110->220 and moving from US to Europe
Michael A. Dritschel
have aquired a number of nice woodworking tools, many of them with
motors. All the hand tools and most of the stationary tools run on
110V, and of course everything here is 60Hz as opposed to 50Hz there.
I'd really like to take the tools with me. I'm looking for
reccomendations on what I should do. Thanks in advance.
--
Michael Dritschel
email: m...@math.purdue.edu
URL: http://www.math.purdue.edu/~mad/
Raul da Silva
What kind of power tools will you be taking? A heavy-duty transformer
will take care of the voltage problem for 120v tools, but you still have
the AC frequency to worry about.
Any tools with induction motors (most heavy stationary equipment) will
have overheating problems at 50Hz. I have heard of people changing the
capacitors of U.S. spec 60Hz 230v induction motors to handle 50Hz, but
can't comment with experience. If you are moving there for a long time
(permanently?) and want to take large stationary induction motor tools,
I would look into swapping motors once you get there with a Euro-spec
equivalent of the same NEMA frame size.
My guess is that you are mostly worried about power hand tools. Most
all have universal motors. High quality power hand tools are OK running
off of a transformer at 50Hz. I must tell you though that I managed to
burn up a very cheap B&D hand drill while in Europe using a transformer,
but this could have been due to other causes. My other tools with
universal motors were fine.
Actually, the UK is 240v @ 50Hz and the rest of Europe is 220v @ 50Hz.
But most U.S. spec universal motors will tolerate a range between 110v
and 120v. Voltage here in the U.S. is actually 120v even though most
people quote the nominal 110v. Take a VOM to a socket in your house and
you will see that it probably reads between 118 and 121v.
A good 2000W 220/240v->110/120v transformer ran me about $120. This is
good for about 15A @ 110/120v. I think I picked it up at Fry's
Electronics here in the SF bay area. I'm not sure where you can find
one in Indiana; maybe others in rec.ww that live in your area can point
you in the right direction.
Enjoy your stay in the UK.
--
Raul da Silva
Rankshift, Inc.
(remove XXX from return address to respond via eMail)
Michael A. Dritschel
Thanks for the advice. The move is permanent. I suppose I should
have been more specific as to the types of tools. Among the
stationary tools with induction motors are an 8" Jet joiner which is
wired for 220V, and an old Craftsman tablesaw and a Delta drill press,
both of which run on 110V. I also have a compound miter saw and
planer, but I believe these have universal motors. Hand tools inlude
sanders, shop vacuum, drills, router, reciprocating saw, jig saw, hand
planer, biscuit joiner, circular saw, and no doubt other things which
I'm forgetting since I'm miles away from my shop. Perhaps since many
of these are made by European-based tool manufacturers like Bosch and
Fein, they can be rewired for the new current? Another thought I had
was that maybe (most likely in some dreamworld) these companies would
consider trades for new or refurbished tools intended for use in the
UK?
--
Michael Dritschel
Raul da Silva
hand tools with me and left my big stuff in storage in the US.
Since you're moving there permanently, it's a tough call on your big
tools. I know that there are many Brits that frequent this NG that
drool at the cheap prices of power tools here in the States compared to
the UK. Prices of power tools in Britain are about 50-100% more than
here in the US. They always ask for buying tips on their trips over
here. But they are usually looking for things like routers, sabresaws
and other small power tools, not the big stationary stuff.
Shipping your big tools and then having them retrofitted may be false
economy. Of course, if someone else is pays for the move, it may make
sense. You'll just have to crunch the numbers.
Personally, IMHO, knowing what the shipping company charged me for
moving my household to Belgium, you should consider selling the large
equipment and buy something like a Robland once you get to the UK. The
money you save in shipping, the sale of the big tools and the money
saved not having to retrofit them will get you pretty close to the
purchase price of a used X-31. The Robland is made in Belgium and I know
it is a pretty popular machine in Europe. Since it has a jointer,
planer, table saw, shaper and morticer, it should replace most of your
large tools. My brother has one and he loves it.
Take your universal motor tools with you and run them on a transformer;
they should be OK. I doubt they can be rewired for 220v, but it wouldn't
hurt to contact the companies and find out. I have no idea if European
tools companies like Bosch will take trade-ins, but I wouldn't hold you
breath.
BTW, wood is also very expensive over there. You might just be better
off filling your shipping container with cheap american hardwood and
sell it over there for a profit. It might just pay for that Robland
;-).
--
Raul da Silva
Rankshift, Inc.
(remove XXX from return address to respond via eMail)
Rob Weaver
knowledgeable users of rec.ww have offered, and by and large, they all
are on target.
