220v to 240v

[end user]

I was gonna bid on a drill on ebay, the only problem is, its being sold from germany and has a german 220v plug on it! Can this be easily converted to a British 240v plug? Thanks

[Andrew Gabriel]

Yes, or you can buy an adaptor.

[Mike Dodd]

Personally, rather than an adaptor of sorts, cut the european connector off and wire in a stanard (rubber!) 13A plug.

(or is that illegal now, as well?)

Mike

[Alex]

Well all EU mains equipment is 230V +- a few percent. So you can just replace the plug.

[meow2222]

Changing the plug is a non-problem, so I suspect your question lies with the voltage difference. Normally 220v motors will run on 240, but expect them to get significantly hotter. This isnt such a problem with drills as theyre only used intermittently. There is however the chance it could get a lot hotter, if the motor is already close to saturation at 220. If that occurs you can still use it, but it would overheat pretty quickly. So, you should normally be ok, but its not 100% certain. If you buy it, keep an eye on the temperature coming out the vent grills for a bit, till you know its not roasting.

NT

PS is germany 50 or 60Hz? If its 60Hz, the drill will quite likely roast itself on 240v 50Hz.

PPS converting 240v to 220v is not difficult, and that can take care of any 50/60 problem too.

[Newshound]

Germany is 60 Hz. The above point is technically correct, although I suspect most stuff that might have an international market will be designed for 50 Hz 240 V for compatibility. It would have to be a pretty unusual item before I would take a chance on it though.

[Alex]

Sorry but you're wrong - it's 50Hz like here, and equipment should be designed to work across the EU.

[James Salisbury]

ERR The whole of Europe is 50Hz except the UK which is currenty on 49.96Hz ;->

[Dave Plowman (News)]

True, but the OP doesn't say it's new. ;-)

[Harry Bloomfield]

Newshound has brought this to us :

Germany is on 50Hz, like the rest of Europe.

If the drill is a modern one, then it should be designed to be used on

230v nominal and we in the UK are on 230v nominal supply. In practise, due to the +/- percentage of error allowed in mains supplies, we are still on a 240v mains supply.

The US is on 60Hz, amongst other more distant countries.

[meow2222]

Modern equipment, yes. If OTOH the appliance is marked 220v, its not modern and probably not designed for 240v.

It'll probably be ok.

NT

[david lang]

IIRC our supply is 230v +10%/-6%, so 230v could be anywhere between 253v &

216v and still be within spec.

Can be difficult running 2.9 kW induction motors when it drops.

Dave

[dave stanton]

No, but give it time!!!

Dave

[Owain]

I wondered why there was a faint whiff of raisins coming from the fuse-box.

Owain

[end user]

The drill is 50 Hertz

[Andy Hall]

No it isn't. All of Europe is 50Hz.

[Steve Firth]

Those aren't raisins, they are currents.