What power do I need for a 110 v to 100 v transformer?

[Gadgetguy]

Hello all,

some pachislos are for 100V. I am considering to get one, and I want to use a 120v to 100V transformer with it, to make sure that no damage happens.

How much power do I need for the 120v to 100v transformer? Is 100W enough? Or do I need 300W or 500W?

Thanks for your advice.

Miklos

[birdbrain]

1000 watts will give approx.10 amps that would be the minimum. i know of no one who has had a problem just plugging straight into the 110v outlets

http://www.elect-spec.com/voltage_converter.htm#Japan

[Gadgetguy]

1000 watts will give approx.10 amps that would be the minimum. i know of no one who has had a problem just plugging straight into the 110v outlets

Voltage Power Converters, Regulators International AC Power Plugs Adapters, Step-up/down autotransformers

Thank you.. 10 AMPS on 120 V, that is about 50 AMPS on 24 Volts. Do pachislo's need 50 amps?

Are you sure that plugging into 120V will be OK? I would not want to hurt my expensive toy... And on this forum I read some posts saying that some machines do not like overvoltage...

[birdbrain]

these machines will draw 5 or so amps in full bonus round.

[Gadgetguy]

Can please someone with some electronics knowledge help me? I have called the guys from Voltage converters, and they told me, that if I need 24V - 5amps, then I have to get at least a 750W 120v to 100v converter.

I am not sure if I understand why.

As far as I am concerned, 750W equals over 30 amps (on 24v). Assuming 10% losses (due to the two transformers) it is still 27 amps.

Why would they say I need 750W?

Thanks for any ideas...

[birdbrain]

The transformer will draw 110v @ 5 amps to produce 24Vac @ approx. 5 amps. the xformer only changes the voltage it cannot up the amperage.
see ohms law.

[MrGoodBurn]

I use the 500w Step Up/Down converters on my machines each machine is under 100w draw on the line, and I have used the 100w converter that came with the Pica Cell Cleaner I purchased from Arby with no problems. I would use the 300w to be safe since there is not much difference in price. I plan to run 2 machines on the 500w.

I have only had issues with one machine making a high pitched squeal, but it was due to an add-on 100v to 24v transformer. I just changed that out with a 110v to 24v transformer, and the problem went away.

[FTKServices]

So far I have plugged all of my machines directly into 110v & have had no ill effects. I do use a very good surge protector on all of my machines.

[compirate]

The transformer will draw 110v @ 5 amps to produce 24Vac @ approx. 5 amps. the xformer only changes the voltage it cannot up the amperage.
see ohms law.

Then why does my parlor transformer draw 10 amps at 110V and put out 41.6 amps at 24V?

[MrGoodBurn]

Spin Luck

Power consumption

Volts at line 119.5 (No Step Up/Down Converter Used)

Draw from Spin Luck Pachislo:

Amps = Surge 1.5 Amps Idle 0.33 Amps
Watts = Surge 59 Watts Idle 20 Watts

My apologies to Spin Luck for any abuse it has taken during this test.

[idylukewild]

After reading as many posts as I could about the 120V (U.S.) vs. 100V (Japan) and with my experience with electronics I decided it would not hurt, and could only help, to purchase converters for my 100V pachislos. I went with 200W units and found that I could run two pachi's at the same time with a 200W converter and when I touched the converter and it appeared to be at room temperature even while running both machines through fevers etc. after an hour or so of operation. Not very scientific, but enough to convince me a 100W converter for a single pachi should be fine. This is also consistent with MrGoodBurn's excellent test. Next time I purchase a converter it will 100W (smaller, a little cheaper, and easier to fit in the pachi case).

