50Hz vs. 60Hz

At 4:59 PM +0000 9/23/09, Mike Ross wrote: The Computer History Museum's 1401 restoration project has had a great deal of experience with this issue. The first 1401 restored was from Germany - and was configured for 50Hz power. Subsequent to analyzing the issue, it was determined that the best solution was to use a 60Hz -> 50Hz converter. The reason, there were way too many issues of converting the 1401 itself. IIRC, here's the issues to consider: All items containing cores and windings (motors, fans, transformers, etc.) are typically line frequency specific. Some are not - but one has to check them all! Ferroresonant power supplies are almost always "tuned" for a specific line frequency - and will do "bad" things when used at an incorrect frequency. Some switching power supplies support both 50Hz and 60Hz (or even 400Hz) power - but, again, one has to check the specs... Line clocks are tied to the line frequency - and this could affect some software (but this is usually not a huge issue - but it has to be considered). Regards, Lyle -- Lyle Bickley Bickley Consulting West Inc. http://bickleywest.com "Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"