110 (or 120) vs 220


Hi,

IF an amp can operate at both 110 and 220, and a dedicated circuit is being installed for that amp, is there an advantage to a 220 v circuit? Or is the answer "it depends on the amp"? Or is the answer simply "no"?
jimspov

Showing 2 responses by gs5556

Possibly. At 240 volts half the current is drawn through the wiring and that can result in less power line noise in and out of the amplifier. We pay a lot of money in power cords to do just that. Speaking of which, you can’t use the standard 5-15 (up-up) blade power cord for 240 volts, so a disadvantage may be the cost of a special order audiophile power cord with a 240 volt plug.
For an amplifier to be designed to run on either 120 or 240 it must have two fuses, one for the hot and one for the neutral. When it is running on 120, the fuse on the neutral is just dead weight and does nothing but provide continuity. When it's running on 240, that "neutral" is now doing duty as a hot conductor and can pull short circuit current under a fault -- hence the reason for the second fuse. Don't forget to change out the fuses to a lower (usually half) amperage since the current draw is now half at 240 volts.

If there in only one fuse then do not run it at 240 regardless if there is a split primary with a switch or jumpers capable of conversion or else you will run the risk of what jea48 outlined above.

Also, you should not run other equipment off a 240 circuit. Theoretically, you can pull power off one leg and feed it to a 120 outlet and run a neutral  back to the panel but that is against code because it unbalances the circuit. The correct way is to leave it dedicated. That circuit will have a 2-pole circuit breaker feeding a 250 volt receptacle (6-15 or 6-20) which has the blades rotated at a 90 degree angle (horizontal) so that you cannot accidentally plug a 115 volt appliance into that outlet, resulting in a pretty fireworks display.

Your electrician knows how to wire everything up if you decide to go with 240.