Converting enlargers from USA to Australia mains?

voceumana said:

Incandescent lamps are not purely restive loads. The filament is actually very low resistance until it is heated and giving off light. Thus they have a very high inrush current. Switch and relay contacts are rated differently for incandescent and resistive loads. Inrush current can be up to 14 times the steady state current on incandescent bulbs. If you measure the cold resistance of an incandescent bulb, you'll find it's resistance is much lower than the power rating would imply.

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I already hinted at that switch-on/inrush current. However that only lasts very short and furthermore is less critical for a switch than switching-off a high current.
Anyway, I never came across such switch designation over here...

Mick Fagan said:

Australia's power supply is 230V at 50Hz, has been since the 1990's.

Pretty much most of the world is nominally 230V, including the USA, the frequency is another matter.

If any of your appliances have something similar to this, "INPUT: 100-240V, 50/60 Hz". Then you can safely plug and play.

Mick.

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They aim for 230 vlts, but here Ive measured it at over 250 volts, hard to control with all the solar units feeding the net work. Probably doesnt make much difference for most devices, but plays havoc with the ac motors on my turntables a nice even 220 vlts is more desirable.

awty said:

They aim for 230 vlts, but here Ive measured it at over 250 volts, hard to control with all the solar units feeding the net work. Probably doesnt make much difference for most devices, ...

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Enlarger lamps are already overrated, they should be fed with the mains voltage they were signed for, otherwise longevity will be even more reduced.

An alternative approach to a lower mains voltage:

I just had to repair an electromechanical timer-switch from the 60s of the west-german brand Hirsch. It was designed for 220V, but I found out that the motor is actually a 110V one, fed via a load-resistor.
For such timer-switch in cases of 110/120V 50Hz mains it would be sufficient to just bridge that resistor.

(Assuming that the switch proper could take the higher currents of a 120V system. In my case the timer-switch is rated for 4A, but the manual.overide is actually for 10A. Thus the timer-switch in manual mmode has the reserves so to say for a 120V mains, and one could expect that the switch for timer operation has too...)

Trey said:

I'm moving to Sydney from NYC at the beginning of July, and I'm shipping over 4 Beseler 23c enlargers. Does anyone know if something like this product would be sufficient to handle a couple of enlargers and timers? I'm leaning towards taking digital timers vs time-o-lites since the digital ones seem to draw less power.

Is there much of a market for used easels and other various darkroom equipment? I'm only doing the sea freight thing once and I feel like I need to pack as much as I can now, but things are getting expensive.

Also I see that B&H is a main choice for Australian film photographers to order stuff. It will be very weird to move to the other side of the planet and shop at the same store I go to here. No more online pickups though I guess.

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I don't trust these things blue old a computer ones. You need a proper transformer to reduce the power to 110 V.

When I moved back to Australia from the US with a colour head LPL I purchased one of these here. Worked like a charm for the enlarger but the Gralab, as others have said, was off, when it timed 1 minute it actually took 1:20 seconds. Of course, a condenser enlarger requires different bulbs for our voltage. I think this unit cost about $200. (For some reason when you click on the thumbnail, half of the photo is missing.)

Concerning frequency dependant timers/timer-switches: in most enlarging workflows only relative times, not absolute times matter.*
So, as long as one only uses one timing device, this all should not be a concern.


*not well worded, but I guess you got my point, that the unit of time may be deliberate

AgX said:

Concerning frequency dependant timers/timer-switches: in most enlarging workflows only relative times, not absolute times matter.*
So, as long as one only uses one timing device, this all should not be a concern.


*not well worded, but I guess you got my point, that the unit of time may be deliberate

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That's exactly what I ended up doing for dev times on FB. I was developing them for more than 2 minutes but seeing as every print got the same development, test/work/final there was no problem.

NOt to veer too far off the original topic here, but I've now been offered a Beseler 45MX. Would I be able to operate the motor in Australia? Would it just run slower?

AgX said:

I just had to repair an electromechanical timer-switch from the 60s of the west-german brand Hirsch. It was designed for 220V, but I found out that the motor is actually a 110V one, fed via a load-resistor.
For such timer-switch in cases of 110/120V 50Hz mains it would be sufficient to just bridge that resistor.

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I just opened for repair another 220V timer-switch by another west-german manufacturer. Again the motor was a 110V one fed via la load-resistor.

Here in Melbourne I have a 110V darkroom because I bought equipment years ago (cold light heads etc). I use a somewhat expensive transformer from Radio Spares which is centre tapped to earth which can make for extra safety in the unlikely event of an electric shock.

