Orange Amp won't work in the UK :(

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Sooner
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Re: Orange Amp won't work in the UK :(

Post by Sooner » Wed Jul 11, 2012 1:46 am

If the amp is still under warranty, I would contact Orange UK to see what they have to say. There's really no legitimate reason for them to void the warranty for doing this "mod"'. After all, they are designed to be wired either way.

When I bought my AD15 in the UK, I mentioned to Adrian Emsley (the guy who designs the amps) that I would be moving back to the States soon and he happily gave me instructions on how to re-wire it. It's a simple conversion that took maybe 20 minutes and most of that time was pulling the chassis out and putting it back in (You'll also need to change the mains fuse rating). It's a lot better solution than having to lug a step-down transformer around everywhere you go and will be easier to sell if you ever decide to.

If you decide to go the step-down transformer route instead you'll need one with at least 600 watts capacity.
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Re: Orange Amp won't work in the UK :(

Post by Sooner » Wed Jul 11, 2012 3:48 am

bavaro wrote:a stepdown transformer will do it; a friend of mine uses one in ireland for a US-wired amp. just make sure it can handle the peak plate voltage the amp specifies, and then some. i'd go 3x the peak at least though.
Not sure what you're talking about. Step-up and step-down transformers are rated in watts, not volts. :?
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Re: Orange Amp won't work in the UK :(

Post by bavaro » Wed Jul 11, 2012 4:07 am

Sooner wrote:
bavaro wrote:a stepdown transformer will do it; a friend of mine uses one in ireland for a US-wired amp. just make sure it can handle the peak plate voltage the amp specifies, and then some. i'd go 3x the peak at least though.
Not sure what you're talking about. Step-up and step-down transformers are rated in watts, not volts. :?
my bad, i meant wattage, not voltage, of the amp. i think the point was understood anyway though...thanks for calling me out on it...
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Re: Orange Amp won't work in the UK :(

Post by a.hun » Wed Jul 11, 2012 8:55 am

bavaro wrote:a stepdown transformer will do it; a friend of mine uses one in ireland for a US-wired amp.
That is fine. But there is simply no need for an additional heavy and expensive stepping transformer if the power transformer inside the amp already has the suitable connections. AFAIK all the modern Orange transformers can simply be rewired for 115 or 230V, a very quick conversion job as has already been mentioned.
jason41224 wrote:
themaddigans wrote:I'm not sure if the people from Orange read this but definitely take this suggestion into account when you're designing future products.
user error is one of those thing you just can't design away. :roll:
I got what you meant the first time Jason! :lol:

themaddigans, the reason amps don't now tend to have an external 115 / 230V selector switch (as they indeed often used to) is because if some idiot moves the switch (the sort of thing which idiots often do!) they can blow the amp completely. This would be the ultimate user error, and not having this fitted externally on the amp is in fact a sensible design feature. (In fact it may even be mandatory now!)

I think your local tech was wrong to say you'd need a replacement transformer without even checking if this was so first. Strikes me as very bad advice which I wouldn't expect from a good tech who could easily have checked the facts themselves within 5 minutes or so. And once they had identified the correct hook up connections for 240V running could have done the job for you themselves in not much longer...


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Re: Orange Amp won't work in the UK :(

Post by Sooner » Wed Jul 11, 2012 1:42 pm

bavaro wrote:
Sooner wrote:
bavaro wrote:a stepdown transformer will do it; a friend of mine uses one in ireland for a US-wired amp. just make sure it can handle the peak plate voltage the amp specifies, and then some. i'd go 3x the peak at least though.
Not sure what you're talking about. Step-up and step-down transformers are rated in watts, not volts. :?
my bad, i meant wattage, not voltage, of the amp. i think the point was understood anyway though...thanks for calling me out on it...
Out of curiosity, how would you determine peak plate wattage? Wouldn't it be a lot easier to just look at the power rating (listed in volts-amps) on the back of the amp and use that value as a minimum wattage?

http://www.orangeamps.com/wp-content/up ... al_web.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Orange Amp won't work in the UK :(

Post by bavaro » Wed Jul 11, 2012 2:41 pm

Sooner wrote:
bavaro wrote:
Sooner wrote: Not sure what you're talking about. Step-up and step-down transformers are rated in watts, not volts. :?
my bad, i meant wattage, not voltage, of the amp. i think the point was understood anyway though...thanks for calling me out on it...
Out of curiosity, how would you determine peak plate wattage? Wouldn't it be a lot easier to just look at the power rating (listed in volts-amps) on the back of the amp and use that value as a minimum wattage?

http://www.orangeamps.com/wp-content/up ... al_web.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
well if you figure peak is, generally, twice RMS, then that's 200 watts for the RV100. like i mentioned, triple that and you have 600 watts. or, doing it your way, converting 575 volts ampere to watts is...575 watts. either way, same result, you'd be looking for a step down transformer rated at 600 watts.
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Re: Orange Amp won't work in the UK :(

Post by jontheid » Wed Jul 11, 2012 4:06 pm

Bavaro - your technique is problematic. Tube amps are notoriously inefficient.

The degree of inefficiency depends on many factors, the primary one being the Class of the amplifier.

Class A amps are often about 10-20% efficient, Class AB about 30-50%.
Multiplying peak power by 3 will underestimate the max VA required by the stepdown transformer in some cases.

I think it is easier just to read the VA rating on the back of the amp and ensure the step-down transformer exceeds this rating, as Sooner suggests.

There's no easy way to work out precisely how efficient any given amp actually is.
The quick and dirty way to get a ballpark figure of the VA required is to multiply the mains fuse rating by the mains voltage.
Doing this for the Rockerverb 100 gives you a figure of 693VA, not far off the actual rating of 675VA given by Orange.

Cheers
Jon

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Re: Orange Amp won't work in the UK :(

Post by bavaro » Wed Jul 11, 2012 4:11 pm

jon -- i stand corrected
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Re: Orange Amp won't work in the UK :(

Post by Borderline Productions » Wed Jul 11, 2012 5:15 pm

My RV50 came with both US and European power cords and a switch on the back to go from 120V to 240V. I guess they are not all that way.
Bob

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Re: Orange Amp won't work in the UK :(

Post by ESBlonde » Thu Jul 12, 2012 2:08 pm

themaddigans wrote:This is disappointing. I bought a Rockverb 50 in Canada and I am being told by a local guitar tech that I have to buy a brand new transformer in order to play it in the UK.
If he's a guitar tech tell him to leave the amplifiers alone. If he's an an amp tech, sack him. That's pretty basic information for a professional to know, We understand 'merkuns' don't know there is a whole world beyond their own borders but that's no excuse for bad engineering principles.

I hope he didn't offer to get and fit one for you?
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