Running a 110v/60Hz DVD player at 110v/50Hz?

[MichaelD]

What would happen if I ran a DVD player rated for 110v/60Hz at 110v/50Hz? Isn't the Hz related to clock speeds (internal DACs and such)? Would it operate correctly?

I didn't think this belonged in "Highly Technical."

Thanks?

 

[Demon-Xanth]

I'd guess that 99% of the time, it wouldn't know.

Very very few things use the line frequency for any type of clock these days. ESPECIALLY microprocessor controlled things. Most power supplies can run happily at 50Hz and many are even designed to run at 50-60Hz.

 

[Bootprint]

I though all/most DVD players just had a small transformer and converted it to DC.

 

[Leros]

The clock on the processor is probably controlled by a crystal. The internal power supply would convert the AC to DC so the power should be nearly the same. The voltages may drop a little bit more each cycle if the filtering capacitors in the rectifier circuit are small, but other than that I can't think of any major issues.

 

[Sphexi]

Is this a serious thread? I can't tell.


What comes out of your wall is 110-120v, 50-60hz. The box will work fine on 60hz, as you don't really have a way of controlling the electricity coming out of your wall, only the power company can do that.

 

[PottedMeat]

Nothing really. It goes AC->DC and the clock is some fraction of a several MHz crystal or PLL. 10Hz would probably affect the sag voltage between the diode bridge rectifier and filter capacitor - but not seriously unless it was a ridiculously poor design.

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: Sphexi
Is this a serious thread? I can't tell.


What comes out of your wall is 110-120v, 50-60hz. The box will work fine on 60hz, as you don't really have a way of controlling the electricity coming out of your wall, only the power company can do that.

The frequency out of your wall does fluctuate a bit throughout the day. Cool enough though, the power company manages it so that it averages out to 60Hz over day. This is for devices such as clocks that do use the 60Hz as their clock source.

 

[MichaelD]

It's a serious thread. What comes out of my wall is 220v/50Hz. I have a 220-->110v transformer, but you can't change "the Hz." I have noticed that running a 110v/60Hz alarm clock off the transformer, the clock runs FAST. It gains about two minutes over 2-3 days. So that's why I'm concerned about the DVD (BR, actually ) player.

Thanks for the replies; they are greatly appreciated.

 

[Special K]

The DVD player should work exactly the same. As others have said, all of the electronics inside run off of converted DC voltages, and any clocks will be generated by internal oscillators.

Anything with an electric motor, such as a fan, might actually run faster at 50 Hz compared to 60 Hz. This is because these devices are inductive loads, and inductors have less impedance at lower frequencies.

 

[Sphexi]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
It's a serious thread. What comes out of my wall is 220v/50Hz. I have a 220-->110v transformer, but you can't change "the Hz."

Thanks for the replies; they are greatly appreciated.

Almost every decent electrical device I've seen will handle both.

That being said, if you're concerned, look for a Cyberhome player, a few years back when I worked at Radioshack they had the best one available. It did 110-220v/50-60hz, had a detachable powercord that you could replace with one for anywhere in the world, and it didn't have a region lock on it (on the first model). Great unit to have.

 

[Specop 007]

Whats rated and what you get are two different things. In fact, I dont think I've ever seen a outlet actually hit spec on both voltage and frequency.

Is this a "what if" question or do you actually have an underspecced outlet? Normal rating is 120/60. I think mine are a bit hot (126 i *think* is highest I've seen) and honestly damned if I can remember the frequency off the top of my head.

Long story short it should be fine.

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: Specop 007
Whats rated and what you get are two different things. In fact, I dont think I've ever seen a outlet actually hit spec on both voltage and frequency.

Is this a "what if" question or do you actually have an underspecced outlet? Normal rating is 120/60. I think mine are a bit hot (126 i *think* is highest I've seen) and honestly damned if I can remember the frequency off the top of my head.

Long story short it should be fine.

I'm pretty sure the voltage and frequency fluctuate throughout the day.

 

[Specop 007]

Originally posted by: Leros

Originally posted by: Specop 007
Whats rated and what you get are two different things. In fact, I dont think I've ever seen a outlet actually hit spec on both voltage and frequency.

Is this a "what if" question or do you actually have an underspecced outlet? Normal rating is 120/60. I think mine are a bit hot (126 i *think* is highest I've seen) and honestly damned if I can remember the frequency off the top of my head.

Long story short it should be fine.

I'm pretty sure the voltage and frequency fluctuate throughout the day.

