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General Vintage Technology Discussions For general discussions about vintage radio and other vintage electronics etc. |
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4th Jan 2020, 5:45 pm | #21 |
Nonode
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: North Somerset, UK.
Posts: 2,129
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Re: 110volt plugs when mains is 230
As has already been said, use of standard USA plugs for 110 volt to 127 volt circuits is probably the best approach, together with the local standard domestic outlets for 230 volt circuits.
To partially compensate for the frequency difference, I would recommend 110 volt 50 cycle supplies for equipment intended for 120 volt 60 cycle supplies. |
4th Jan 2020, 7:40 pm | #22 | |
Guest
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Re: 110volt plugs when mains is 230
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4th Jan 2020, 7:57 pm | #23 | |
Heptode
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Cedar Grove, Wisconsin, USA.
Posts: 823
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Re: 110volt plugs when mains is 230
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They used 117 volts as a design average for years. Dave, USradcoll1. A retired electrician as well as a vintage collector. |
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4th Jan 2020, 8:30 pm | #24 |
Rest in Peace
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Chard, South Somerset, UK.
Posts: 7,457
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Re: 110volt plugs when mains is 230
I am aware that many domestic dwellings in the U.S.A. have an incoming supply of 230-v.a.c. and 115-v.a.c. (The 230-v.a.c. being used for 'wattful' appliances). Now I know what a 115-v plug and socket look like - but what type of plug & socket is used for the 230-v. connection? Obviously, it must be different!
Al. |
4th Jan 2020, 9:00 pm | #25 |
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Re: 110volt plugs when mains is 230
This https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_pow...gs_and_sockets is a fascinating read.
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4th Jan 2020, 9:31 pm | #26 |
Nonode
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: North Somerset, UK.
Posts: 2,129
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Re: 110volt plugs when mains is 230
Most homes in the USA do indeed have a 3 wire supply that gives both 120 volts and 240 volts.
However 240 volt socket outlets are not common. Lighting and small appliances in homes* are limited to 120 volts. There are NO general purpose 240 volt socket outlets in the USA. 240 volt circuits are for larger loads such as water heaters, central air conditioning, clothes dryers, and electric cookers. These are either hard wired, or connected via special 240 volt sockets, there are several designs for different loadings.. Some homes do have a 240 volt 20 amp outlet near the window, to facilitate use of a large portable air conditioner, but this is not the norm. Most portable air conditioners are used from standard 120 volt outlets. *and other residences such as hotels, hostels, motels, dormitory accommodation and the like. 277 volts is used in larger non residential buildings. |
5th Jan 2020, 8:59 am | #27 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Biggin Hill, London, UK.
Posts: 5,208
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Re: 110volt plugs when mains is 230
There is a 240V (or so, 220V, 234V) 15A american socket. It looks like the normal 120V (110V, 117V) one, but whereas that latter has the U-shaped earth pin and 2 vertical current carrying pins, the 240V one has the current carrying pins horizontal.
It's used _a lot_ on older DEC minicomputers in 230V countries. Such machines have a 'power controller' (mains distribution panel and relay box) that has a number of such sockets on it, the CPU, disk drives, etc, plug into it using said connectors to get power. One of the first things to do if you run such machines (as I do) is to make up a pair of cable -- US 234V plug to BS1363 socket (to run the 'scope, logic analyser, solderig iron, etc behind your PDP rack) and US 234V line socket to BS1363 plug (to run DEC power supplies, etc, independantly on the work bench). |
5th Jan 2020, 9:40 am | #28 |
Octode
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Stevenage, Herts. UK.
Posts: 1,518
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Re: 110volt plugs when mains is 230
I like to standardise on US plugs for my '110v' equipment to eliminate the possibility of mistakes. However a problem in the UK is that it's very difficult to get hold of rewireable US plugs. Moulded ones on IEC leads are no problem.
