Electricity

[RPETER65]

Any electricians with experience with electricity in Thailand? When I moved to Thailand two years ago I shipped a container with our house hold goods, some of which were electrical appliances. I have been able to purchase converters and have everything working except the cloths dryer, since the heating element is 220 and the motor and control unit is 110 I cannot seem to find a way to get them both working, the motor and controller is not a problem, but the heating element is.Is there a way to wire the 220 in Thailand so the machine will have both 220 and 110?

[Crossy]

You can obtain a 220V to 110-0-110 transformer which will simulate the US supply although you will likely have to search hard for it or even have one made. You'll need a unit with enough oomph to run your dryer which aint gonna be cheap

It is also possible that a competent sparks would be able to separate out the 110V parts of your unit and make it work with a small 220-110V transformer. HOWEVER I would not guarantee safety as the 220V heater is not intended to run from 220V but from a 110-0-110 supply.

[dotcom]

Did your dryer have a plug on the end the size of your fist?

If yes your unit is 220 volt & has no 110 volt components.

Remember this is rated at 30 amps so make sure you have a dedicated circuit & breaker for it.

Try to find the wattage on the door & divide by 240 volt to calculate current draw.

[dingdongrb]

The 220 to 110 step-down transformer is not all that uncommon here in Thailand. (Yes, even large sizes that support a few kW.) We use them all the time here in the factory I support to power electronic test equipment sent from the USA. Although I personally do not buy them locally as the Thais at the facility here do the buying. If you want to PM me and tell me your location and then I could possibly find out if someone knows of something in your area. Meanwhile I would suggest visiting a large appliance store or department store in your area which might have a large electrical section if possible. You can even search Google using '220 to 110 step down transformer' and find many websites which some have distributors or sales reps here in LOS. Some will even ship to LOS under certain payment conditions.

[dingdongrb]

Did your dryer have a plug on the end the size of your fist?

If yes your unit is 220 volt & has no 110 volt components.

Remember this is rated at 30 amps so make sure you have a dedicated circuit & breaker for it.

Try to find the wattage on the door & divide by 240 volt to calculate current draw.

Duhhhhh... I agree with Dotcom... If your dryer has only one line cord (as was pictured) then your dryer runs off of 220V... I have never seen a dryer that utilizes two different power cords (i.e. one for the heating element and one for the controls).

Two find the current draw would he divide by 240 or 220?

[Crossy]

The issue here is that the dryer (possibly) requires a split supply which may prove problematic to provide safely at a sensible cost. I will say I know zip about US domestic appliances, the 110/220V supply system has always struck me as somewhat illogical.

Can we have a picture of the power plug and the rating plate on the machine please.

To be safe divide Watts by 220 to get Amps

EDIT This page http://en.allexperts.com/q/Electrical-Wiri...-volt-dryer.htm suggests that if it has a NEMA 14-30R plug with 4 contacts it does indeed need a 110-0-110 supply. Plug / receptacle configurations here http://www.frentzandsons.com/Hardware%20Re...onfiguratio.htm

Edited November 12, 2008 by Crossy

[RPETER65]

The issue here is that the dryer (possibly) requires a split supply which may prove problematic to provide safely at a sensible cost. I will say I know zip about US domestic appliances, the 110/220V supply system has always struck me as somewhat illogical.

Can we have a picture of the power plug and the rating plate on the machine please.

To be safe divide Watts by 220 to get Amps

EDIT This page http://en.allexperts.com/q/Electrical-Wiri...-volt-dryer.htm suggests that if it has a NEMA 14-30R plug with 4 contacts it does indeed need a 110-0-110 supply. Plug / receptacle configurations here http://www.frentzandsons.com/Hardware%20Re...onfiguratio.htm

You are correct, the dryer does require a split supply, and this is the problem. In the U.S. the 220 supply comes from two 110 volt lines and a neutral in the dryer that power is split off two 110 volt lines to the heating element and one 110 volt line and a neutral to the motor and the controller.

[RPETER65]

The 220 to 110 step-down transformer is not all that uncommon here in Thailand. (Yes, even large sizes that support a few kW.) We use them all the time here in the factory I support to power electronic test equipment sent from the USA. Although I personally do not buy them locally as the Thais at the facility here do the buying. If you want to PM me and tell me your location and then I could possibly find out if someone knows of something in your area. Meanwhile I would suggest visiting a large appliance store or department store in your area which might have a large electrical section if possible. You can even search Google using '220 to 110 step down transformer' and find many websites which some have distributors or sales reps here in LOS. Some will even ship to LOS under certain payment conditions.

Finding the stepdown transformers was no problem at all, the Zeer electronics mall in Bangkok has them in all sizes.

Edited November 12, 2008 by RPETER65

[dotcom]

Well I stand corrected. Glad you solved it.