ben4343 Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 Hi team. I am a Brit living in Norway, and after several years am still struggling with a weird phenomenon. Some of my (bought in Britain) electrical kit just doesn't work properly over here, whereas most works perfectly. For example: an electric razor barely turns over even when plugged in; a laptop would sort of charge but as soon the battery was empty would not take at all; and, pertinently to BC, one of my amps works fine but two not. It is infuriating - I have spoken to a decent sparky about it and they had no idea... The devil is in the details: - a Hotone 5W mini head thing (18V plug) turns on fine, and occasionally will deign to work, but usually is silent through both headphones and cab. It is like Output is fixed at zero. I can't guarantee it isn't dead, but as said it did work as recently as a month ago... - an Eden head (wtx260) would crackle and bubble and be super unstable. I think I killed it by trying, so got the power unit switched out back in the UK and it now works fine back there (haven't bothered bringing it back to Norway). Anyone come across this before?? Depending on sources there might be a 10V difference between Norway (220) and UK (230), could this play a role?? Please help out a new dad in need of a headphone amp who is sad his toys seem to be broken... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downunderwonder Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 The reference I found says Norway and UK both on 230v 50hz. Maybe some dodgy power where you live in Norway? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek99 Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 Don’t think 10v will make much difference a lot of kit is flagged as 220-240 anyway 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fitzmaurice Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 Both GB and Norway use the same 230v 50Hz power. The problem is probably the difference in the socket/plug pins. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben4343 Posted April 30, 2022 Author Share Posted April 30, 2022 Thanks for the input all... I would be tempted to agree with a dodgy plug/unstable supply, but most gear (my Ashdown head for example, and my stereo amplifier, and my turntable, and my pedal power brick, and...) works just fine off the same outlets. The house is new, so dodgy power is not impossible but I would hope (!) unlikely. Is it possible that some kit is more sensitive to... something? than others? The electric razor for example sounds like I've flipped a NOS switch when I travel back to UK, in comparison to use here (across multiple homes, in multiple Norwegian 'counties'). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 Black or brown is Live, blue is Neutral, and yellow/green is earth. Check that earth is connected to earth. Do not ever mix yellow/green with any other wire. The two others do not matter, although Live in the wall should be on the right side, and Neutral on the left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaybeevee Posted May 2, 2022 Share Posted May 2, 2022 I'm a Brit living in Norway too, but absolutely no issues to report.. When i first came over, i brought plenty of British electrical items including my old Peavey Bass amp (model escapes me).. Must be something else going on.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobe Posted May 3, 2022 Share Posted May 3, 2022 (edited) The UK has never been 230v, all government homogenization lies. It's always been 240v. My home voltage is usually around 246v, and often over 250v, but I've never seen it under 240v ever, it's always been the same since we've been here from the late 60's I only ever buy amps that have a 240v tap, especially valve amps that are more sensitive to voltage variations. Norway is 220v, but again due to EEA homogenization lies, everything was rounded up to 230v, but if you factor in the variations, I would never advise running a 220v appliance here in the UK. and I would imagine a 240v tapped appliance would not operate at its best at 220v, especially if the appliance has a sensitive protection circuits. These penny pinching companies need to offer the correct voltage or at least a transformer tap for the country it's for! 230v is NOT the UK voltage. Edited May 3, 2022 by Tobe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobe Posted May 3, 2022 Share Posted May 3, 2022 (edited) On 30/04/2022 at 20:53, Geek99 said: Don’t think 10v will make much difference a lot of kit is flagged as 220-240 anyway That usually means it either has auto sensing voltage, or has 220v, 230v and 240v taps, My GK amp is labelled 220-240 but has taps for the different voltages. Edited May 3, 2022 by Tobe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobe Posted May 3, 2022 Share Posted May 3, 2022 (edited) . Edited October 24, 2022 by Tobe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted May 3, 2022 Share Posted May 3, 2022 17 minutes ago, Tobe said: The UK has never been 230v, all government homogenization