When I travel to japan, I plug all of my US electronics/appliances into japanese power. No problem. (they have 110, we have 120, no problem). I have received my super famicom from japan ... and it has the japanese 110V power supply. Any problem just plugging this right into standard US power outlet ? Or is the 10v overage dangerous ? Thanks.
As long as it's not some cheap 3rd party thing, you'll be fine. Incase you didn't know, your power outlet is not 120v anyway. It will vary by a bit. That's part of why devices are built to tolerate a certain range. The only time you really need to worry is the difference between the typical 120v we use and the 220v or 240v used in Europe and other areas. Ofcourse we have 240v outlets but they are a different shape and used pretty much just for Clothes Dryers. Silly Europeans. Also, do NOT USE A NES POWER ADAPTER WITH THE SFC. Hopefully that was a typo by Pikkon. The US NES AC adapter actually just changes the input voltage from 120v to 9v, but its still Alternating Current. Not what you want to feed into your Genesis or Super Famicom systems.
"NOT USE A NES POWER ADAPTER WITH THE SFC" Ahhh....I've always wanted confirmation on this. After a few mishaps from customers I started to get the idea that you could plug a Japanese console with Japanese power plug into a US outlet and it will work fine, but plugging in a Japanese console with American power plug into a US outlet would fry it. Is that only true for early Nintendo items?
No, the issue is with the NES power supply. People think it is a 120v AC to 9v DC adapter, but it isn't. It outputs 9v AC, which blows up things designed for DC. Somebody sees 9v on their US NES adapter. Sees their Jaguar needs 9v. Blammo. Japanese and US power a close enough that you should have no problem plugging a japanese supply in the US and vice versa.
I think that the Japanese SFC power supply is unregulated, so if you feed it more than the rated 100v, it will raise the secondary to over 10v. You could try measuring it with a multimeter. If the output is over 15V DC then it's better to use a native 125v to 10v (DC) PSU, as the higher voltage may shorten the life of the SFC. Here in the UK, I use a Megadrive 1 adaptor with my SFC. I think the Genesis one might be the same (10v, centre negative).
Look at the PSU. It should say either something like 100-120V, 100-240V or just 100V. With the 100V ones, I wouldn't risk it. The others are fine. If you would rather be safe than sorry, use one of these: http://www.japantrendshop.com/step-down-adapter-110130v-100v-p-193.html http://www.economovejapan.com/htm/catalog.htm http://www.economovejapan.com/htm/catalog.htm http://cgi.ebay.com/Voltage-Transfo...emQQimsxZ20090131?IMSfp=TL0901311110001r25866 Kashimura make that one, and it'll take up to 300W on 120V or 200W on 240V. Maybe you can find them cheaper yourself? Don't forget to check the appropriate rating - unfortunately often in VA which is confusing, I know! *EDIT* I'm too good to you lot! :110: http://www.kashimura.com/goods/kaigai/trans.html This one does 75W US / 30W Europe. Should do for a Super Famicom - could someone check the Wattage on the transformer? http://item.rakuten.co.jp/netkashi/ti-35/ There is another that's only for 110-130V, and only 35W, but it should do a SF I'd think: http://item.rakuten.co.jp/netkashi/ti-101/ Shop around, though! http://www.amazon.co.jp/カシムラ-海外旅行用変...r_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1234148823&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.co.jp/カシムラ-海外旅行用変...ef=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1234148823&sr=8-5 http://www.dokechi.com/hardware/pricecmp~1,147,147000051.html That site sell the whole range - great prices!
I used a Japanese PSU on an US voltage system nearly everyday for over 2 years and it was fine. Although the output voltage will be slightly higher (by nearly two volts) it is a transformer with nothing more then a smoothing cap and 4 diodes for AC > DC convertors. The FC and SFC have voltage regulators in them so the input voltage isn't critical as long as it it around 9 to 12V. The current the PSU can do is more critical as long as it can output around an amp.
my AV Famicom is running fine with it's Japanese Power plug but it does get hotter than my US one. Is this normal?
Anything that generates heat on 100V will in theory generate more heat on 110/120V. I would not recommend using a Japanese hairdryer in the US!
Hehe, yeah.... I'm sure that would be very painful, though! I actually found a forum where they said the same thing - and someone worked out that a 100V hairdryer operating on 120V would generate 44% more heat!! You should be OK as long as the appliance has a suitable regulator. If the PSU was regulated and therefore there wasn't a regulator in the appliance, that's where you'd get problems.
I know this is somewhat off-topic but is it possible if I can plug a PS2 AC cord into an old PSX model without frying it? I've just got an old "rare" SCPH-1001 model and I fear of ruining it soon. I've tried using a Saturn power cord and it powered on, but I got paranoid and I took it off. If I can't use a PS2 or Saturn power cord, what else could I use?
The "AC Cord" is just that. It brings your home electric service (120v in US) to the system's internal PSU. You only need to be concerned with the internal PSU taking the voltage. Japan and US video game stuff usually can be operated in either country. The only thing to note really is the issue of different TV channel frequency with the Famicom.
