Europe 220VAC

[rmonroe]

I work for a German company and we have an issue with their single phase 220VAC equipment. Over in Europe they are using one hot leg (220VAC) and a neutral to supply their secondary equipment. Can we using are 220VAC (Two hot legs 110VAC) to supply the same equipment?

Thanks

rmonroe

[infinity]

Yes. The fact that one leg of the European 220 volt circuit is grounded doesn't change the amount of potential between the two conductors. If you're dealing with equipment that is frequency sensitive the 50 Hz vs. 60 Hz may be a problem.

[rmonroe]

Thanks for the information...

[dsteves]

Just make sure one leg isn't bonded to the chassis inside the utilization equipment...

Dan

[kingpb]

Don't over look the fact that there may be controls or other equipment that require a grounded conductor and therefore need the proper 220V. I'm not sure how the piece of equipment in question works, but You better make sure that the schematic agrees with putting a 110Vac on each leg, instead of 220V to ground.

In general, I think your asking for trouble. I would first determine why your having trouble and see if you can rectify the real problem, instead of putting on a band-aid.

[infinity]

Don't over look the fact that there may be controls or other equipment that require a grounded conductor and therefore need the proper 220V. I'm not sure how the piece of equipment in question works, but You better make sure that the schematic agrees with putting a 110Vac on each leg, instead of 220V to ground.

In general, I think your asking for trouble. I would first determine why your having trouble and see if you can rectify the real problem, instead of putting on a band-aid.

King please explain how the equipment would know if one of the conductors in a two wire circuit were grounded?

[dsteves]

I grabbed a European power cord for a computer and went out to our manufacturing floor. I opened up a cabinet built by Siemens AG and found the mating receptacle. The receptacle has two metal blades which provide the ground (earth) connection to the electronic equipment, and the plug is non-polarized, meaning that it can be plugged in two ways.

If the equipment you are working with is cord-connected to a standard European receptacle when it's home in Germany, the answer is Yes, you could use American 240VAC single phase wiring. Please note that the European nominal 220V has been 230V for about as long as American 115V has been 120V. Therefore you only have an increase of 10VAC L-L on your equipment from 230V to 240V, and as long as the equipment doesn't mind 60 Hz, everything should be fine.

This answer is contingent on the statement that the device in question is cord-connected with a standard 2-pin, 3 conductor round plug with round pins and diametrically-opposed grounding contacts.

Dan

[kingpb]

King please explain how the equipment would know if one of the conductors in a two wire circuit were grounded?

Provide me a wiring and control schematic, and I will tell you if the machine/equipment would care, or at least if some of the components inside would care.

Frankly, making a general statment that it would be OK, without even knowing what's inside, is shall we say, a rather risky proposition.

[dsteves]

Wikipedia gives a little insight into the mystery of European plugs and receptacles here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesti...gs_and_sockets

I still haven't heard back yet if this device is cord-connected, but it sounds like it is. That said, there are two possibilities in the plug design: the plug is either polarized to prevent connecting the intentionally neutral load conductor to the line, or the plug is symmetrical and allows either device load conductor to be connected to the neutral or the line.

(1). Is the device intended to be plugged in?

(2). If the answer to (1) is YES, is the supplied cord and plug CEE 7/4(German "Schuko" 16 A/250 V earthed)? "Schuko" is an abbreviation for the German word Schutzkontakt, which means "Protective (that is, earthed) contact".

(3). If the answer to (2) is no, then is the cord and plug a Type E & F Hybrid (CEE 7/7)?

If you answered YES to (1) and either (2) or (3), and you are sure of what it is you answered YES about, then you won't die from electrocution plugging your device into a 240V grounded receptacle, assuming you carry the grounding (earthing) conductor from the receptacle. This is true because the CEE 7/4 and CEE 7/7 plug systems are specifically designed to NOT be affected by interchanging the line and neutral conductors, which means the utilization equipment won't be, either.

If you answered NO to (1), send your schematic to kingpb.

If you answered NO to (2) and (3), send your schematic to kingpb.

If you don't understand these questions or the answers, send your device to kingpb.

Dan

[rmonroe]

It is just a standard 220 VAC supply for a piece of equipment, which has a 1PH motor with a contactor. There is and control system that would reduce the voltage down to 24VDC.