I'm be quite suprised if it didnt to be honest. My only point was if you have an outlet thats pegged at 120/60 and holds it all day I'd send y power company a medal or award or something!

 

[So]

Originally posted by: Sphexi
Is this a serious thread? I can't tell.


What comes out of your wall is 110-120v, 50-60hz. The box will work fine on 60hz, as you don't really have a way of controlling the electricity coming out of your wall, only the power company can do that.

Trust me, as a power engineer, the frequency is 60Hz. Not 50-60Hz. It's 50Hz in many other conuntries, and 60Hz in most of the Americas and Japan.

The frequency of your wall outlet is 59.99 +/- ~.05Hz. If the frequency deviates even 1Hz, you're going to see a northeast style blackout. Standard wall powered clocks (say, your alarm clock) are often timed using the line rather than a crystal, as it's more accurate over long periods of time (the power co will often deviate the frequency a tiny bit in the opposite direction overnight to make up for any small error incurred during the day).

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: So

Originally posted by: Sphexi
Is this a serious thread? I can't tell.


What comes out of your wall is 110-120v, 50-60hz. The box will work fine on 60hz, as you don't really have a way of controlling the electricity coming out of your wall, only the power company can do that.

Trust me, as a power engineer, the frequency is 60Hz. Not 50-60Hz. It's 50Hz in many other conuntries, and 60Hz in most of the Americas and Japan.

The frequency of your wall outlet is 59.99 +/- ~.05Hz. If the frequency deviates even 1Hz, you're going to see a northeast style blackout. Standard wall powered clocks (say, your alarm clock) are often timed using the line rather than a crystal, as it's more accurate over long periods of time (the power co will often deviate the frequency a tiny bit in the opposite direction overnight to make up for any small error incurred during the day).

Is this 60Hz frequency determined by the generator? How do they alter the frequency?

 

[SunnyD]

Think "Large Hadron Collider". You get the idea.

 

[So]

Originally posted by: Leros

Originally posted by: So

Originally posted by: Sphexi
Is this a serious thread? I can't tell.


What comes out of your wall is 110-120v, 50-60hz. The box will work fine on 60hz, as you don't really have a way of controlling the electricity coming out of your wall, only the power company can do that.

Trust me, as a power engineer, the frequency is 60Hz. Not 50-60Hz. It's 50Hz in many other conuntries, and 60Hz in most of the Americas and Japan.

The frequency of your wall outlet is 59.99 +/- ~.05Hz. If the frequency deviates even 1Hz, you're going to see a northeast style blackout. Standard wall powered clocks (say, your alarm clock) are often timed using the line rather than a crystal, as it's more accurate over long periods of time (the power co will often deviate the frequency a tiny bit in the opposite direction overnight to make up for any small error incurred during the day).

Is this 60Hz frequency determined by the generator? How do they alter the frequency?

It is. You can swing it a little bit each way, but too far and you start slipping poles and eventually you get "out of step" with the rest of the system (each coast has a totally integrated power system, perfectly in sync) and everyone cuts their ties with you.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: So

Originally posted by: Sphexi
Is this a serious thread? I can't tell.


What comes out of your wall is 110-120v, 50-60hz. The box will work fine on 60hz, as you don't really have a way of controlling the electricity coming out of your wall, only the power company can do that.

Trust me, as a power engineer, the frequency is 60Hz. Not 50-60Hz. It's 50Hz in many other conuntries, and 60Hz in most of the Americas and Japan.

The frequency of your wall outlet is 59.99 +/- ~.05Hz. If the frequency deviates even 1Hz, you're going to see a northeast style blackout. Standard wall powered clocks (say, your alarm clock) are often timed using the line rather than a crystal, as it's more accurate over long periods of time (the power co will often deviate the frequency a tiny bit in the opposite direction overnight to make up for any small error incurred during the day).

Why would a deviation of 1 Hz cause a blackout?

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: So

Originally posted by: Sphexi
Is this a serious thread? I can't tell.


What comes out of your wall is 110-120v, 50-60hz. The box will work fine on 60hz, as you don't really have a way of controlling the electricity coming out of your wall, only the power company can do that.

Trust me, as a power engineer, the frequency is 60Hz. Not 50-60Hz. It's 50Hz in many other conuntries, and 60Hz in most of the Americas and Japan.

