Can I use a 400 Hz power supply with ordinary household equipment?

Question

I have some stuff, like my PDA and photo printer and various battery chargers which I would like to use on an aircraft. In the plane I fly (Airbus A320) the power socket has an output of 110 V, 400 Hz, would this be a problem with normal electronics (Which usually require 50 - 60 Hz) or should it be ok? - and why?

The voltage is fine, all the equipment works on 100 - 150 volts, it's the frequency i'm concerned about

i mean 100 - 250 volts

Answer 1

You would need a voltage converter for that

Answer 2

I think your main concern is how well the power supply circuit works in the units you use. If they are good, they should output an almost flat DC voltage with no ripple. But transformers are more effecient at higher frequencies and might cause the power circuit to heat up more and the ripple voltage would be increased substantially due to the 400 Hz.. The filter capacitor in the power supply circuit might not be the right value now to stop the ripple. If that gets through to the rest of the circuitry it could cause damage. Not to go into detail about capacitors, their value depends on frequency.
Most all the work done to convert 110 VAC to the DC voltage is done by the wall transformer which is the power supply. It contains a transformer at least 1 to 4 diodes, a capacitor and maybe a regulator IC. Here is what you can do. Build a box that will accept all your plugs with the proper polarity and put a capacitance multiplyer circuit inside. Lot of work. Do this instead .. take a car battery charger, hook it to a small car battery, then hook up a 60Hz Power inverter to it. The kind they use for camping and RV's. Get one at an auto supply house as well. That way the final result is 110-120 Vac that you can use. Because transformers are more efficient at higher frequencies, check the output of the ccar charger to see that its not over say 15-16 volts. You could monitor the battery voltage, and when it drops to 11.8 volts to 12 vvolts, turn on the battery charger(do this if the voltage from the charger is above 15 volts). Dont want to overcharge the battery.
Battery voltage will normally be around 12.5 volts. This setup is cheaper than a new PDA. Doesn't your plane have a 24 volt battery? reduce that to the levels needed.

Answer 3

400 Hz (if it really is this) would be a disaster.

The transformer is designed to step down the voltage at a given frequency by a given ratio. At a higher frequency it will fail to do this to the same ratio. This would be very bad news for your PDA. And possibly for you.

Answer 4

N Tesla warned against 30-90 Hz use. 400 is safe for you and I to be around, unlike 60, but hard on 60 Hz equipment.

Answer 5

You should be fine because the out put oltage is same as the voltage used in the house. I think that the current is alternating. altrernating curent means that the direction of the current constantly changes.( in house at the rate of 50 time per second to 60 times per second). so frequency dont really matter here.since the voltage is same.

Answer 6

If Your household appliances use DC, it would be no problem, if appropriate transformer is applied. But, for AC equipment, it is a major problem, for very high frequencies that can damage the transformer, due to high transformation energy in GRETZ part (4 diodes, that can go superheated and damaged). Also, heating parts like cooker can be damaged, as well as 1-phase AC motors (blender, mixer). Charger for a mobile phone will explode in few minutes due to overheating.

Answer 7

400hz Power Supply

Answer 8

NO! it is NOT ok!!! the power supply of your pda is not intended to work at that frequency.. and it will have way too much inductance to work efficiently.. and it will heat up.. not sure how much..

you should get some sort of power converter... or.. take extra batteries with you.

Answer 9

No you cannot use a 400Hz with a 60 Hz. They are incompatible.