Moving to France

Congratulations on your move. 

Moving to France

We are planning a move to France fairly soon. Does anyone know the best way to cleanly transform the 240v european voltage down to 117 without a bunch of hum?

You know I read this in National Geographic in a doctors waiting room, a year or so ago.
France has 117 or was it 170 mini nuclear power stations, that’s all they have to supply power to their country, I believe the power is free?
They are bomb proof, earth quake proof, and flood proof.

Cheers George

If I was moving to France permanently, I would sell my gear and buy new in France. If I was only living there for a few years, I'd buy some really nice Triangle speakers and a tube integrated when I got there. 

Please don't leave this CORRUPTIBLE COUNTRY we still have some
COVID 19 that we need you to try out!!!!!. then you won't need your stereo or worry about voltage. the boys in congress need you!!

Some of your gear may have a 240 volt switch or terminals.  If not, check with a local repair shop.

MC, "Stuck" in France?  You are kidding, I hope.

Don’t forget to visit Brussels. Lived there a while.  Very generally speaking, the food is even better than in France. I had a voltage switch on my ARC gear at the time.

@terry9 ....Agreed on the UC, and even the CSC systems; the education I received (once out of the public schools) was terrific.  Although never degreed, the courses I took allowed me to Really learn to think and not just 'absorb'....and the price required to do so relative to today was a bargain.

I opted for a more 'general education', the turmoil of the CA job market in my 'era', the 'distractions' in the 'kulture', the 'Nam war (fortunately, 4F; more luck than the disability that did exist), and a counselor that opined that  I was inately bright enough to do any damn thing I cared to.

Unfortunately, lugging cases of IBM punch cards which had to be hand prep'd on a keyboard was of no interest; the 'ground floor' of the 'puter revolution got bypassed...*shrug*  Oh, well....I like Win10 Pro better, anyway... ;)  That, and what I can make it do Now.  *G*

Being a generalist has served me well, overall.  Being a 'adaptable' peg that could fit many holes in different roles in a variety of places in many states.....

'Have Skills, Do Travel' *s*

The only thing I miss most of CA?  The beaches, mostly...

Portably Urs, J

@asvjerry 

On reflection, more to it, I think. California is seen as 'The Big Time' for more reasons than Hollywood, aerospace, and what used to be the climate. That is the University of California, probably the best university system ever. Decade in, decade out. Not to mention Stanford. People of culture know these and honour them, even revere them. When they think of their best, California is their aspiration. (UC out-of-state alumnus)

@terry9 , well, the ad campaigns, camera angles and editing would give that impression. And growing up a native in the ’50’s through and into the ’80’s I regard as being ’more or less right places in the right times’....

And, for awhile, Tony Bennet was Right. Even Randy Neuman ("I Love LA")....We Did. *S*(wistful, tho...)

Then, a bumper sticker became popular:

Welcome to California!
(Now, GO HOME)

No one paid attention.
I started using the term ’combat traffic’
Quoting Churchy the Turtle from Walt Kelley’s ’Pogo’ strip:
"We have met the Enemy...and They is US!"
(The latter is back in vogue, I fear...)

I heard a stat the other night that chilled...

"More people in CA voted in ’16 for The Chump...(my fav description)
...than in all the other states Combined."

Now....I haven’t ’fact-checked’ that for total accuracy.
Bu the mere suggestion of it...
....makes me feel Absolutely In The Right Glide Path to be in NC to help try to paint it Blue.

Yes. I Am A Californicator. Old Skool & Proud.

Delete me if one must...but it changes Nothing.

Cheers, J

What a great place to move to, seriously, it was wonderful. You know French, so you’re good to go, I understood the French being unimpressed with visitors not showing even the respect to learn polite phrases while visiting them in their country. Making an effort to show respect goes a heck of a long way when traveling I have found.

I have been from Calais to Archachon, through the Pyranees and back across to Nice into Italia. I have stayed with a friend in Le Chesnay Versailles, and we drove all over France.

One of the biggest stand outs for me was Nimes, which was a Roman outpost, and the unlikely location for possibly the Worlds best preserved Roman Coliseum and Aqueduct system. It’s a photo opportunity and of hisorical significance if you’re into that kind of thing?

Not that I would have brought it up, but it has been already, well sort of, it’s not uncommon to find people walking dogs inside shopping centres, your wife will no doubt tell you, when you do see "stuff" you normally wouldn’t see. I was more than a little surprised in Cannes shopping centre with wall to wall marble and a stream of "stuff" just left on the floor.

