School me on 110v & 220v...

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sw_ross

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I know there's some history related to standard voltages being 110 & 220, but I couldn't locate a specific description to describe the history for me.

Many times when I talk with customers they'll describe something as needing 220, but not really understand that current supply standards are 240.

I know a lot of load will spec 230v, especially motors.

Can someone give me a brief understanding of where the 220 comes from so I can relay to my customers that it is actually the same as 240?

Same for 110v...

Thanks!
 
sw_ross said:
... so I can relay to my customers that it is actually the same as 240?...
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I never correct them. I see no point to it. They say 220, I say 240, and I doubt they even noticed that I used a different number. They also say "plug" when they should say "receptacle." You'll spend all day there for free if you start teaching them. As long as I know what they mean, I get the job done.

Trust me, they are going to say 220 again after you leave.

As a separate issue, 230 is just a worldwide nominal. With the tolerable variances, they know it is used on 240 supply in many places.
 
I generally knew it was somewhere along those lines... Historically starting out at 110, then being moved up to 115, and eventually 120. Same with line-to-line. I just didn't know the time frame.

I sometimes find myself repeating the 220 that my customer requested because I want them to know we're talking about the same thing even though I know their request is actually for 240.

I don't want to give a history lesson to the customer, I just was looking for an explanation in case they asked about it.

Thank!
 
MAC702 said:
I never correct them.
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In many cases that's probably a good idea.

If you start down that road of explaining the difference between 110 & 120, next you will have to explain the difference between 208 & 240V. Then the difference between single and 3 phase. And how its different in other countries, and that some have 50 hz instead of 60 hz.

Somewhere during that hour long conversation the subject of supply voltage vs. utilization voltages (240V vs. 230V and 480 vs. 460...etc) will come up.
 
Hopefully there's a good solution because I need to use it on some of the guys I work with. :roll:
 
steve66 said:
In many cases that's probably a good idea.

If you start down that road of explaining the difference between 110 & 120, next you will have to explain the difference between 208 & 240V. Then the difference between single and 3 phase. And how its different in other countries, and that some have 50 hz instead of 60 hz.

Somewhere during that hour long conversation the subject of supply voltage vs. utilization voltages (240V vs. 230V and 480 vs. 460...etc) will come up.
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"But, Daddy, that's not what I meant. Billy came from Chicago. Where did I come from?"
 
ANSI Standard C84.1 is the official national standard for distribution voltages, and lists 120V and 240V as our single phase voltages. So that's "official" and has been for decades. The standard was issued in 1949, based on an unofficial standard from the Edison Institute released in 1942, then it was accepted as our official national standard in 1954 and has not substantially changed since then. This information is in the preamble of the ANSI C84.1 standard document.

However, the old standard WAS 110/220V for years before that and there are still some utilities that provide it at that level. There is no national "enforcement body" that can require a utility to change existing equipment and systems, so some older utilities have not modernized. So that means when you are talking to SOME people, 110/220 is actually correct.
 
I always wondered why Edison chose 110 instead of the nice round number of 100......:?

I still see motors in service with 440 on the nameplate. Appliances with 110 nameplates are much more rare! (Fans Toasters and Vacuums).

Then there is the Zenith 117 VAC nameplates for years starting in the 50s.

It only bugs me when someone makes a nameplate for equipment here at work (one off stuff) and they use 110 VAC. Really, how old are you?:lol:
 
Frank DuVal said:
I always wondered why Edison chose 110 instead of the nice round number of 100......:?

...
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This is my post from that older thread.

"He needed to match the lumen output of gas lamps to make his light bulbs viable, so through experimentation he settled on 110VC as a compromise between the lumen output of his lamp compared to the size of wire he needed to run at the first demonstration he did." He did start with 100VDC, but to make the bulb bright enough, he had to have it draw more current and it was too much for the hand drawn copper wire he was using. Remember, nobody was wiring houses yet, so copper wire was made to order by drawing down a copper rod by hand.

I got all of that out of a history of Edison and his efforts to develop a working light bulb. Wish I could remember the name of it now. I had it back when I wrote that older posting.
 
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