240 and 120 volts

[TryArch]

Do the 240 volt wall sockets in Australia change how much stuff you can put in a pc without maxing your power supply? compared to the 120 volts in US, Canada Ect.

[paulsterio]

Do the 240 volt wall sockets in Australia change how much stuff you can put in a pc without maxing your power supply? compared to the 120 volts in US, Canada Ect.

 

 

No, it doesn't. 

 

All it does is reduce the current in your street powerlines. 

 

If those powerlines have a resistance of R, then the power lost will be P = I^2 x R, so by reducing the current in those street power lines, they are reducing power loss. It has nothing to do with the wattage of your power supply. 

 

All your power supply is is a rectification circuit, converting AC current into 12V, 5V and 3.3V DC current. The higher the wattage, the higher the current the PSU can supply on those lines. Has nothing to do with the wall power voltage. 

[TryArch]

im so confused as to why there are 2 of this topic?

[TryArch]

 

 

No, it doesn't. 

 

All it does is reduce the current in your street powerlines. 

 

If those powerlines have a resistance of R, then the power lost will be P = I^2 x R, so by reducing the current in those street power lines, they are reducing power loss. It has nothing to do with the wattage of your power supply. 

 

All your power supply is is a rectification circuit, converting AC current into 12V, 5V and 3.3V DC current. The higher the wattage, the higher the current the PSU can supply on those lines. Has nothing to do with the wall power voltage. 

 

thanks man

[brob]

im so confused as to why there are 2 of this topic?

 

One for 120v and the other for 220v

[Antistatic12]

 

 

No, it doesn't. 

 

All it does is reduce the current in your street powerlines. 

 

If those powerlines have a resistance of R, then the power lost will be P = I^2 x R, so by reducing the current in those street power lines, they are reducing power loss. It has nothing to do with the wattage of your power supply. 

 

All your power supply is is a rectification circuit, converting AC current into 12V, 5V and 3.3V DC current. The higher the wattage, the higher the current the PSU can supply on those lines. Has nothing to do with the wall power voltage. 

 

Not to hijack thread, but you seem to know what your talking about. Is it true 240v charges things faster than 120v or is that a rumor. Also some people say 240v is superior to 120v.

I just remember hearing something about that in relation to electric cars and how some people in the US get a special box fitted to supply the car 240v.

Do you know???

[paulsterio]

Not to hijack thread, but you seem to know what your talking about. Is it true 240v charges things faster than 120v or is that a rumor. Also some people say 240v is superior to 120v.

I just remember hearing something about that in relation to electric cars and how some people in the US get a special box fitted to supply the car 240v.

Do you know???

 

No worries, I did physics when I was in college, so I guess I know a bit about this sort of stuff. 

 

To answer, firstly, you don't simply charge something at 240V or 120V. Think about an AA battery. When you put an NiMH battery into a charger, it applies a voltage in the reverse polarity which will force the ions to go backwards and whatever (I'm not a chemistry guy, so I don't know ), but essentially you are not putting 120V or 240V across the battery otherwise it would die. So I guess the answer is that it is not true. For example, when you charge your phone, it's usually a 5W charger, 1A at 5V (P = I x V = 1 x 5 = 5W). So charging speed depends on the wattage, not so much voltage. 

 

Secondly, yes, 240V is superior to 120V, pretty much for what I was saying above, in that there will be less power lost. You can calculate the value of R by using a co-efficient called resistivity, which is a property of the cable. Then using P = I^2 x R, you can find the power loss. Notice that there is CURRENT in the equation. You find the current by doing P = I x V, i.e. P is fixed (it's how much is drawn), so higher voltage = lower current = lower power loss. 

[Antistatic12]

No worries, I did physics when I was in college, so I guess I know a bit about this sort of stuff. 

 

To answer, firstly, you don't simply charge something at 240V or 120V. Think about an AA battery. When you put an NiMH battery into a charger, it applies a voltage in the reverse polarity which will force the ions to go backwards and whatever (I'm not a chemistry guy, so I don't know ), but essentially you are not putting 120V or 240V across the battery otherwise it would die. So I guess the answer is that it is not true. For example, when you charge your phone, it's usually a 5W charger, 1A at 5V (P = I x V = 1 x 5 = 5W). So charging speed depends on the wattage, not so much voltage. 

 

Secondly, yes, 240V is superior to 120V, pretty much for what I was saying above, in that there will be less power lost. You can calculate the value of R by using a co-efficient called resistivity, which is a property of the cable. Then using P = I^2 x R, you can find the power loss. Notice that there is CURRENT in the equation. You find the current by doing P = I x V, i.e. P is fixed (it's how much is drawn), so higher voltage = lower current = lower power loss. 

alright then. got it.