Flash Gordon wrote:
> Larry Green wrote, On 15/08/08 21:26:
>> Flash Gordon wrote:
>>> Hello all, a bit off-topic, but I have a question about power in the
>>> USA...
>>>
>>> On of my brothers is moving to Silicon Valley (he has a 3 year work
>>> visa and his new company will sponsor him for a permanent work visa)
>>> and has a lot of expensive 220-240V Hi-Fi & AV equipment. One of his
>>> mates has said that houses often have 240V in the garage and kitchen.
>>> So what we want to know is whether the power is coming in to the
>>> house at 240V and then being stepped down so he would be OK running a
>>> 240V circuit to the lounge or whether it is stepped up for the garage
>>> making this a bad idea.
>>>
>>> To bring this nearer to on-topic, do they have silicon chips and
>>> microfiche for supper in Silicon Valley?
>>
>> I am not an electrician but houses over here typically have both 110V
>> and 220/240V feeds but the 220/240V feed is usually a two-phase supply
>> (i.e. two lines of 110V) not a single phase supply like the UK.
>
> That would be likely to cause problems.
>
>> The 220/240V source is usually ONLY fed to washer/dryer units or
>> electric stoves/ovens and not to the rest of the house.
>
> Hence the suggestion by his mate of adding a new circuit :-)
>
>> In fact supplying 220/240V to any other location may well be breaking
>> the local wiring codes in many cases.
>
> That would be a problem if he gets caught ;-)
>
>> IMHO his best bet would be to sell all his 220/240V electronic
>> equipment over there where it has some resale value rather than paying
>> a large amount of money to have it shipped over here only for it not
>> to work.
>
> His new employer is paying for the shipping so he is not bothered about
> how much that costs :-)
>
>> He could get the same gear for less money on this side of the pond
>> anyway (unless it is high-end Brit stuff of course!)
>
> It is high-end stuff, at least some of it high-end Brit stuff (the 5
> power amps, one per speaker, are high-end Brit stuff).
>
>> Something else to think about is the AV equipment, depending on just
>> what that equipment is it may not even be compatible with the
>> equipment in use over here.
>
> Only the power supply is a problem.
>
>> Europe (with the exception of France) runs on the PAL system for
>> TV/video whereas North America is on the NTSC system and the two
>> systems are not compatible.
>
> As to that, both of us know a lot about that, including *why* NTSC has
> been known as "Never Twice the Same Colour[2]"[1]. It is not a problem
> for most of this (and a of of other) kit.
>
>> HTH
>
> It does help suggest this could be a bad plan.
>
> [1] It's basically (with simplification) because when broadcast over the
> air each colour can take a different path and thus take a different
> amount of time to reach the receiver leading to colour instabilities
> unlike PAL which is approximately a B&W + deviation from white where
> this can't happen.
>
> [2] The "u" is specifically included to further wind up the Americans ;-)
--
Larry the Limey
