240V

[bgm722]

Hi!  Long time lurker, first time poster -

I am in the USA but have one of the 240V Rhodes that was intended for export to Europe.  I bought it about 15 years ago in NYC and have been playing it successfully in NY for the last 15 years.  I just blew the line fuse to the amp and am trying to figure out what to do next...

I am not particularly savvy with electrical engineering and, embarrassingly, didn't notice that it was 240V when I bought it.  But everything worked great with good sound and full power. 

I'm not confident enough to open things up and mess around.  And I've spoken to a couple of people that have given conflicting advice.  It could have been mod-ed for 120V, or there could be a internal step down transformer (added later I assume).  Or, the fuse blowing could be a sign of something else going wrong and this would be a good opportunity to swap out any original caps, etc.

So, first question - is there any way to know if I want a 1.5A fuse intended for 240V or a 3A fuse intended for 120V?  (any way to know that is accessible to my monkey brain that is).

And second question - I got 15 great years out of the instrument, should I just haul it to a reputable repair shop and get it overhauled?

Thanks in advance, any advice or info would be greatly appreciated.

ben 

[Tines&Reeds]

Why don't you just remove the old fuse and look at it. You'll find the voltage rating on the fuse itself.

[pianotuner steveo]

Adding a higher rated fuse could be very bad if there is a short inside. I would try what Tines & Reeds suggested first. If it blows right away, there is a problem, most likely in the power section. A reputable repair shop is recommended for repair if there is a problem, but it can be very expensive and you may need to help them to get a schematic from this website, unless they have experience with this model.

[gacki]

I'm by no means an expert for those things but I have seen voltage conversions of all kinds for different instruments. This looks like a Mk II? I own a 88 Suitcase Mk II myself which was a "US" model but was easily converted inside. I suspect that your model is converted as well. I don't think it would run on 110V satisfactorily if it was configured for 240V.

[Tines&Reeds]

I'd like to add:

Those transformers in these suitcase Pianos can be rewired to be used with 110V or with 230V. So a step down / step up converter is not necessary.

You can't see it from the outside. You'd have to open it and look at how the transformer is wired at the power switch.