Need Step Down Power Transformer

[tuffy]

I have a roaster oven i brought from the states that I am planning on using to cook a turkey for Christmas dinner.

It is 110V 1450watt. I need to find a power converter to use with this but have not been successful as of yet.

How difficult are these to come by here and where would I find one? How much should it cost?

The largest I have found so far was in Home Works for 1800 baht for only a 1000Watt one.

Any ideas?

[hotgeekus]

Department store in Siam Paragon, or Central Chitlom both the electronic department. I bought a 1000 watt one.... I think they have a 2000 watt one but not sure. It is heavy though, mine is 10 kg....

[lopburi3]

If people knew where you are located it might make it easier. But I would consider buying a local oven rather than spending that much or more on a transformer. If there is a timer involved it probably will not work right on 50Hz and the transformer will not change that.

[tuffy]

If people knew where you are located it might make it easier. But I would consider buying a local oven rather than spending that much or more on a transformer. If there is a timer involved it probably will not work right on 50Hz and the transformer will not change that.

I am in Sattahip but I am not expecting to find it locally.....I would assume either Pattaya or Bkk would be the best place to look. I am asking for suggestions so that I don't have to go to every shop and mall between here and there looking.

[stateman]

The largest I have found so far was in Home Works for 1800 baht for only a 1000Watt one.

Last time I needed one, someone local advised me to get one with a rating higher than needed. I did and I was happy with it.

Often the rating may be overrated! Cheating? Just say labeling may not be as accurate as you are used to in the US.

Besides, in electrical appliance, they got RMS and peak. I believe RMS is about .707 of peak. Your power supply in the US must meet the sustained power requirement, not peak.

So if the Thai stepdown is rated with peak power, you may get a unit that is woefully inadequate.

In fact, when I bought mine last time, I did use the .707 to estimate the size I needed. Inverse of .707 is 1.414, or buying one with about 40% higher rating than what I originally thought I need.

[tuffy]

The largest I have found so far was in Home Works for 1800 baht for only a 1000Watt one.

Last time I needed one, someone local advised me to get one with a rating higher than needed. I did and I was happy with it.

Often the rating may be overrated! Cheating? Just say labeling may not be as accurate as you are used to in the US.

Besides, in electrical appliance, they got RMS and peak. I believe RMS is about .707 of peak. Your power supply in the US must meet the sustained power requirement, not peak.

So if the Thai stepdown is rated with peak power, you may get a unit that is woefully inadequate.

In fact, when I bought mine last time, I did use the .707 to estimate the size I needed. Inverse of .707 is 1.414, or buying one with about 40% higher rating than what I originally thought I need.

I was thinking about that actually Stateman, especially with something like this that would be drawing full power for 3 or more hours.

That would mean that I would need a converter rated around 2000 watts.....I have a feeling that something that big is going to be much more espensive that I first thought.

I made the mistake of looking on Ebay and there they are selling 1600watt travel converters for $10-15. Now that I have seen the converters here that are only rated to 1000 watt they are much bigger and heavy than what was advertised on ebay.

e-bay ad: http://cgi.ebay.com/220-240-To-110-120-POW...1QQcmdZViewItem

Maybe I should change the title of this post to "looking for a roaster oven" in Thailand......

Edited December 9, 2007 by tuffy

[tuffy]

Here is another add for a small cheap $10 converter claiming 1600 watts.

Has anyone here had any experience using this type of converter? It seems very small to allow such high wattage???

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=130180294934

[IMA_FARANG]

Department store in Siam Paragon, or Central Chitlom both the electronic department. I bought a 1000 watt one.... I think they have a 2000 watt one but not sure. It is heavy though, mine is 10 kg....

Been a few years.....but I bought one in Central Chitlom as you said. Can't remember how big, but don't think it was more than 1Kw. Have no idea what the current price would be. Need to go to the electrical department as you said.

[IMA_FARANG]

Department store in Siam Paragon, or Central Chitlom both the electronic department. I bought a 1000 watt one.... I think they have a 2000 watt one but not sure. It is heavy though, mine is 10 kg....

Been a few years.....but I bought one in Central Chitlom as you said. Can't remember how big, but don't think it was more than 1Kw. Have no idea what the current price would be. Need to go to the electrical department as you said.

After I read some of the comments I came back to add to my original reply.

If your oven is rated at 1450 watts, don't take a chance. Get a converter with at least 1500 watts (and that's low) capability. What would you rather lose, the converter or your toaster oven?

If you do get a converter try to get a higher end model with a built in fuse or circuit breaker (if you can find one with a breaker). If worst comes to worst the fuse blows or the breaker trips. Much more better than your oven burning up, isn't it.?

Since it is a 120 volt A.C. oven look at the tag and see how many amps (current) it draws. Power is determined by P=IE where P is power in watts, I is current in Amps, and E is the voltage. That is peak amps and what it draws on high heat range. Don't take a chance and skimp on wattage rating.

By the way for other people who replied to the original post....instantaneous Peak voltage is 1.414 times the RMS voltage you will see listed. So 120 volt AC will PEAK at (120 times 1.414) volts. I may be wrong (it's been a while), but the PEAK will be what you measure from live to ground.