I used to have a Beseler 240V to 110V transformer which came with a second hand purchase. I lent it to a friend who had just arrived in Oz with USA Christmas tree lights. The transformer did not have a sufficient capacity and blew in a minute.

I know this post is a bit late. Hope it helps.

Such transformer best have a fuse for maximum load to avoid this. This adjustable one got such:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Variable_Transformer_MFrey_001.jpg

voceumana said:

Conversion of the Time-O-Lite timers would require replacing the motor (if you want the time to be correct). If you open one up, you can see that it would be difficult to do because the timer is jam-packed.

Voltage conversion requires two things: the correct voltage; note that Australia is 240 Volts, while most of Europe is 220 Volts; they are not the same. Power conversion transformers can adapt for the voltage. The other thing is the correct frequency: 60 Hz for USA, Canada; 50 Hz for Australia. There is no easy way to convert frequency--it can be done, but the cost is prohibitive.

For electronic equipment, look for a rating that includes 240V (not 220V) and 50 Hz.

Incandescent bulbs don't care about frequency, just voltage. If you use a step-down transformer (240 to 120V) you can use the bulbs you bought. Since the only electrical device in these enlargers is the bulb, a step down transformer makes sense.

This sort of transformer would be a decent one, I think: https://www.amazon.com/Rockstone-30...lt+Voltage+Transformer&qid=1591795328&sr=8-13

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Out of curiosity, would a transformer such as you linked to, feeding a true sine wave UPS, perform that frequency conversion when used in battery mode? I don't know what size UPS might be needed for a given printing session.

A classic (coil) transformer sends out the same frequency and wave-form that it is fed with.
(From the way to handle it the linked-to device seems to be just a coil-transformer. What makes me wonder though is that the European standardized mains voltage of 230V cannot be selected, resulting then in errroneaous output voltage.)

AgX said:

A classic (coil) transformer sends out the same frequency and wave-form that it is fed with.
(From the way to handle it the linked-to device seems to be just a coil-transformer. What makes me wonder though is that the European standardized mains voltage of 230V cannot be selected, resulting then in errroneaous output voltage.)

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Yes, the the UPS will transfer that frequency and wave form WHEN power is being fed to it. But when disconnected from the main - operating on it's battery - it may be designed to deliver 60mhz (assuming it's designed for the US market).

Yes, but to my understanding your inquiry was about that transformer and not about a UPS

mgb74 said:

Would a transformer such as you linked to, feeding a true sine wave UPS, perform that frequency conversion ..?

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Trey said:

Oh wow I didn't know that. Is there a device to convert the Hz? I know nothing about electricity.

And for the digital ones if i use the converter I guess the enlarger bulb that's plugged in will have issues as well?

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Things which synchronize on the cycle rate (50Hz vs. 60Hz) are sensitive to the wrong rate of the power due to 'bad timing'...electric motors which drive timers, for example.
Other things like lightbulb filaments only change their (invisible to the eye) rate of flicker (assuming they get the correct Voltage suppled to them!)
I do not believe there are 'convertors' you can plug in, the devices which use the synchronous timing have to be designed for one specific cycle rate.

If the internal circuitry relies upon the power supply to convert AC from the wall (which has a cycle rate) into DC (which has no cycle rate), you have no issue with changes in Voltage or cycle rate...which is why so many devices now have a universal convertor from 100-240VAC 50/60 cycle changed into 6VDC, for example. But it dependent upon the design of the internal circuitry of the device in question!

AgX said:

Yes, but to my understanding your inquiry was about that transformer and not about a UPS

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My post was specifically about whether the UPS in battery mode would provide the correct frequency. And you'd need to use a US spec model with a transformer as a UPS with 220v input would probably be designed for 50hz

But why would an enlarger need a UPS? To me it only would make sense when enlarging to really large paper format, so that a loss of one single print (due enlarger failure during exposing) makes a UPS a economic solution to consider.

AgX said:

But why would an enlarger need a UPS? To me it only would make sense when enlarging to really large paper format, so that a loss of one single print (due enlarger failure during exposing) makes a UPS a economic solution to consider.

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Posts #12 and 38. And the enlarger would only need it if it had electronics sensitive to power frequency.

By now, the OP is (or should be) in Australia. Perhaps we'll find out what he actually did and what actually worked.

In this thread you are the only one referrng to a USB. As said, such makes no sense to me and you did not explain the contrary.

Maybe you just mixed up terms:
-) a UPS is a device with a integrated battery or generator that feeds appliances that must never fail, when the mains become weak or is off completely.
In cases of otherwise directly mains fed appliances it generates mains voltage and frequency.

-) maybe you meant to employ such UPS just for adapting frequencies, but then why did you ask for the battery mode then?