Oh and the food, it’s simply exquisite! The family I stayed with thought I was such a nice guy to get baguettes in the morning, but I was actually getting myself chausson aux pommes, and demolished them on the way back with the bread.

Electricity is not such a problem as others have said, using a transformer to half the voltage will pretty much double your amperage, so you aught to have pretty decent Wattage using a good transformer like the one suggested.

@tony1954

Truth is France or Seattle, there are toilets everywhere if that is how you travel.

Just be sure to have a couple of Euro coins though when you’re out in Paris. Peeing in a four way cubicle (okay it absolutely wasn’t a cubicle) in the middle of the street took some gumption the first time.. But after the stage fright, it was all down stream from that.

Have fun areed622 Bon Voyage

@asvjerry

As you point out, California is the accent of TV and the movies. It is therefore usually perceived as sophisticated, in my experience.

ps, according to the write up on their page, you can program this thing to any exact frequencies you want. 240 to 117 or 239 to 112 etc.


http://www.gohz.com/1kva-frequency-converter#tabs

Hi there
Welcome to France ! :-)
You can easily find step down transformers... that’s what people do when they don’t want to tweak their equipments. The recommandation is to take a transformer with 2x the needed power of your equipment.

A well know hifi tranformer brand (reasonably priced), made in Germany (they have various power available):
https://www.tubeampdoctor.com/en/tad-step-down-transformer-with-enclosure-1000va?number=VT1000ESG-S

Hi,

NYer living in Croatia here. Just about to ship my full AR system, Basis TT, Raidho C1s etc and found this online. I have no personal experience with so I can’t vouch, but I’m seriously considering it as it address both the V and Hz issues and can be dialed in, ie 230-220v/50Hz > 110-115/60 or the other way or 110-115/60Hz> 220-230/50Hz etc. Good feature if you get and 220 gear in the EU and want to bring it back to the 110 zone. Hope this is helpful.

Good luck with your gear and journey,

http://www.gohz.com/1kva-frequency-converter#tabs

(A note to the Supervisors:  It's called Ironic Humor, aka Sarcasm, aka MHO.  I'm not attacking Anyone...well, one person, OK...)
excusez-moi.

"Hi, I'm Darnold Chump, conspiritor of Darnolds' Damaged Democracy...."

...stuff like that....

areed622...*L*  excusez-moi....;)
You have all you need, and then some.  All that's left to say is 'Enjoy!'

tony1954, it would be better if I acted like I was from Montreal, right?
Unfortunately, I'd be from the English-speaking 'side of the tracks', so DOA. *G*
Born 'n bred in SoCal, which is my main excuse. *mock sigh*
Always have had a fascination for 'regional dialects', sayings, pronunciations, etc.
Was informed that CA/SoCal natives DO have a dialect of sorts...

We all sound like we're on or from TV; guess that's what happens when you're raised around them...'vid-speak'...tvtalk....

"...and Now a word (or 1K) from our denouncer...." ;)

@asvjerry

As a Canadian, my suggestion would be to act like a Canadian and then you don't need the shirt.

@mickeyb

I live in Vancouver and Seattle is a lovely city. Beautiful scenery and great restaurants.As for France, over the years I have visited all four corners from San Sabastien to Avignon to Bordeaux and Paris. All of them were magical.Truth is France or Seattle, there are toilets everywhere if that is how you travel.

@millercarbon

Poop, no-go zones and needles? Please let me know where in France you went to see it in that light.On second thought, have you even been to France?

Sell your gear before you go and buy Lavardin when you get there.

The voltage in France is 230V. 

I lived in Paris on Rue Breguet. That’s where I fried my American made Grundig. Until then, I thought all Grundig named products were made in the EU. Anyhow, I’d wait until I got to France and then I’d contact one of the audio stores. There are many in Paris and would think that other larger sized cities would have them also. Products in France are equal in price to those in the states, despite the euro to dollar comparison.

stumbles

Hilde, you wrote, "They need to think hard about who they are and why they choose to act that way. They demean themselves."

I wonder about "demean themselves" - as Bob Dylan said - "never tumbles, got no place to fall."

I lived 3 years in mid-France with an Oracle Delphi. I ran all the front end components off a smaller transformer wired through a US power strip using the US power cords. Be sure to buy a $6 test plug to verify you have plugged in the transformer into the 220v to get the right response on the 115V tester, and mark it so it is plugged in correctly to the 220 v outlet each time. I bought industrial transformers from my company's "matierels usees". I used a bigger transformer for my amp, but I encourage you again to contact the manufacturers to see if a local tech can modify the primary transformer connections.