[kelvinj]

All standard multimeters will display RMS values.

[naka]

Forget the transformer, it will be huge, heavy and expensive, buy a new oven.

Or

Have you considered replacing the Element/Controller ? What Make/Model ?

Naka.

Edited December 9, 2007 by naka

[longball53098]

If you really want to buy a converter they have them in different sizes at the Amorn Electric shop in the TukCom shopping plaza in Pattaya on Pattaya Tai. Amorn is in the basement/lower level next to Tops Market,,,,,,,,,,they have some graeat stuff at decent prices,,,,,,,,,,,,,you may find the converter in the size you need.

[stateman]

Here is another add for a small cheap $10 converter claiming 1600 watts.

Has anyone here had any experience using this type of converter? It seems very small to allow such high wattage???

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=130180294934

I considered buying something like that too. Someone who supposed to know more about electrical stuff told me that these are no good. They are electronics. So I avoided using it. I went for the real stepdown instead. Maybe someone who has used them can share the experience?

Hope someone knowledgeable will chime in. This is not my area of expertise. Took some Elec. Engrg. courses ages ago - but returned them all to the prof. long ago.

[tuffy]

Here is another add for a small cheap $10 converter claiming 1600 watts.

Has anyone here had any experience using this type of converter? It seems very small to allow such high wattage???

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=130180294934

I considered buying something like that too. Someone who supposed to know more about electrical stuff told me that these are no good. They are electronics. So I avoided using it. I went for the real stepdown instead. Maybe someone who has used them can share the experience?

Hope someone knowledgeable will chime in. This is not my area of expertise. Took some Elec. Engrg. courses ages ago - but returned them all to the prof. long ago.

Stateman,

Same here I had some Elec engineering classes back in the day, so i can calculate watts from amps and volts etc but i have drank away any understanding that i may have once had in this subject.

So anyway, I dug through my junk drawer and lo and behold I found on of those little handheld 1600 watt converters.....after a few good luck beers i plugged the roaster oven into this converter and stood back. It worked...maybe too good, the oven made a buzzing sound and smoke started coming out from the inside.

Not a good sign. The converter held up ok and didn't trip it's breaker anyway and didn't seem to be over heating but the smoke and buzzing tell me that it's not getting the proper juice. The was some fine print on the converter that said do not use with a heating appliance with an electrically controlled thermostat (which the over has).

I had a look around and for the size of converter i need the price is 2500-4000 baht.

So to end my personal episode of "myth busters" meets "how it's made" i guess i am back to baloney sandwiches for Christmas dinner!

Naka,

That is actually a good idea to replace the element and controler, I might have to look into that. It is a hamilton beach model if that helps!

[UrbyBiser]

Take care when buying your converter. You should check the power of it. You must check what power it is and many companies give their power in in S[VA] which is usually not equal to P[W]. you should get your converter with more power because mathematically S=P+Q. and if you take a converter which is too small you will overload it....

Power transformers are are all stated with MVA and the actual power supply in Watts is lower because of the nature of the user(R L and cos(fi)).

Have some problems when writing technical stuff in English, but i hope I you know what i meant.

[GuestHouse]

Forget the transformer, it will be huge, heavy and expensive, buy a new oven.

I'd second that suggestion.

[tuffy]

So i took apart my roaster and I posted a few pictures hoping a a few of you can offer an opinion as to whether this could be converted to 220v with a local controller using the existing elements. Again this is a 100v 60hz rated at 1450 watts.

Not the most ideal set up but I hate to give up on the idea of using this roaster to cook a Christmas turkey!

Originally when i plugged this into a very small travel converter (rated at 1600 watts) this roaster heated up but had a buzzing sound and started to burn the insulation inside.

Let me know what you think.

[chang35baht]

So i took apart my roaster and I posted a few pictures hoping a a few of you can offer an opinion as to whether this could be converted to 220v with a local controller using the existing elements. Again this is a 100v 60hz rated at 1450 watts.

Not the most ideal set up but I hate to give up on the idea of using this roaster to cook a Christmas turkey!

Originally when i plugged this into a very small travel converter (rated at 1600 watts) this roaster heated up but had a buzzing sound and started to burn the insulation inside.

Let me know what you think.

If the frequency is 60Hz then a frequency convertor wold also be required, if I,m not mistaken.

Nevertheless, I thik buying a new oven is the best option.

[tuffy]

Chang35baht,

I agree buying a new oven would be easiest but I have not seen this style for sale in Thailand.....

[chownah]

What you need to do is to figure out exactly how many distinctly different heating elements there are, electrically isolate them, meaure their resistence, and provide us with a diagram of how they are connected under normal operating conditions along with their resistances..

Chownah

[Crossy]

If the frequency is 60Hz then a frequency convertor wold also be required, if I,m not mistaken.

You are mistaken, it's a resistive load, there will be no frequency issues with the heater and that 'controller' looks like a regular switch.

What you need to do is to figure out exactly how many distinctly different heating elements there are, electrically isolate them, meaure their resistence, and provide us with a diagram of how they are connected under normal operating conditions along with their resistances..