lies. It's always been 240v. My home voltage is usually around 246v, and often over 250v, but I've never seen it under 240v ever, it's always been the same since we've been here from the late 60's I only ever buy amps that have a 240v tap, especially valve amps that are more sensitive to voltage variations. Norway is 220v, but again due to EEA homogenization lies, everything was rounded up to 230v, but if you factor in the variations, I would never advise running a 220v appliance here in the UK. and I would imagine a 240v tapped appliance would not operate at its best at 220v, especially if the appliance has a sensitive protection circuits. No switched mode power supply produced in the last 20 years should have any issues between 220 and 240v, they are designed for much bigger variations than that. I would also be very surprised if you could find a valve amp that was that senstive to that change either - partly because new ones were built to cope with 110 / 220 or 240, and old ones were designed to cope with whatever crazy voltage you had in your local areas as it used to be very different. it wasn't until the 60s that some areas stopped having DC. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobe Posted May 3, 2022 Share Posted May 3, 2022 (edited) Markbass have switch mode power supplies, yet still build amps for 230v and 240v for region of sale, and even say that due to homologation issues voltage can't be changed. http://www.markbass.it/product-detail/little-mark-iv/ As for valve amps, lets take the Fender Blues junior for example, it has taps for 230v and 240v, They come as standard wired EUR 230v. the B+ should be 329v, but because of the 230v tap, it's often over 340v, which pushes the bias over 100% plate disapation on a Class A/B fixed bias amp, that should be max 70%. Fender run these hot anyway but with the wrong voltage many have cooked and melted components and boards. Changed to 240v tap runs it at the correct B+ voltage at 329v, and changinging one resistor get the bias at approx 70%. and valves, components don't cook to death anymore.. No brainer. But if you have money to burn on valves/components then you carry on 🙂👍 Edited May 3, 2022 by Tobe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fitzmaurice Posted May 3, 2022 Share Posted May 3, 2022 52 minutes ago, Tobe said: Don't believe all you read Bill 🙂👍 No matter, +/-10% variation isn't going to cause a problem anyway. A low voltage brown out is defined as at least a 10% voltage reduction. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mottlefeeder Posted May 3, 2022 Share Posted May 3, 2022 EU harmonisation was a fudge. The UK voltage is 230v +10%-6% and the rest of the EU is 230v +6% -10%. So, we are harmonised but still operating at the voltages we had before. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downunderwonder Posted May 3, 2022 Share Posted May 3, 2022 Let's see if I have it. Appliances all nominally 230v these days. UK power nominally 230v but actually 240v +13V / -24V so somewhere between 253V and 216V. EU power nominally 230 V and coming out of wall between 248V and 207V. So if an older UK device was meant for 240V but getting 207V it would be 33V under which is almost 14%, might be a problem? And a modern 230V appliance in UK could be getting 253V up it with no problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobe Posted May 3, 2022 Share Posted May 3, 2022 (edited) Norway is not in the EU. and it's power is 220v, but because of EEA trading, they rounded that upto 230v too. https://www.se.com/uk/en/faqs/FA144717/ Edited May 3, 2022 by Tobe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben4343 Posted May 4, 2022 Author Share Posted May 4, 2022 Thanks for the replies all. Seems my observations match up with some floated theories. I suppose that, given enough examples, sometimes a piece of equipment that is unusually more voltage demanding will come across a voltage that is on the low side, and just not work quite as expected. Shame. Any solutions to this, or do I just have to accept sometimes gear just won't work internationally? I work with a physicist and he wondered if the mismatched AC might be confusing a transformer somewhere. One final bit to coagulate the narrative; I have a power brick that works perfectly for my pedals, and has a couple of 18V outputs. The Hotone micro amp ostensibly runs off an 18V plug, but also fails to output (it still turns on just fine though...!) when powered by the brick. I was surprised at this, as I thought the brick might smooth everything out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted May 4, 2022 Share Posted May 4, 2022 4 minutes ago, ben4343 said: One final bit to coagulate the narrative; I have a power brick that works perfectly for my pedals, and has a couple of 18V outputs. The Hotone micro amp ostensibly runs off an 18V plug, but also fails to output (it still turns on just fine though...!) when powered by the brick. I was surprised at this, as I thought the brick might smooth everything out... Is it the right polarity? