26 Feb
2012
26 Feb
'12
11:27 a.m.
On Feb 26, 2012, at 2:05 PM, Liam Proven wrote:
So, my UK101 sold for a healthy ?224, which I am very
happy about indeed.
However, it's to a buyer in the USA and he wants me to split the
bundle and send just the computer - he does not want the monitor.
He claims that although the computer will run on a 240-to-120V
transformer, the monitor will not, as US DC is 60Hz and European is
50Hz.
Is this correct? It's news to me.
It's certainly true about US mains vs. UK mains. Whether or not it
makes a difference for the monitor is another question, though the specs
for the monitor will probably inform that. One can get mains transformers
to convert 240v to 120v, but that obviously will not change the frequency
of the AC.
Most consumer equipment doesn't care that much, but plenty of things do;
I would imagine most 50Hz gear would operate on 60Hz because it will
reduce the ripple, but that is not universally true. Most clock radios,
among other things, will function incorrectly because they use the zero
crossing of the AC waveform as a clock, so if you move from 50Hz to 60Hz
(or vice versa), you're off by a fifth or sixth.
One possible solution is to run the monitor off a UPS; they sometimes
convert the mains to DC and convert the DC to AC again, so if you had a
UPS that would run off 240V at 60Hz, it might convert to 50Hz on the
other end. It might not. It would depend on the UPS.
Again, it's also possible that the monitor may run OK at 60Hz. Either
way, I would imagine the monitor will cost a fortune to ship overseas.
- Dave