The frequency of your wall outlet is 59.99 +/- ~.05Hz. If the frequency deviates even 1Hz, you're going to see a northeast style blackout. Standard wall powered clocks (say, your alarm clock) are often timed using the line rather than a crystal, as it's more accurate over long periods of time (the power co will often deviate the frequency a tiny bit in the opposite direction overnight to make up for any small error incurred during the day).

Thanks very much, Mr. Power Engineer. The purpose of my post is over concerns just like you have outlined. Well founded, right? So.....So. Can I run the thing without it blowing up or not?

 

[So]

Originally posted by: MichaelD

Originally posted by: So

Originally posted by: Sphexi
Is this a serious thread? I can't tell.


What comes out of your wall is 110-120v, 50-60hz. The box will work fine on 60hz, as you don't really have a way of controlling the electricity coming out of your wall, only the power company can do that.

Trust me, as a power engineer, the frequency is 60Hz. Not 50-60Hz. It's 50Hz in many other conuntries, and 60Hz in most of the Americas and Japan.

The frequency of your wall outlet is 59.99 +/- ~.05Hz. If the frequency deviates even 1Hz, you're going to see a northeast style blackout. Standard wall powered clocks (say, your alarm clock) are often timed using the line rather than a crystal, as it's more accurate over long periods of time (the power co will often deviate the frequency a tiny bit in the opposite direction overnight to make up for any small error incurred during the day).

Thanks very much, Mr. Power Engineer. The purpose of my post is over concerns just like you have outlined. Well founded, right? So.....So. Can I run the thing without it blowing up or not?

It depends on the device. Probably. With a switching power supply, like 99% of electronics have, the power supply takes the AC and produces DC, so the unit will in the worst case, you'd have slightly worse ripple on the DC side (longer period between peaks). In fact, the unit may even have 50/60Hz stamped on it. However, if it uses the AC frequency for a clock signal, you'd have problems getting it to work. More importantly, what kind of TV are you using and is it looking for a 50Hz sync with the TV? That may be a problem.

Edit: Actually, the only place that I think uses 110/50 is Japan, and they use NTSC for their TVs, so I *think* it'd work.

 

[krotchy]

Originally posted by: MichaelD

Originally posted by: So

Originally posted by: Sphexi
Is this a serious thread? I can't tell.


What comes out of your wall is 110-120v, 50-60hz. The box will work fine on 60hz, as you don't really have a way of controlling the electricity coming out of your wall, only the power company can do that.

Trust me, as a power engineer, the frequency is 60Hz. Not 50-60Hz. It's 50Hz in many other conuntries, and 60Hz in most of the Americas and Japan.

The frequency of your wall outlet is 59.99 +/- ~.05Hz. If the frequency deviates even 1Hz, you're going to see a northeast style blackout. Standard wall powered clocks (say, your alarm clock) are often timed using the line rather than a crystal, as it's more accurate over long periods of time (the power co will often deviate the frequency a tiny bit in the opposite direction overnight to make up for any small error incurred during the day).

Thanks very much, Mr. Power Engineer. The purpose of my post is over concerns just like you have outlined. Well founded, right? So.....So. Can I run the thing without it blowing up or not?

I suspect that the DVD player should be fine, but look at the LED's and whatnot and see if they dim a bit when you start playing a disk since the spinners motor will draw a decent amount of power.

Generally these days most any device will be made using a Bridge rectifier with a buck or flyback after it to create the DC voltage required. 50 or 60Hz shouldn't matter much at all since there is a feedback system that would more than suffice in combating the 50/60Hz issue assuming the cap on the input rail wasn't borderline to begin with. Typically you will have more of an issue by plugging it in to 220 simply because some of the components might not be rated that high.

Youd be surprised what a power supply can actually take depending on how well it is designed, and high speed switching controller chips are so easy to implement its not even funny. We have one product at my job now that takes 16V-96V DC or 90-260VAC without issue and no selection is required. Our next design will take 11VDC+ or 90-260VAC so it can run on an outlet or mounted to a vehicle using its battery. These designs are probably alot more robust than a standard DVD player, but as long as the engineer put a little thought into the design I doubt you will have a problem.

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks much, So and Krotchy. Weigh-in from the techie guys is greatly appreciated.

Here's the .pdf. It's rated at 60Hz. (page 28)

http://service.us.panasonic.co...MANPDF/DMPBD30-MUL.PDF

 

[vshah]

i've been using tons of stuff in india on a 220>110v transformer (denon receiver, original xbox, aiwa tape deck) all are working fine after 3 years.