"beauties on parade..."


When we travel from one part of the world to another, we are always being reminded to pack along a voltage converter for our electrical appliances. Electricity power supply differs around the world in voltage and frequency. This is nothing new to us.

Yes, a voltage converter will suffice - either 110V to 230V or vice versa....

Never occur to us frequency of power supply would be an issue.

You only realize this when you start spinning Lp's on your Rega turntable! What has gone wrong? It's not spinning correctly! But I have not forgotten to use a voltage converter.....!

Where is the trick? Is it the motor?

Bingo! The motor! The speed of the ac synchronous motor for Rega TT is dependent on the frequency of the power supply.

Take a look at the Rega motor (e.g. Premotec 31813 series) : we notice that the motor windings are designed for dual voltage so that the same motor can be used for both 220V and 110V turntables. The difference is : a 6.8K ohm resistor is added in series for operating with 220V supply. Take note also different phasing capacitors are used for different frequencies.

Motor used for both US and Europe TT's


Motor connections for 110Vac circuits


Motor connections for 220Vac circuits


The pulleys

At 50Hz and 60Hz, the motor speeds are respectively 250rpm and 300rpm. To adjust for this speed difference for different regions, pulleys are of different sizes (smaller for 60Hz) whilst the sub-platter size is kept constant. 

This explains why a US version TT cannot work properly in Europe even if a voltage converter is used or even alteration has been made to the voltage circuit. We've overlooked the fact that motor speed is dependent on pulley size.

Turntable is a bit more "fussy"(like us) .... isn't it?


What if I have a TT PSU?

This would not be a problem if you are already running your system with an external power supply (TTPSU). You may be curious why is it so? This is because TTPSU is already crystal-locked to a fix frequency with a matching pulley (e.g 50Hz PSU/50Hz pulley), therefore the frequency of the main power supply would not affect your motor speed at all. You only need to get a 24v wall wart (AC adaptor) which suits the local voltage for your TT.




<< back of Rega TTPSU







Headaches solved


By chance I came across someone who purchased a Rega TT in Hong Kong (230V/50Hz) which refused to perform when brought back to South Korea (230V/60Hz). In this case, voltage is the same; it's the "50Hz/60Hz" problem.








I also encountered another even more interesting case in Brazil (one of the few countries in the world to use both 110V and 230V for everyday appliances). Moved within Brazil, but happened to be a region of different voltage/frequency, a poor friend of mine could not get his turntable speed right. Again it's "50Hz/60Hz" problem.









I told them where the trick is ....

Glad to know that now they are happily spinning Lp's on their turntables after changing the pulleys.

"Keep both your 50Hz and 60Hz pulleys, you probably wouldn't have problem spinning your lp's on Rega TT's anywhere (in 50Hz or 60Hz region)." I told them.




Now, not only I know electricity power supply around the world differs, I discover besides 230V/50Hz and 110V/60Hz that's common, we do find places with 220V/60Hz ( like South Korea) and 100V/50Hz ( like Tokyo) .....





And I learn all this because of the little pulley.....



David Kelly is staying in Canada and he has a Planar 2 bought from UK. The 50Hz pulley has been changed to 60 Hz pulley : 

Hello Michael, 

I received the package last weekend and now have my turntable up and running. 

Your upgrade works very well and I've been having a great time getting the vinyl out. My kids are very interested in this ancient technology. 

Thanks for your assistance and the excellent service provided 

David Kelly.                           






18 comments:

Unknown said...

Hello Michael
I have a Braun SK6 recently purchased from Germany. Brilliant that Braun has a 220 to 110 adjustment, but the 50HZ to 60HZ is a problem as you know. I have been reading your blog on this subject. The SK6 is a direct drive, any tips on adjusting the speed control??

Michael Lim said...

Hi Chris,

Sorry that I am unable to help you as I have not come across a Braun SK6 and have no idea on the system at all.

Michael

Sid said...

Hi Michael

I live in India, which runs on 230V/50Hz. One of my relatives in the US gifted me an Audio Technica LP 60 TT. I have used an unbranded 220/110 V converter, but find my discs spinning faster than usual. Any way this can be addressed? Do I need to get a better quality converter?

