Moving From USA Overseas... Looking For Advice re: Electrical Service and Gear


hello all,

i'm moving from the USA to Vietnam (220V / 50 hz) and am looking for some advice on the best and safest way to hook up my system out there.  the area i'm moving to - district 2 in ho chi minh city - apparently has power outages monthly.  any advice on safely running my gear out there would be appreciated.

  • is it better to have my gear converted to 220V, or simply use a 220V - 120V step down transformer?
  • should i use an uninterruptible power supply (UPS / battery backup) or is a good surge protector sufficient?
  • is it possible to use a step down transformer in line with a UPS, ie, wall to UPS, UPS to transformer, transformer to gear?

as you can see, i have no idea what's the best and safest way to run USA spec equipment in Vietnam and would appreciate all inputs and recommendations.

thanks!
Scott 
srosenberg

Showing 9 responses by inna

Czarivey, thank you. Well, if I ever need it, I got lucky - there is 50hz pulley for the Nottingham motor available from the UK dealers.
I doubt it. You could check with the manufacturers of your equipment if it is fine to feed it with 50hz, or you could consider converting it to 220v/50hz.
Yup, I looked them up. They do have it and you can buy directly from them. The company sounds good, I would give it a try for sure.
I once talked to someone, Paul I think, from PS Audio about plugging in their regenerators into step down transformers. He said no problem but try to go with the transformer rated 1.5 times, that's if say, you have 1500 watt rated regenerator it should be 2250 watt transformer. However, this particular transformer company says it is not necessary, so I would assume that 2000 watt transformer would be more than enough for 1500 regenerator.
Don't know about Runnung Springs, maybe different.
I don't think any of these devices are intended for high quality stereo, that's not the point of making them. They have other transformers that they say don't change frequency just voltage. And I would expect enough distortion on the output. At least they look like quality things compared to cheap Chinese stuff.
Al, what do you think will happen if a turntable AC synchronous motor is run on 120 V and 50 hz instead of 60 hz ?
Also, is the the frequency really always stable 60 hz here in the US ? Voltage is definitely not.
I see. PS Audio used to make P300, P600 and other regenerators that allowed you to change on the go both voltage and frequency output within quite a wide range. Newer ones don't let you change either. That was a good idea, why did they abandon it, I wonder?