Yes, I have sent an email, that has not been answered yet. I'm considering calling them directly at their service department, but since it costs me some money with my cheap phone plan ( that's how I can save money for high-end audio while being a student :D ), I figured asking on a forum could be a nice experience, and it would also helps anyone else looking for the answer :)
Internal rewiring of Parasound Halo A21 120V --> 230V voltage conversion
Hello everyone,
I recently acquired a gorgeous Parasound A21 which I imported from the US, and as I am really into DIY and opening things to check how it's made, I deliberately looked for a 2nd hand amp from the US, so I would have to switch the voltage operation by myself. I believe I have almost solved the problem, but considering the different sources I found online (none were exactly for the A21, rather for A52), I came to doubt the final moves.
The circuit board is a B4170A, I have already moved the jumper cable JP13 to JP14, the former being for AC120 V and the latter for AC230 V.
Now I'm facing the change into the big transformer wiring. I have a red wire on P4 and a white on P1, both connections labelled as AC120V. The target connectors are P5 and P6, labelled as AC 230V.
The last two transformer wires, yellow and black, are plugged onto "To Transformer TP12" and "P3" respectively, along with a "AC120V" written above both.
There are 2 more wires, P2 and TP11 which connected to the external fuse. ( I have already swapped it for a 6.3A slow blow one)
I know that for 120V operation, the transformers are connected in parallel, and they must be linked in series for 230V operation. The thing I do not know which one exactly are primary and secondary and all the cable are pretty well coated with plastic and I'm not sure how could I do an efficient continuity test.
I believe that I should plug P4 to P5, and P3 to P6. Does anyone know exactly which cable must be switched to please ? Also, I think I could/should change the internal fuses but I have not thought about those yet...
As a safety measure, I have created a power outlet linked in series with a 500W incandescent light bulb, to avoid surge on the A21, if I would come to mismatch some cable, which I'd rather avoid, thanks to this forum hopefully.
Thank you all for reading and hopefully understanding my issue, I wish you all a very pleasant day !
Zeka
I recently acquired a gorgeous Parasound A21 which I imported from the US, and as I am really into DIY and opening things to check how it's made, I deliberately looked for a 2nd hand amp from the US, so I would have to switch the voltage operation by myself. I believe I have almost solved the problem, but considering the different sources I found online (none were exactly for the A21, rather for A52), I came to doubt the final moves.
The circuit board is a B4170A, I have already moved the jumper cable JP13 to JP14, the former being for AC120 V and the latter for AC230 V.
Now I'm facing the change into the big transformer wiring. I have a red wire on P4 and a white on P1, both connections labelled as AC120V. The target connectors are P5 and P6, labelled as AC 230V.
The last two transformer wires, yellow and black, are plugged onto "To Transformer TP12" and "P3" respectively, along with a "AC120V" written above both.
There are 2 more wires, P2 and TP11 which connected to the external fuse. ( I have already swapped it for a 6.3A slow blow one)
I know that for 120V operation, the transformers are connected in parallel, and they must be linked in series for 230V operation. The thing I do not know which one exactly are primary and secondary and all the cable are pretty well coated with plastic and I'm not sure how could I do an efficient continuity test.
I believe that I should plug P4 to P5, and P3 to P6. Does anyone know exactly which cable must be switched to please ? Also, I think I could/should change the internal fuses but I have not thought about those yet...
As a safety measure, I have created a power outlet linked in series with a 500W incandescent light bulb, to avoid surge on the A21, if I would come to mismatch some cable, which I'd rather avoid, thanks to this forum hopefully.
Thank you all for reading and hopefully understanding my issue, I wish you all a very pleasant day !
Zeka
Showing 5 responses by zeka
Hello Jea48, thank you for your help ! I hope that Parasound could give a hand to a distant customer, even though there is no warranty anymore.. I also mentionned that I technically qualify as a technician for operating this change since I have two degrees in electronics, but whatever ! The topic on stereo.net seems perfectly fitted, however I "do not have the permission to view this content" even though I registered and verified my account ! Thanks for giving me someone's contact, I will send him a PM shortly |
Hello everyone ! Thank you very imhififan for your answer and details. Excellent news, I called Parasound on the phone, explaining my situation and they emailed me with the procedure for the conversion. Imhififan, yes, after reading some more on the transformers I realized I had misunderstood primary and secondary wire and continuity test for identification. Changing the railed fuses is definitely not on the menu indeed, a seller from Germany I called probably tried to prevent me from the operation, saying stuff about internal fuses ratings. Well since I am naïve I immediately thought about those 4. I can upload some pictures I have taken for others who'd need to do the same procedure, though they are not perfect It turns out I was right, but not completely as the connector labels do not matter as much as the color code of the cables. These instructions are for B4170 board only. -jumper JP 13 to JP14 -white lead should go to P5 -yellow lead should go to P6 -Red and black leads should stay connected where they are -rear panel fuse should be changed accordingly from the writing on it, 6,3A slow blow |
@corteng Hey mate, Cheers and good luck mate !
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Hey there Bud,
sorry for the late reply, been busy as hell and I just remembered this. So I looked on google and nothing really useful, but my guts tell me it's completely fine. My guess is that the transformer is wired the US way and Japan voltage is acceptable for this wiring scheme. I guess since you asked you must have made a choice. If not, you can always turn it on while having a 500W light bulb wired in series so that any malfunction would be damped by the bulb. Have fun ! Zeka |