I've been after one of the above players and I've come across on Fleabay for a reasonable price . There are a few downsides , as it will be shipped from Japan over to the UK, it hasnt got a power cord , and I will need a stepdown transformer so I dont fry it when I plug it in.

I have cleared with the seller that it is working fine , so if I do buy it , I will be covered by the Fleabay money back guarantee so if it arrives damaged , but I have a couple of questions to ask regarding the power supply and the stepdown transformer.

The first is ,am I correct in assuming that any 'kettle' style power cord that is a type A should be ok? As long as the ends fit will it be ok ? Or does it need to be a specific Japanese cable?

The second question I have is about the stepdown power. I have been told by the seller that a 500w ,100v stepdown would be needed for use in the UK. However I have read within the forum that perhaps the R7G , although Japanese , could actually run on 110v instead of 100v , and it has a power consumption of 30w. I was lead to believe that 3 times the wattage would be enough , so with this information in mind, would the sellers recommended 500w transformer be over kill and I could get away with 100w? And would I be able to get away with using a 110v transformer instead of a harder to find 100v without damaging the player or burning my house down?
If I had to buy a 500w 100v transformer the only ones I can find are over £100 , whilst I can find 100w 110v transformers for less that £20!

I am pretty new to the world of LaserDisc so please forgive my ignorance on the subject , and thanks in advance for any advice.

If this is your though process I would rather you don't buy one.

whys that then?

If it arrives damaged , I claim and seller claims against the courier and no one loses out?

One again, please forgive my ignorance on the matter.

Courier might question the packing quality and/or the fact it was working at all before shipping (got proof for both?).

Back to power, it's not a simple step-down you'll need but a power converter from UK 230V to Japan 100V.
Hz is not an issue as Japan LD players accommodates both 50Hz and 60Hz.

Divider-by-2 are the most common but will provide you with 115V vs 100V and you'll be 15% above specs (to be fair 100V in Japan is closer to 103V in my building).

I do not know how flexible the Pioneer CLD-R7G is in terms of power, but if you can source a real 230->100V auto-transformer, it would be safer.

500W is completely overkill for a LD Player. I ran a CLD-R5 (rated 26W) on a 50W transformer for years without problem.
CLD-R7G is rated 30W and 100W will be PLENTY.

Julien

Thankyou for the info Julien,

I'll look into getting a 100w.

Yeah, that's not how it works, been doing this too long, it would take a while to explain, use AI to search why its bad.
Seller only gets money back if it was actually damaged by the courier, if the packing wasn't damaged and it was packed well
and you say or open the case saying it was damaged the seller eats the loss.

Its not fun if you buy like this.
Don't go into it thinking you will be covered and nobody will lose.
Understand that one person may lose, it may not be you but understand that there will be a loser in the game you play.

Thanks for your imput

Yeah, I agree. It’s sad to read this kind of thing.

Please dont take me for being factious , but may I ask what protocol you would follow if you had ordered an item online and it arrived damaged?

I would be very interested to know.

Thankyou

That’s not the issue we’re getting at, not what I’m getting at anyway.

LD players are precious jewels. There are fewer working ones every day and the #1 thing that breaks them is shipping. People like you doing what you’re doing breaks them.

So the way it looks to someone like me is that you’re perfectly willing to smash a player because you’ll get your £100 back anyway. What you should understand is that working LD players are invaluable.

Insurance isn’t real. You can pay for coverage on Humpty Dumpty but when he’s dead he’s dead. Money changing hands won’t fix it.

So if I ordered an item online…like an PlayStation or an lamp, and it arrived damaged I’d do whatever people do. However if the item was an ice sculpture or a baby or and LD player I’d blame myself and live with the understanding that I killed it and no money would erase the regret. If that player arrives damaged (ie: if you break it) you are in a VERY bad position to get it fixed.

I’d do what I could to not be in that situation.

Right , I get you , I understand where you are coming from .

I'll be honest , I disagree with you that the loss of laserdisc player would cause the same emotional turmoil as the loss of a new born child, but please forgive my ignorance regarding the fact that shipping is the main killer of the players , as I was not aware of this.
I think in future when I trying to obtain a player I'll stick the looking in an area I can easily drive to , and I can pick it up myself, so theres less chance of anything happening to it, and to quote you , I'd do what I could to not be in that situation.

So thankyou for explaining that to me!

If you find a player local and it's missing it's factory box.
Bring your own solid box with thick damper materials for transport

If I were to buy something like an LD player from somebody in Japan you take your risk and you open the case etc to get your money back
when shipped broken.

I would try to find a lower price from someone in my country, message them to find out if they are flippers or just resellers.
Flippers won't know jack s**t about anything and say sure, sure.

Resellers will know what an LD player is, how fragile it is and how to pack to protect, and also insure fully for coverage.

You sometimes pay a little more from the known reseller than paying the flipper, especially from Japan where the same item
is listed 2-5 times from different sellers and some list as "Junk" and others don't really say what condition it is.

I hate buying from sellers who post things like "junk" thinking you will get a working player and then scam the seller when they listed
it as is.

That's really more of what I was trying to post the first time, I've seen too many scam buyers do this type of thing, not saying you are
but I don't know you so you might be.

Also message and ask the seller how they will pack or if they know how to pack.

Just had that recently, buyer messaged me to pack well, I told them I do pack well, how I just packed and that it will all be fine.