20/20 Power consumption

[voodoo_child]

I have two little questions

1) The sticker on the back of my 20/20 power amp has the amp rated at 230V & 1 A. Except this is a US unit - I imported it from the US. Why is it rated at 230V instead of 110V? Is this because the 20/20 can be internally jumpered for US and Euro voltages?

2) Do I use these figures to work out power consumption? ie P=VxI
so.... P = 230x1 = 230watts?

Because with my Rec pre, i used 117V and 1Amp, as stated in the manual, so the power consumption was 117watts.

(i need power consumption as im going to buy a step down transformer and want to get one rated high enough)

Thanks

 

[voodoo_child]

heres the picture of the sticker -

why would a US unit have the 230V box marked with pen?

 

[disassembled]

I don't think it's a US model. Who and where did you buy it from? I know the US models can change between 120 and 220/240 volts but the sticker says 117v. Maybe it was a custom deal because the customer knew he was going to move to Europe or maybe the person bought it from somewhere else and brought it back to the states with them.

A 500 watt step up/down tranny will work fine and will give you some room incase you want to add something else later. Actually your formula is not accurate for the wattage. At 1 amp the fuse will blow so the device has to be a bit less during operation or else you'd be blowing fuses everytime you turned it on. My US version has a 1amp for the power and a 2amp for the power tubes.

Maybe someone else will chime in with the proper wattage rating for the 20/20. I am sure it draws less than 100 watts (probably between 60-80).

Greg

 

[voodoo_child]

Thanks for the info on the step-down tranny.

I bought the 20/20 from a (reputable) US seller, its got a US power cord on it. As you say, the 20/20 can be configured to run under several voltages with some simple modifications (there are some threads here to this effect).

However, mesa products are much more expensive in Europe, i'd find it quite unusual to see one making its way from Europe to the US, and someone going to the trouble of converting it, considering a US model could be bought for much less.

I'll open it up to see which way its wired.

EDIT - here is the relevant circuit

First thing I notice is that it is wired for 117V - but also that there is some old solder on the 230V connector.

So it seems this WAS once a 230V unit.
The other mod needed was a change of varistor -
http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=8425&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

Can someone point me in the direction of the component, so I can check the correct value is fitted for 117V operation?

 

[PRS-Ian]

The varister is that green thing glued to that blue thing

Have fun
Ian