[Big Bad Bob]

On 01/27/11 07:13, Patrick Turner so witilly quipped:
In the Land of the Free aka as Home of the Brave, when the mains
voltage is is off 10--20% we use Variacs . And no need to monkey
around with unnecessary 'modifucations' .

Indeed a variac is one other solution. But to run a pair of VM220 one
would need a variac rated for 1kVA and then if someone turns the
control knob the wrong way......

The mods I'm doing are rather minimal, and easily bypassed, and a heck
of a lot cheaper than buying a suitable variac or well rated 240V:220V
step down tranny

exactly - I also suggested use of a variac, but they're expensive. Some
kind of multi-tap regulator or power conditioner would ALSO work, but
would be prohibitively expensive. The simpler, less expensive solutions
are usually the best.

I also like that voltage reduction transformer idea. A few dollars in
parts, a bit of soldering, and a solution appears. Less shipping cost,
too (lower mass) when you order it on-line.