It'll work and, most likely, cause no harm but it should be adapted to 120. Good luck. |
Did the seller make this argument before the transaction took place? I think he really misrepresented the unit. A 100V unit is clearly not "universal" as it would be fried if plugged into European 240V. I would not follow his recommendation, but seek appropriate change to 120V by an Accuphase technician. It should not be a big deal and cost you very little (some manufacturers do it for free, like Monarchy Audio). Good luck. |
Arni, Accuphase can convert it to 120V for USA voltage, but it ain't cheap! However, people have been playing the "buy it there, use it here" game to save money, and Accuphase now has a BIG disclaimer on their website saying that the warranty WILL NOT be honored if their product falls into this category. Furthermore the warranty won't be honored if a non-authorized voltage conversion was performed, or if a transformer has been used. I don't know their service policy concerning an out of warranty item that is not in the country of its origin.
Cyuagain, the seller should have disclosed that this item was a 100V Japanese unit BEFORE the sale. |
Sorry, you will need to find someone with specific knowledge of the Accuphase But if the transformer is truly designed for 100V then it will likely be stressed at 120V and therefore vibrate and hum more than it should. I have experienced this with operating 220V transformers at 240V and the problem was not significant enough for concern, but the difference between 100 and 120V is twice that. If it was me, I would open the unit up and examine the input side of the transformer. If there are more than two cables or tags going into the primary side then you can probably conclude the conversion job will be simple. If the transformer connects directly onto a circuit board then look for jumpers on the board labelled with terms like 100V etc. They will be close to the transformer. I am not a sparky but can usually work out how to convert anything that can be converted, just by tracing the connections and using a meter. If you have a look inside and post what you see I can comment further. |
Hi Arni.
The seller did not disclose about it at all. When I got the unit after paying the full bid amount I noticed 100V on the back of the unit. He has other Accuphase item for sale on Audiogon but I am in the process of negociation with the seller so I am not going to blow his ID yet. But we don't need this kind of seller in our Audiogon community. Thanks for your help on this issue. Thanks. |
Accuphase units made before 2002 can be converted internally to 100/120/220/240V. Just check the bottom side of the unit (you have to remove the bottom plate first). |
Further update:
According to Accuphase, they will also not service any product if they find out that it was used outside of its authorized country. THIS APPLIES FOR OUT OF WARRANTY SERVICE AS WELL! |
ANything 100V plugged to 120V will likely suffer from overheating as the xformers are stressed.
There might be the odd case that it works fine. |
No you're wrong Dazzdax...i've just converted my E-550 to run on 230V...all models can be converted to any voltage.
Who cares about warranty when Accuphase lasts a lifetime...
Cyuagain...i guess you bought from Georgia_on_my_mind...he is a well known fraudster...now booted from Audiogon.
If you open the E212 and send me photos i can tell you how to rewire for 120V. I've rewired almost every single Accuphase component.
By the way it wont get fried if you accidentally plug it into 230V...the fuse will blow thats all. Maybe one or two other tiny components may go but nothing major. |
FWIW, when I asked Accuphase in Japan (I live in Japan) a couple of years ago what my options were if I bought a piece in Japan and moved to the US afterwards. Their explanation was that as long as I had owned it in Japan for more than 6 months, I could get the switch done for a minimal fee in Japan by Accuphase at their head office. Otherwise, they said (years ago) that the US distributor would not honor the warranty. Personally, I thought it was nice of them. While if I were a mfr, I would do things differently, I understand their point of view. They are a small specialty company and I guess they felt they did not have the requisite skill set to be successful marketing their product in a different market, so they outsourced that part of the business. You do what you have to do... |
DO NOT run this unit on 120V! If there is any unregulated circuitry it may experience overvoltage conditions that could damage capacitors and the like. If it is all regulated, the regulators may not be able to handle the load.
A simple solution would be to get a control transformer with a 20-24Volt output that could be used to 'buck' the incoming AC line down by 20-24 volts. The output of said transformer would have to have the capacity to handle the current that the unit draws. This is a bit of a DIY approach and you should not attempt this unless fully qualified.
I would also contact Accuphase and at least find out if they are willing to help or not! |
i bought a dp-57 cd player from someone who is fortunately not selling on audiogon anymore. direct from accuphase etc. it came with a japanes manual and 100 volts. this web discussion alerted me to the dangers. when i took it to my local accuphase person, they directed me to someone who switched the internal power supply to 120 volts. a dead easy procedure for anyone qualified. he charged me $30.00. he said the difference is that 100 volts will half the life of the unit. if a deal sounds too good to be believed, then don't. i was lucky to read this discussion and got out of a serious problem easily. it is a great machine and i will be much more careful buying next time. |
For voltage change, take a look at the third picture on the Chinese webpage:
http://eddie.dyec.com.tw/diy-demo/audio-diy/cd_dvd_modify/accuphase_dp-70/accuphase_dp-70.htm
Though the sample was an Accuphase DP-70, the same process should apply to E-212 also. The required change is clearly labelled.
Alan Hsu |
I agree with Atmasphere. Don't run it at 120V. A good analogy would be running a car engine 20% past the redline for extended periods. You can use a Variac or a Variable Autotransformer. This is a transformer with 120V input, and 0-120V output variable. |
I had bought a 100v version of the F 25 Accuphase crossover. I had also been told that this was OK for 120v and have been using it that way for nearly a year.
However, prompted by this article, I took off the bottom plate and their is a guide, as stated by Alan Hsu above, which has a legend adjacent to the power supply leads that shows how to exchange the leads to get different voltages. In my case, it was to exchange the positions of the yellow/orange wire and red wire to get 120v operation rather than 100v. The leads were quite similar to the illustrations at the site shown by Alan above. I am not concerned by warranty, because I am sure my unit has none anyway since it is a labelled 100v version in the USA.
The unit never actually ran too hot, but it was warm before, and is cool running now. The balance of the sound shifted slightly, but it always sounded great, even at 100v. |
Has somewone experience running an Accuphase amplifier of 120V on a 230V net, with a transformer 230V - 120V? |
It's not just the question of the warranty.
If you have a problem with an Accuphase product bought in another area, they won't even work on it !
It happened to me.
Accuphase refused to repair my preamp, as I didn't buy it in the country I live, though I had bought other expensives items in my country ! It was in 2004.
As it was not too difficult a problem, a private engineer has been able to fix it.
Otherwise, the only solution is to send the outfit to the country it's been originally sold. |
is it still easy to change by technician new Accupahse cdplayers from 100V to 230V ? |
Kops, the units that were released after 2002(or 2003?) are made for a specific AC voltage and therefore not accessible for DIY voltage converting job any longer, unless you are an Accuphase technician who can internally change the power wiring scheme.
Chris |
Unsafe, and I believe you should expose the sellers ID to the community. Not somebody we should wnt to deal with.
Regards
Paul |
Pls dont do that. If something goes wrong, accuphase will not warranty it. 100v accuphase intended for japan only , 120 v intended for usa only. If you use any conversion like step up or step down tranny, sound deteriorates a lot.
all of these info came from accuphase.
again, buyer's risk. |
you now know there was no difference. the transformers are listed 100- 120 v. which is the same as all North American units. there was no need to use a step up/down convertor |
