power supply problems when moving to a new country help

[endrsgm]

hi,

i want to move two pcs from europe to the the united states. many pcs sold have a little switch that allows you to change from 220/240v to 110v. neither of these two pc have that little switch and instead their power supply ONLY runs 220/240v. i had thought i could ship these two pcs to the usa and once there simply replace the power supply with one that runs at 110v. however, someone that usually knows a lot about pcs told me that the pcs might be set up to ONLY run on 220/240v and that changing out the power supply could fry them. i immediately started trying to contact the pc company but apparently their cs phone line rings in an empty room because its rung for hours with no answer over the course of several days.

i found out my dad had a heart attack last week. i am moving to the usa in about 3 weeks. i dont have time to sell my old pcs and save the cash to buy new ones in the usa (plus i need to use at least one while im here to assist in the move), dont have the money to just buy two replacement pcs in the usa, and have already figured out how to ship them for relatively cheap. so im pretty much stuck with these two pcs and how to get them to work once im there is the issue.

pc 1

- AMD FX 6100 HexaCore 6 x 3.6 GHz ----> CPU
- Biostar A960Dplus AM3+ Mainboard -----> motherboard
- 16 GB DDR3 PC-1600 Hynix AMD Markenspeicher (2 x 8GB Dual Channel) --------> RAM
- 1000 GB SATA II Festplatte -----> hard drive
- 22x Dual Layer DVD +/- R/RW DVD-Brenner -----> disk drive
- NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1050 Ti 4 GB DDR5 (DVI, HDMI Anschluss) ---> GPU
- Sharkoon Vaya II ---_> pc tower case
- 420W LC-POWER 420H Silent-Deluxe ATX Marken-Netzteil ------> this is the power supply


pc 2

Prozessor: AMD Hexa-Core FX 6300, 6Kerne, 4.1GHz Turbo (3500 MHz ohne Last, bis zu 4100 MHz mit Last durch die AMD Boost Technik) ----> CPU
Mainboard: AMD Sockel AM3+ (1 x PCIe x16, 1 x PCIe x1, 1 x PCI, 4 x SATA 3Gb/s, 2 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse, 1xDVI, 1xD-Sub, 1 x GBIT-LAN, 6xUSB 2.0, 3xAudio jack) ---> motherboard
Arbeitsspeicher: 16 GB DDR3 1600 RAM (Dual Channel) ----RAM
Festplatte: 1000 GB SATA II HDD ----> hard drive
3D-Grafikkarte: NVIDIA Geforce GTX 950 2048 MB DDR5, DirectX 12, VGA, DVI, HDMI (Leistungswerte siehe Bilder) ---> GPU
Gehäuse: Sharkoon Gaming Midi Tower (H: 40cm x B: 17cm x T: 43cm), Seitenteile einzeln abnehmbar, Farbe schwarz --- tower case
Netzwerk: 10/100/1000 MBit/s Ethernet LAN, DSL fähig
Netzteil: Fortron 12cm Super Silent Netzteil ---> power supply


so i guess the questions are

1: could i just remove the old 220/240v power supply, buy a 110v power supply, install the 110v power supply, hook it up, and then use the computers no problem

or

2: would i need to get one of those power adapters that allow me to convert 110v to 240v and use that to plug in the computers? i would really rather not do this because i did it coming to germany from america and lost tons of electronics because they dont do a great job and when the electricity isnt perfectly regulated in the house the electronics go up in a poof of smoke.



i would appreciate any and all help on this!

 

[hat]

I wouldn't expect an issue here. Typically, if there is no switch, the power supply automatically "senses" the current from the wall and runs accordingly. I wouldn't try it with anything else, though... I'm only aware of PC power supplies that work this way. Other electronics may not fare so well.

 

[ne6togadno]

1. yes you can. in fact you'll have to do it for LC-POWER 420H Silent-Deluxe ATX as it is only 220/240V
for fortron you have to give us exact model cause they have some that are 220V only and some that are 110/220V

2. no if you change psu of your pcs. in fact you can leave your current psus in germany and save some kg from luggage weight

 

[hat]

1. yes you can. in fact you'll have to do it for LC-POWER 420H Silent-Deluxe ATX as it is only 220/240V
for fortron you have to give us exact model cause they have some that are 220V only and some that are 110/220V

I wasn't aware of this. I tried to look up that LC-POWER unit, but failed to find a specs page.

 

[endrsgm]

LC420H-12 V1.3

www.lc-power.com

is the specs for the lc power one. i will have to root in the pc itself to see if i can figure out which fortron it is

 

[Caring1]

A lot less chance of the PSU frying anything running on half power than there is pumping in twice the voltage.

 

[Mussels]

A lot less chance of the PSU frying anything running on half power than there is pumping in twice the voltage.

