The only schematic I can find for (any version) the Rega Brio is for the 120v power supply. I'm curious whether a 240v Brio from England has a transformer tap which can be used to convert to 120v operation?
This is interesting Please Help. 220v to 110v Rega Planar 3 - Vinyl Engine
Seems like a new pulley and a voltage power supply convertor is required. If your frequency is different.
Seems like a new pulley and a voltage power supply convertor is required. If your frequency is different.
Did you ever get an answer on this? I just brought my Brio R into the USA from the UK and haven't opened it up yet to see.
Rega Brio transformer wiring
Check yourself - may be version dependent - mains voltage - for experts only.
Check yourself - may be version dependent - mains voltage - for experts only.
Hi,
Before I pass the schematics on to our fellow who'll do this this same conversion (240v to 110v), could somebody tell me if the schematics shows said taps?
Before I pass the schematics on to our fellow who'll do this this same conversion (240v to 110v), could somebody tell me if the schematics shows said taps?
Was there ever an answer to this question? I would like to go the other way round, from 110 V US to 240 V EU.
Finally in the US with the amplifier in front of me.
The PCB is labelled ISS5.
I've tried to make sense of the schematics and @OldDIY's answer - no luck so far. I need to go a bit deeper to see how the power is connected to the windings, but if someone can give me an idiot's level description that would be great. Are there two sets of (primary) windings where for 110 V, only one set is used, but in the case of 240 V I need to connect both of them?
The PCB is labelled ISS5.
I've tried to make sense of the schematics and @OldDIY's answer - no luck so far. I need to go a bit deeper to see how the power is connected to the windings, but if someone can give me an idiot's level description that would be great. Are there two sets of (primary) windings where for 110 V, only one set is used, but in the case of 240 V I need to connect both of them?
Compared to the pictures of post 5, do you see the four primary wires ?
Can you take a photo to confirm ? Mains is for experts, no idiot level btw.
Can you take a photo to confirm ? Mains is for experts, no idiot level btw.
Over dinner I figured out how this might be wired and opening it up completely, including the connection from mains to the primary windings confirms it. Blue and brown coming in from the wall, then black/blue to the primary winding, brown/red coming out. This way both sets of primary windings are used in parallel. To put them in series, I need to connect brown and black together, leaving blue and red where they are. This (effectively) doubles the number of windings in the primary winding, therefore reducing the 230 V EU mains to the same voltage as the 115 V US mains.
Question: is there a place where I should put the brown/black connection? I can solder them together but then they would be "floating" freely. I presume I should use some heatshrink so it's all shielded.
Question: is there a place where I should put the brown/black connection? I can solder them together but then they would be "floating" freely. I presume I should use some heatshrink so it's all shielded.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
In case the picture link in my previous post (#11) doesn't work (it doesn't seem to):
Brio Rega 3 power in - Album on Imgur
Brio Rega 3 power in - Album on Imgur
Unplug from the socket! Pull out and connect (black with brown), insulate securely. First turn on through a series-connected incandescent lamp of 100 watts. If it burns dimly, everything is in order. Caution, life-threatening voltage.
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Thank OldDIY and as_audio - that all makes sense.
I suppose I'm not a complete idiot, I have assembled some other DIY amplifiers. But since this is not something I do regularly, I tend to need a bit of time to get back into the swing of things and remind myself how it all works.
That - and I have a fundamental distrust of anything where we say current flows from + to -, whereas in reality it's the other way round 🙂
I suppose I'm not a complete idiot, I have assembled some other DIY amplifiers. But since this is not something I do regularly, I tend to need a bit of time to get back into the swing of things and remind myself how it all works.
That - and I have a fundamental distrust of anything where we say current flows from + to -, whereas in reality it's the other way round 🙂
I'm not sure what your plan is but your mains wiring joins should be mechanically secure and screw-clamped together with US approved wire connectors. Soldering is not the way to go but don't just rely on twisting plus PVC tape or heat shrink insulation either, for your safety's sake and for the long term. There are also videos, some comprehensive and some brief, for how to proceed.
e.g Tutorial: How to crimp connectors, strip wire and use heat shrink. - YouTube
e.g Tutorial: How to crimp connectors, strip wire and use heat shrink. - YouTube
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In the official paper "Transformer Connections" by Rega I read : "230 V :
B L A C K T O B R O W N - T W I S T E D / S O L D E R E D A N D S L E E V E D"
B L A C K T O B R O W N - T W I S T E D / S O L D E R E D A N D S L E E V E D"
I wanted to circle back to this thread. I posted above asking about rewiring to go from 110 V to 240 V. I did the modification last summer, in the US, and the voltages I could measure seemed to work out (as in: half of what I had prior to the modification, when plugged in to a 110 V socket). I then shipped the amplifier to my home in Europe, where it arrived a month or so ago.
I'm happy to report it works the audio quality in the house has advanced significantly - so thank you all for your advice.
One last question: the amp does seem to run hot. The casing near where the transformer sits (I presume) is hot to the touch, almost uncomfortably so. It doesn't get hotter over time - the temperature remains constant after 15 minutes or several hours. It has been a while since I used the amp, so is this normal? Bad wiring job on my part?
I'm happy to report it works the audio quality in the house has advanced significantly - so thank you all for your advice.
One last question: the amp does seem to run hot. The casing near where the transformer sits (I presume) is hot to the touch, almost uncomfortably so. It doesn't get hotter over time - the temperature remains constant after 15 minutes or several hours. It has been a while since I used the amp, so is this normal? Bad wiring job on my part?
Reference to Taps can confuse since there are four of them. On the mains primary side of the transformer to convert from 240 V to 120V operation you have to wire the windings together so these are in parallel and in the same phase. ST in the manual means start of the winding and FIN means finish ot the winding so you have to wire the two ST leads together connected to Live and the two FIN leads together to Neutral
If you get these leads in the wrong phase this will cause damage to the transformer. For 240 volts operation the windings will be in series Live ST FIN to ST FIN Neutral
If you get these leads in the wrong phase this will cause damage to the transformer. For 240 volts operation the windings will be in series Live ST FIN to ST FIN Neutral
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