Hardware NTSC/PAL Charger Compatibility

[pudink]

You are able to charge your European/Australian 3DS with the charger that came with your NTSC 3DS, all 3DS require the same input voltage. I'd be careful about trying to use a European charger in the US because if you end up with a low-quality or plain faulty adapter, there's a good chance you'll have fried your 3DS in seconds. If you want to be on the safe side you'll want to use a charger that is meant for the country your reside in and you'll be fine.

Source: I charge my American 3DS with a charger meant for a European DSi/3DS.

So I live in Turkey(eu standards here 220v)and eu plugs.

If I buy a NTSC device and i use the adapter that came with my PAL 3ds. I should be fine right?

 

[Öhr]

this thread is ancient, but yes, itll work:

Aside from region locks, the 3DS are identical and take in the same voltage. The power adapters taking in the AC however are not identical!

Common Regions:
China, USA and Canada = 100-130V AC @ 60Hz
EU, Russia and Australia = 220-250V AC @ 50Hz
Japan = 100V @ 50 or 60Hz (depending on region)

Overall, you can safely use devices from Europe in for example Australia, however, they use different plugs, so you'd need a simple adapter.
If you go on a journey from Europe to the US for example, a simple adapter will not suffice. You need a current and frequency converter, otherwise your power supply and whatever is connected might be toasted, unless they accept 100-240V @ 50-60Hz.
Same rule the other way round, of course!

As for the different plugs and sockets I've mentioned:
There are basically four big types around the world:
The European plug, the US/Canada, the UK plug and finally the Australian plug

An extensive list of currents, plugs and countries can be found here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity_by_country
Or just take a look at this beautiful graphic:
http://worldwanders.com/tcomp/spread of plugs around the world.gif

For all those that see this as too technical and all:
USB ports are the same around the world, so just get a USB cable for 1.45USD/1€ with free shipping instead:
https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10000045/1008900-usb-charging-cable-for-nintendo-3ds

P.S. EU Standard is 230V, however a deviation of up to 10% is allowed: 207-253V

 

[Foxi4]

So I live in Turkey(eu standards here 220v)and eu plugs.

If I buy a NTSC device and i use the adapter that came with my PAL 3ds. I should be fine right?

...again, no such thing as NTSC/PAL handhelds, they're not home consoles, they don't produce TV-compatible signal.

In any case, no, it will not be "fine" - as mentioned above, the US uses 100-130V AC @ 60Hz. You'll need a charger appropriate for your region or you'll have to use a transformer/converter. Fortunately, chargers are cheapo, especially third-party ones, so it shouldn't be a problem.

EDIT: Edited due to new-found irrelevancy, I didn't notice that you have an European charger. You should be fine with your setup as is.

 

[Öhr]

...again, no such thing as NTSC/PAL handhelds, they're not home consoles, they don't produce TV-compatible signal.

In any case, no, it will not be "fine" - as mentioned above, the US uses 100-130V AC @ 60Hz. You'll need a charger appropriate for your region or you'll have to use a transformer/converter. Fortunately, chargers are cheapo, especially third-party ones, so it shouldn't be a problem.

learn to read:
He will use his EU plug within the EU to charge an NTSC console, which is totally fine!

 

[Foxi4]

learn to read:
He will use his EU plug within the EU to charge an NTSC console, which is totally fine!

Again, no such thing as an NTSC/PAL 3DS. I missed the "if I use my European adapter" part, hence I told him to get an European charger. Don't be rude, my reading is perfectly fine, I just skim-read his post and missed one detail.

 

[Öhr]

Again, no such thing as an NTSC/PAL 3DS. I missed the "if I use my European adapter" part, hence I told him to get an European charger. Don't be rude, my reading is perfectly fine, I just skim-read his post and missed one detail.

Personally, I classify "skim-reading" as "unable to read (properly)". No insult intended though ^^

You are right, classifying a 3DS as PAL or NTSC is wrong, as this is just a video standard for certain regions. However the names NTSC-U, NTSC-J or PAL have been misused for defining regions (and region locks) for games and consoles alike for several years now, so it was pretty clear what he was trying to say and not entirely wrong:
He bought a 3DS in either Japan or USA, both of which have 100-110V @ 50Hz, which is incompatible with what is the local standard (230V @ 60Hz).

 

[Foxi4]

You are right, classifying a 3DS as PAL or NTSC is wrong, as this is just a video standard for certain regions. However the names NTSC-U, NTSC-J or PAL have been misused for defining regions (and region locks) for games and consoles alike for several years now, so it was pretty clear what he was trying to say and not entirely wrong.

In reference to home consoles which you do hook up to a TV - no handheld consoles bear the NTSC/PAL classification on the box except the rare instances of handhelds that do have TV hook-ups like the Nomad. I find promoting correct nomenclature to be beneficial in the long run.

As for the skim-reading part, all I really said was that he should use the adapter right for his region, my bad for assuming that he'd use the other one.

 

[pwsincd]

So glad we're having that discussion again


That equals sign with the dotted line on the bottom is the symbol for an AC (alternating current) power source, which is what you find in all homes. The charger converts it to a DC (direct current) output, which is what you would find in the cigarette lighter of a car, a battery, a USB port, or a computer power supply, among others.

Edit - the conversion to DC that the charger does is why you can use a USB cable to charge your 3DS, since the USB output is already a DC current, and that extra .4v is negligible.

The solid line above a dotted line is most defiantly not ac . but is DC . strait line depicting direct as in direct current . AC is a sideways s if u will depicting a alternating cycle or 1hz .

 

[pwsincd]

Also the frequency is irrelevant .

 

[tbgtbg]

Again, no such thing as an NTSC/PAL 3DS.

True, and I used to correct people on this as well, but there's no point anymore.

It's a lost battle, people just started using PAL/NTSC interchangeably as region codes (despite stuff like Japan and NA both using NTSC yet being different regions). Even modern consoles now aren't NTSC/PAL, as those analog standards became obsolete with the forced digital conversion, but people are still gonna keep talking about their NTSC PS4 or whatever even though it's utterly wrong.

 

[Öhr]

Also the frequency is irrelevant .

According to Wikipedia, it kinda is relevant:

In Japan, the electrical power supply to households is at 100 V. Eastern and northern parts of Honshū (including Tokyo) and Hokkaidō have a frequency of 50 Hz, whereas western Honshū (including Nagoya, Osaka, and Hiroshima), Shikoku, Kyūshū and Okinawa operate at 60 Hz. The boundary between the two regions contains four back-to-back high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) substations which interconnect the power between the two grid systems; these are Shin Shinano, Sakuma Dam, Minami-Fukumitsu, and the Higashi-Shimuzu Frequency Converter. To accommodate the difference, frequency-sensitive appliances marketed in Japan can often be switched between the two frequencies.

tbgtbg:
Well yeah, you are right, however there is no easily understandable standard that properly defines what each region is.
NTSC-U or just U: United States? Canada is part of the same standard, but clearly not part of the US.
Continents, such as "North America" or "Europe" only do it marginally better: Russia, which is not part of Europe, has the same Region as Europe. So much for that..

You could assign like numbers and shit to regions, like those for DVDs and BluRays, but not everyone will understand right away...

Either way, I see no point in correcting here, as there is no good alternative way of saying it.

 

[pwsincd]

yes if your system is AC .. DC doesnt have a frequency.... And for the sake of transforming AC to DC then regulating it , rather than half wave modulation , it dont matter...