HELP needed: American 110 volt QSC PL3.4
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Category: General
Forum Name: Amp Forum
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URL: https://forum.speakerplans.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=65133
Printed Date: 26 March 2026 at 11:31pm
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Topic: HELP needed: American 110 volt QSC PL3.4
Posted By: 4AC
Subject: HELP needed: American 110 volt QSC PL3.4
Date Posted: 22 March 2012 at 6:46pm
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Good evening, I have the opportunity to purchase a American http://media.qscaudio.com/pdfs/Specifications/PowerLight_spec.pdf" rel="nofollow - QSC PL3.4 . Obviously, it is 110 volt. I need it to work on 230 volt. The most simple solution would probably be to buy a 230-->110 converter? Is it a save solution? The seller says I need at least a 1500 watt model, but I am a little worried (peaks and so). Besides that, those converters are really large and heavy (at least 10 kg!), so the point of buying a lightweight amp is kinda gone then, haha! Is it possible to modify the amp to 230 volt? I guess it's a hellish job, so I will hire someone to do it for me. Does anyone have experience with this? Are there options for me? Thanks in advance for your replies. Greeting ------------- uǝɿɿɐʌǝ6ɯo sı ʇsʞǝʇ ǝzǝp |
Replies:
Posted By: kedwardsleisure
Date Posted: 22 March 2012 at 7:36pm
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The 120V USA and 230V european versions have different components in the soft start and suppression circuits amongst other things, so internal component changes are necessary. No point carting around a step-down transformer is there, defeats the object. I would get the proper one. ------------- Kevin North Staffordshire |
Posted By: 4AC
Date Posted: 22 March 2012 at 7:48pm
Thanks for your response!
Could you please further explain this sentence? You mean it isn't worthy carrying around a transformer with this amp? Cheers ------------- uǝɿɿɐʌǝ6ɯo sı ʇsʞǝʇ ǝzǝp |
kedwardsleisure wrote:Posted By: kedwardsleisure
Date Posted: 22 March 2012 at 7:57pm
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yes, it would weigh alot ------------- Kevin North Staffordshire |
Posted By: 4AC
Date Posted: 22 March 2012 at 8:04pm
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Okay. But would using a converter affect the performance of the amplifier? Would it matter for the sound, or power? Dammit, I'm still waiting for the 110-230 converter APP for android!  ------------- uǝɿɿɐʌǝ6ɯo sı ʇsʞǝʇ ǝzǝp |
Posted By: kedwardsleisure
Date Posted: 22 March 2012 at 8:31pm
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Probably not so long as it was sized correctly ------------- Kevin North Staffordshire |
Posted By: shagnasty
Date Posted: 22 March 2012 at 10:16pm
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Be care here, you need a 120V transformer, not a 110V, aviod "building site" transformers, as they are 55-0-55 so not 120v or any use... Most are also snad cooled and won't take any continous loading, a 5KVA 240>120V autotransformer is gonna weight at least 15Kg poss 20Kg and remember sepo girlie power pulls twice as many amps so make sure you have 32A connections from your tranny to the amp....
My mate was about to buy a US spec pl9.0 until I went throught this with him.....
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Posted By: ceharden
Date Posted: 22 March 2012 at 10:43pm
| Definitely not worth the effort. The cost of either getting the amp modified or finding a suitable transformer (which will be very expensive) is likely to be far more than just finding an equivalent amp designed for 230V. |
Posted By: Liteworks
Date Posted: 23 March 2012 at 10:03am
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Best place to ask is on the QSC forum, Bob and the guys have been very helpful in the past with similar questions. Btw The original PLX are a better bet if your looking at buying from the USA (PLX3402 are similar to the PL3.4 in terms of power output) as they require very little work to mod to 240v (only part needed from memory is a UK spec fuse). **Obviously it is dangerous working on the highvoltage switching PSU's in these and should only be attempted by a competent person** Cheers Matt ------------- http://www.lite-works.co.uk" rel="nofollow - www.Lite-Works.co.uk My Kettle is 2000w! why isn't it very loud?? |
Posted By: slaz
Date Posted: 23 March 2012 at 10:35am
I'm a long way from expert on this stuff, but ..... isn't it relativley easy to make a swich-mode PSU fully 115/230 compatible (i.e. auto-sensing/switching ?). Pretty sure thats the case with e.g. computer PSUs - which ain't that small - approaching 1kW is common these days .... Mebbe not doing so has more to do with marketing decisions than technical issues. Could also be certification stuff involved too I guess. ------------- REMEMBER....POLITICIANS AND DIAPERS SHOULD BE CHANGED OFTEN AND FOR THE SAME REASON |
Posted By: Earplug
Date Posted: 23 March 2012 at 12:27pm
Something similar happened to a friend. He thought he´d got lucky with a LAB amp on ebay and then discovered that it was 110V. I think it cost him about 300€ to have it changed to 230V. He was still happy as it all worked out cheaper than buying the same model over here.  ------------- Earplugs Are For Wimps! |
Posted By: levyte357
Date Posted: 23 March 2012 at 1:28pm
Wouldn't touch 110V pl9.0 with barge pole.  ------------- "Who am I? I'm the guy who does his job.. You must be the other guy". |
Posted By: kedwardsleisure
Date Posted: 23 March 2012 at 6:39pm
No! You have to design one from the start for that to happen. The PL uses its capacitors as a voltage doubler for 120V use and in series for 240V by rearranging wire pcb links. The basic board is the same but there are also components different as I mentioned such as the filtering components different values and the soft start. It is not out of the question to modify it to 240V but it isn't a user-asjustable thing as the pcb has to come out to do it. The 120V versions usually have 120V-rated mains connectors as well, ie the hubbel nema twist lock. ------------- Kevin North Staffordshire |