208V Incoming Power to 240VAC, 60A Machine

[Ingenieur]

The machine data would answer many questions
what is the 'machine'?
nameplate pic
mfg and model/pn

 

[kwired]

There, problem is solved ! Pay no attention to the voltage and in the event something goes wrong tell the customer kwired advised it would be o.k. and send an associated repair bills to him

I for those that took advice off the internet, I will only reimburse up the amount I collected for giving that advice.

 

[ActionDave]

...Besides that, in the end I make my living installing electrical equipment, talking someone out of a buck boost is counter productive.

Giving somebody the straight scoop and not charging them for things they don't really need is a better way to keep repeat customers.

 

[iwire]

Giving somebody the straight scoop and not charging them for things they don't really need is a better way to keep repeat customers.

Dave, guessing that a machine will work on 208 when the manufacturer says it needs 230 is in my opinion unprofessional.

Read what I wrote, it's worth looking into the specs, but you seem to have weird thing about supplying things under voltage.

 

[kwired]

Dave, guessing that a machine will work on 208 when the manufacturer says it needs 230 is in my opinion unprofessional.

Read what I wrote, it's worth looking into the specs, but you seem to have weird thing about supplying things under voltage.

It kind of depends on the conditions.

Motors are usually rated at 230 volts not 240. Around here a 208 volt system will often operate around 216 volts, unloaded anyway, but even loaded you often don't see much less then 212. That is still within 8 percent of 230. If your motor isn't heavily loaded and/or run 24/7, chances are it will last a very long time.

On the other hand if your motor normally runs into it's service factor and runs an awful lot of the time, it may not last all that long in comparison even if you boosted to the rated voltage.

 

[Strathead]

It is worth a check but for whatever reason I run into and it comes up on this forum that some manufactures get real particular about the supply voltage.

I have had 7-11 Slush drink machines that had very tight voltage specs and threats of taking my first born if the requirements where not met.

People are always asking about this issue with tanning beds, they seem to require specific supply voltages.

Most common for me is motors, specifically refrigeration compressor motors on tractor trailer units. If we run them on 208 they will often trip out the overload, apparently in shipping yards they use 230 delta to supply these units but when they show up at the stores we work at we have 208 available .


Besides that, in the end I make my living installing electrical equipment, talking someone out of a buck boost is counter productive.

It is amazing what 5 minutes on the phone with the manufacturer can resolve, try it. A buck boost transformer is a perfectly viable and acceptable means of converting the voltage for this machine from 208 to 240 but it could also be as simple as just using 208 or changing a transformer tap already installed in the unit, so why not call them.

 

[kwired]

It is amazing what 5 minutes on the phone with the manufacturer can resolve, try it. A buck boost transformer is a perfectly viable and acceptable means of converting the voltage for this machine from 208 to 240 but it could also be as simple as just using 208 or changing a transformer tap already installed in the unit, so why not call them.

Around here all we usually do for such a machine is supply a receptacle, or maybe a disconnecting means, the vendor that services or even owns that machine sets up such things if necessary.

 

[iwire]

It is amazing what 5 minutes on the phone with the manufacturer can resolve, try it. A buck boost transformer is a perfectly viable and acceptable means of converting the voltage for this machine from 208 to 240 but it could also be as simple as just using 208 or changing a transformer tap already installed in the unit, so why not call them.

Just want to point out that in each of my posts I mentioned it is worth checking into.

In my slush machine example they had placed warnings all over the instructions and on the machine itself about the voltage requirements.

 

[Strathead]

Just want to point out that in each of my posts I mentioned it is worth checking into.

In my slush machine example they had placed warnings all over the instructions and on the machine itself about the voltage requirements.

100% As mentioned earlier, in the 1990's a Wolfe tanning bed required 220V period. A call to the manufacturer would confirm that 240V is not OK. 208 volts is not OK.

 

[kwired]

100% As mentioned earlier, in the 1990's a Wolfe tanning bed required 220V period. A call to the manufacturer would confirm that 240V is not OK. 208 volts is not OK.

How much tolerance was acceptable?

Fine tune it to get 220 volts and then when the AC kicks on it may just drop a volt or two, or even more while the AC compressor is starting. Even a buck-boost will be difficult to fine tune to exactly one voltage, but not too hard to get within a certain average range.

 

[kwired]

Just want to point out that in each of my posts I mentioned it is worth checking into.

Of course it is

In my slush machine example they had placed warnings all over the instructions and on the machine itself about the voltage requirements.

You are supposed to read and follow those?

 

[Jraef]

It is worth a check but for whatever reason I run into and it comes up on this forum that some manufactures get real particular about the supply voltage.

I have had 7-11 Slush drink machines that had very tight voltage specs and threats of taking my first born if the requirements where not met.

People are always asking about this issue with tanning beds, they seem to require specific supply voltages.

Most common for me is motors, specifically refrigeration compressor motors on tractor trailer units. If we run them on 208 they will often trip out the overload, apparently in shipping yards they use 230 delta to supply these units but when they show up at the stores we work at we have 208 available .


Besides that, in the end I make my living installing electrical equipment, talking someone out of a buck boost is counter productive.

Yes, i too have found that hermetically sealed refrigeration motors are definitely one of the exceptions. You're right, 230V versions don't like 208V. My suspicion is that because the motor is cooled by the refrigerant, increasing the heat in the motor even a little interferes with the refrigerant cooling cycle, making them run too long to get the same net effect and they are designed very close to the bone.

 

[ActionDave]

Dave, guessing that a machine will work on 208 when the manufacturer says it needs 230 is in my opinion unprofessional.

Read what I wrote, it's worth looking into the specs, but you seem to have weird thing about supplying things under voltage.

I did not recommend intentionally supplying a piece of equipment with the wrong voltage. I did say that if, after checking with the manufacture, there is no need for a buck/boost then I would not try and sell one to a customer even though in the short term it would be in my favor to do so.