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Plug Converter Question

H

hijynx54

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 11, 2005
Messages
256
Don't know where this post belongs, so if I am missing a better forum, please assisst me mods.

I finally bought the shuttle I was looking for to give to my girlfriend when I meet her in south africa, and I had a quick question. The computer has american plugs, so would need to use a plug converter to plug it in, but am worried, will the computer produce to much of a voltage to cause problems?

The PSU on the comp is 250watts. Do certain converters accept more volts than other? Just do not want to plug it in a converter and in to wall and have it catch fire, spark, blow up the PSU or any other stupid mistake.

Also I think south africa has their own plug type if it matters. Do not think they use a european outlet or any other country, though I may be wrong.

Any input from an overseas experieneced person would be great.

thanks
 
:D Firstly, computers do not "produce" voltage. Anyway, you will indeed need a plug adapter. Most adapters should be able to handle the current drawn by a computer, so that shouldn't be a problem. You just need to know the voltage South Africa uses. If it is ~240VAC, then you'll have to flip the little switch on the back of your power supply(if it has one). If it doesn't, then it might be autosensing, or it might just be single voltage. If they use 120VAC then you don't have to change anything, just use the plug adapter.

edit: quick search says they run on 240VAC, so you'll have to switch your power supply accordingly. DON'T FORGET TO DO THIS. Bad things can happen if you plug a 120VAC power supply into a 240VAC outlet.
 
What does the switch look like? And if it does not have one how can I find out if it will be ok without risking it getting messed up? Thanks

Edit: Just checked and do not see any switches in the pic of the back of the case where PSU is.
 
hijynx54 said:
Edit: Just checked and do not see any switches in the pic of the back of the case where PSU is.
Click to expand...
...then you'll want to look at the info on the PSU and see what the acceptable range of input voltages are. As mentioned, most switching power supplies these days will take most anything from 90 to 270 Volts AC but you need to verify this by looking at the supply.

This picture shows you what you are looking for - the info is on the sticker on the PSU.

Good Luck - B.B.S.
 
any of you guys got any more info to provide after seeing pic of the back + specs of the barebones? I spent like 2 hours trying to find out, but since I am almost illiterate when it comes to Volts, watts, PSU etc, answers I have found are almost a foreign language =p

Would greatly appreciate any more help I could get, thanks.
 
The sticker BBS was referring to is usually on the side of the power supply, not the back(meaning you have to open up the case). If you knew the model number of the power supply then you could probably look that up(though that would probably be on the sticker that will also tell you the input voltages. :D )
 
Yah I linked the barebones, but can't seem to find anything on the PSU? Even if I did open the case and see the sticker (It wont be here until the 29th), what am I looking for it to say? Thanks.
 
I wonder, would it be possible to buy a south african PSU when I get there and just install that? Would it all be compatible with the parts? And that way no adapter/converter needed either. Let me know what ya'll think.
 
hijynx54 said:
I wonder, would it be possible to buy a south african PSU when I get there and just install that? Would it all be compatible with the parts? And that way no adapter/converter needed either. Let me know what ya'll think.
Click to expand...
...what I think is that it'd be a waste of money. It is very likely you'd get exactly the same supply.

- Open the chassis.
- Find the power supply.
- Find the sticker (like the one in the linked picture in my post) on the power supply.
- Read the sticker; you're looking for something like "Input Voltage" or "Line Voltage" or something like that.
- Read what the range of allowable input voltages is.
- If the wall voltage of the country you are going to is within the range of voltages listed, you don't need anything.

For example (just an example) - you are heading to a country that uses 208 volts. The power supply says:

Input Voltage - 90 - 220 VAC

You're good to go. Most power supplies these days fall into this catagory.

If you still are confused, send the tech support folks at the vendor an e-mail or call them and ask them.

Good Luck - B.B.S.
 
well just got the computer. It says 115 - 230V -/5 - 2.5a / 60-50hz

So if it is 220/230v there a regular adapter should be fine, correct? I read in some areas it is 250v though, so if that is the case, would it be dangerous to plug it in there? Thanks
 
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