60Hz / 50Hz Copier Problems

[Antony N. Lord]

A friend has just bought an American 3M 4550 Copier (110v / 60Hz).

Even if we put it on a large step-down transformer (the plate on the
back reads 115v / 11A so we're going to need something in the 1300W+
range) are we likely to encounter problems with the frequency difference?

I know many motors (60Hz) are no go on 50Hz power...

And if so - anyone know if there are sinewave UPS systems available in
Australia that can have their outputs reconfigured to 110v / 60A?

Cheers, Antony.

*** Yep, there's a deliberate typo in my e-mail address ***

 

[Franc Zabkar]

On Thu, 26 Jan 2006 18:04:36 +1000, Mark Harriss <billy@blartco.co.uk>
put finger to keyboard and composed:

The wide range of brands I've seen had transformers with a
range of international voltages they could be set to inside
the copier.

How heavy and expensive would an internal 1300VA transformer be? Would
it power the entire copier or just parts of it?

AFAICS, if the copier has a switchmode PSU, then it should be quite
easy to accommodate a 240VAC or 115VAC supply (two mains filter caps
instead of one, plus one SPST switch). As for the fuser, I would think
that you could use dual 115VAC heating elements which could be wired
in series or parallel according to the line voltage.

Unless it's a very old copier it should have
stepper motors or DC motors that are mains frequency
independent as they run off a DC supply internally.

Is it economically feasible for a mains driven motor to give you the
type of control that is required for precision (>200lpi ?) scanning
and paper feeding? AFAIK, even treadmills use DC motors.

I suppose the copier could have an AC fan motor, though.

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.

 

[Mark Harriss]

Franc Zabkar wrote:

On Thu, 26 Jan 2006 18:04:36 +1000, Mark Harriss <billy@blartco.co.uk
put finger to keyboard and composed:


The wide range of brands I've seen had transformers with a
range of international voltages they could be set to inside
the copier.


How heavy and expensive would an internal 1300VA transformer be? Would
it power the entire copier or just parts of it?

Well for a start they were autotransformers so they'd use less copper
and were quite big. Late eighties was about the time copiers started to
slim down and lose weight as the chassis went from diecast to pressed
steel and then plastic.

AFAICS, if the copier has a switchmode PSU, then it should be quite
easy to accommodate a 240VAC or 115VAC supply (two mains filter caps
instead of one, plus one SPST switch). As for the fuser, I would think
that you could use dual 115VAC heating elements which could be wired
in series or parallel according to the line voltage.

As far as I can remember you could buy the various lamps in voltages
to suit the line voltage, very expensive though.

Unless it's a very old copier it should have
stepper motors or DC motors that are mains frequency
independent as they run off a DC supply internally.


Is it economically feasible for a mains driven motor to give you the
type of control that is required for precision (>200lpi ?) scanning
and paper feeding? AFAIK, even treadmills use DC motors.

Some older Konica's were driven from a single mains motor where
everything was synchronised with chain drives everywhere to keep
it all working together. The motor ran everything except the scanner
which was stepper driven and could be adjusted to match the rest
of the mains motor driven machine.

I suppose the copier could have an AC fan motor, though.

- Franc Zabkar

 

[nikl]

Antony N. Lord wrote:

A friend has just bought an American 3M 4550 Copier (110v / 60Hz).

Even if we put it on a large step-down transformer (the plate on the
back reads 115v / 11A so we're going to need something in the 1300W+
range) are we likely to encounter problems with the frequency difference?

My friend bought me a fax/copying/t.a.d machine in usa and i was not able to
run it. I needed to go to authorized panasonic service and pay for
resetuping internal power supply to meet european power specifications.

Peter.