Hey,
So I've been using a simple adapter piece for my computer and phone etc.. and all have charged fine. I've used that piece for my american surround system (120v 60hz). It initially turned on, made a "whomp" noise, usually like when I turn my amp on, however it didn't come back on. Have I blown it? if I get a power converter, will it work again?
Many thanks,
"John Galt" wrote in message news:32948$53a0d2c2$cf3aab60$ snipped-for-privacy@news.flashnewsgroups.com...
What is the voltage where you are at ? It may be 240 volts. You could have blown the adapter if it is not rated for the current of the sound system. See if you may have just blown a fuse on the sound system.
I don't know what your simple adapter piece is. Details?
By phone, do you mean cell phone? Don't hold back these things or make us beg for information to solve your problem.
How do you know the adapter piece made the computer and phone work?
Computers, desktop or laptop, have been designed to run both on 120 or
240 (or anywhere in between) for at least 10 years. So have cell phone chargers. You could see this by looking at the label on each device, where it say model, serial number, voltage, and amperage and has some text too.I don't know what an american surround sound is either. A dvid player? But if it only runs on 120V, you're going to burn it out with
240. Does your adapter piece change 240 to 120?
Before you buy something, I'd plug your sound into 120 and see if it works. If you don't know anyone with 120, I'd go to the store where you plan to buy power converter (which can mean a lot of things, but I gather you mean to change 240 v to 120) and see if they will let you plug it in and plug your sound into it. To see if it works. But my guess is that it won't. That doesn't mean it can't be fixed, but you'll have to tell everyone the make and model of your sound, and ask on sci.electronics.repair, where more than half the answers will be beyond your comprehension, and mine, but that doesn't mean they won't answer your question in laymen's language.
And don't put relevant information only in the subject line. Put it in the body of the post where it will be seen. If you wrote a paper for publication, would you put one of the facts only on the title page and not in the paper itself?
Hi, You should've used step down x-former, not dinky tiny adapter.
I would think "simple adapter" means that it converts the socket so that you can plug the device in, but does nothing about the voltage, freq, etc. That's fine for devices that use their own walwart that is designed to work with 120/240, 50/60hz, etc. But if you use one on an appliance like a stereo, that typically is not designed that way, then POOF! Sounds like that's what happened here. If he's lucky it might just be a fuse.
I wouldn't assume that all have, I'd check to be sure. AFAIK there is no reqt for it and who knows for sure what every manufacturer is doing. I'm not so sure about the in between part either. I've seen desktop PCs that have a switch on the back for 120 or 240V. I would think it might not like 160V on either, but IDK for sure. And if the switch is set to 120V and he did what he just did with the surround, I would think the result might not be good either.
So have cell
And before he plugs anything in, he should look on the back of it. A surround sound almost certainly has a label on the back that says what voltage/freq it will accept. And if not, the documentation is available online.
If it's a standard desktop or tower, there is a switch on the power supply to change the input to 240 so you would not need an adapter for that.
Also: If the monitor and phone operate off a so called "power brick" read the label carefully as some are designed for 115/230 volts automatically.
The less hardware you need connected to your 115/230 transformer, the less the chance of you exceeding it's rating.
Hi, Sorry to say this, is OP dumb or stupid or drunk or what?
If you guys would read the subject you would see he is talking about a surr ound sound system.
To the OP,
Most likely what you were using for the phone/computer/etc was a simple plu g adapter. These days almost all computer and phone power supplies are rat ed for 100vac to 240vac 50 or 60 cycles. So you can plug them in just abou t anywhere in the world if you have the right adapter to make them fit the socket.
Larger appliances like stereos, tvs, etc generally are designed for either
110-120vac or 220-240vac. A few of these will have a small switch in the b ack that lets you select one or the other. So you have most likely ruined it. You can certainly test with a real 220 to 110 converter or by plugging it in back in the states. It's possible you only broke things in the powe r supply section but it's also possible that the power surge damaged other components as well. If it's a entry level system and you are not capable o f doing the repairs yourself then bin it. It won't be worth fixing.
And in the message itself he said computer and phone
surround sound system.
That was for the purposes of describing other things he had successfully be en running in europe with plug adapters. His primary concern was the surro und sound system he ruined.
I don't think that's a fair call. Lots of people are unfamiliar with basic electricity. And lots of people that are not frequent travelers don't realize that other counties don't just use different plugs, they also have different voltages.
At this point we don't know for sure if his converter failed or if it was the surround sound system
y been running in europe with plug adapters. His primary concern was the s urround sound system he ruined.
I think he probably would have figured that out when he when to use the ada pter for his computer or phone again.
We don't know anything for certain but let me put it to you this way. Lat' s say that's a $600 surround sound system. Would you give him $100 for it right now as is based on what we know?
Nope.
If the adapter is suspected to have blown the sound system I can see that he'd be hesitant to test his phone or computer on it
Alight, well can't really say thanks to everyone, ( if i wrote a publication? seriously? what kind of website is this?) It seems like there are some smart guys around here, so if you want to show it.
It is an Altec Lansing Model 251 (120V 60Hz)
The adapter piece accepts american male prongs, which allows it to be put into
240V european? sockets. This adapter piece, as referred to from my last sentence, (no pronouns here, no sir) effectively facilitates electricity into an Macbook Air and Samsung Galaxy cell phone. This adapter piece, as now referred to in the last two sentences, has no power conversion.Methods:
Subject X placed said american device (120v 60Hz) with fastened adapter piece, that has no power conversion in a 240V socket.
Results: Device initially turned on and made the patented "whomp noise" (John Galt,
2014) however did not produce further sound. Subject X repeated the process, that was described in Methods section, however the whomp did not return.Analyses: Subject X opened the back panel of the Altec Lansing Model 251, removing 6, not 5, 6 screws and examined the inside. No foul or burnt odor (odour to those, whom may not understand american english.) was detected.
Discussion:
Subject X may go to hardware store and test device with a power converter.
I hope this has properly served the greatest of Pedants and those with the severest cases of OCD.
y been running in europe with plug adapters. His primary concern was the s urround sound system he ruined.
It's apparently not a "converter". He called it a "simple adapter" and said it worked with his PC and phone, but made a whoomp and then nothing with his sound system. All that strongly suggests to me that it's just an outlet adapter that allows you to physically connect a US plug to a European outlet, but does nothing to convert electrical voltages.
That's a common problem with people traveling internationally. The voltage in many countries is 240V, the simple physical plug adaptor works fine for devices that can take 120V or 240V, eg a notebook, cell phone charger. But it doesn't work with most other appliances, like a surround sound system. He likely at least blew a fuse in it, very possibly fried more than that and if that's the case, it's probably headed to the scrap heap.
adapter for his computer or phone again.
Lat's say that's a $600 surround sound system. Would you give him $100 for it right now as is based on what we know?
The adpater has worked with the computer and phone, most likely because those two accept either 120V or 240V as input. Typical notebook PC or cell phone charger can take either, or as Tony said, anything in between. That's great because then all you need is the "simple adaptor", it's small, cheap and does the job. It's not so great if you don't understant the above, because then you can make the mistake of plugging some other appliance, eg a surround sound into 240V in Europe, when it can only handle 120V. By all indications, that's what happened here.
Aha! Since that seems to be the case he's blown his expensive sound system. It *might* have an internal fuse that blew.
I have had several experiences where, due to a bad neutral, among other things, I have had to check and repair equipment that had high voltage applied to the line - and in most cases it just blew the internal fuse.
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