Obama gives Queen Elizabeth II an Ipod with his speeches

[Savonarola]

I have never heard the term.  I have heard of transformers, which is the common name for a device that transforms from one type of electrical current to another.  I understand that you are talking about how they are marketed, though, not how they are commonly referred to.

Any such transformer won't make a DVD player work, however, as the lower frequency of UK current will only drive the motor at 5/6 of designed speed.

A transformer is a device that passes electrical energy from one circuit to another via inductance.  They're an easy way to change voltage with minimal amount of power loss.  The most common example of a transformer are those on power lines which transform the 135 kV of the power lines to the 120 V used in houses.  This is what voltage adapters do as well; they change the 220 V used in Europe to the 120 V used in the United States or vice versa.  I don't believe voltage adapters change frequency from the 60 Hz used in the US to 50 Hz used in Europe.  I could be wrong, but it would be fairly easy to adapt that in the device itself.

[charliebear]

I could be wrong...

But I sincerely doubt it.







I meant that as a compliment.

[The Minsky Moment]

A transformer is a device that passes electrical energy from one circuit to another via inductance.  They're an easy way to change voltage with minimal amount of power loss.  The most common example of a transformer are those on power lines which transform the 135 kV of the power lines to the 120 V used in houses.  This is what voltage adapters do as well; they change the 220 V used in Europe to the 120 V used in the United States or vice versa.  I don't believe voltage adapters change frequency from the 60 Hz used in the US to 50 Hz used in Europe.  I could be wrong, but it would be fairly easy to adapt that in the device itself.

When I lived in Germany I used a couple of these things: http://www.dvdoverseas.com/store/index.html?loadfile=catalog1_0.html

I didn't have any problems using any eletronics.

[grumbler]

I don't believe voltage adapters change frequency from the 60 Hz used in the US to 50 Hz used in Europe.  I could be wrong, but it would be fairly easy to adapt that in the device itself.

  How would you adapt your dvd player to account for the fact that the motor is only running at 5/6 its designed speed (and thus the spindle is only moving at that speed)?  Install new gears?  That doesn't sound "fairly easy" to me.

[grumbler]

When I lived in Germany I used a couple of these things: http://www.dvdoverseas.com/store/index.html?loadfile=catalog1_0.html

I didn't have any problems using any eletronics.

When I lived in Britain I had some of those for a few things i had that were not dual voltage.  They don't convert frequency, though, and is is recommended that US electrical motors (and anything containing them) not be run on UK power.  I ran a regular box fan on a transformer for a while (it ran at 5/6 speed) until I could get a British box fan.  Transformers are not energy-efficient.

Luckily for me, my turntables and tape players were all dual-voltage dual-frequency, so I could just move a selector and run them straight off the wall plug (of which I had four different kinds in a three-room flat!)

[Savonarola]

  How would you adapt your dvd player to account for the fact that the motor is only running at 5/6 its designed speed (and thus the spindle is only moving at that speed)?  Install new gears?  That doesn't sound "fairly easy" to me.

There are many different ways to convert the frequency electrically.  The easiest way to make a motor run irrespective of frequency is to convert the input voltage to DC and use a DC motor.  This is what a laptop and a portable DVD player do, which is why your motor doesn't stop when your input voltage goes from 60 Hz to 0 Hz.

[KRonn]

Silly Euros, using the wrong kind of voltage... must be a nuclear power thing.   

[grumbler]

There are many different ways to convert the frequency electrically.  The easiest way to make a motor run irrespective of frequency is to convert the input voltage to DC and use a DC motor.  This is what a laptop and a portable DVD player do, which is why your motor doesn't stop when your input voltage goes from 60 Hz to 0 Hz.

Replacing the DVD player's motor and electronics doesn't sound "fairly easy" to me.

Not that the silly hypothetical is really worth all of these posts! 

[Neil]

There are many different ways to convert the frequency electrically.  The easiest way to make a motor run irrespective of frequency is to convert the input voltage to DC and use a DC motor.  This is what a laptop and a portable DVD player do, which is why your motor doesn't stop when your input voltage goes from 60 Hz to 0 Hz.

Replacing the DVD player's motor and electronics doesn't sound "fairly easy" to me.

Not that the silly hypothetical is really worth all of these posts! 

You don't have to replace it, because the virtually every DVD player is already using brushless DC electric motors, which means that the local AC is already being converted into DC.

The company engineers have solved your problem.

[grumbler]

You don't have to replace it, because the virtually every DVD player is already using brushless DC electric motors, which means that the local AC is already being converted into DC.

The company engineers have solved your problem.

And yet, if you look at the first five DVD players listed on Newegg.com, four of the five specify that they require 60Hz power, and one states that it accepts 60Hz or 50Hz.

If the company engineers have solved the 50/60 Hz problem, why do the manufacturers specify a 60Hz requirement needlessly?

I suspect that this is because the 60Hz requirement is not meaningless.

Still, some brave Brit can try to use transformed 120v/50Hz power in a convertable electronic product and let us know how it goes! 

(be forwarded, though, that amongst techs these kinds of experiments are known as "smoke tests").