The only thing that I can in all good consciense, and in the true spirit
of universal brotherhood do, is to offer to store all of your tools
until such time as you reutrn for them. To further prove that my heart
is in the right place, I'll make reasonable accomodation to pick them up
at your convenience.
All the best,
Rob Weaver (have a pint *to your health* when you settle in)
Tom Jackson/Karen Oakland
Electrical Engineering Grad Student to build you a 220Vac, 50Hz to 115Vac
and 230Vac, 60 Hz solid state converter. MicroLinear makes an integrated
circuit that with some power devices is ideal for this. I guess the parts
would run $100-200 and you could get induction motor speed control thrown
in. Size the converter to handle the largest load. The converter should
plug into an English outlet and provide both 115V and 230V NEMA outlets,
with circuit breakers on both the input and output.
While this may be more expensive and more complicated than a conversion
transformer, the solid state converter fixes both the voltage and frequency
differences.
That's what I would do.
Tom Jackson, P.E.
Engineered Conversion of Woods into Sawdust
Tony Burton
I moved to southern Cal from southern England and used to work for a
US mainframe computer company before I left there (we had bigger
motors in a lot of the peripherals). I sometimes contemplate moving
back to that part of the world. My thoughts:
110 Volt 60 Hz hand tools can be used on a transformer but many will
overheat at 50 Hz. If I moved back, it would be to a rural area, maybe
a gas powered Honda 110 Volt 60 Hz generator would be the answer. The
solid state invertor suggested by another poster might be a quieter
alternative.
Bigger stuff, drill press, table saw, etc., it's probably best to swap
out the motors for 240 Volt 50 Hz jobbies when you get there - you
might want to swap out the motor pulleys too.
Best take yourself a selection of unified screws, while you can buy
them in London, they are not too easy to locate outside of the big
city.
m...@banach.math.purdue.edu (Michael A. Dritschel) wrote:
>This fall I will be moving from the US to England. Over the years I
>have aquired a number of nice woodworking tools, many of them with
>motors. All the hand tools and most of the stationary tools run on
>110V, and of course everything here is 60Hz as opposed to 50Hz there.
>I'd really like to take the tools with me. I'm looking for
>reccomendations on what I should do. Thanks in advance.
>Michael Dritschel
>email: m...@math.purdue.edu
>URL: http://www.math.purdue.edu/~mad/
TonyB.
Bill Gooch
indicate that they are 50/60 cycle but even if they are only 60Hz most will
run a bit slower but still be okay. (advice comes from 37 years overseas
with our foreign service)
Michael A. Dritschel <m...@banach.math.purdue.edu> wrote in message
news:7f2orc$a6r$1...@mozo.cc.purdue.edu...
> This fall I will be moving from the US to England. Over the years I
> have aquired a number of nice woodworking tools, many of them with
> motors. All the hand tools and most of the stationary tools run on
> 110V, and of course everything here is 60Hz as opposed to 50Hz there.
> I'd really like to take the tools with me. I'm looking for
> reccomendations on what I should do. Thanks in advance.
>
> --
allan plath
says...
> This fall I will be moving from the US to England. ...
>
First of all, welcome in advance to the UK. I see from your e-mail that
you are a fellow academic (I'm a yank who moved here to teach at the Open
University some 15 years ago.) When you get here, e-mail me at
a.r....@open.ac.uk, and I'll spot you to a drink of real beer!)
I brought my 'hand' power tools with me, and have been running them for
the past 15 years on a tiny $10.00 transformer made for shaving with no
problems. To be fair, I've now been here long enough that the old things
are giving up due to old age, and I'm replacing them with locally
purchased tools, so it is less of a problem every year. Recently, I
bought a new router (a Holtz Herr that I'm very happy with) that runs on
115 volts along with a transformer (power supply) that give it all the
power I need. Whole thing cost less than 150 pounds! In the UK, many of
the power tools for the construction industry are now 115 volts, and you
can't even hire a 220 volt tool if you want to. So, While I'm not
disagreeing with the others, I have had no problems with the lighter duty
stuff I own. Transformers cost around £50 ($75). By the way, if you
use air nailers, bring these along, they are expensive as heck, and
scarce as hens teeth here.
I'd agree that you are in for 'sticker shock' when you arrive. With the
current exchange rate at about 1.60, you'll find that you wished you'd
stayed in the US: figure that everything you buy will cost the same in
pounds as it did in dollars! Wood is expensive, hardware not cheap, and
everything you ever thought about construction technology is the other
way round. (but I do love the pubs!) Quite a learning experience for
me! Have a good move!
colin...@hotmail.com
I'm a Brit who is living here in the States - the opposite of what you are
wanting to do. I have faced these problems, but the opposite way around.
