however I believe most Aus JVC’s has AM suffix I thought and not US or UC? Maybe not though as I checked one (Aus model) here and it is EA. To me it does not seem like all those specs can be found inside a US model. I think each region is different and the serice manual is common to all and when taking measurements of the VCR, you look to the section of the table for the specs in your country and that’s what it should be. If that is specific US service model only, why would they bother giving specs for Europe/Australia if they are not going to get those specs when measuring a US unit? What euro countries use 110-130v? none that I can think of. That is strange.
I also read something about if the device has a timing device (or timing circuit???) that it will be affected by the frequency. Is this also not an issue for a VCR?
Well what you have said has built a case to say its probably going to be ok if just a transformer is used, along with the post by that person in a link above saying the frequency does not matter because all the ‘inards’ are DC in a VCR. Also add in the fact that none of those specialist 110-220v electronic goods sites like World Import, Gandhi appliances etc who speclise in selling transformers and video converters to help Americans prepare to re-locate overseas with their 110v NTSC AV gear, actually mention anything about the 50/60hz difference.
EDIT
Quote:
60Hz transformers will run warmer in a 50Hz delivery system but in saying that it depends on the transformer used. This can be anywhere from negligible to overheating and failure.
They are talking about the transformer inside the VCR
another comment
Quote:
Not a problem. VCR's use switch mode power supplies all the motors inside the VCR are DC powered usually 12V.