I believe the rest of the world runs on 210 to 240 at 50 cycles. A friend is moving to France permanently and asked mewhat he could do to the electricity in his new house so that he could run his workshop instead of replacing all his tools.
Splitting the 3-phase will take care of the voltage. Can anything be done to the cycles?
Dick
Alot of motors work on 50 hz read the plate on the motor, I moved to france for a while we brought everything even the frige we used transformers.
While many will work OK, I really recommend selling what you have and buying locally where you are going. It saves a lot of work and possible trouble in the long run.
The voltage issue is fixed easily, but the 50 cycle power will cause 60 cycle transformers and motors to run hot. Not a good thing.. I would agree that getting new tools is the most reasonable way out. Also, consider the issue of shipping weight, etc. Additionally, there is the metric issue versus inches.
I would suggest selling everything here and buying there.
1..shipping costs 2..above mentioned electrical problem 3..Replacement parts supply 4..as a bonus,as he purchases from local suppliers, he may get to meet local people with the same interests who can help him in the the future or just be friends
I used to work at a place that built equipment that was frequency-dependant and designed to work with either 50 Hz or 60Hz. They used motor-generator devices for testing with the "other" frequency. They looked inefficient.
No. You'll need a 50-cycle motor driving a 60-cycle generator. Fortunately, these come in the same package. Unfortuantely, they are the size of a small car and cost thousands of dollars.
Maybe there's now something that could do this electronically... like a combination charger/inverter. Based on the wattage requirements though, it, too, would be at least the size of a washing machine, cost thousands, and probably have to be water cooled.
Amen. If you are going to replace all your tools consider going pneumatic tools. They are light, won't burn out if it stalls, safe in wet or dusty conditions, self cleaning (almost), cheap, can do things like spray painting, can do ultra high speed (eg. 20k to 30k rpm), more.
According to Dick Adams :
France isn't three phase. I believe it's single-ended 230V/50hz like the UK.
You can't split it (like north american 240/120 split phase), because it's single-ended.
To make an exact match to North American power, he'd need a motor-generator ("MG set") set that converts _both_ the voltage and frequency to match North America. In the size he's likely to need, (assuming stationary power tools, at least 2-3 HP), these cost thousands of dollars.
Another possibility would be a generator. But they're expensive, expensive to run (at least double, if not 5 times more expensive in power), and noisy.
Portable hand tools are usually (and some stationary tools, rarely) use universal AC/DC motors ("brush type"). They don't care what frequency it is. So a step-down transformer (obtained over there, because you have to get one rated for 50hz) would work. This will probably cost a few hundred dollars in this size (at _least_ 1000w) once it's ready to go.
He could use a power inverter and run it off a car battery. However, I wouldn't feel safe without an inverter at least triple the rated current of the tool (eg: at _least_ 1500W), which are several hundred dollars or more here, and run time will be relatively short.
Tools that use induction motors sometimes are convertible to
230V, but the frequency difference will make them pull more current, and under heavy load, they'll overheat, and may get damaged.It's generally not worth the bother. For big tools where you can replace the motor, do that. Otherwise, sell them, and buy new.
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