The stocks I built up after my last visit to the states are long gone and the last time I needed one I had to buy one off eBay aimed at audiophools |
5th Jan 2020, 3:08 pm | #29 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Biggin Hill, London, UK.
Posts: 5,208
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Re: 110volt plugs when mains is 230
I am not sure what 'aimed at audiophools' means other than a possibly high price.
RS do US mains plugs, for example : https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/mains...ckets/3160133/ but they might be 'audiophool' prices. On the other hand Hubbell are a very respected manufacturer of such items, and I'd certainly trust said connector to work correctly. |
5th Jan 2020, 3:29 pm | #30 |
Hexode
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK.
Posts: 483
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Re: 110volt plugs when mains is 230
My American girlfriend is bringing me some rewireable plugs from the US for that exact reason. The 3 pin version are about $1 each there. It will be interesting to see what the quality is like.
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5th Jan 2020, 4:51 pm | #31 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Brentwood, Essex, UK.
Posts: 5,337
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Re: 110volt plugs when mains is 230
CPC are currently offering 3 pin 2A plugs for less than £1.
Like most web pages, the basic stuff about US plugs on the wiki pages at #25 gives the impression that plugs were unknown in the US before Hubbel's inventions. However, if you click through to the history section you will find a reference to the report of the unsucessful court proceedings that Hubbel brought against his competitors when they decided to standardise on what is now the standard US 15A plug with parallel pins. It contains an objective overview of the development of mains connectors in the US. What is now the configuration used for 240V (tandem pins) was originally used for 110V. Plugs with flat pins in both parallel and tandem configuration, and adaptors for using 2pin plugs in light sockets, were in use a couple of decades before Hubbel's patented designs. Hubbel's innovations were not the invention of plugs per se, but the provision of various types of detents to reduce the likelihood of a plug falling out of an adaptor when used in a pendant light fitting. I guess most of the stuff on the web is derived from what appears on Hubbel's web site, which understandably emphasises Hubbel's undoubted commercial success in the early 20th century. |
5th Jan 2020, 7:58 pm | #32 | |
Heptode
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Cedar Grove, Wisconsin, USA.
Posts: 823
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Re: 110volt plugs when mains is 230
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There was a trend to use 277 volts for lighting and other loads, but the practice fell out of favor. Derived from 277/480 3 phase. Canada used 347/600 volts. Not sure if it's still popular. Dave, USradcoll1 |
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10th Jan 2020, 6:15 am | #33 | |
Pentode
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Posts: 199
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Re: 110volt plugs when mains is 230
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11th Jan 2020, 4:58 pm | #34 |
Heptode
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Wellington, New Zealand.
Posts: 653
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Re: 110volt plugs when mains is 230
Many thanks to everybody for their great ideas, info. comments and suggestions. I've decided to go with US plugs since the transformer has their sockets on them (the 3 pin type). For the voltage, the transformer says it is 1 kw 110v ac but I'll probably build a voltage/amp meter combination just to keep an eye on things anyway (have just such a combo monitoring my 230 supply). Again thanks to you all.
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11th Jan 2020, 5:20 pm | #35 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 13,996
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Re: 110volt plugs when mains is 230
If you're going to fit meter(s), have a look at some of the little digital panel-meters available from China.
[search "22mm ad16 meter" on the usual Chinese websites] I've got some here - they cost me all of £2 each! Now at that price I wasn't expecting much but they have lasted a couple of years without the LEDs dimming/losing segments. OK, they're rather slow to respond (I guess the sample interval is about 3 seconds) so you wouldn't want to use them to set the output-voltage of something like a Variac or you'd take all day - and the least-significant-digit increments in units-of-2 rather than 1 - but when I tested these meters against a properly-calibrated source they were accurate to around 2% which is probably better than your typical 40-year-old-AVO-which-hasn't-seen-a-calibration-centre-this-millennium. |
13th Jan 2020, 8:03 am | #36 | |
Heptode
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Wellington, New Zealand.
Posts: 653
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Re: 110volt plugs when mains is 230
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