The UK uses 240V (nominally 230V) 50 Hz AC.
You need a transformer to step down the 240 to 110V.
A UK requirement is that all non double insulated equipment has an earth lead
and plug. Actually this makes perfect sense when you're messing with 240v.
Make sure that any transformer bought there in the States meets this
requirement.
The total power consumption of your tools needs to be figured out in Watts.
Remember to consider the maximum wattage of the tools that you will be using
at any one time - include the power on surge of any induction motor. The
total wattage gives the theoretical "power" of the transformer that you need.
Then you will need to secure a transformer that is capable of sustaining that
power drain. I would guess that you are talking lots of watts if you
consider table saw (etc), and lots of watts equals lots of "dosh". "Dosh" is
UK slang for money.
A word about fuses. The UK typically uses fused plugs for each appliance; in
fact it is a requirement of every appliance supplier to supply the appliance
with a molded plug with the correctly rated fuses. Typically a 13 amp fuse is
the maximum that you will see in a plug. 13 amps at 240 volts is 3120 watts -
that's the maximum you will get from a plugged in transformer.
So the transformer is likely to need to be hard wired to an electrical supply
closet. Here the situation gets much closer to the US. Yes the UK does have
circuit breakers. They will come with various sizes, but this means that you
will need to hardwire the transformer to the electrical supply - preferably
via a (large) power switch in your new shop.
Hertz do matter. The windings on the motors and the placement of brushes are
spaced appropriately for the frequency of the mains coming in. At least they
should be in theory; of course a manufacturer may choose to produce a generic
50/60 Hz winding pattern. The problem is that the "oomph" of the AC cycle
may arrive at the brushes after the winding pick up has moved past (or not
yet reached) the maximum contact point. This causes a poor delivery of power
to the windings and hence the motor does not spin as fast as it was designed,
and will not achieve the torque that it was designed for. The lost "oomph" is
converted into heat - leading to theoretical overheading, but I've not had
that problem.
Small handheld tools, and anything that transforms the power within itself
are relatively unaffected by the hertz issue. I run my portable hammer drill
off a 200 amp 110 to 240 step up transformer without much difficulty.
Although I have not run the drill for periods of longer than 10 minutes at any
one time.
The bottom line: Replace (but keep) your motors in the heavier equipment such
as the table saw. Use 240V rated motors - they will give you peace of mind
and the necessary power. Buy them when you're in the UK - more than likely if
you have well known brand name equipment you'll be able to find the correct
branded replacement for your equipment through a local distributer.
Set up a small 110V power distribution system for the smaller hand tools. Buy
all the US connector, plugs, sockets etc *now* while you're still in the US.
Buy more than you need and keep the excess locked away for the day that you
suddenly want to do some rewiring, but.... Try to keep each 110V distribution
to less that 3000 watts so that you can use cheaper plugged in transformers.
Install more than one 110V power distribution system if you need more watts
than this.
Make sure that the transformers are adequately ventilated and grounded. If
you're going to entrust your favourite tools to this jury rig system make
sure that you buy transformers that do a good job of smoothing the output and
have temperature cut-off sensors. Place quick blow circuit breakers somewhere
in the circuit close to the transformers and rely on these rather than the
13amp fuses because 3000 watts can do you and your tools some serious harm.
If you want more information then please email me at colin...@hotmail.com.
Regards,
Colin
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Raul da Silva
<snip>
> 110 Volt 60 Hz hand tools can be used on a transformer but many will
> overheat at 50 Hz.
Most good universal motors are rated at 50/60Hz and should will work OK
with a transformer. For instance, all Bosch, Fein and DeWalt are rated
50/60Hz.
> Bigger stuff, drill press, table saw, etc., it's probably best to swap
> out the motors for 240 Volt 50 Hz jobbies when you get there - you
> might want to swap out the motor pulleys too.
Agreed. Induction motors are a problem.
> Best take yourself a selection of unified screws, while you can buy
> them in London, they are not too easy to locate outside of the big
> city.
Good suggestion.
> TonyB.
Nic
excuse to buy new tools ..... (Just don't buy them in England - they are
VERY expensive here) (Oh yes - bring your wood with you too - same
problem!)
Michael A. Dritschel wrote in message <7f2orc$a6r$1...@mozo.cc.purdue.edu>...
>This fall I will be moving from the US to England. Over the years I