As far as arguments for or against voltage converters go, I'm using them because I replace blown electrolytic capacitors all of the time (yes, those little cylindrical capacitor that are very common in almost all 'big box' electronics, including pachislo's) to get electronics working. Electrolytic capacitors in older electronics often fail. When one replaces them, it is standard procedure to replace them with a capacitor of a higher voltage rating. Likewise, submitting the electronics to higher voltage than the rated voltage may shorten the lifetime of the capacitor. The Pachi power supply I disassembled and looked at (my Neo Magic Pulsar) contained the dreaded electrolytic capacitors and I suspect most pachi power supplies do. Although I have no proof that they are prone to failing faster at 10-20% overvoltage, I've decided the $15-$30 (?) per machine is worth it for the converters. It's no fun diagnosing and repairing damaged electronics. On the other hand, I wouldn't try to convince someone who doesn't want to buy a converter to buy one since it appears that a whole lot of people have run their pachi's with absolutely no failure for years (?) at 110-120V. Like a lot of things having to do with electronics there is probably no absolute answer to the 'convert or not' question.

[JohnD0406]

You don't need to use a 120v to 100v converter on modern machines, as they use regulated power supplies that output a constant 24v regardless of the input voltage. See my previous post at http://www.pachitalk.com/forums/pach...tml#post269865

Increasing voltage decreases current. Remember, Ohm's law is as easy as PIE. We'd be in a lot of trouble if our machines used 5A/120v...

[new in town]

Remember, Ohm's law is as easy as PIE.

But I live for RAMEN. Not PIE.

[alstonj1]

dejavu is it ground hog day again assuming your using the typical power supply 5 amps at 24 volt = 120 watts (voltage X amprage = wattage ) 120 watts divided by 110 volts = 1.09 amps so the answer to your question is at 300 watt 110 volt you can run 2 machines ( with a 110volt load of 2.18 amps or 239 watts ) any more than that you'll need a 500 watt .however you really dont need anything cause the difference is so small the rectifier in your machine will compensate for the variance in the voltage with no problem.

[alstonj1]

the out put difference that the rectifier sees is around 2.3 volts a.c (before the rectifier remember your caps are after the rectifier) after the rectifier the total voltage out put will be the customary 24 volt d.c output 100 volt or 110 volt no difference .incidentally electrolytic capacitors do degrade over time on there own and do need to be replaced nothing lasts forever...

[idylukewild]

Good point alstonj1. Now I don't recall what was written about pachi power supplies before - have you tested them and seen that they provide 24 volts DC even when plugged into a US outlet? I wanted to do that test but couldn't find which of the many wires that came out of the Neo Magic Pulsar power supply was for 24.0 volts. I didn't write them down, but there seemed to be a few different voltages - none of them were 24.0. I may have just been unlucky at finding the reference voltage wire. Maybe someone could probe all of the outputs at 100 volts then U.S. voltage to see if the outputs change. If the output is regulated to 24.0 volts at US input voltage then your argument that converters aren't needed is pretty strong. We could save our hard earned money.

[Kind of off topic, but more about electrolytics - I've found a lot of failed ones on 10-15 year old electronics. Their lifetimes are horrible compared to other electronics such as resistors, mica caps, IC's, etc. You might want to read about an even more complicated mess caused by 'capacitor plague', described at Capacitor plague - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. "nothing lasts forever" - I agree absolutely! But in my experience electrolytics are certainly a weak link in the chain when it comes to keeping electronics running for years and years. Of course, hopefully we won't see a lot of pachi failures due to failing capacitors since hopefully they use good quality Japanese eletrolytic caps and we don't run the machines a lot anyway. It's no fun to 're cap' electronics.]

[Sid]

Thats where they hide the Blue Smoke

[alstonj1]

Yes we've had many members check there voltages running 110 on their machines just Pull one of your bulbs and check at the base or at the input plug to your fluorescent ballast but read the label first some older machines had 100 volt ballast . As for electrolytic caps dying fast , they are the kidneys of the power supply taking away surges and ripple (any drunk can tell ya ripple is a very bad thing ) eventually they give up the ghost and let the perverbial blue smoke out .Which for some reason smells like ambasol ...I dont know why...