Using USA 110V Equipment on Euro 220V Mains!
Im intending to import a variety of tools from the USA to use here in Ireland when I start my fabrication business next year. Suppliers told me they cant get them in 220V as manufacturers are protecting their Euro distributors. So heres my plan!!!....I buy the tools in 110V and get them shipped to me from the USA...saving about 3000 euro total after postage and import duty! Then Im going to check the wattage on the tools and get my local electronics store to make me a couple of step down voltage transformers to reduce from 220V Irish mains to 110V for my tools. Does anyone see any problems with this? I was told that 110V tools are less powerful but I doubt that every person in the USA operating on 110V is using sub-standard tools because of this, so it cant be true....surely a cut-off saw doing 1800rpm on 110V will perform exactly the same as its 'brother' on sale in Europe operating on 220V at 1800rpm....advice please?
110/220-240 50hz/60hz and AC motors
For most things you can just use a transformer to convert the voltage to 110 but I would stay away from anything that uses AC motors designed for 60hz as these will never perform well on 50hz. On the other hand I imported both my TIG welder and my Plasma cutter from the US and I run them off 50hz (380v) without any problems even though the cooling fans are all powered by AC motors.
Manufacturers will never OK equipment designed for 60hz to run off 50hz since it will run 15% hotter than it was designed for.
Also be carefull when buying 3-phase equipment, even though the voltage is usually close enough to run them straight off the mains there is a problem with the transform since most of the US has Delta but EU has Wye and this will cause problems with 3-phase motors.
EU voltage is now specified as 230V +-10% to the end device, so in theory you are getting anywhere from 207-253v, for 3-phase it is specified as 380v +-10% between phases so 342-418v.
If you are looking to buy a quality angle grinder for 230v I can highly recomend any of these:
Makita 9565CV 1400W 125mm
Hitachi G15YC 1500W 150mm
Hitachi G13YC 1500W 125mm
Yours
Jarl
www.dallur.com
Need some specific item advice now...
I've looked into the specs on some of the tools Im getting. Some of the smaller ones are rated for 50/60Hz which is good, but the larger more expensive ones (Which cost up to $1000 more in Ireland!) are not :-(. Could someone more knowledgeable than me please tell me if the following are likely to work ok on 120V 50Hz, instead of 120V 60Hz:
Compound Mitre Saw 1600W 3600rpm 15A
Thicknesser/Planer 1674W 10,000rpm 15A
Metal Chop Saw 4100rpm (Couldn't find wattage or amperage, its the DeWalt DW871 14")
Bench Grinder 384W 3450rpm 4A
I don't know if its relevant, but the info said that if these experience a voltage drop of 10V or greater they will overheat and turn off. Also, the manuals for these all say '120V' instead of '110V'...am I confused or what!
Thanks.