US amiga 2000 to UK plug?!

[Calvinh]

Hey all,

I recently recieved a vintage Amiga 2000 from my uncle, who lives in the United States. However, I live in the United kingdom and our electrical system is very different...

I obviously need some kind of adapter, but I do not wish to break the system. Can anyone here suggest one?

- Calvin

[Stephen Coates]

Hi.

You will either need an adaptor which will reduce the 230V down to 110V and the frequency from 60Hz down to 50Hz. These adaptors are quite readily avaliable from electronics shops, but I can't recomend any personally as I have never used one.

Alternatively you could find a replacement PSU for the A2000 (a UK one).

I'm not familiar with big box amigas. I'm assuming the power supply doesn't have a switch to select which voltage you are using. I don't know how easy it would be to get a replacement A2000 power supply, but if you can't get one, you could possibly modify an ATX one.

(I would recomend the replacement PSU over the US->UK adaptor if possible)

[Harrison]

Hi Calvin and welcome to CA! :)

You have two options.

1, Use a US 110V to UK 240V converter. These plug into the mains power outlet at the wall and you then plug the Amiga's power cable into it. It will convert our 240V power supply into a 110V one your Amiga's US PSU can handle.

2, Replace the Amiga's PSU. This is the option I would go for. Replace the original US Power supply Unit (PSU) which is inside the A2000. You can get adapters to connect newer PC PSUs to an Amiga and this will then allow your Amiga to work with UK 240V power. It also has the advantage of completely replacing the Amiga's old PSU which will now be very old and wearing out. A new PSU will help preserve the Amiga for longer.

[Harrison]

We both posted at the same time. ;)

One other thing worth mentioning is that the 110V to 240V converters would probably cost more than a decent PC PSU, so replacing the PSU is also cheaper.

[Calvinh]

2, Replace the Amiga's PSU. This is the option I would go for. Replace the original US Power supply Unit (PSU) which is inside the A2000. You can get adapters to connect newer PC PSUs to an Amiga and this will then allow your Amiga to work with UK 240V power. It also has the advantage of completely replacing the Amiga's old PSU which will now be very old and wearing out. A new PSU will help preserve the Amiga for longer.

Thanks a lot for the quick replies! really appreciated! I have a few ATX power supplies (PC) kicking around. Where can I purchase the adapters to enable me to use a PC PSU with an amiga motherboard?

I know for a fact the machine has been upgraded quite abit and it has a newtek video toaster installed. There seems to be numerous different expansions cards installed and several different outputs for video/monitors. I will post a picture soon.

Will the 50/60hz problem be such an issue? I was going to use the machine with my LCD screen/tv which works fine with the C64/Spectrum/NES etc. Though I do have a commodore model 1701 screen aswell.

I believe that the PSU replacement may be the best option as I do have some working (brand new) ATX power supplies around in my house.

Thanks,

- Calvin

[Harrison]

Take a look at http://www.amigakit.com

If they don't currently have any then our forum member Amigamaniac (Nathan) makes the cables to order.

[Calvinh]

Just for clarification, I have taken a quick glance inside the machine and found the following:

The PSU is a Liton model (Taiwan Electronics). The model number is PA-4201-5A. And the DC is 200W.

The machine has 5 additional PCI cards, each of which I have not yet completely examined. One of the cards is labeled Aria, another Great Valley Products with (VA Max +2 or A Max + 2) and another with Digitial Processing Systems. I believe this unit was used for music video editing. I think it also has a one Gigabyte harddrive.

The front drive bay is also missing (for the bigger floppies/cd drive at the bottom), which will also need replacing.

I quickly managed to snap some pictures:

The back of the unit:

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/3176/1010306qm7.png

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/2623/1010306ac8.jpg (Enlarged Version)

Over head view of the machine:

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/3176/1010306qm7.png

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/3867/1010311vy3.jpg (Enlarged Version)