southcoast

I am currently in the U.S and I want to know, if things like
washer machines/tumble dryers, TV's, DVD's, computer etc
will work in Oz. I believe it is 110v/120v 60 Hz here in the U.S.

would I have to buy a voltage converter etc?

colind

Hi Southcoast

the voltage here is 230/240, I believe, so UK appliances work fine, but I guess you would need some sort of converter for US appliances. Not sure how that works. I have used my laptop in the US no problems with a simple plug adaptor but for TVs etc it may be different. I will bow to the superior knowledge of any sparkies on the board!

Colin

Ceri

Regarding your TV..
Australia uses a different system to America - Australia's television standard format is PAL(B), other countries use one of three standards NTSC, PAL or SECAM.
These standards are not compatible with each other and there are variations within each standard.


America uses NTSC (which is an american designed standard.. other countries which use it, I think are Canada and Hawaii etc), while Australia is Pal B (UK is pal 1)... unless you have a multisync TV, I think your American Tv (NTSC) is not going to work in Aus. Also, correct me if I'm wrong an Aussie set which is PAL B will not work in Britain as that's PAL 1
You'd better check your TV before you bring it with you.... maybe ring the manufacturers, or ask in your Eletrical goods shop.

I bought my TV in Asia, and at the time I purchased it, I made sure it was a multi system because I wanted to take it with me when I left there.. which was Britain (ended up in oz though.

DVD"S ... make sure your player is multi also (plays all formats/zones of discs), or when you go to buy or rent a movie here in Aus.. they will not play, most dvd movies in the shops here are region 4, America region 1 discss
hope this is of some help... we are on different systems
cheers

suebo

The TV will work if you have dual system - PAL/NESCAM. But you will still have to buy a power converter. If you purchased the TV in USA, it will not work in OZ as they do not sell the dual system here. (I tried to find one when we first got here and was told "no, we don't sell dual system in USA") Unless this guy was yanking my chain....... Our computer did not work either. My hubby ended up buying another one and rebuilding mine with new power supply etc. I am not sure on the DVD either - may be the same story as the TV. VCR forget about it. As for the rest of the products, you will have to have converters for all of them, that can be a costly experience.
When you weigh up all the costs of converters, adaptors, shipping and insurance, you would probably be better off selling them off and buying new products whe you get to OZ. BTW if they are still under warranty, you would probably lose that too!

Perth Helena

As others have said, it's PAL here, and in N.A. the standard is NTSC. Even if you converted the voltage on your TV, you'd be unable to pick up stations.

In order to run any electrical appliance from North America or anywhere where the voltage is 120, you'll need to use a voltage transformer. I don't know how well that would work for things like washing machines and dryers. We didn't bring any of our big appliances when we moved from Canada, but we brought all our small appliances and power tools. We've been running them off a few good, solid, powerful voltage transformers. There are cheap transformers but don't bother with them. They burn out quickly and could start a fire. We bought ours in Canada (they're more expensive here), and have been using them successfully. Except for the toaster. That didn't work great from the beginning, but we were warned about that by friends. We had room in the container so we moved everything and thought we'd give it a try at least. 120 volt appliances we're using via voltage transformers: bread machine, juicers, coffee maker, coffee grinder, food processor, pasta maker, blender, drills, mitre saw, radios, sewing machine, etc.

You have to make sure the voltage transformer is powerful enough to handle the wattage required by the appliance/tool. i.e., you can't plug in a 900w coffee maker into a 500w voltage transformer.

We bought a VCR here that can play multi-format video tapes, so we brought all our video tapes from Canada and have no problems playing those. We bought a DVD player here than can play multi-zone DVDs, so same thing.

We brought all three of our PCs with us because they were dual voltage. Check the back of your PC - does it have a little 120/240 switch? If so, it'll work here. Check the voltage specs of your monitor and any other peripherals too. We sold our printers since they were single voltage but all our monitors were fine.

Good luck,

Helena

southcoast

Hey Helena thanks once again for your detailed replies, very nice of you.

