I am currently importing a CLD-99S, and wanted to know if it works as-is on US power, or if I need some kind of a converter for the voltage, since Japan runs on 100V and US runs on 120V, from what I know anyway.

When searching for transformers I'm finding either things that do the reverse, or that are expensive ($70+).

You can search for "step-down" in the forum:

Step down transformer for some .jp stuff...
Are step down converters absolutely necessary?
Step Down Transformer Question
Step down voltage converters

Julien

Probably should have purchased a CLD-3030 instead so you wouldn't have to deal w/ a 100 VAC transformer (3030 is the US equivalent of the 99S).

This topic comes up soooooo often.

IMO, forget about it. Just plug it in and go. If you do buy a step down do NOT buy a crappy one.

I have one of these. My plan was to swap in CLD-3030 power supply, but they are not compatible (CLD-99S runs power straight out of transformer to audio section). I eventually want to pull it and see if I can change windings.

I would buy the nicest step-down transformer that is within your budget.

Well step downs aren't that expensive, buy the best one you can.
The one I bought before I found out I didn't need one for my R7G cost around 50 bucks and it was a good one.
So spend 50+ and don't worry for the future.

I liked the 99S's design better (in particular the screen) and it was cheaper



I'm probably going to go find a good transformer, sucks that the power supplies aren't compatible

I assume the 99S is not one of those JP players that has "hidden" support for 120v? I remember reading posts about some JP players using power supplies that were the same as US ones

It is an upgrade over the CLD-3030, but the problem with this chassis is it has way too much plastic. You have great electronics bound by a plastic chassis that has not aged well. The tray gears commonly break, and the plastic that holds the slider can as well (much more problematic).


I have never really looked into the newer power supplies. I just swap them. Either way, the voltage it was designed for is marked on the board (not to be confused with fuse voltage ratings). If there is no indication of voltage on the board, fall back to what is written on the back of the unit.

Older power supplies are substantially better built than those found in later CLDs, but less forgiving. Particularly any model like the CLD-99S that has a separate power supply for the audio section. AC runs directly from transformer to audio board where it is rectified and filtered. From what I see, the only fuse that hopefully exists would be a thermal fuse in the transformer. Below is the CLD-99S audio section. AC is disconnected in the photo since I pulled the power supply, but it comes in to CN54 (to the right of CN49 which is connected near the center of the image).


The proper way to run this model at 120V would be to find out if there is a winding for it. If so, connect J1, J2 appropriately. Below is the top of the primary side.


Under the transformer (primary on top):


I am making assumptions here, so someone please correct me if I am wrong.

I’m assuming you mean the LED display on the door that is amber instead of the whitish blue on the Japanese edition.

I do hear people expressing a preference although I personally didn’t feel that is a big issue (you can actually change the color by replacing the filter in front of the LED board but you’ll have to make your own replacement).

Also, there is a minor difference between the two models in that the 99S did not have a cut out for playing 3” CD’s. Not a really big deal since they aren’t all that popular anyway.

Yeah, that LED display.

It wasn't the only factor in my decision, but I definitely like the colors better

Planning on moving back to the US eventually, so this is something I'm going to have to deal with myself.

I have a Japanese DVL-919, but it's one of the aforementioned models where the internal PSU is marked as 125V. But I also have an X9, and I see in one of the above linked threads that Julien said he experienced problems when running it without a step-down transformer.

Also have a nice 24" widescreen 1998 Sony Trinitron that I'm going to try to bring over (already going to be spending thousands on the move so why not a little more), will have to take a look at it's internal power one of these days.

The jumper to change the windings is right there next to J1 and J2.

You might have looked at the fuse rating. The JP models I've looked into use 125V rated glass fuses, including the HLD-X9.

The true indicator for the North American DVL-919 VWR1286-A is in the top right of the below photo:



I was digging further afterwards, and the CLD-3030 I have has the same jumper settings. Below is from the CLD-1030 SM with the same jumper:


I was hoping they would be different which would pretty much solve this.

A lot of this stuff is over my head, heh

Does this mean that the 99S has similar internal settings to the 3030?

Ah, you may be right, I was going off of memory.

Will be sure to open my 919 again before plugging it directly into US power.

For the power supply, everything on the secondary side looks the same but I did not look hard. I did connect the CLD-99S power supply to 100V and 120V to measure the output going to the audio board. At 100V it was 32V and at 120V it was 40V. Here they are side-by-side since I had both desoldered:



I am curious to see what is marked on the board. These can be swapped, but the downside is the North American boards have the surge suppression flaw.

Well, the player arrived

I won't be able to test it until I go home in a few hours, but based on those PSU images I think I'll be fine without stepdown

I just posted that more or less to archive it since I had both desoldered. They might look similar, but the transformers are different. The world probably won't end if you test it on 120V, but I personally would not run it on anything other than 100V.

Yeah, I think once I get it working I'll buy a stepdown

The CLD-99S works fine without a step-down transformer - as do almost all Pioneer players. The bid difference in the 99s vs 3030 beyond the display color is CD3 playback. The 99S came out before CD3, so there is no recess in the tray. I made some hardware changes to mine (from a broken CLD-3030) and retrofitted my 99s to play CD3.