Transformer, How To Get 110w/60 Cycle ?

[mario299]

Hi all

I'm no electrician, so need a little help. Have boat coming in about a month with many of my tools from America, such as cordless tools that need battery charge. Am currently building a work-shop and want to have part of electricity transformed from Thai 220W at 50 cycle to 110W/60 cycle so I can use my American tools, how and where do I get a transformer here, and approximate cost ?? (Surin area, but happy to travel if needed).

Anyone out there has done this already ?? Any help greatly appreciated.

Thanks much

Mario

[Crossy]

You can readily get a transformer to go from 220V to 110V but it won't change the frequency. Pretty much any mom-and-pop electrical emporia will be able to supply in various sizes, make sure you get one of adequate rating.

Changing 50Hz to 60Hz (Hertz is the correct designation, using Cycles will confuse local techs) is considerably more difficult, you'll need a static or rotating inverter. Available but not going to be a cheap item (can't help with prices, I come from a 50Hz country).

Simple things like the chargers for your cordless tools will likely be happy on 110V 50Hz from a transformer, or you may be able to get 220V 50Hz chargers anyway if the tools are big-name.

Anything with mains motors may run slow and could overheat on 50Hz although at the low duty-cycle that most DIY tools experience there's likely to be little problem. Best idea would be to try the kit with a simple transformer of adequate rating and see how it goes before hunting down a 60Hz inverter.

Your biggest issue will be locals who 'borrow' your tools. The Thai plug is the same as the US they'll plug your 110V tools into a 220V outlet, result smoke and tears

General advice here, unless you have really high end kit, is to leave/sell in the US and buy locally.

[mario299]

You can readily get a transformer to go from 220V to 110V but it won't change the frequency. Pretty much any mom-and-pop electrical emporia will be able to supply in various sizes, make sure you get one of adequate rating.

Changing 50Hz to 60Hz (Hertz is the correct designation, using Cycles will confuse local techs) is considerably more difficult, you'll need a static or rotating inverter. Available but not going to be a cheap item (can't help with prices, I come from a 50Hz country).

Simple things like the chargers for your cordless tools will likely be happy on 110V 50Hz from a transformer, or you may be able to get 220V 50Hz chargers anyway if the tools are big-name.

Anything with mains motors may run slow and could overheat on 50Hz although at the low duty-cycle that most DIY tools experience there's likely to be little problem. Best idea would be to try the kit with a simple transformer of adequate rating and see how it goes before hunting down a 60Hz inverter.

Thanks, that's a good start for me

The cordless tools are high-end, and of great value to me here, so I'll figure out how to best handle the Hz difference. I will certainly keep my tools out of the neighbor's hands, already learned that having lived here 3 years so far. Already purchased many tools here...220V, but recently sold home in US and put what I really wanted on a slow boat to here.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Mario

T

[powderpuff]

As Crossy told you - cordless tools don't care 50 or 60 cycle. Good selection of transformers at Amporn - Fortune Town.

[beechstreet]

I brought in a generator from the states so I could power my tools until I get a long term solution ironed out. Bonus is that my 110/220-60hz is portable.

Find a used one on ebay or craigslist, get a friend to check it out and deliver it to Rama (in LA or NYC), they'll crate it and ship it for relatively cheap. The trick is to find a generator that is close to a major port, I happened to be in Detroit when I got mine and the truck ride from detroit to new jersey (650 miles) cost the same amount as the boat ride from new jersey to bangkok!

[mario299]

I brought in a generator from the states so I could power my tools until I get a long term solution ironed out. Bonus is that my 110/220-60hz is portable.

Find a used one on ebay or craigslist, get a friend to check it out and deliver it to Rama (in LA or NYC), they'll crate it and ship it for relatively cheap. The trick is to find a generator that is close to a major port, I happened to be in Detroit when I got mine and the truck ride from detroit to new jersey (650 miles) cost the same amount as the boat ride from new jersey to bangkok!

Hi, and thanks

I actually did have a generator I intended to bring for this purpose, but changed my mind at the last minute and sold it, thinking it "should be" easy to get a transformer to step down power. I'll get it figured out, but I'm kicking myself a bit for not bringing the generator.

Mario299

[greg67]

I also brought several tools from the States along with a Radio Shack transformer. That seems to do the trick for battery chargers and my "Drill Doctor." I keep those tools locked up and tagged with a reminder, for myself, that they operate on different voltage. I once plugged the "Drill Doctor" in without the transformer but luckily I only burned the fuse... By the way, I also live in Surin area, Buached. Enjoy working with your tools.

[IMA_FARANG]

How big is your 'workshop" ?

It is possible to get a motor/generator set which run off 230V 50Hz (230 Volts 50 Hertz is the correct terminology) and provides 130V 60Hz power...but they are intended for big industrial users, and cost $$ (a lot of them) $$. In the thousands of dollars range. They consist of a 230V 50 Hz motor which turns a generator intended to provide 110V 60Hz power. I'm presuming you don't have that kind of money.

I've seen a solid state unit that converted 230V 50Hz to 110V 60Hz...we used one in Saudi Arabia where 230V was only available to power our radio repeater site. But frankly it didn't work very well (this was 1977 era, so they may have improved ones now). It also was expensive...and spent more time on the repair bench, than working.

