Crummy 110/220V converter box - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: lpc32
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 04, 2014, 02:52:07 pm
content: Behold the glory of the Pyle PVTC300U voltage converter!Input voltage selection jumper.Fuse. Nevermind crimp terminals, I think they don't believe in heatshrink as well. At least not the shrunken form.On/off switch. Nothing like soldering multiple wires on top of each other. Poorly.Earth. At least better soldering than the switch.LEDs/USB board. If "wire stacking", why not diode+wire stacking? Can't go thru the hole because not enough wire is stripped, I presume. And nevermind soldering, it kinda holds.Not sure how they got these capacitor leads to almost touch each other.Wire not inserted all the way, or overstripped, in one output socket:Two rusty screws for good measure (and one outside, though cleaned easily).Mix some small guage wires (only 300VA after all), sprinkle some dust (not sure it was rusty and dusty originally; the case sides have ventilation holes), and voila.Scuff the outside shell, and it's ready for retail.PS: But I like the fact that the transformer is held to the case with bolts rather than studs.

author: Richard Crowley
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2014, 01:48:33 pm
content: Are you saying this is NEW out of the box? It looks both old AND hacked by an amateur.

author: lpc32
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2014, 02:11:41 pm
content: Quote from: mojo-chan on November 05, 2014, 11:53:23 amI would get one without the USB port if I could (maybe would divert a dollar to crimp terminals), but they are rarer, plus other factors limited my choice.CE mark? You bet there is. Along with a QA sticker. The works.Whether it's actually new, no idea. It's out of the box as sent to me, supposedly new.

author: Richard Crowley
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2014, 02:36:30 pm
content: If that was sold to you as "new" send it back and demand a factory sealed box.I can't imagine that kind of stuff coming out of even the worst factory in China.IMHO, that is clearly hacked by an amateur and I wouldn't trust using it.I certainly wouldn't pay any money for such obvious junk.I would probably report it to Pyle as well. This can't be good PR for them.

author: sunnyhighway
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2014, 03:05:29 pm
content: Is that a ball-bearing or a solder-bead in the 220V input selector jumper?

author: lpc32
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2014, 12:58:06 am
content: I'm not sure if such things wouldn't come out of Chinese factories building to a price: it retails for $25 shipped, in some cases. As long as the outside looks tidy enough and it's superficially functional I suspect it would be considered retail-worthy, no?IsPylea recognized brand name? As far as I can tell they just sell generic stuff from China branded with their name, but I could be wrong. This specific voltage converter also sells under the name Goldsource.sunnyhighway: If you mean in the first photo, the 2nd row, rightmost column, then it's the jumper. One leg is longer, apparently by design.

author: johansen
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2014, 03:23:01 am
content: Quote from: lpc32 on November 06, 2014, 12:58:06 amare the windings copper?

author: george graves
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2014, 04:08:35 am
content: Pyle has been making audio gear (mostly for cars and PA systems) for 20-30 years I would say.Here's a one star review from amazon:QuoteOh, and another one:Quote

author: lpc32
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2014, 01:41:50 pm
content: Quote from: johansen on November 06, 2014, 03:23:01 amIt does look copperish in color. You can see it, slightly, in the penultimate photo above. (Hah, one doesn't get to use "penultimate" often.) Are there any other materials in use?Quote from: george graves on November 06, 2014, 04:08:35 amWith any renown?QuoteIt's an autotransformer.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2014, 04:39:22 pm
content: Looking like copper does not mean anything. I took apart microwaves which used aluminium wire, which also looked like copper, but which were way too light when stripped down. I also saw a roll of car audio wire, which purported to be 00 gauge, and was the right thickness ( more or less) but where a 100m reel was so light I could lift it with a single finger. To compare I have a 300 yard reel of 00 gauge copper wire that I use as a stool, as that was the easy way to not trip over it.

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2014, 04:45:08 pm
content: At least the earth connevtion has been soldered (should be crimped and screwed) still better than the led floodlight topic where they were hot glued to the chassis

author: lpc32
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2014, 04:52:16 pm
content: We should count our blessings.Re copper, for what it's worth, the box is moderately heavy at about 2.7kg total. I don't know how much you'd expect for a 300VA transformer.

author: a210210200
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2014, 06:15:20 am
content: What a difference $5 makes I have a few litefuze LT-300 (~30 dollar) and it has clean wiring, toroidal transformer (that oddly smells like a herbal shop) and unblemished case. (They forget a screw sometimes it seems but the case usually has so many screws it doesn't matter)Their bigger units have three circuit breakers which is a bit odd. (One miniature breaker as the main power switch and two button ones for each voltage) If your going to get one of them don't pick the largest one as they don't have inrush current limiting. (Also their red indicator light on one unit was just had a decent blob of glue to keep the leads apart but still had them exposed so I added more glue, most of the stuff is directly soldered and heat shrink wrapped)I'd never go for a transformer with built in USB charger as it makes very little sense and a low quality USB mains chargers can be deadly. (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/technology/teen-electrocuted-iphone-sleep-found-3947230)(It is the charger that killed, title aside)

author: lpc32
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 08, 2014, 08:33:33 pm
content: It was $35 where I bought it, but may be less elsewhere, or under the Goldsource brand.What do you mean "largest one"? How's inrush current limiting implemented in the one you have?