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Topic: can i bring my electronics to england with me?  (Read 1917 times)

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can i bring my electronics to england with me?
« on: June 21, 2009, 01:44:30 PM »
hello everyone,

i read through Paul_1966's very long and informative post about electronics, but i'm still a bit uncertain about whether or not i can bring certain items with me.

lamps - i've several lamps that i would like to bring with me. one is a hello kitty accent table lamp. the maximum bulb it can use is 60 watts and it's 120V~AC 60Hz only. the second lamp is a clip on desk lamp with the same specifications. the third lamp is this handmade, ceramic-like turtle lamp, but it's in storage at the moment so i can't give its specifications, but it is likely the same as the previous two. i also have three turtle accent night lights/lamps. the sort with the removable shells that uses a 15 watt bulb. if i used a transformer or had the plugs switched, would my lamps work fine in the UK?

telly - i've a purple 13' rca colorview television that i'm quite attached to and i don't want to get rid of unless it's absolutely necessary. on the back of it it states: AC VOLT: 120 AC WATT:55 Hz: 60 and it was manufactured in september 2000. does none of that make a difference because of the whole amount of lines per second thing? it's such an unusual looking tv and if i got rid of it, i know that i won't be able to find another similarly-styled one as it came out at the height of the brightly-coloured imacs. here's the one photo i could find of it online.
http://newyork.craigslist.org/que/ele/1230081026.html

detrola record player/am/fm radio/cd player/cassette player - i'm not too fussed about the differences in frequency range because my fiance has other radios and he even has a turntable, but i like that mine is an all-in-one player. i couldn't get through paul's explanation of synchrous vs. asynchrous (that type of talk goes right over my head unfortunately!), but it ws manufactured in 2005 so it isn't very old. the power supply is AC 120V/60Hz and the power consumption is 18W and i don't know if this makes a difference or not, but it states that it's a 'class 1 laser product'. will i be able to use my record player in england at all? will it need modifications in order to function properly?

thanks in advance.


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Re: can i bring my electronics to england with me?
« Reply #1 on: June 21, 2009, 01:54:01 PM »
telly - i've a purple 13' rca colorview television that i'm quite attached to....

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your television is not going to work in the UK.  You might be able to plug it in using a power converter, but that would be pointless because it still won't properly display a UK TV signal.

Hopefully Paul or someone else that knows electronics will be able to chime in on the other stuff.  I have a feeling you could bring the lamps and have an electrician convert them for you, and that you might be able to run the CD/record/etc player through a converter, but I'm not sure about either of those.

good luck,
Carl


Re: can i bring my electronics to england with me?
« Reply #2 on: June 21, 2009, 02:01:18 PM »
If your stuff is all 120v, you just can't switch the plugs unless it's rated up to 240v...if not you've got to get a transformer to reduce the 240v down to 120v or you'll end up frying everything.

The other problem is with your telly. With everything going digital you won't be able to pick up the signals without a box which has scart leads ( http://www.tvcables.co.uk/images/items/detachable-scart-plug.jpg) that won't plug into your set because US sets aren't manufactured with them, plus your TV is NTSC meaning it wouldn't be able to use the PAL data from the box anyway. The cost of shipping it would more than pay for a new tv.

The only electronics that you can really use here with just the simplicity of changing the plug is anthing that is rated from 120v-240v like newer model computers & laptops that have a switch on the back near the power supply. Here's a topic on that: http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=21318.0.

Unless you really can't live without the items, sell them on craigslist or chuck 'em in the bin and just get new ones when you get here.


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Re: can i bring my electronics to england with me?
« Reply #3 on: June 21, 2009, 04:57:46 PM »
lamps - i've several lamps that i would like to bring with me. one is a hello kitty accent table lamp. the maximum bulb it can use is 60 watts and it's 120V~AC 60Hz only. the second lamp is a clip on desk lamp with the same specifications. the third lamp is this handmade, ceramic-like turtle lamp, but it's in storage at the moment so i can't give its specifications, but it is likely the same as the previous two. i also have three turtle accent night lights/lamps. the sort with the removable shells that uses a 15 watt bulb. if i used a transformer or had the plugs switched, would my lamps work fine in the UK?

If they all use regular filament lamps then they would be fine with a transformer to step 240V down to 120V, as the frequency difference is of no consequence.   You might want to bring a supply of spare lamps as well though, as you won't find suitable 120V replacements easily here. 