A third possibility is to convert the incoming A.C to D.C. with an rectifier system, install a battery system, and use the D.C. to run an inverter to provide 110V 60Hz power out. Again, that is also expensive, and costs money to install. Also takes a big battery bank (usually a rack mount of 10 or 12 batteries kept charged by the D.C. system.) Only really practical for big systems.

The only way to go at a reasonable price is to somehow get a 110V 60Hz generator. You need to remember P=IxE. (Power) = (current in amps) times (Voltage). At 110Volts if you need 10 amps to run everything you'll need (P=IxE) or (10 amps times 110 volts) = 1100 Watts.....and that's starting to get good sized as a generator. A lot of the small mobile generators are in the 300 Watt to 500 Watt range, or less.

You mentioned you had a generator in the U.S. that you sold. What Wattage was it? You need the same here. And you will need to have a source of the gasoline to run it. It will also be noisy...but I assume you realise all that.

As someone said...the cordless tools will charge alright off the the 110 Volt transformers you have already. The 50 Hz won't matter for that. So use the cordless tools as much as possible.

It's the things like saws, planers, etc. that will be your main problem. The motors in them will want the 110V 60Hz to run well. And they are usually the high current items also.

So I think your only real option is to find that 110 volt 60 Hz generator.

If you do install one...use a different type of plug for the 110 volt power outlets if possible. That way you won't be pluging in your 110 volt tools into a 230 volt outlet.

Any way you go, it's going to cost money to do it.

[BlackGrape]

Hey Guys, new here but maybe I can help

We have the same problem when testing our offshore (60hz) equipment in the workshop (50hz). We use an inverter to get the 60hz, same voltage in/ out, then we step down to the 110v. Our supply is 440/480v though. I have attached pic of our set up and also attached specs of inverter that is readily available in Thailand. Our equipment is purged VFD panels with 2 A/C units to provide cooling. We have done this for 4+ years with no problems. In the inverter specs it does mention they should not be used for anything other than 3 phase motors but as I said no problems.

The 220v inverter is approx 12,000 baht. Also attached is specs of inverter.

Hope this is of some help.

VF_S11_Catalog.pdf

[beechstreet]

Thanks for that inverter brochure. The hard part is going to be finding someone competent enough to install it right?

As was mentioned above I think the biggest problem with a generator is the noise. I just finally got around to setting up mine up this week. It'll be great to have a temporary/portable solution but the neighbors would not be happy if I had to fire this thing up everyday...It ain't quiet.

[gregb]

How much power are you actually talking about?

Best way if you only need a small load is to get an online UPS from the states. (Note: it must be a true sine wave, online model, not a cheap consumer one.) Then a simple step down transformer is all you need.

Put 110, 50 Hz in, get 120, 60 Hz out. As long as you aren't talking about 10 KW this will work just fine. Companies going out of business in the states are always selling these cheap. You'll need another slow boat unfortunately.

This is however a much cheaper solution than a frequency converter.

[david96]

230 volts 50Hz equipment will run on 277volts 60Hz.

115 volts 60Hz equipment will run on 100 volts 50Hz.

Increasing the frequency increases the inductive reactance. X.

Decreasing the frequency decreases the inductive reactance. X.

So if you can get a 230V/100V transformer of suitable VA rating this should suffice.

However one can not change the speed for induction motors 3600/ 60Hz,

1800/60Hz the speeds will now be 3000/50Hz, 1500Hz/50Hz.

Universal AC/DC motors will be unaffected (series wound with commutator and brushes)

Battery chargers should not be affected.

If the frequency is increased the voltage is increased.

If the frequency is decreased the voltage is decreased

By the same percentage.

It may not be practicable or economical to change the frequency component.

[BlackGrape]

Thanks for that inverter brochure. The hard part is going to be finding someone competent enough to install it right?

As was mentioned above I think the biggest problem with a generator is the noise. I just finally got around to setting up mine up this week. It'll be great to have a temporary/portable solution but the neighbors would not be happy if I had to fire this thing up everyday...It ain't quiet.

Are you in Bangkok? Don't think about a genny! PM me if you want to get it right

Cheers

[BlackGrape]

230 volts 50Hz equipment will run on 277volts 60Hz.

115 volts 60Hz equipment will run on 100 volts 50Hz.

Increasing the frequency increases the inductive reactance. X.

Decreasing the frequency decreases the inductive reactance. X.

So if you can get a 230V/100V transformer of suitable VA rating this should suffice.

However one can not change the speed for induction motors 3600/ 60Hz,

1800/60Hz the speeds will now be 3000/50Hz, 1500Hz/50Hz.

Universal AC/DC motors will be unaffected (series wound with commutator and brushes)

Battery chargers should not be affected.

Rember PVA.....

If the frequency is increased the voltage is increased.

If the frequency is decreased the voltage is decreased

By the same percentage.

It may not be practicable or economical to change the frequency component.

[BlackGrape]

Remember PVA. Sorry, I f*&^kd up earler. easy to understand

[elkangorito]

^ What?