I recently bought a Jet drill press. Its seems to work well and I'm happy with it. I added power and wiring to my emerging shop and I have an abundance of 220v. outlets. I convert every stationary power tool to
220volt. Last night I did the drill press. Before powering up, I remembered about the builtin worklight, which uses a perfectly ordinary 60 watt light bulb. Looking through Jet's manual and instructions, there is no mention anywhere about changes in the worklight when converting to 220 volt. However, the internal schematic clearly shows the worklight is connected across the incoming power lines. So if these become 220 volt, then the light will be 220 volt, too.Before taking a chance, I called Jet technical support and asked about it. The tech guy was less than stunning - atypical of my support experience for my table saw. After my explanation of what the worklight was, he firmly stated that the bulb would not have to be changed. I tried to argue and explain the wiring. What I really wanted was Jet's direction on what kind of replacement bulb I should use and where to get it. He told me the bulb was only on one leg of the 220 and it would not be a problem.
Ok. So I powered up the drill and tested the motor. It ran just fine with no sign of distress running on 220 volt. I got that part right. Then I screwed in a light bulb. It went POW and tripped the circuit breaker, slightly melting the center contact on the bulb. I restored power and checked the voltage across the light bulb socket -- 240.1 volts.
After searching for three hours and consulting with my dealer, he helped me find bulbs at Grainger and let me purchase under his dealership name. Great. I picked up two 60 watt 230 volt bulbs which cost an arm and a leg, by the way. I was really unhappy when I got home and discovered these bulbs were "fatter" than their 110 volt counterpart. They would not fit in the Jet drll press. Finally, I got out the wiring diagram and studied it. I changed one connection to put 110 volt on the light, while leaving 220 volt on the motor. After testing everything with a meter, I powered up. The motor still ran just fine and a 110 volt standard bulb worked fine.
I had logged another call with jet support, leaving a message on their answering machine. Another tech rep called me and said the first rep was completely wrong when he told me I would not need to replace the bulb and he apologized. He told me I needed an appliance bulb like those used in electric ranges. Well, some more bad advice. I could not find a 220 volt appliance bulb anywhere.
So I guess I'll go with my unauthorized rewiring job and get along with standard bulbs. They are so much cheaper, anyway.
Bob