110vac to 220vac Conversion Revisited

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by ka4wja

Curmudgeon,
Sure I can do all of that.....

1) It's a Philmore ST-5000, 5000watt transformer (made in China)....it weighs about 45 lbs.....approx. twice the weight of those "3000watt portable construction-site" units that many use....

2) I bought it from Henry Radio in California, in late 2006, for about $250....been doing business with them for ~ 30 years...great guys....

3) They have a e-bay store as well.....and by happenstance they've got a few ST-5000's listed right now for $259.....
Philmore 5000 Watt 110/220 Step Up and Down Transformer - eBay (item 390170129103 end time Mar-22-10 03:05:15 PDT)


4) All of my 120vac equipment is all 50hz/60hz compatible, and with my solar array, the only thing I need shore power for is occasional use of Air Cond......so it was a no-brainer for me.....

For some the decsion is more compliacted.....but with even a small sized EU 220vac battery charger costing ~ > 100 eros / ~ > $150.....and a decent sized (> 75 amp) one costing about the same as a 220vac/110vac transformer (bought here in the US), in my opinion it isn't about saving some $$$.....it's about convienience, time, etc....



Good luck....

John

Thanks very much. 45 pounds, eh? Well, if it doesn't work I can always use it as a third anchor.

[Zoomer]

First of all having had to deal with this recently, I would like to Thank the Cruisers Forum, all who have taken the time to share their thoughts, Jack & Patricia Tyler (s/v WHOOSH) and their Web Host John Stevenson.

I cruise the Caribbean full time and have gotten into the habit of parking in a marina, hooking up the TV, internet, and air conditioner during the tropical season. For several years we had gone to PLC in Venezuela (120v/60Hz), but no more, because of safety reasons. This year we felt Grenada was our best choice, unfortunately they use 230v/50Hz single phase. My A/C window unit was 120v/60 Hz, some info on the internet seemed to indicate it would work(at reduced efficiency), since it was either try it or go get a new one anyway we used a borrowed transformer and tried it. It ran poorly for four hours before dieing.

On Whoosh’s s site they do not give much weight to the 50 HZ issue, that was critical to me because of the CATV/TV/DVD issue, as you really don’t want to run electronics on the wrong frequency.

In my case I bought a 1500 W(2000W surge) sine wave inverter, and a Truecharge 2 Worldwide (90-265 v/ 47-63 Hz) 60 Amp charger. I purchased a HD 50’ extension cord and cut the male end off two feet from the end and replaced it with the marina’s Euro male fitting, which plugged into the dock outlet which had a circuit breaker. Inside the boat I spliced the 2’ piece of the cord (with the male end, to the charger) and plugged it into the female end of the extension cord from the pedestal (I know this is overly detailed and long winded but I want to be clear for those who follow). The shore power has no connection to anything on board other than the input to the charger.

The output of the inverter is by two standard 15 A 115v receptacles. I used a short HD pigtail from the inverter to back of my 115v breaker panel and used that(removing the lead to the 115v shorepower inlet)(BlueSea sells a double pole manual switch, if you are so inclined, I only do it twice yearly) instead of the now dead shore power input.

I now have sine wave 115v/60Hz throughout the boat. While I waited for my 60 amp charger, I used my 115v 40A charger off of a transformer and found that it would not keep up (10-15A deficit) with the 5,000 BTU A/C. I was able to work around this by cycling the A/C and restoring the batteries overnight (no A/C required or desired). The transformer was borrowed and I did not want an extra 50lbs. onboard.

Of course none of this is advice, what you do with this information, I leave up to your own very good judgment! Your results may vary.
ALL A/C ELECTRICTY CAN BE FATAL!

Fair Winds,
Ed
http://svdreamtime.com/

[goboatingnow]

How did you deal with the protective earth wiring though.

Dave

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

How did you deal with the protective earth wiring though.

IMO, shore power earth ground should never touch boat ground, use a galvanic isolator or isolation transformer.

If you are asking about protective earth ground from the inverter, if it's not internally connected to ground, the manufacturer should have recommended an external connection during installation.

From an isolation transformer it depends on what type of secondary winding. If it's (2) 120v secondaries and you connect them in parallel for a 120v only boat, you would connect the '0v' to boat ground. If you connect the secondaries in series for s 120/240v boat, you would connect the 'middle' to boat ground.

