Taking 220V Amps from Asia to 110V North America

[HK Expat]

I am hoping that the Mesa Gurus can possibly offer some advice, or perhaps there are some board members who have experience with the following topic. I am a Canadian expat living in Hong Kong. I have acquired some Mesa Amps while living here in Hong Kong. The first amp I bought here was the TA-15, followed soon after by the Express 5:50 Plus. I am now looking at picking up the Mark 5:25 head whenever the local dealership manages to finally import them here. All amps were bought brand new with 1-year warranties, and thus far I have been doing my own tube replacements using Mesa matched output tube pairs and high end 12AX7’s for pre-amp tubes. So obviously from my buying habits, I have developed a taste for Mesa tone. However, the amps purchased here in HK are all 220V models because that is the voltage used in Asia.

So here comes the problem statement. There is a pretty good chance that I will repatriate back to Canada in a few years or so. Canada uses 110 VAC, same as the US. I could purchase a large and cumbersome transformer to up-convert the voltage, but that is not an eloquent solution and at some point an accident will occur. In the case of a 220V amp plugged into a 110V supply, I don’t think that irreparable damage would occur. But it is a clumsy solution nonetheless and as an electrical engineer in the manufacturing field, I like to do this stuff the right way.

So what is the recommended way to deal with this? Does Mesa offer conversion kits including a 110V input transformer and power supply board that would convert my 220 VAC amps into 110 VAC friendly amps with minimal invasive surgery? Or what are the options here? Advice and direction gladly accepted.

Thanks in advance for good advice!

 

[Don]

What's a used Mesa amp worth in HK? You might be better off selling the amps and buying replacements in Canada.

 

[HK Expat]

Selling used amps or used anything in Hong Kong is a lost cause. Previously used items are considered bad luck and they almost always buy new. So the question on how to convert these to 110V still stands.

 

[Don]

The PT can be replaced. Mesa sells replacement parts and you can look at aftermarket transformers as well. I won't be cheap but it's a simple enough job for anyone with experience working on amps.

 

[thunda1216]

many amps will have jumpers on the circuit board that can be changed to alter the operating voltage without replacing any components

 

[Pilotltd]

many amps will have jumpers on the circuit board that can be changed to alter the operating voltage without replacing any components

Different transformers on export models to USA ones on express series.

 

[Len Rabinowitz]

I would get in direct contact with Mesa and see what they say. They are generally pretty good about quick response to e-mails and phone calls. Any chance of just waiting until you get back to Canada? Might also search eBay or do a general Google search and see if anybody has already done something like this. If you know of any good amp techs out there, you might have a conversation with them about it.

 

[HK Expat]

Thanks to all for your inputs! I will give a call to Mesa one of these days when I am awake and off work here in HK at the same time their phone lines are open in California. If it really is as simple as just replacing the PT then I am not worried too much about the cost for the original parts replacement.

 

[Len Rabinowitz]

Email Rich Duvall. He's their service manager. He will help you or point you in the right direction. [email protected].

I wouldn't be surprised if they have some info about this sort of thing on their website as well.

 

[HK Expat]

Len, thanks again for your suggestion, and just to update you that I did contact Rich at Mesa Boogie. Technically it is should be really quite straight forward to mod my amps from 220VAC to 110VAC power supply. The more complex question is that of international agreements made with dealers and distributors. An example that i found online: One fellow from Australia bought his Boogie in the US where it is much less costly than in his home country. But when he got the amp home, the dealer would not do the supply voltage conversion. I assume that this is because Mesa does not want to facilitate guys importing cheaper amps from the US to Europe/Australia/etc.

However, in my case I bought the amps brand new in Hong Kong for a higher cost than in the US, and one day want to bring them back to Canada when I move back to the homeland. As such I did not try to find a way to bypass North American retailers, I just want to be able to use amps that I like and for which I already paid premium dollar.

I guess I'll just have to be patient and let the discussion with Mesa run its course. In the worst case that Mesa will not cooperate, then I guess I can look for after-market transformers and have an non-authorized repair guy do the conversion. Definitely not my preferred path. I would rather pay good money for Mesa parts and authorized service to do a reliable and professional job.