Using Overseas Appliance (Vacuum Robot) in Australia

kaoz on 16/04/2024 - 14:08

Hi OzB community,

I’m looking for some advise from the sage and electrically savage members of OzBargain.

I’m currently travelling in Taiwan and saw that the Roborock QRevo is on sale in a reputable electronics retail store here (equivalent of JB HiFi in Australia) for approx AU$770, which is around half the price of the same unit if I bought it in Australia, when it’s on special (RRP:$1999, but currently going for $1399 at Godfrey’s: https://www.godfreys.com.au/roborock-q-revo-robot-vacuum-cle…).
We bought one for a friend here and have testet the unit over the last few week and were very impressed by it, so naturally I’m considering buying one here and bringing it back down-under.

I should be able to get a further 5% off from the tax refund counter at the airport.

This seems like a hell of a deal, however Taiwan, not unlike the US, is running on 110-120V.

The specs for the docking(charging) station as per instruction manual are as follows:

Model : EWFD11LRR or EWFD12LRR
Rated Input Voltage : 120V~
Rated Frequency : 60Hz
Rated Input (Dust Collection) : 7.5A
Rated Input (Non-Dust Collection) : 1.0A
Rated Output : 20VDC 1.5A
Battery : 14.4V/5200mAh (TYP) lithium-ion battery

Now, I’m not a sparky and have not much of a clue about electrical work, so I was hoping someone here with more knowledge on the subject could advise whether I can make the unit work in Australia with a voltage transformer/reducer of some kind, and possibly point me toward some reliable gear that I could buy that would allow me to use the robot in Australia with risk of frying the unit or setting my house on fire.

Any advise would be massively appreciated!

Electrical & Electronics Robotic Vacuum Cleaner

Comments

  • DashCam AKA Rolts on 16/04/2024 - 14:18
    +15

    Robot Vac from Northern Hemisphere will only clean you ceilings.

    • kaoz on 16/04/2024 - 14:19
      +1

      Haha, that’s the hardest to reach part of my place…

  • DashCam AKA Rolts on 16/04/2024 - 14:19
    +1

    Any advise

    ADAMOA

    • zonra on 16/04/2024 - 17:21

      ADAA

  • nige0090 on 16/04/2024 - 14:20
    +1

    Can you post a photo of the label on the actual power supply unit.

    If it says something like this "Input: AC 100-240V 50/60Hz" it should work fine as-is in Australia.
    If you are lucky, and the PSU in an inline model with a figure 8 mains socket, you just need to use an Oz figure 8 power cable like this
    https://www.jaycar.com.au/2pin-fig-8-mains-plug-to-iec-c7-fe…
    Otherwise you may need to get the power plug changed by someone qualified.

    If the PSU says "Input: AC 100V 50/60Hz" or similar you will need to source a 20V DC OZ PSU

    • kaoz on 16/04/2024 - 14:36

      Thank you so much for your reply! The unit has no power brick, but I took a photo of the sticker on the back of the unit and uploaded it here (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZIPxrTyl3QdGcDgaJ-pg…), along with a translated version via google translate.

      • nige0090 on 16/04/2024 - 14:41

        But how does it plug into the mains supply?

        If you google "EWFD12LRR" you can find this PSU on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Compatible-Roborock-EWFD11LRR… which suggests that it does use a power brick or "wall wart"

        • kaoz on 16/04/2024 - 14:46

          Huh, that’s curious! I’ve uploaded another photo of the back of the entire unit, which shows the cable and plug, to the same link as above. There’s definitely no brick.

          • nige0090 on 16/04/2024 - 15:00
            +3

            @kaoz: Yes, that is curious. But clearly an internal PSU, no power brick.
            And clearly labelled as 100V.

            You are a bit out of luck.
            I would not risk plugging that into Oz mains power unless I could confirm that the internal PSU was multi voltage.
            Otherwise you are looking at a 240v to 110V step-down converter

            • kaoz on 16/04/2024 - 15:49

              @nige0090: Yeah I definitely wouldn’t plug it in as is. I kind of like my house haha.

              Do you reckon something like this would work? https://a.co/d/cpXRttN -> I guess I should be able to just replace the power cord of the converter with an Aussie plug cable?

              Thank you for your help, mate!!

              • L0zBargain on 16/04/2024 - 15:59
                +2

                @kaoz: Unfortunately from your pics you need nearly 1,000watts or VA during the dust collection state, so that 500 might not cut it…

              • nige0090 on 16/04/2024 - 16:03
                +1

                @kaoz: Yes, that should work.

                But, I would not buy from Amazon, AliExpress etc
                I would buy from a more reputable electrical supplier based in Australia.
                Sorry, I can't recommend anywhere.

                • kaoz on 16/04/2024 - 16:06

                  @nige0090: Please don’t apologise. It’s great to know though that it could potentially work. I might contact my local Jaycar or Electrical Distributor and see if they have something suitable, seeing that I have another 3 weeks here to make a decision.

                  Thank you so much for your help, I feel encouraged 👍👍👍

              • freefall101 on 16/04/2024 - 16:04
                +1

                @kaoz: it's 100-127V at 7.5A, so you'd want at least 750 watts (and more likely 900). The "800W" one says it can be used up to 500W devices.

                It's the kind of thing you want a bit of leeway on, rather than your house burning down.

                • kaoz on 16/04/2024 - 16:07

                  @freefall101: @freefall101, that’s some great advise, thank you so much for your feedback, I’ll make sure to find something around 900-1000W 👍

      • USER DC on 16/04/2024 - 22:45
        +1

        looks like it'll burn down when you plug it in AUS (cause its not rated for ~ 210-250Volts

        So if you wanna play safe, you gotta plug into a voltage reducer (reduce australian AC 220-240V to 110-120V AC for this oversease appliance ALWAYS)

        • kaoz on 17/04/2024 - 07:09

          Yes definitely. Have you got any recs for this particular device? Ideally something I can get from the likes of Jaycar or Altronics? Thank you!

