110V ac

R

R.Lewis

Guest
Are there any 'standards' - de facto or actual - that define what is meant
by a 110V (mains) supply in the UK and throughout Europe in the same way
that the pan-European household mains supply is defined?

Thanks in anticipation.
 
R.Lewis wrote:

Are there any 'standards' - de facto or actual - that define what is meant
by a 110V (mains) supply in the UK and throughout Europe in the same way
that the pan-European household mains supply is defined?
Click to expand...
I don't think anywhere in Europe uses 110V for mains, it is all a nominal
230V (By international agreement (actually by eurofudge)). The only place I
see 110V over here is on building sites where it is usually 55-0-55 with an
earthed centre tap.
Note that as neither side of this supply is earthed, you need to fuse both
lines if splitting a high current '110v' supply down for smaller loads.
Rather like what is required when running 230V (or 208V...) appliances in
the 'states.

There is a standard for the transformers used to produce this on building
sites but I cannot remember the number.

HTH.

Regards, Dan.
 
On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 22:33:07 +0000, Dan Mills
<dmills@spamblock.demon.co.uk> wrote:

I don't think anywhere in Europe uses 110V for mains, it is all a nominal
230V (By international agreement (actually by eurofudge)).
Click to expand...
The Corcom power inlet/fuze/emi filter things we buy used to be marked
100-120-220-240, with a little selector thing that switches
transformer taps. One day they started arriving labeled
100-120-230-240, even though nothing else had changed. Given the way
the transformer taps have to work, this isn't right.

I guess some bureaucrat in Brussels decided that 220=230.

John
 
Hello John,

I guess some bureaucrat in Brussels decided that 220=230.
Click to expand...
We had our fair share as well. Remember the old law from, I believe, the
state of Indiana that declared that the value of Pi is 4? At least they
didn't repeal Ohm's law or declare it unconstitutional.

Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
 
On Wed, 09 Feb 2005 00:02:04 GMT, Joerg
<notthisjoergsch@removethispacbell.net> wrote:

Hello John,

I guess some bureaucrat in Brussels decided that 220=230.



We had our fair share as well. Remember the old law from, I believe, the
state of Indiana that declared that the value of Pi is 4? At least they
didn't repeal Ohm's law or declare it unconstitutional.

Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Click to expand...

Hey, cool:

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_341.html


Think maybe I should get back to work?

John
 
On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 15:02:45 -0800, John Larkin wrote:

On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 22:33:07 +0000, Dan Mills
dmills@spamblock.demon.co.uk> wrote:


I don't think anywhere in Europe uses 110V for mains, it is all a nominal
230V (By international agreement (actually by eurofudge)).

The Corcom power inlet/fuze/emi filter things we buy used to be marked
100-120-220-240, with a little selector thing that switches
transformer taps. One day they started arriving labeled
100-120-230-240, even though nothing else had changed. Given the way
the transformer taps have to work, this isn't right.

I guess some bureaucrat in Brussels decided that 220=230.
Click to expand...
If you write it that way in C, it does. ;-)

Cheers!
Rich
 
On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 16:42:05 -0800, Tim Wescott wrote:
Joerg wrote:
Hello John,
I guess some bureaucrat in Brussels decided that 220=230.
We had our fair share as well. Remember the old law from, I believe, the
state of Indiana that declared that the value of Pi is 4? At least they
didn't repeal Ohm's law or declare it unconstitutional.
Click to expand...
3. ;-)

Urban Legend: http://www.snopes.com/religion/pi.htm.

Except for the states (Oregon included) where you calculate the
board-feet of a log coming out of a state forest using area = 3/4 *
diameter^2, i.e. pi = 3. This is _not_ done because of religious
conviction, but to make the 'rithmatic easy.
Click to expand...
It might have something to do with .1416 * r^2 board feet of bark. ;-)

Cheers!
Rich
 
"R.Lewis" wrote:

Are there any 'standards' - de facto or actual - that define what is meant
by a 110V (mains) supply in the UK and throughout Europe in the same way
that the pan-European household mains supply is defined?

Thanks in anticipation.
Click to expand...
There isn't any 110V ac in Europe out of a wall socket.

Construction sites use safety isolation transformers for power tools that are
110V centre tapped to ground ( 55-0-55 ) for elimination of shock hazard
reasons but that's quite specialist and not relevant to the nomal mains
supply.


Graham
 
You might find it amusing that in Hollywood, some video/audio houses
use 120 center tapped for the equipment. It seems all those Corcom
filters with 1000 pF caps from neutral and hot to ground can throw in
some significant imbalances into the neutral causing hum all over the
place. The 1 big transformer is easier than opening hundreds of units
to rework/replace those line filters. Of course the down side is
requiring dual breakers (common actuator) and twice the wiring.
GG
 
Glenn Gundlach wrote:

You might find it amusing that in Hollywood, some video/audio houses
use 120 center tapped for the equipment. It seems all those Corcom
filters with 1000 pF caps from neutral and hot to ground can throw in
some significant imbalances into the neutral causing hum all over the
place. The 1 big transformer is easier than opening hundreds of units
to rework/replace those line filters. Of course the down side is
requiring dual breakers (common actuator) and twice the wiring.
GG
Click to expand...
For a variety of reason - all mainly associated with leakage currents -
quite a few really pro recording studios run their ac supply centre
tapped. Old guitar amps are supposedly one of the worst offenders aside
from currents resulting from line filters.