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobe Posted May 4, 2022 Share Posted May 4, 2022 (edited) 9 hours ago, ben4343 said: Thanks for the replies all. Seems my observations match up with some floated theories. I suppose that, given enough examples, sometimes a piece of equipment that is unusually more voltage demanding will come across a voltage that is on the low side, and just not work quite as expected. Shame. Any solutions to this, or do I just have to accept sometimes gear just won't work internationally? I work with a physicist and he wondered if the mismatched AC might be confusing a transformer somewhere. The answer is to get the correct voltage tap on the transformer primary if available on the equipment, or a new transformer unfortunately. (If you choose to go down this route, get a good Tech who knows exactly what they're doing though, Don't attempt this yourself) And, you can't confuse a transformer, all they do is transform what comes in.. to a given voltage out, if the wrong voltage is going in, then wrong voltage is coming out, simple. but it's the circuits thereafter that can suffer to operate correctly. Edited May 4, 2022 by Tobe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobe Posted May 4, 2022 Share Posted May 4, 2022 (edited) 9 hours ago, ben4343 said: One final bit to coagulate the narrative; I have a power brick that works perfectly for my pedals, and has a couple of 18V outputs. The Hotone micro amp ostensibly runs off an 18V plug, but also fails to output (it still turns on just fine though...!) when powered by the brick. I was surprised at this, as I thought the brick might smooth everything out... Sounds like the power brick won't supply enough current for the Hotone, it's not just about the 18v, For example.. The Ernie Ball Power brick supplies 300mA, pedals are usually low current draw and work fine on that, but the Hotone probably requires more than 3x that at 1000mA, or even 1.5A, so yes it may light up, but it won't operate. Do you have the original power adapter for the Hotone by any chance? Edited May 4, 2022 by Tobe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben4343 Posted May 4, 2022 Author Share Posted May 4, 2022 1 hour ago, Tobe said: Sounds like the power brick won't supply enough current for the Hotone, it's not just about the 18v, For example.. The Ernie Ball Power brick supplies 300mA, pedals are usually low current draw and work fine on that, but the Hotone probably requires more than 3x that at 1000mA, or even 1.5A, so yes it may light up, but it won't operate. Do you have the original power adapter for the Hotone by any chance? I think you are right; pretty obvious now you say it... The brick will output 1000 mA on the 18V channel, but it looks like the Hotone needs 1.5A, so I am 500 mA shy. What's weird is that the Hotone PA says it will take 100-240V; maybe that's clap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted May 4, 2022 Share Posted May 4, 2022 2 minutes ago, ben4343 said: What's weird is that the Hotone PA says it will take 100-240V; maybe that's clap? Why would that be incorrect? noone would make one of those that couldn't do 100-240V, otherwise you have to make several of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben4343 Posted May 4, 2022 Author Share Posted May 4, 2022 6 minutes ago, Woodinblack said: Why would that be incorrect? noone would make one of those that couldn't do 100-240V, otherwise you have to make several of them. But if it takes down to 100V fine, why does the amp then lack the minerals to output? I am still quite convinced the voltage here is lower (and some seem to agree 🤷♂️), and that this seems to negatively affect some gear. Anyone else have a TU-3? I just looked on the back of mine out of interest; apparently I should be using totally different PAs for 230V and 240V... Seems like Markbass aren't the only ones to recommend specific PAs for kit in different voltage regions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobe Posted May 4, 2022 Share Posted May 4, 2022 14 minutes ago, ben4343 said: I think you are right; pretty obvious now you say it... The brick will output 1000 mA on the 18V channel, but it looks like the Hotone needs 1.5A, so I am 500 mA shy. What's weird is that the Hotone PA says it will take 100-240V; maybe that's clap? Yes, it's the current draw that's the problem 👍 Don't worry about the input voltage on adapter it will be auto-sensing. But the good news is that adapter should work on your Hotone, give it a whirl 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben4343 Posted May 4, 2022 Author Share Posted May 4, 2022 Just now, Tobe said: Yes, it's the current draw that's the problem 👍 Don't worry about the input voltage on adapter it will be auto-sensing. But the good news is that adapter should work on your Hotone, give it a whirl 😁 I tried originally on the adaptor (the brick was more of a last ditch alternative!). Mostly, it doesn't work, but occasionally fades in and then out, with the power light remaining on 🤷♂️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.