[goboatingnow]

Are u saying the incoming earth wire isn't connected to anything ie it's disconnected what happens if the primary shorts out on the traffo and the case goes hot etc

Dave

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Are u saying the incoming earth wire isn't connected to anything ie it's disconnected what happens if the primary shorts out on the traffo and the case goes hot etc

Assuming the boat is grounded properly (ground plates, etc.), boat ground equals shorepower ground, there will be very little potential difference between the two (millivolts to <1v). If the transformer shorts to it's case, assuming the case is connected to boat ground, the shorepower circuit breaker will blow as the return is seawater which is a really good commercial power ground.

IMO, for protecting the transformer you should put an ELCI in front of the primary.

ABYC supports leaving the shorepower ground disconnected when using an isolation transformer.

[NorthPacific]

Sorry for asking a dumb question. What is the solution for cruising for a N. American Boat? say Asia, NZ?

Cheers

[ka4wja]

Originally Posted by NorthPacific

Sorry for asking a dumb question. What is the solution for cruising for a N. American Boat? say Asia, NZ?

NorthPacific,
The solutions for NZ, Asia, etc. are pretty much the same as are for the EU.....(read this entire thread, and you'll have the answers)

With a half dozen exceptions (such as Taiwan, Philippines, Japan, etc.), most of Asia is 230vac/50hz single phase......(220volts nominal in some nations, 230volts nominal in others, and 240vac nominal in others)

I hope this helps....


John
s/v Annie Laurie

[delmarrey]

The philippines is 220V/50 hz.

[bangkaboat]

In developing property in The Philippines, I came across this issue of conversion for my power tools, home-related items & because I want to have a choice of power supply on my dock. Someone on another site gae me this link for transformers:

220 Volt Appliances Multisystem Electronics Power Tools Multisystem DVD Players Transformers Voltage Convertor

Hope it helps!

Mike

[NorthPacific]

Thanks Mike,

I was looking for a boat solution. So do you buy a new 220 battery charger? OR a step down transformer.

Cheers

[ka4wja]

delmarrey,
Are you sure????

Originally Posted by delmarrey

The philippines is 220V/50 hz.

I might be wrong, but years ago, I was told that the Philippines was one of the "odd-balls", as it had 220vac/60hz single-phase.....(rather the 50hz AC that is so prevelant in most of the world outside of N. Amer.)

But, whatever the case......
Most of the rest of the world is 50Hz....


John
s/v Annie Laurie

[ka4wja]

Originally Posted by NorthPacific

I was looking for a boat solution. So do you buy a new 220 battery charger? OR a step down transformer.

NorthPacific,
Have you read this entire thread????
The answers to your questions are there, as are links to photos of what others are using, and links to detailed webpages discussing this exact issue.....

I'm sorry, I don't have the time to re-write everything....
Have a look at this entire thread and you'll get the answers you seek....
(Post #4 and #12 would be where I'd start, if I were you)



John
s/v Annie Laurie

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by ka4wja

delmarrey,
Are you sure????

I might be wrong, but years ago, I was told that the Philippines was one of the "odd-balls", as it had 220vac/60hz single-phase.....(rather the 50hz AC that is so prevelant in most of the world outside of N. Amer.)

But, whatever the case......
Most of the rest of the world is 50Hz....


John
s/v Annie Laurie

You could be right! I never really looked that close at the hz. All I know is it fried my shaver when my mini-transformer died.
But, I wouldn't doubt it knowing the philippines.

[ka4wja]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

All I know is it fried my shaver when my mini-transformer died.
But, I wouldn't doubt it knowing the philippines.

Yep, it happens to the best....

As for further info/data, I checked on-line and found a few sources that state it is 220vac/60hz....


From PhilippinesTravelGuide.com

The electricity in the Philippines is 220 volts on a frequency of 60 Hz or cycles. One of the more common aspects of electricity in the Philippines is Brown Outs, which is when you have a power cut. They are not called black outs in the Philippines.

and from livingincebu.com

Electricity in the Philippines is 220vac, 60 cycles (hertz).
and....
NOTE: Always remember that, just because the plug in the wall may "look" the same as what you are accustomed to in your country, doesn't mean it will offer the same voltage as it does in your country

I hope this helps...

John