Graham
 
Dan Mills wrote:
R.Lewis wrote:

I don't think anywhere in Europe uses 110V for mains, it is all a nominal
230V (By international agreement (actually by eurofudge)). The only place I
see 110V over here is on building sites where it is usually 55-0-55 with an
earthed centre tap.
Click to expand...
110V supply is common in industrial plant in the UK. As it's over 50V,
the normal IEE Wiring Regulations apply, and you can use any of the
earthing schemes covered therein as appropriate. Don't forget that the
current is twice normal, so size conductors accordingly.

I've always assumed the reason was to stop the workforce walking off
with the company's power tools.

Paul Burke
 
I read in sci.electronics.design that Tim Wescott
<tim@wescottnospamdesign.com> wrote (in <110ift9cr61bu45@corp.supernews.
com>) about '110V ac', on Tue, 8 Feb 2005:
Why on earth (or at least why in Europe) would you want 110V on building
sites and no where else? So the highest voltage to ground is only 55V?
Does this mean that European building contractors have all special 110V
tools?
Click to expand...
Not only building sites. Open-air markets as well.
--
Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only.
The good news is that nothing is compulsory.
The bad news is that everything is prohibited.
http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk Also see http://www.isce.org.uk
 
I read in sci.electronics.design that John Larkin <jjlarkin@highSNIPland
THIStechPLEASEnology.com> wrote (in <41hi019dqdsmsapubcf9lp3ic3qlkutaa6@
4ax.com>) about '110V ac', on Tue, 8 Feb 2005:

I guess some bureaucrat in Brussels decided that 220=230.
Click to expand...
Not quite; they played games with the tolerances:

220 V: -6% + 10%, i.e. 207 to 242 V

230 V: +/- 10% (now: there was an earlier fudge) i.e. 207 V to 253 V

240 V: -10% +6%, i.e. 216 to 254 V

So most 220 V and 240 V supplies are within the 230 V tolerance range.
--
Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only.
The good news is that nothing is compulsory.
The bad news is that everything is prohibited.
http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk Also see http://www.isce.org.uk
 
I read in sci.electronics.design that Tim Wescott
<tim@wescottnospamdesign.com> wrote (in <110in2k5bfnoke1@corp.supernews.
com>) about '110V ac', on Tue, 8 Feb 2005:

Except for the states (Oregon included) where you calculate the board-
feet of a log coming out of a state forest using area = 3/4 *
diameter^2, i.e. pi = 3. This is _not_ done because of religious
conviction, but to make the 'rithmatic easy.
Click to expand...
It allows for wastage.
--
Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only.
The good news is that nothing is compulsory.
The bad news is that everything is prohibited.
http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk Also see http://www.isce.org.uk
 
The logical reason for a 240 VAC standard was the price of annealed copper
wire at the time it was introduced.

The Americans, in a hurry, used whatever wire happened to be lying around.

The Europeans, more maturely, thought a little more about it. ;o)
 
John Larkin wrote:

Here we have residential 120-0-120 power. In my old house, a 100+
year-old Victorian, we had an intermittent open neutral (that's the 0v
line in the middle) out on the pole outside. That caused interesting
effects, as about half the 120-volt devices in the house were then
operating in series with the other half, off 240 volts.
Click to expand...
That sounds entertaining !

How common is 'power off the pole' in the US ?

We only see it here in the UK in remote rural areas.

Incidentally, your house must be around the same age as mine - 113 yrs old here.
Whereabouts is that ?


Graham
 
On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 23:16:55 -0800, John Larkin wrote:

Here in California, houses are almost always made of wood over a
concrete foundation. That combination handles earthquakes very well.
Click to expand...
Mudslides, however, sometimes not so well. )-;
http://news.google.com/news?q=%22anaheim+hills%22&btnG=Search+News

Cheers!
Rich
 
On Sun, 13 Feb 2005 07:34:49 GMT, Rich Grise <richgrise@example.net>
wrote:

On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 23:16:55 -0800, John Larkin wrote:

Here in California, houses are almost always made of wood over a
concrete foundation. That combination handles earthquakes very well.

Mudslides, however, sometimes not so well. )-;
http://news.google.com/news?q=%22anaheim+hills%22&btnG=Search+News

Cheers!
Rich
Click to expand...

No reasonable construction can stand up to a mudslide, any more than a
lava flow. Envision a million tons of nearly solid earth and rock
coming down a hill at 60 MPH. The sensible thing to do is not live in
a slide-prone place.

John
 
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