240v mains here, flipped a PSU to 110V as a kid and it exploded and caught fire. It doesnt quite work out to be 'half power'

 

[Caring1]

240v mains here, flipped a PSU to 110V as a kid and it exploded and caught fire. It doesnt quite work out to be 'half power'

Yep, I did the exact same thing, and magic smoke appeared.
It's because you put 240V into a 110V PSU once it was switched.

 

[ne6togadno]

I wasn't aware of this. I tried to look up that LC-POWER unit, but failed to find a specs page.

lc power is the brand "420h silent deluxe" is the model.
under full range (110/240V) it says no. (at the top of the scpecs page that op provided you can switch to english)

LC420H-12 V1.3

www.lc-power.com

is the specs for the lc power one. i will have to root in the pc itself to see if i can figure out which fortron it is

on the side or on the top of the psu should be label with tech specs and model number. it should be visible if you remove just side panel. model number is enough

 

[Splinterdog]

I once fried a client's PSU on a brand new Dell that she'd bought it in the US and I hadn't noticed the little red switch 240/110v at the back.
Frankly, I wouldn't risk hoping for auto-switching and would remove both PSUs, sourcing new ones Stateside.
Peace of mind is what you want at a time like this.

 

[endrsgm]

LC420h-8
LC420h-12

those are the two power supplies in the pc. i cant find the full specs for the 8 anywhere so id assume its just an older, probably less capable version of the 12 but with nothing more to it.

so the advice is to remove the psu before i go, toss them, and when i get to the usa buy two new power supplies?

would any old psu in the states work or should i be careful to get a certain kind because these pc used to run on 220v?

 

[Assimilator]

A PC power supply converts input (mains) power from AC to DC. Regardless of what input AC voltage(s) the PSU accepts, the output DC voltages are always the same fixed set defined in the ATX specification.

Therefore:

i had thought i could ship these two pcs to the usa and once there simply replace the power supply with one that runs at 110v.

Correct.

however, someone that usually knows a lot about pcs told me that the pcs might be set up to ONLY run on 220/240v and that changing out the power supply could fry them.

Incorrect.

 

[ne6togadno]

Au-Ja! - Macht der Preis die Leistung? Fünf 400W-Netzteile zwischen 15 und 50 Euro - 3/15

IT-Nachrichten, Tests und Berichte

www.au-ja.de

2nd photo.
230V/50Hz nothing about 110v so it also is 220/240V only (i wouldnt expect more from psu that cost 15 euro)
when you go to US you need 2 new psus

so the advice is to remove the psu before i go, toss them, and when i get to the usa buy two new power supplies?

yes. you can sell em or leave em in the chest and use them when you are back.

 

[endrsgm]

tyvm!
ive not been in the usa for over 10 years and only then for a week so

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/computer-cards-components/computer-power-supplies/abcat0507009.c?id=abcat0507009

basically anything off of this page would work. correct? i could just walk in, buy it, hook it up, im good to go?

 

[dont whant to set it"']

Yep pretty much as your PSU's are not modern enough (90-250)V AC ,you are best getting 2 new and modern yet more effective psu's, unless, sayd actual PSU's have proprietary connectors witch are required for the two PC's to work as intended.

 

[endrsgm]

what are proprietary connectors^?

 

[ne6togadno]

Yep pretty much as your PSU's are not modern enough (90-250)V AC ,you are best getting 2 new and modern yet more effective psu's, unless, sayd actual PSU's have proprietary connectors.

nach his pcs are DIY parts so they are atx complaint for sure.

@op
any 420-450W atx psu will fit. just hook cables and you are good to go

what are proprietary connectors^?

companies that sell pre-built pcs use non standard connectors for psus/fans etc so if you need spare part you can buy it only from them

 

[endrsgm]

ty. i had a momentary panic there. lol
is that sam vimes lighting his celebratory cigar as your avatar?

 

[ne6togadno]

yap
the one and only
and the lighter is a swamp dragon

 

[kiriakost]

Both PSU can be tested within Europe due a step down transformer at 110V ( or with a VARIAC).
You better ask assistance from the closest electrician at your home town.
I am industrial electrician from the ones whom can handle the needs of an entire factory.

 

[Ruyki]

Most modern higher end power supplies will run on any AC mains without needing to use a switch. These kinds of power supplies will have something like "AC Input: 100-240V~" on their label.

If the power supply has only 230V~ listed as the AC input on the label, it will only run on 230V~ mains. If you have this kind of power supply (I think that at least the LC-POWER you have is probably like this), then you actually can just replace the power supply and your computer will work in the US. A computer you got in Europe will work fine in the US if you put a power supply that is compatible with 120V~ mains. It will not fry.