I'm not an EE, but I figured this is the best place to answer my question. Can any switch-mode power supply that is rated for 90-240V also be used on North American 220V power? (two 110V legs plus ground; L1/L2/G, as opposed to the 220 found elsewhere, which is a single hot leg of 220 plus neutral and ground; L1/N/G).
I work around the world with satellite transmission for TV news and sometimes the only power that is made available is 220V with two hots and a ground. I've had a problem once where a travelling wave tube satellite transmitter that said "90-240" on the input was killed by this kind of split phase power, apparently it needed a jumper changed inside, while all other equipment I've used can handle this kind of 220 without issue. I don't know if that was a fluke with some odd design. Maybe a little better understanding of how these things are wired will help. Do they normally just ignore the neutral wire, which in North America becomes the second hot leg in a 220 circuit? So could I plug a two-prong cell charger into an outlet with American 220? Where would the ground come from if its got two 110V inputs on both prongs and no ground pin? Does it just float? I've seen some TV production trucks that are completely devoid of ground from the input mains, just two hot legs coming in, but they also have isolation transformers. On a typical piece of gear that I have, such as an MPEG encoder or satellite modulator, it simply says 90-240V, but I'm always apprehensive about connecting this to a L1/L2/G 220 circuit.
I work around the world with satellite transmission for TV news and sometimes the only power that is made available is 220V with two hots and a ground. I've had a problem once where a travelling wave tube satellite transmitter that said "90-240" on the input was killed by this kind of split phase power, apparently it needed a jumper changed inside, while all other equipment I've used can handle this kind of 220 without issue. I don't know if that was a fluke with some odd design. Maybe a little better understanding of how these things are wired will help. Do they normally just ignore the neutral wire, which in North America becomes the second hot leg in a 220 circuit? So could I plug a two-prong cell charger into an outlet with American 220? Where would the ground come from if its got two 110V inputs on both prongs and no ground pin? Does it just float? I've seen some TV production trucks that are completely devoid of ground from the input mains, just two hot legs coming in, but they also have isolation transformers. On a typical piece of gear that I have, such as an MPEG encoder or satellite modulator, it simply says 90-240V, but I'm always apprehensive about connecting this to a L1/L2/G 220 circuit.