          • USER DC on 17/04/2024 - 09:30

            @kaoz: Meh, not really

            If it was new I'd just buy one from Amazon

            • kaoz on 17/04/2024 - 09:50

              @USER DC: Gotcha, alright I’ll have another look. Upon recommendation from others here I’m inclined to purchase from an Aussie store to get the assurance that the product has been testet and approved for the Aussie market and grid, but looking at the prices of what I could find so far, I might have to reconsider whether this is all worth it. Thank you for your feedback tho

              • USER DC on 17/04/2024 - 10:19

                @kaoz: just buy a decent brand, (e.g. same sh!t that you finding in the brick & motor stores like jaycar or whatever you are looking for), Look for that item online on Amazon, eBay. Both are good retailers online. No need to pay the brick and motor tax.

                its not like buying it of temu, or alibaba (or some other low quality place where there could be counterfeit, and unsafe item)

          • samcro on 17/04/2024 - 09:40

            @kaoz: Yes, Jaycar have them (in various wattages). The higher wattage ones are not cheap though.

            • kaoz on 17/04/2024 - 09:47

              @samcro: Yep, just saw that… that might make the initial savings moot… thanks for your feedback mate!

  • L0zBargain on 16/04/2024 - 14:23
    +1

    Read the text on the power supply brick. Often these days they accept an input of 100V-240V. If that is the case, you just need an adaptor for the prongs.

    If it is 110V-120V only then it will not work here and don't plug it in. You either need a step up converter or more likely just get a new power supply brick rated for Australia that matches the output voltages and amps and of course the correct barrel connector or whatever the vacuum uses.

    • kaoz on 16/04/2024 - 14:43

      Hi L0zBargain, thank you for your reply!! Unfortunately the unit doesn’t have a power brick, but a detachable power cable (looks like a C13 with only two pins). I’ve uploaded some photos of the label (including a translated version and a photo of the entire back of the unit with plug) for your reference, here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZIPxrTyl3QdGcDgaJ-pg…

      • L0zBargain on 16/04/2024 - 15:54

        Ahh yes, definitely don't plug that in unfortunately. Good luck!

        • kaoz on 16/04/2024 - 15:55

          Yeah, definitely not haha. Thank you for your feedback!!

  • Stewardo on 16/04/2024 - 15:11
    +1

    How much is just the charging base in the au version?

    • kaoz on 16/04/2024 - 15:55

      I had a quick google search but I couldn’t find the charging dock just by itself.

  • omguleh on 16/04/2024 - 18:20
    +1

    Check to see if the robot app works outside of Taiwan. I bought a Roborock T7S Plus and its region locked to mainland China.

    At $600AUD I still bought it and manually start it every night, equivalent version here at that time was around $1100-1200.

    • kaoz on 16/04/2024 - 18:42

      Oh wow, that’s interesting! How did you find out the app wasn’t working in AU? Did you realise before you got back to AU?
      I used my (Aussie) iphone to download the official Roborock App (here in Taiwan) and set it all up for my friend. When I check the settings, I can’t see anything that specifies the region of use, apart from the arbitrary Timezone setting.
      But in saying that, just like you, I’d be happy to just run it manually.

      • omguleh on 16/04/2024 - 20:09
        +1

        It worked when I was there, but once I was back it will throw a region lock error even though the apps region is set to China. Using a VPN can’t get pass it either.

        https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/188086/111871/img_3376…

        • kaoz on 16/04/2024 - 22:10

          Huh, okay. That’s interesting. Not a deal-breaker at this price point, but interesting for sure. I’ve got hopes that Taiwanese products might be different due to all sorts of political and trade economical reasons…. Only one way to find out I guess.
          Thank you for your feedback!!

          • omguleh on 16/04/2024 - 23:05
            +1

            @kaoz: Yea the savings was definitely worth it over being able to use the app. I still have to refill the water basket every night so it’s only an extra push of a button to start it.

      • KaTst3R on 16/04/2024 - 21:29
        +1

        I can confirm this. I got the same issue with a China shipped Roborock. The App doesnt work. It refuse to operate outside of China. There is no way to bypass this. I even downloaded a cracked Andriod APK from a dodgy Russian website. It worked for a few weeks before Roborock blocked me again. Even if you had a chinese phone number, the thing also refuses to authenticate. I have given up on this now.

        So my Roborock is only a manual mode vacuum which is good enough but it could have been more useful.

        Only Roborock bought in Australia will work with the App.

        • kaoz on 16/04/2024 - 22:15

          Right, thank you for your input. That’s annoying for sure. I guess at this price, I’m willing to take the risk, and, if it happens to be blocked, put up with the manual operation, so long as I can get it to work in terms of voltage / electrical compatibility.

        • brifog on 17/04/2024 - 00:05
          +1

          Might be worth investigating Valetudo then?

          • KaTst3R on 17/04/2024 - 00:12
            +1

            @brifog: Thanks for the suggestion but looks pretty complicated to get it installed on a Roborock.

  • pcs1810 on 17/04/2024 - 11:32

    Godfreys has gone into receivership and is closing all stores. Item currently marked as out of stock, so do not expect it to come back in to stock there.

  • sunnyc on 17/04/2024 - 21:05

    I just bought one but my roborock is region locked

    • kaoz on 17/04/2024 - 21:41

      May I ask where you got yours from/ what country?

      • sunnyc on 18/04/2024 - 08:38

        China

        • kaoz on 18/04/2024 - 10:23

          Gotcha, thank you for your feedback!

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