Many Thanks,
Sid

Michael Lim said...

Hi Sid,

You have to check with Audio Technica for the voltage and frequency conversion. Normally the Japanese are good at making decks for both markets with some minor adjustments. Go to their web-site and ask for help.

Best regards,
Michael

Sid said...

Hi Michael

Many thanks. Actually the issue was due to incorrect set up of the drive belt, which I since rectified. The TT runs perfectly now!

Best Regards,
Sid

Mariano Andrés said...

Hi Michael,
I Have a rega rp1 220v 50 hz , and.....I am in Brazil !

Can you please confirm just need to change the pulley?
Good oportunitty to set double pulley, silicon Belt!

Is necesary and other change?

Will go to usa next month, please confirm asap to order with you all my "am end grade" 60 hz

Is neccesart ttpsu?

Unknown said...

Hi I bought a Rega turntable 6 months ago and after three months the belt seem to be slipping because the speed slowed down.I put a new belt in and after a month the same problem. Its still under warranty but the supplier is screwing me on the price of the belts. 15 euro . I live in South Africa Cape Town 350 rand for that elastic. Please anybody help shilohnoone@gmail.com

Greg said...

Hi Michael
I haven't been to your site for along time. Every time I'm here I learn something new. The pulley issue is crystal clear to me now. Keep up the good work.
Cheers
Greg

threedots said...

Hello,
I just wanted to make sure I understood correctly, as I have a U.S. P3 from about 1998 and wondered about bringing it to the UK. Will this not work, due to the pulleys, even with the TTPSU (and motor upgrade, perhaps--not sure if mine has a 24v motor or not)?

Thank you,

Marlon

Michael Lim said...

Hi Marlon,

You need to change the 60Hz pulley to a 50Hz pulley in order for the P3 to run at the right speeds in UK. This is the simplest solution.

best regards,
Michael

Unknown said...

Hi. Michael,

Recently, I purchased REGA RP1 from UK and bring it back to my home town (South Korea). We use 220V/60Hz, But the RP1's motor was set 230V/50Hz...

I got a good information from your blog about motor frequency...

Many thanks to you.

if possible, please let me know how/where can I get a 60 Hz pulley.
(I tried to find from ebay, searching google... But, I didn't find adequate pulley.)

Regards,
William

Unknown said...

Hi William,

You can contact me at my email for further details:

Lpturntables@gmail.com

Best regards,
Michael

Unknown said...

Hi Michael, great post....

I bought a Rega RP1 + Performance Pack in Santiago de Chile (where they have an authorized distributor "Needle") , voltage in chile is 220V 50hz , now we moved to Mexico City and the ONLY electronic artefact i bring with us is my Rega , so i thought that buying a voltage convertor everything should work....but at the first moment i saw the record spinning it looked faster for my eye, and of course i could confirm thar with my years, the records are running a bit faster.

What should i do??

Many Thanks!
PM

el Marqués said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...

Thanks for the 60Hz pulley - my (early 80s UK) Planar 3 now works great in the USA. I have to manually spin the platter when I power on but after that it works well. Since there's a 110V motor on mine I plant to remove the resistor and change the cap to the .18uF as you describe. The CW/CCW 'switch' confused me slightly. I have the red winding being direct from 110V and the blue on the other side of the cap. Sound correct?

Unknown said...

\

Buying the Rega RP3 and a long time waiting, finally it's spins with correct 33 rpm with your pulley.

Thanks for the 50Hz pulley - my new Rega RP3 Planar 3 2016 with 24V Motors now works great in the Bangladesh which was bought from US with 110v AC 60MHz pulley.

I am so excited that i started to jump like monkey. I can't find any word how do i thank you.

It's really awesome blog you are maintaining.

Thanks a lot for helping me and make my RP3 to spin with perfect sound.

Dario said...

Is this true for the P1 Plus as well? I just got one but it came with a UK plug.

Unknown said...

Where we can order pulley sir my customer bought some Planar 1 in Ph. But he bring to Hong kong and the speed was very slow what pulley he needed to change? 60 Hz? Where we can buy. Thank you!

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