My wife and I had just moved out of a apartment so luckily we haven't really gathered that much in the way of electrical goods etc. So I think that maybe the best thing is to just sell what we have now (except the comp because it does have that 110/240v switch on the back). the TV is a few years old, VCR's are cheap anyways, and just like you said I would have to get one that can play multi-format tapes, the same with the DVD. Shame about the washermachine/dryer that is practically brand new, but anyways...

When did you move to Oz from Canada? did you pack everything into one of those 20' shipping containers? if so how long did it take/cost etc?

Cheers!

Perth Helena

Well, I don't want to tell you how to do things but if you've got room in the container, you may want to bring the small appliances anyway. Buy 2 or 3 voltage transformers, each no less than 1000w, maybe cost you up to $100 each. Less since you're in the US. Run them til they die. All ours are still going strong 3+ years later. We felt it was well worth it, but only if you've got the room. If you sell them how much can you get? $10 for this? $20 for that? Buy them new here and you'll be spending $80 here, $100 there, $200 for something else. Appliances are more expensive here than the US, even accounting for the exchange rate.

We were just in Huntingdon Beach staying at a friend's for 10 days. He told us his microwave had just died the other week so he tossed it in the bin and picked up a new one for $90. No big deal. Ours coincidentally died last week too. $280 to get a new one (after bargaining it down from $310). A bit bigger deal. Family sized, nothing fancy. Convection ones will set you back $500+.

So, think about it. Especially if what you've got is good quality.

Just over 3 years ago. From Vancouver. Yes, we shipped everything in a 20' container (plus a partial shipment in another container). No we didn't pack it ourselves. Got Allied to do that. Took 4 men 2 full days. So glad we didn't attempt to do it ourselves. Would have likely taken a month and we would have probably lost our minds, divorced, become alcoholics and regularly beaten our kids and dog. It's a LOT of work. And the whole moving thing is stressful, very stressful.

It cost $8000. Took about 6 weeks to get here. They unpacked at this end.

Good luck,

Helena

Snowbird

It was said on a US news show recently that within a very few years, analog tv signals would cease and all tv would be digital (and probably only by paid subscription.) So before buying a new Australian analog tv, why not try to find out if it will be completely obsolete in a few years time over there too. Or just get a digital tv.
Best of luck to you

jeannie

Helena.
I was wandering how you like it in Australia ? did'nt like the rain in Vanc I guess ?.
I live in The Okanagan Valley so we dont get much rain .

baldbutts

Spoke to me mates in REM & they asked 'wots the frequency,Kenneth?'
Don't think that helps much

BB-name dropper extraoirdinaire

Perth Helena

Hi Jeannie,

Wow, small world! I know the Okanagan fairly well. Went there a few times for a week or so in summer because that was pretty well the only place in BC you were guaranteed some good summer heat and sun. Just before we left for Oz, we visited a friend who had moved to Kelowna. Can't believe how that place has grown!

We're enjoying Perth a lot. We all liked it in Vancouver as well. I'm glad I got to live there and will always have great memories and love the place. Lovely city. Hated the rain actually but had to grudgingly accept it as part and parcel of living in a rainforest. We didn't move only because of the rain. That was one reason but certainly not the main one.

Vancouver's gotten a lot more crowded and congested now. Jobs went south and east. House prices went thru the roof. Can't really complain about that much since we made some good decisions about what and where to buy and ended up with a lot of equity. Was nicer when I first lived there in the early to late 80's. Wasn't fun after that. We wanted to take that equity and be debt free, live in more space, have better weather, and we wanted a change.

We looked at Victoria - hard for jobs since it's basically govt and navy. We looked at the Okanagan but again - jobs. We prefer Vernon but that probably had the slimmest pickings and we weren't interested in career changes. Thought about Calgary too. We even started the process to moving to San Diego at one point. Went for a visit to Perth in 97 and we all loved it, especially my husband. Said he couldn't believe I wouldn't have nagged him to go back to Perth years earlier. So, we did it. And here we are. Not regretting it for an instant.

Nice chatting to you,

Helena

Perth Helena

North American appliances: 60Hz. I believe we're 50/60Hz here so there doesn't seem to be any problems in that respect.