I am puzzled.

If you want to go whole hog you can buy devices that will convert from one voltage/frequency to another. They are expensive. Here's one example. There might be less expensive options out there as well.

http://www.gohz.com/single-phase-frequency-converter

By the way, one option might be to buy a small self-contained solar power unit with battery storage. I haven't looked into the issue of whether these are available with 110V/60Hz output or what the cost would be. For operating your darkroom something might that might provide plenty of output.

As mentioned by others, most likely your lowest cost option would be to buy new bulbs for your enlarger and then replace the timers with units that will work in Australia. If you want to go that route then sell your timers on ebay before you move to Australia. That will help defray the cost of buying new timers when you get there.

Have you looked at the labels on all of the electrical equipment you are planning to move with you? Make a list of what the voltage/frequency requirement is for each one. As others have mentioned, some might have very flexible power requirements, especially some equipment made in recent years. Some might have strict voltage/frequency requirements. Those are the ones you want to pay attention to. Then decide whether it is cheaper to replace those units or buy something that can condition the available power to what you need for your devices. For the most part it will only be the ones that either derive timing information from the power mains or use a motor that turns at a rate determined buy the power mains.

Maybe you could make a list of the power requirements and then group them together and post the list here.

With regard to the rpm of motors, the only ones you would need to worry about would be be synchronous motors or induction motors. Those are the kinds which have a shaft rpm that depends on frequency. Of those, synchronous motors are the only ones that would be used if the rpm needs to be very strictly controlled, such as timer motors. The rpm of an induction motor changes slightly, depending on the load.


Anything that involves a pure heating function (ordinary incandescent light bulbs might be an honorary member of that club) is not going to be very frequency-dependent. 50Hz should work about as well as 60Hz. For anything that is not frequency dependent a simple transformer should suffice, which means that a simple transformer should work, including the one at Amazon that you linked, provided that 10 Amp output is enough. (It probably is enough.)

There's another trick that might work, but I don't know if it would work for sure. If the power coming out of the plug has two hot wires plus a ground you could rig up a device that would just one leg of the power plus ground. Most likely the power plugs have on hot and one neutral, plus ground. In that case this scheme won't work. If the power plug does have two hot wires you would have to see if that violated any power electrical codes in Australia by using just one leg of the power.

An even wilder option would be to buy a small portable generator with 110V/60Hz output.

AgX said:

In this thread you are the only one referrng to a USB. As said, such makes no sense to me and you did not explain the contrary.

Maybe you just mixed up terms:
-) a UPS is a device with a integrated battery or generator that feeds appliances that must never fail, when the mains become weak or is off completely.
In cases of otherwise directly mains fed appliances it generates mains voltage and frequency.

-) maybe you meant to employ such UPS just for adapting frequencies, but then why did you ask for the battery mode then?

I am puzzled.

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First, I don't think I ever referred to a USB - only UPS. So no, I did not get the terms mixed up.

The issue came up as one member stated that, while converting voltage is easy, a device to convert 50hz to 60 hz is possible, but very expensive. See post #12. I raised a question as to whether a UPS in battery mode, fed by the 110v transformer, might deliver 110v 60hz power. See post #38. I specifically said in battery mode as the UPS (at least the one's I'm familiar with) will not engage it's power delivery electronics until there's an interruption in power. Note that I did not say this would work; I just raised the question of whether it would work.

It took a while, but now I finally got your point...:

-) take an UPS with 110V AC , 60Hz output

-) feed it with 12V DC or so from a 110V AC transformer hung to 110V AC 50Hz mains

Yes that would work. Instead of some solid state (or even electromechanical) AC-AC frequency converter you go via the AC - DC - AC route.


However by this you pay for the batteries that are of no use here. Instead of the UPS you just could take a much cheaper DC to AC converter.

AgX said:

It took a while, but now I finally got your point...:

-) take an UPS with 110V AC , 60Hz output

-) feed it with 12V DC or so from a 110V AC transformer hung to 110V AC 50Hz mains

Yes that would work. Instead of some solid state (or even electromechanical) AC-AC frequency converter you go via the AC - DC - AC route.


However by this you pay for the batteries that are of no use here. Instead of the UPS you just could take a much cheaper DC to AC converter.

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Almost my point.

Take a UPS with 110v AC 60 hz output.
Feed it from a 220 to 110 transformer.

The transformer will convert the 220v 50hz to 110v 50hz which will charge the UPS batteries. The UPS will output 110v 60hz as long as power to it is not being fed power. I believe that to correctly power electronics, it needs to output a pure sine wave so the really cheap UPS models won't work.