Yes if it uses DC power supply the Hertz wouldn't matter. 

hilde45841 postsThe OP posts a question about voltage, and some with no answer to the question simply take it as an opportunity to denigrate the country or people.
They need to think hard about who they are and why they choose to act that way. They demean themselves.

The OP is going to possibly the world's densest concentration of human cultural achievement, and one person sees only foulness due to his personal lens. He's to be pitied. Imagine his life.

I think we’ve solved the electrical issues with the step down transformer and it occurs to me that the Oracle tt has a dc power supply so the 50hz supply is a nonissue unless my d-a converter uses 60hz to clock its circuitry. Btw premiere cru Bordeauxs can be bought in the local super marche for 13euros. 

The OP posts a question about voltage, and some with no answer to the question simply take it as an opportunity to denigrate the country or people.
They need to think hard about who they are and why they choose to act that way. They demean themselves.

And there are nice people in Paris, too, by the way. I've lived there. 

Bon voyagé.

Call Oracle, I bet you can get a 240v motor drive for it.
We've cycled through France twice. Most people think "Paris" when they think of France. The countryside and it's people are wonderful and totally different from the character of Paris. 

If your equipment is also sold in Europe, I would look into replacing internal transformers with a 240V model.

Thank you all. My wife is a French national, we have a house in the middle of France, my wife obviously speaks French and I speak French, German, and a little English. Maybe I could use a signal generator (I have a couple of them) and one or two FETs to power the Oracle Delphi. 

I am currently in the Netherlands, having relocated from Canada a few years ago, and likely to go back at an undetermined point in the future. Much of my equipment was dual voltage. The 115 V only items I brought over are on step-up transformers. Many of the new items I have acquired here are dual voltage, but a few are 220 V only - in those cases I confirmed with the manufacturers that they could convert them to 115 V. For most this is cost of shipping. In another case where there was a charge, the retailer committed to paying themselves when it occurs. Worst-case scenario is that the manufacturer goes out of business by the time I do this, but I think I only have this exposure in one case. In that case, I would end up using a step-down transformer when I move back.

Don't do it.
Still time to change your mind.
If you are hellbent, let me know if you find anyone honest there.

Congrats! I too have a similar plan, love France. I’ve worked there for many years, will eventually skip out to Antibes.

Depending on what level of anarchy ensues in November & after -- I myself will be away in a holding zone with France high on the more permanent escape route list -- no major audio equipment coming along for this ride. Dragonfly and powered  speakers will do in the short run. I will never live under a authoritarian dictatorship if there exists some practical and affordable way of avoiding it.

I was relocated to the Netherlands years back and I sent my VAC amp and ARC LS15 pre amp in to get converted to 220V  Went to France all the time, and even drove in Paris!
You will love it!
Lucky for me my company made up for the difference in the cost of living and l was taxed with the US rate Also my company car and gas card sure helped!! If you know a little French, it goes a long way! Bon Voyage!

I once heard that wearing a shirt that has some reference to CA gets one treated in a civil or better fashion.....take one and test...

What part/locale?  If Paris, practice 'driving' with Grand Theft Auto 6...

"The fender you save may be your own (leased vehicle)..." ;)

Hum is caused by earth loops not transformers, unless your cables are not properly shielded. Otherwise, you have no worries.

Some manufacturers have multiple voltage support in their devices.  If that is the case, you are in luck, otherwise....get a transformer and do NOT skimp on it unless you want a fire in your house, get the best (US made, not Chinese).  Get one at least 1.5 times your maximum need.  

https://acupwr.com/pages/voltage-transformers-converters

nonoise6,267 postsIsn’t it awful how mc just vomits his bogus talking points at the drop of a beret?

Each post speaks volumes of the state of being miserable in one’s own skin and the distorted perspective that goes with it. That world, I can guarantee, is one where the suffering goes unrecognized because it’s the water he's swimming in. What a burden. What tedium.

Have a great time over there! Wonderful country, people, culture. 

There is but one thing wrong with France.  It is, of course, the French. 

France is great! Toured it quite extensively.
The major cities are like any other, apart from the usual tourist traps. The countryside is fabulous.

"what about snail conversion?"

Not the best choice. It slows the rhythm a bit.

Enjoy France, it is a pleasant place in fact.