On Wed, 18 Jun 2014 09:02:27 -0700 (PDT), jamesgang
wrote:

On Wednesday, June 18, 2014 9:27:38 AM UTC-4, philo* wrote:
On 06/17/2014 06:44 PM, John Galt wrote:

Hey,

So I've been using a simple adapter piece for my computer and phone etc..

and all have charged fine. I've used that piece for my american surround

system (120v 60hz). It initially turned on, made a "whomp" noise, usually

like when I turn my amp on, however it didn't come back on. Have I blown

it? if I get a power converter, will it work again?

Many thanks,









If it's a standard desktop or tower, there is a switch on the power

supply to change the input to 240 so you would not need an adapter for that.





Also: If the monitor and phone operate off a so called "power brick"

read the label carefully as some are designed for 115/230 volts

automatically.



The less hardware you need connected to your 115/230 transformer, the

less the chance of you exceeding it's rating.

If you guys would read the subject you would see he is talking about a surround sound system.

To the OP,

Most likely what you were using for the phone/computer/etc was a simple plug adapter. These days almost all computer and phone power supplies are rated for 100vac to 240vac 50 or 60 cycles. So you can plug them in just about anywhere in the world if you have the right adapter to make them fit the socket.

Larger appliances like stereos, tvs, etc generally are designed for either 110-120vac or 220-240vac. A few of these will have a small switch in the back that lets you select one or the other. So you have most likely ruined it. You can certainly test with a real 220 to 110 converter or by plugging it in back in the states. It's possible you only broke things in the power supply section but it's also possible that the power surge damaged other components as well. If it's a entry level system and you are not capable of doing the repairs yourself then bin it. It won't be worth fixing.
I have had several experiences where, due to a bad neutral, among
other things, I have had to check and repair equipment that had high
voltage applied to the line - and in most cases it just blew the
internal fuse.