Electronics & Appliances Powering computers, appliances and cellphones(chargers) brought from The United States Of America

Hello all Dumaguete members, I will be moving back to the Philippines with my wife and daughter in the coming months and want (need) to bring some desktop computers, printers, I-Phones and TV's with us and later via Balikbayan Boxes after settling in. Can someone explain the way to do it as far as not frying all my equipment due to the difference in power? Voltage regulators? As you can see I know nothing about electricity with the exception it can kill and cost you money. I thank you all in advance for any and all help in my ignorance of this particular topic.

 

HI you can buy a transformer 220 volt to 110 volt, not expensive , check with some one what size you will need when get here that should be all you need. good luck .

 

One will take care of everything? Or will I need 1 for each of the items being plugged in? I appreciate the help.

 

Go to Polaris, they are one of the few retailers whom actually know what they're selling.

 

You can get a better/bigger voltage regulator with dual output voltage. They will both stabilise your voltage, and give you 110V output for your US equipment.
As Wrye said, many things will run without conversion to 110v, but it never hurts to run it through a regulator.
You can plug many things to the same regulator depending on size. If you have a 3000W regulator, you can plug a total of 3000W equipment to it. Just sum up the input wattage of them. If it's not listed, multiply Voltage by Amperage.
On wrye's sample image above it will be 240V x 2.4A = 576W.
Most likely you can exceed this too, as they don't constantly draw the same power. An even better voltage regulator has a meter showing how much power is being used, then you know for sure how much you can connect to it. It's typically more than you think.

 

Wow OK I think it's starting to make sense to me and by the time we arrive I'll either be an expert or have someone in person help us in order to avoid making a costly mistake. Thanks again my friend!

 

If your computer desktops are recent their power supply units probably are '80 Plus Active PFC' and support 110-220 volt mains power. In any case an AVR/UPS unit (Automatic Voltage Regulator/ Interruptible Power Supply) like an APC Smart-UPS will best protect your computer and contents from NORECO's wild power swings. Printer prices have fallen, I'd buy 220 volt versions here. Best of luck on your journey!

 

Yea I was thinking that by the time I lug all this stuff there either via my luggage and carry on's or Balikbayan boxes in the months following arrival, I might be better off just buying everything new over time. The only problem is the stuff I have is new or a year old and just love my stuff that I just bought. No one here wants to buy anything when you want to sell it, they want it basically for free coz they know you want to unload it before leaving. Lastly I am not rich and surely don't want to appear that way to anyone giving them the wrong impression and inviting trouble let it be muggings or robberies. I'm sure you know what i mean.

 

Using an UPS together with an AVR is advisable. I used to have a UPS only with my server, but with long lasting voltage drops to below ~200V it will turn to battery power and drain the battery and shut down. Then we didn't know why the POS system didn't work, as the clients were still on.
An AVR will make sure the UPS will run on grid power until your have a complete power outage.