Hi, I brought home (to the USA) a speciality european 220V waffle iron. No motors, just resistance wiring. It's plug has 3 round prongs. I figure I can use it via the 220 outlet for my clothes dryer (4 prong outlet). Any suggestions on if there's a premade adapter out there, or best way to make my own? Thanks Theodore
Never saw one with round prongs, just flat blades.
Cut the plug off and wire it to a four prong male plug using 3 wires.
It's a shame it has no motors. If you want to motorize it I recommend the Antron 1337-b. You'll really love the waffles you get.
Is it really possible to connect a UK appliance that expects 220 volts across 1 hot black and 1 neutral white wire (plus ground) , to a US outlet where the 220 is really 2 110v hots, (1 black, 1 red), 1 white neutral (plus ground) ??
Without using some type of expensive transformer ???
Something like this:
Let me rephrase your question: Is it really possible to connect a UK appliance that expects 220-230 volts @50Hz to a US outlet that provides 240 volts @60Hz?
I'd say yes, but only because my sister has been using a few of her favorite kitchen appliances that she brought to the US from Germany about 5-8 years ago. The appliances have no idea what color wire is bringing them the power they need, or whether a wire is a hot or a neutral. The only real difference is 50Hz vs 60Hz, but her appliances don't seem to mind at all. YMMV
There are adapters for recreational vehicles and campers to go from 4 to 3 prongs or vice versa. No idea if they would adapt round and flat prongs.
You're going to make us _guess_ which European country your appliance comes from .. gee thanks. John T.
Probably easier, faster and cheaper to just buy a new 120v waffle iron. Recoup your cost or make a profit selling the 220 on Ebay/Craiglist. Call it an exotic and high-end genuine European waffle maker from a fancy Parisian gastronomique :-)
Get a dryer power cord and the appropriate european receptacle and wire them together correctly. Or cut off the waffle irons plug and connect the wires to a dryer plug.
No motor, but other than that, very good idea.
Why not use the range plug? Or do like I did and install a 220 outlet in place of one of the rangetop outlets. Not strictly "kosher" but done right, perfectly safe and serviceable. Even fused it.
Most definitely
50HZ equipment on 60 is no problem other than AC motors run a bit faster - the other way around can cause overheating and excessive current draw due to saturation of magnetic cores designed for higher frequency.
So exactly how do you connect the TWO 110 volt wires from the US 220 outlet to the ONE 220 volt wire from the European 220 power cord ?
Do you mean a typical 110volt outlet but with 220 volts on it?
Not safe at all. What happens when the owner dies and someone else buys the house. Or even if he's in one room and a guest is in the kitchen?
Not the same scenario but I like the story. I had a friend who moved to Europe and took her big thin-screen tv with her. When moving in to her new little house, she didn't know what to do about plugging it in. A neighbor said, Here! and in a moment burned it out.
I asked her, maybe he thought it was like the power supply for computers,that it could handle many voltages. No, she said, he told me he knew nothing about electricity.
I figure it was the power supply board in the tv and indded the fuse was blown. I jumpered it with two separate jumper wires (like the kind sold
10 to a bag) and when I plugged it in to the 220-to-110 transformer, the wires melted, some semiconductors melted, and a strange smell filled the house. She wasn't bother by that, however.To get a new board, they were for sale only on ebay and only in two cities. Surpisingly, one was Baltimore and she had a friend coming from there to visit family and visit her in just 3 weeks. So we bought it, the friend picked it up in Baltimoreand delivered it, and the TV is fine now.
A 220V appliance will run at about 1/2 the current as a 120V appliance. So the appliance wire can be smaller. The UK often has "ring circuits" protected at 32A. I believe they put fuses in the plug to protect the appliance wire and appliance. US dryer circuits are 30A and range circuits are 40-60A. IMHO there should be fuses added (which only Clare mentions). UK would have 1 fuse, here there should be 2. If you have a
240V 20A circuit there maybe should be fuses depending on what appliance wire is used.What is the amp rating of the waffle iron and what is the rating of the circuit it connects to in Europe? Does it have a fuse in the plug?
Range plug is usually behind the range, only reached by pulling it out from the wall. Is yours open?
Connection is easy. Getting a new UL listing might be problematic. And then there's the insurance company issue.
I'm not familiar with European wiring , but I assume the hookup is 2 hots and a ground , and neither hot is connected to the appliance housing . Exactly like any US 3 wire 220 hookup .
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