foleynumber4

Hi guys,
After much to-ing and fro-ing between the Uk and Vancouver (since 2002) I might actually be going to land next week as a PR in Vancouver to join my Canadian Husband.... Phew.
But I have a lot of last minute panics as I only got my passport back a few days ago and my Visa expires on Oct 22nd - next week! That gives me less than 2 weeks to get ready. Sorry to swear but the bloody b******ds at immigration don't half mess with your lives.
Anyway one thing i have to do is decide what stuff I want sent over. I know I have to land with a list in hand. But should I send my CD player, amp etc.. Will it work over there? I know from experience that videos and DVD's are on a different format. Anyone know? It might help a little with the general PANIC!!! :scared:
Thanks a million, can't wait to see the mountains again soon.

SirTainly

North America has a different rating of electrictity from the UK, 115V volts as opposed to our 240V, not to mention the different plugs! To get Uk appliances to work you'll need to get a step up tranformer, to convert Candian to UK power requirements. I've seen these available on the net, maybe if you can find a maplin/radio shack type store you could get one there?

Item's that have their own power packs are probably best replaced with canadian ones,
check the ouput volts amps rating of the original pack and then buy a similarly rated one that runs from Canadian mains power. This is at least what I plan to do with my electrical kit when I go. Couldn't afford to replace it all after I arrive.

Si

JAJ

Some electrical items travel well. A PC will usually have a switch on the power supply to change the voltage, while monitors generally work with dual voltage.

It is possible to get voltage transformers, but this is realistic only for most low wattage applicances (eg radios). Anything that needs a lot of power (power tools, kettles, any kind of heater) will involve more hassle than it;s worth. Lamps are supposed to work if you put in a North American bulb but I've not checked that one.

Jeremy

Glaswegian

I got a travel adapter from Lunn Poly ... still working fine for my laptop's transformer three years later.

Someone on the forum suggested at one point that they were going to wire their house with a 240V circuit with 3 pin UK style sockets, don't know if it ever happened ... something I'd be very reluctant to do.

UK lamps typically have bayonet fittings, NA bulbs are typically screw-in.

ukjo

Lamps dont work over here as Glaswegian said the bulbs are screw in here. I did bring my bedside ikea lights and my husband (ok admittingly electrics are his job) fitted all new wirings on them and theyre fine. Im sure you could find someone to do it fairly cheaply

Posidrive

Looking at the MLS for the Calgary area, I've seen a couple of properties advertised as having been fully wired for 240V to supplement the 100V, so probably not that unreasonable to do.

iaink

Are you sure that wasnt 240V "3 phase"? Its common here for running driers, water heaters etc.

Someone will probably correct me, but my understanding is that the 120V in your house is transmitted as 240V, and then a common ground is used to split this into two 120V circuits in the house. The drier / water heater uses the straight 240V to increase its power output. Its not the same as UK 240V I think, but it is usefull to know for feeding power back into your distribution board from a generator through the drier circuit Not to code of course!

SimonG

Just following on from the transformers debate. We spent about $200 dollars on transformers when we first arrived. Just be careful on the wattage you buy. Especially with things like TV's, the little sticker on the back will give you the running voltage, but they have a much larger start up wattage. Try voltageconverters.com or something like that. I think we bought 300W transformers and one extra large one for all my power tools, they all work fine.

Also, I was talking to an electrician friend, from the UK, who has wired a single phase 220V into his garage.

Have fun.

macmike41

I'm not sure this is advisable and (as Iank has already pointed out) I doubt if an independant single phase 220v curcuit wired from the house distribution board complies with local wiring code – so I would suggest a check with the house insurance company to OK it because if a 'problem’ arose they may not support any claim made for damages or repairs to the garage or any goods in the garage unless they agree to the 220v supply. And as Ukjo said - UK lamps must be rewired before they are used here to comply with 'local code' and again for insurance purposes.

Rhodes

This topic on a different forum might be worth a look...

http://www.britishexpat.com/expatfor...t=3468&start=0

PBC_1966

In layman's terms, that's pretty much what happens. The transformer out on the pole actually has a 240V winding with a center-tap which is grounded (or "earthed" in British terminology) and runs to the neutral busbar at the main distribution panel. There are then two "hot" (or "live") busbars, one fed from each outer end of the transformer.

Regular wall outlets, lights, etc. are run from one hot and the neutral to get 120V, while large appliances such as a dryer, range, or heavy-duty air-conditioner are wired across the two hot lines to get the full 240V (many of these also have a neutral connection as they use 120V for lights, timers, etc.).

Trying to wire with British-style outlets is likely to land you in trouble with the local electrical inspector (if he ever finds out, of course), but you don't need to go that far.

If you're willing to go to the trouble and expense, you can have 240V North American receptacles installed at a few places around the house. The plugs which fit these are very similar to a normal 120V plug, but have the two flat blades turned at 90 degrees and in-line with each other instead of parallel.

If you really want to get in this deeply, ask a local electrician about installing some NEMA type 6-15 receptacles. He'll know what that means.

Two differences:

1. U.K. 240V has one wire grounded and thus the live/hot wire is at 240V with respect to earth. The U.S./Canadian arrangement still has 240V between the two wires, but both wires are each at 120V with respect to earth.

2. The frequency is different. UK=50Hz, US/Canada=60Hz.

BTW, this is not a 3-phase system, but a 3-wire single-phase arrangement. 240V 3-phase systems do exist in North America, but only for commercial supplies, not residential.

Hope this helps.

MikeUK

I'm in the process of wiring in the 220v system to my house.. I have done some checking as to what can and what shouldn't be run on this system..

The sockets etc can be bought at Rona or Home depot Canadian tyre etc.

But you do need to check the frequency if your appliance is only rated for 50hz it may not work on the 60Hz system.
Yep Kettles are great and any other resistive loads.. but he fun comes with motors as they will run faster, some electronic circuits use the frequency to clock timing cycles etc and they’ll be running 20% out…

wizzard

Back on the stereo front I just sold mine. I would say that if your amplifier is expensive enough that you want to pay to ship it over then it might be sensitive to the difference in frequency here once you get the transformer going. If it's cheap enough to not really make a difference then just buy a new one here. Although if you have spare room in your shipping container etc. then why not throw it in? I wouldn't pay much extra though. I planne don buying a new one when I got here but I ahven't felt a need to because I just play all my CD's through the Home Theatre DVD system. Probably get a seperate system once I have a house and enough rooms to need a second sound system.

I brought my guitar amplifier afet talking to Marshall. They said the frequency wouldn't make a difference and that it would probably run (it does but not as well) on 110V and once I put in the transformer it is fine. I got a 200W transformer which is fine for my 40W guitar amp. I got it from this place:

http://www.voltageconverters.com

They have every kind of transformer you could think of and the basic step up ones are only around $25 and they have all the power ratings.

Another good place, based in Toronto, is this one:

www.houseof220.com

They have all sorts from converters to appliances and so forth.

Drew

JAJ

Many laptop power supplies are dual voltage and don't need a transformer. Check what it says on yours.


True - in Australia (and I think in the UK), lamps are a mix between the two and you can get both types of bulb.

Jeremy