Using A Video 8 Sony Vcr With Us (110v) In Thailand

[Rice_King]

A year ago I brought my 8mm (Video 8) Sony EV-S700U VCR from the US to Thailand in order to convert my 8mm tape library to digital. The operation was completed successfully and now I have about 20+ hours of my 8mm video footage residing as digital files on my PC's hard drive.

The Sony VCR performed flawlessly with a 110 volt to 220 volt transformer with one exception -- it did get quite hot while running. It would get so hot that I would only run it for one or two hours at a time (depending on the tape length) with a fan blowing over it to help keep it cool.

Rather than shipping / carrying it back to the US or selling it from here on eBay to someone in the US, I am thinking I might sell it here in Thailand. Of course, the new owner would have to run it with a voltage converter as I did and if I damaged it, or shortened the life of it in any way, then I could be selling that person a disaster waiting to happen. Or, at minimum, a machine that may fail in a short amount of time.

My question: By running it on a transformer, did I do any damage to the unit?

[Crossy]

There should be no issues using it with a transformer (a proper transformer that is, not one of those 'electronic' converters), although the PSU getting hot is a little worrying. My (Malaysian) Sony Digital-8 has a 'universal' PSU (100-240V) are the US ones 110V only?

The only real problem will be that a US standard VCR is NTSC which may cause issues with Thai TVs (PAL) so if you're going to sell it here you need to ensure the buyer knows what he's getting.

[Rice_King]

There should be no issues using it with a transformer (a proper transformer that is, not one of those 'electronic' converters), although the PSU getting hot is a little worrying. My (Malaysian) Sony Digital-8 has a 'universal' PSU (100-240V) are the US ones 110V only?

The only real problem will be that a US standard VCR is NTSC which may cause issues with Thai TVs (PAL) so if you're going to sell it here you need to ensure the buyer knows what he's getting.

The unit is a VCR, not a HandyCam, so I am not sure what you're referring to when you mention "the PSU." I am sure it has a PSU but it would be located internally in this unit. It is only set for 110 voltage.

Also, thanks for reminding me of the PAL / NTSC issue. The machine could very well be useless to anyone that did not have NTSC tapes to watch or wanted to convert to digital files.

[Camelot]

If it is a 110 volt unit bought in the US, it almost certainly cycles at 60 Hz.

Thailand's power supply is 50 Hz which could account for it running hot. It could also affect the speed. The transformer will handle the voltage but it cannot change the frequency.

I once had similar problems with a JVC.