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Mr. Dills,
most newer appliances are designed to run on multiple voltages
(easier than a European version and North American version) so yes, your
computer was running on 220. That old turntable was not designed with that
in mind.
It's unlikely that safety is the biggest issue since the
biggest danger with A/C shock is a fatal arrhythmia. The 60 hertz power used in
the U.S. is far more dangerous than the 50 hertz used in Europe. The higher
voltage is of minimal impact (apart from discomfort) unless you find yourself
unable to release the power source (most shocks in the home result from briefly
touching an esposed wire, not grabbing a charged object with your
hand.)
Regards, Ryan
----- Original Message -----
From:
c*@charter.net
To: k*@kozminski.com
Cc: m*@ucdavis.edu
Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2004 9:56
PM
Subject: Re: Powe lines
I suspect
safety
is at least a minor consideration. I put my finger in a "hot" 120 V socket and
got a bit of a jolt when I was about 8. I'm glad it wasn't 220V.
I was
in New York City for eighteen months about 1956-7. If my memory isn't playing
tricks on me they switched Manhattan Island from DC to AC while I was there. I
had a record player (a cheap one fortunately) in my lab. When I turned it on
one day the turntable went around very briefly and a small puff of smoke rose
above it. It seem somebody made a mistake and ran 220V in the line briefly. I
suspect other things got fried that I didn't hear about.
When I was in
England and Italy a couple years ago I bought adaptors and ran my computer
with no problems. Were they on 220? Did this adaptor change the voltage? The
adapter looked like a simple change in the geometry of the pins. If I'm being
a bit dumb I would appreciate being enlightened!
---Chas---
///////////////////////////////////////////////////---------------------------------------------
On
Aug 26, 2004, at 8:44 PM, Krzysztof Kozminski wrote:
On Aug 26, 2004, at 7:21 PM, Bill Grant wrote:
During the lovely summers I spent in Bavaria, I learned that
the reason their power lines go from house to house or underground - it is
the short distance. Figure the amt of miles in California to string
lines!!!! So we cannot blame the power company (though I would love that)
for the problem. That is also why we have 120 instead of
220.
Short distance has nothing to do with the 120/220
difference. As a matter of fact, higher voltage is more efficient for
transmitting electricity over long distances, and transmission lines use
hundreds of thousands of volts.
The reason US uses lower voltage is
that early light bulbs burned out too fast at higher voltages. The rest of
the world got their household electricity installed a bit later, when this
was not an issue any more, and so could adopt a somewhat more efficient
voltage.
KK
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