Yep. at a glance it looks like there are two elements operated by the switch (for high and low) but they would need to be identical for a simple series connection to work on 220V and of course it would be on permanent high setting.

New unit time, unfortunately I've never seen anything like this in Thailand

[tuffy]

If the frequency is 60Hz then a frequency convertor wold also be required, if I,m not mistaken.

You are mistaken, it's a resistive load, there will be no frequency issues with the heater and that 'controller' looks like a regular switch.

What you need to do is to figure out exactly how many distinctly different heating elements there are, electrically isolate them, meaure their resistence, and provide us with a diagram of how they are connected under normal operating conditions along with their resistances..

Yep. at a glance it looks like there are two elements operated by the switch (for high and low) but they would need to be identical for a simple series connection to work on 220V and of course it would be on permanent high setting.

New unit time, unfortunately I've never seen anything like this in Thailand

Bummer!

[elkangorito]

There is now only one other problem....

...the voltage ratings of the switches in the 110v oven.

[tuffy]

Update...

So i completely gave up on trying to convert the oven to 200V. I bit the bullet and bought a 2000W converter for it. For the past few days I have cooked a delicious pork roast and the wife has been baking cookies like a mad woman. SO far no problems and it seems to work exactly like it should, holding the correct temp. etc.

Today i just started cooking a 10.7Kg turkey, wish me luck! I am already drooling smelling that big bad bird cooking!

[elkangorito]

Update...

So i completely gave up on trying to convert the oven to 200V. I bit the bullet and bought a 2000W converter for it. For the past few days I have cooked a delicious pork roast and the wife has been baking cookies like a mad woman. SO far no problems and it seems to work exactly like it should, holding the correct temp. etc.

Today i just started cooking a 10.7Kg turkey, wish me luck! I am already drooling smelling that big bad bird cooking!

I'm curious as to what you bought. What are the specifications of this "converter"? (voltage, current rating, hertz etc).

[Pundi64]

I have a roaster oven i brought from the states that I am planning on using to cook a turkey for Christmas dinner.

It is 110V 1450watt. I need to find a power converter to use with this but have not been successful as of yet.

How difficult are these to come by here and where would I find one? How much should it cost?

The largest I have found so far was in Home Works for 1800 baht for only a 1000Watt one.

Any ideas?

Where are you located, I have several high wattage step down - step up transformers we brought over from the states. I'll let one go for a good price, get back to me if interested-

[tuffy]

Update...

So i completely gave up on trying to convert the oven to 200V. I bit the bullet and bought a 2000W converter for it. For the past few days I have cooked a delicious pork roast and the wife has been baking cookies like a mad woman. SO far no problems and it seems to work exactly like it should, holding the correct temp. etc.

Today i just started cooking a 10.7Kg turkey, wish me luck! I am already drooling smelling that big bad bird cooking!

I'm curious as to what you bought. What are the specifications of this "converter"? (voltage, current rating, hertz etc).

it is a 2000 watt out put 110/220 input / output frequency is all 50hz in Thailand can't get around that without your own power source to modulate

By the way the turkey turned out EXCELLENT a little on the light side as raster ovens don't breown like regular ones do but it was juicy!!!

[tuffy]

I have a roaster oven i brought from the states that I am planning on using to cook a turkey for Christmas dinner.

It is 110V 1450watt. I need to find a power converter to use with this but have not been successful as of yet.

How difficult are these to come by here and where would I find one? How much should it cost?

The largest I have found so far was in Home Works for 1800 baht for only a 1000Watt one.

Any ideas?

Where are you located, I have several high wattage step down - step up transformers we brought over from the states. I'll let one go for a good price, get back to me if interested-

Thanks, but too late I already bought one!

[kbvicar]

I have a new T5 fluorescent fixture. 8 bulb x 54 watt each= 432 total watts. 120 volt power supply @ 60 hertz.

This unit was supposed to have a "smart ballast" that would work on Thai power. I can't send it back to USA because the shipping costs are prohibitive.

Does anyone recommend getting a step-down transformer for this unit??? What specs should I look for??? Where do I look for it???

I'm posting here because this topic seems to have generated some good answers.

Edited January 4, 2008 by kbvicar

[Crossy]

I have a new T5 fluorescent fixture. 8 bulb x 54 watt each= 432 total watts. 120 volt power supply @ 60 hertz.

This unit was supposed to have a "smart ballast" that would work on Thai power. I can't send it back to USA because the shipping costs are prohibitive.

First thing to do is check if it really does have a universal ballast, you may have to have the lid off and look at the ballast itself, if it says 100-240V 50/60Hz then it should work.

If it has 110V ELECTRONIC ballasts then a transformer rated at 500Watts should do fine (electronic ballsts don't worry about the frequency).

If it has 110V 60Hz CONVENTIONAL (inductive) ballasts then they are scrap and you'll need to replace them with locally sourced units. WARNING 60Hz ballasts will overheat and may catch fire if run on 50Hz

Actually replacing the ballasts is probably the cheapest way to go rather than a Tx

Edited January 4, 2008 by Crossy