Getting wired for the U.S. and Italy!!!

[GG]

Hi,

I am looking to buy an inkjet printer, DVD recorder with hard disk, and
home theater system. The problem is that I am living in Italy
(220V/50Hz) and may move to the U.S. (110V/60Hz) in the future. I
would the option to use these electronics in both countries.

I have the option of buying the products in the U.S., but would prefer
to buy them here in Italy. From a technical standpoint, is it better
to step down from 220/50 to 110/60 or step up?

I would like to avoid purchasing a voltage transformer/converter. Is
it feasible to have these products rewired by an electrician to handle
both voltages and frequencies?

I assume there is some form of a motor in all of these products. Is
this a problem as far as the frequency is concerned?

Thanks in advance for the help!

GG

 

[Jim Adney]

On 9 Feb 2005 05:19:01 -0800 gretagarbo85@yahoo.com (GG) wrote:

I am looking to buy an inkjet printer, DVD recorder with hard disk, and
home theater system. The problem is that I am living in Italy
(220V/50Hz) and may move to the U.S. (110V/60Hz) in the future. I
would the option to use these electronics in both countries.

I have the option of buying the products in the U.S., but would prefer
to buy them here in Italy. From a technical standpoint, is it better
to step down from 220/50 to 110/60 or step up?

I would like to avoid purchasing a voltage transformer/converter. Is
it feasible to have these products rewired by an electrician to handle
both voltages and frequencies?

I think all PCs for example, have 115/230V switches on the back so
they can run off either voltage. SOME companies make special (export?)
appliance models with switchable voltage inputs, or inputs that can be
rewired for either voltage. You would have to inquire about these at
your dealer. I think they generally cost more, but it might be worth
it to you.

I assume there is some form of a motor in all of these products. Is
this a problem as far as the frequency is concerned?

I think the motors in the devicee you mentioned are all either DC or
servo controlled, which means that they never see the line frequency,
so they should be fine.

The bigger problem for some of these items might be that the TV system
in the US is NTSC while I'm not sure what is used in Italy, but it's
not likely to be NTSC. I know that there are switchable (universal, or
at least multi-standard) VCRs out there, so maybe there are also
switchable DVD players.

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Jim Adney jadney@vwtype3.org
Madison, WI 53711 USA
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