As for converting them to run directly on 240V you would need to change all the lamps for equivalent 240V types.  However there is an issue in that some lampholders and switches on U.S. lamps are not rated for the higher voltage.  Many people "get away" with it, but it's not good practice to use switches etc. rated only for 120V on 240V systems.   If you want to convert to 240V, you would need to consider replacing the lampholders and switches with U.K. types.  Keep in mind also that regular filament lamps in the general 40/60-watt ranges are due to disappear from the shelves later this year, replaced entirely with "energy saving" types such as compact fluorescents.

Quote
telly - i've a purple 13' rca colorview television that i'm quite attached to and i don't want to get rid of unless it's absolutely necessary.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your television is not going to work in the UK.  You might be able to plug it in using a power converter, but that would be pointless because it still won't properly display a UK TV signal.

Definitely.  It will almost certainly be quite useless for receiving signals directly off-air, since the broadcast standards are different.  That goes for both analog and digital broadcasts, although the former are already in the process of being withdrawn and will be gone completely within a few years.

With everything going digital you won't be able to pick up the signals without a box which has scart leads ( http://www.tvcables.co.uk/images/items/detachable-scart-plug.jpg) that won't plug into your set because US sets aren't manufactured with them, plus your TV is NTSC meaning it wouldn't be able to use the PAL data from the box anyway.

Remember that SCART connectors are only the physical type of plug & socket though.  The signals carried on them are conventional video signals such as may also be found on RCA jacks.  You can buy a SCART-to-RCA adapter which will allow either the composite video or component RGB video outputs on the SCART socket of a digital receiver to be connected to the corresponding RCA jacks of the TV.

Composite video brings with it the NTSC vs. PAL color encoding problem, and the set is unlikely to support PAL.  However, it might run perfectly well with direct video inputs, since these bypass all the color encoding issues, leaving just the different scanning rates to contend with.  Most modern TV sets will happily synchronize onto the slightly different frequencies.

Unfortunately, the component video outputs on most U.K. digital receivers is RGB, while component inputs on many U.S. model TVs are color-difference (Y/Pr/Pb or Y/Cr/Cb), which are incompatible.

What direct video inputs do you have on the back of the TV?

Quote
The cost of shipping it would more than pay for a new tv.

Undoubtedly, for something like that. 

Quote from: kennie
detrola record player/am/fm radio/cd player/cassette player - i'm not too fussed about the differences in frequency range

The main AM and FM broadcast bands are similar ranges, and the tuner in your unit should cover them.  The exception is the LW (long wave) broadcast band which is used in Britain but not in North America, although only a couple of British stations use it and many radios sold in the U.K. do not have LW anyway.   The FM stereo system is similar, although frequency compensation is slightly different.  A tweak of the tone controls is usually enough to compensate for most people.

Be careful of the tuning system though: Is it a continuously variable dial, or does the AM tuning jump in 10KHz steps and the FM band in 0.2MHz steps?   If it isn't continuously variable, it will not tune to all U.K. stations.

Quote
i couldn't get through paul's explanation of synchrous vs. asynchrous (that type of talk goes right over my head unfortunately!), but it ws manufactured in 2005 so it isn't very old. the power supply is AC 120V/60Hz and the power consumption is 18W and i don't know if this makes a difference or not, but it states that it's a 'class 1 laser product'. will i be able to use my record player in england at all?

Most of the newer all-in-one units which still incoporate a turntable have a type of motor which will be unaffected by the difference in supply frequency.  Without details of the model or looking at it more closely it's impossible to say for certain though.

The CD side of the unit will be fine, since there is no difference in standards between American & British CDs.   

As noted already, you'll need a transformer to step down to 120V.  As with the TV, unless the unit really has some sentimental value it would probably be much easier to find it a new home before you leave and pick up a similar unit here.
« Last Edit: June 21, 2009, 04:59:52 PM by Paul_1966 »
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Re: can i bring my electronics to england with me?
« Reply #4 on: June 21, 2009, 05:23:13 PM »
How easy are the lamps to take apart?  You could take out the light fixture (basically, all the parts of it that are electric: bulb socket, switch, and plug) and purchase a light kit and re-wire the bases completely  if you've got a strong sentimental attachment to it.  I have an old hurricane lamp my dad made from an oil lamp (he bought a lamp kit for it and did it) and I'm hoping to take out the US lamp kit and just replace it with a UK lamp kit.  

For the TV - you could use it to watch DVDs, assuming you also bring along your US DVD player.  If you're that attached to the TV (and dude, a purple TV? I wouldn't give that up either!) it's an option to think about.


But I also understand that it can get expensive re-wiring things and purchasing transformers for everything, so I'd really think more about it before moving things.

oh, and your clip on lamp?  You can get those in the UK pretty easily.  I'm not sure about the Hello Kitty one, but I'd look into re-wiring the handmade one since it sounds like that has sentimental attachment!

for the night lights - you might be able to bring the shades along and just clip them onto UK night lights.  Just buy some of those cheap ones with the plain shades like this one: , but I might be able to help you better if I saw a picture of the night light.


*edited to add* I found Hello Kitty lava lamps and glitter lamps on amazon:

and here: http://www.crazycameras.co.uk/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=42921&aff_code=gg

and good ol' ebay: http://shop.ebay.co.uk/items/_W0QQ_nkwZhelloQ20kittyQ20lampQQ_armrsZ1QQ_fromZR40

So I'd check for a similar HK lamp since in the long run it's probably cheaper to buy one already wired for UK electricity!
« Last Edit: June 21, 2009, 05:37:24 PM by BeccaJaneStClair »
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Re: can i bring my electronics to england with me?
« Reply #5 on: July 08, 2009, 04:43:26 PM »
Quick related question - someone's offering an American coffee maker on my local Freecycle with US plugs.  Can I use my step down converter (works with hairdryers/similar) with this or do I need something 'stronger' for an appliance like this?
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Re: can i bring my electronics to england with me?
« Reply #6 on: July 08, 2009, 04:53:40 PM »
Quick related question - someone's offering an American coffee maker on my local Freecycle with US plugs.  Can I use my step down converter (works with hairdryers/similar) with this or do I need something 'stronger' for an appliance like this?

It depends upon the rating of your transformer and the power of the coffee maker.  The latter might be a few hundred watts or more than 1500 watts, depending upon the type and size.
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Re: can i bring my electronics to england with me?
« Reply #7 on: July 08, 2009, 08:23:28 PM »
The machine is 1025W, we picked it up.  I've been reading that a standard travel converter is good for heating appliances (curling irons, hair dryers, coffee makers) up to 1600W.  I know a coffee maker is primarily a 'heat producing appliance', but I wanted to check with electricity experts first :).

(I do have a travel converter, but I'm fairly confident it doesn't work and don't want to try it and risk burning out the coffee maker - so I'd rather just buy a new converter but wanted to make sure that was the right path first)  They do say they're not for continuous use, but we could easily unplug the maker whenever we're not using it.
« Last Edit: July 08, 2009, 08:25:02 PM by Aless »
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Re: can i bring my electronics to england with me?
« Reply #8 on: July 08, 2009, 10:52:28 PM »
There's no such thing as a "standard" travel converter in terms of its power rating.  They can be built to handle a few tens of watts maximum or a few thousand watts.   Your coffee maker is indeed just a simple heating element (assuming it's not one of those all-singing, all-dancing models with fancy motorized attachments for froth-making etc.), so you just need to make sure you use a converter with a rating which matches or exceeds the 1025W power rating of the machine.

As I've have always suggested in the past though, if you are buying one new avoid the cheap, transformerless converters like the plague.  The low price is their only advantage.  Get a good quality transformer which can also be used for more sensitive devices if you wish (devices which don't take kindly to some of the transformerless converters), and buy one with enough capacity to run two or three things at once if you envisage wanting to do that.    A decent transformer will cost you more than a transformerless converter of similar power rating, and it will definitely be heavier and bulkier, but it will last for decades.
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Re: can i bring my electronics to england with me?
« Reply #9 on: July 09, 2009, 01:55:17 AM »
Speaking of...

Is it worth it to bring my Kitchenaid mixer? I really want to cry about that because it's never been used. This is what the website says that has me confused. The mixer is packed in storage and still in the USA waiting for me to sort out what Im going to have sent here.

"Volts: 120 A.C. only. Hertz: 60
The wattage rating for your Stand
Mixer is printed on a tag under the
mixer base. It is also listed on the
trim band.
If the power cord is too short, have
a qualified electrician or serviceman
install an outlet near the appliance"




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Re: can i bring my electronics to england with me?
« Reply #10 on: July 09, 2009, 09:23:57 AM »
Is it worth it to bring my Kitchenaid mixer?

Motors are affected by the difference in supply frequency (50Hz in Britain, 60Hz in the U.S.), but for the types of motors used in food mixers and similar appliances coupled with the short periods of use it's unlikely to be a problem.

Quote
"Volts: 120 A.C. only. Hertz: 60
The wattage rating for your Stand
Mixer is printed on a tag under the
mixer base. It is also listed on the
trim band.

Check that power rating, then you can determine what size transformer will be needed.

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Re: can i bring my electronics to england with me?
« Reply #11 on: July 09, 2009, 09:44:38 AM »
Paul - thanks so much for your expert advice.  Where would I find this good quality transformer you talk about?

(the only reason I'm even going to all this trouble is because the coffee maker was FREE and very high quality)
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