Can you change leads on power tools to 110v

leejakob

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Joined
Jul 27, 2011
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15
May be a silly question but I have 240volt power tools ts55 kapex ro 90 so far. Question ? can I buy a 110volt quick change lead as a spare  And use this, will It work and is it safe with the tool. Or am I being stupid to think I can change from 240-110 ?
 
You shouldn't have to.

This issue has been discussed on here before and you can legally work on site with 240V as long as it has a curcuit breaker.

There will be some people howl now but Windmill John has the H & S document reference to quote if you need but best check if it is the company policy.

I have done so many times and the site H & S guys have been ok as long as you have a breaker.
 
Guy its all very well saying you can work on site with 230v,and what you say reg wise, is right.But there is quite often no 230v to be had on site.turn up with 230v tools and you will look a little daft.

Lee the lead will not fit the machine and you must use the correct voltage for any machine as stated on the machine plate,That said I have run a 230v grinder on 110v to slow it down for polishing.
 
Festoolfootstool said:
Guy its all very well saying you can work on site with 230v,and what you say reg wise, is right.But there is quite often no 230v to be had on site.turn up with 230v tools and you will look a little daft.

Lee the lead will not fit the machine and you must use the correct voltage for any machine as stated on the machine plate,That said I have run a 230v grinder on 110v to slow it down for polishing.

Ha no way I was I have done the same thing!    I borrowed a 9 inch grinder from from the old company I use to work for and I needed it for polishing but it was spinning way way to fast  so I took the plug off and stuck a 110v plug and tried it and yes the speed reduced but also the power and soon as I applied a little pressure it wanted to slow down so it wasnt brilliant and it was still spinning fast but then to slow when I put pressure on it   thats when I decided to buy a proper polisher.

It didnt seem to harm the tool  but I wouldnt do it as a permanent thing plus like I said it looses alot of power so if you made all your tools from 230 to 110 they wouldnt have the power to do the job I recon.

JMB
 
Ken Nagrod said:
You will hurt the motor, eventually.  Especially you James.

Hey not saying you should do it I wouldnt do it on any my festool tools!  This was just a crappy 240v Makita 9 inch grinder  and I thought I could get a polishing pad stick that on but it was spinning so fast I was scared it would burn my paint off  so only thing I could think of was making it 110v and it did work but it was crap!

It was a learning curve!    I wouldnt recommend doing it ever its pointless!

JMB
 
Some tools can be slowed down with a motor speed control unit, BUT remember that they need cooling and if the motor is turning too slow for an extended period of time, you'll have heat build up and damage because the fan on the motor isn't able to move enough air at low speeds.  That's why tools usually have those warnings posted on them or in the manual - voltage range, warning about using for extended periods at low rpms, etc.
 
Ken Nagrod said:
Some tools can be slowed down with a motor speed control unit, BUT remember that they need cooling and if the motor is turning too slow for an extended period of time, you'll have heat build up and damage because the fan on the motor isn't able to move enough air at low speeds.

Well Duh! lol If it had speed control  I would of used it! It didnt so my speed control was 110V!
 
jmbfestool said:
Ken Nagrod said:
You will hurt the motor, eventually.  Especially you James.

Hey not saying you should do it I wouldnt do it on any my festool tools!  This was just a crappy 240v Makita 9 inch grinder  and I thought I could get a polishing pad stick that on but it was spinning so fast I was scared it would burn my paint off  so only thing I could think of was making it 110v and it did work but it was crap!

It was a learning curve!     I wouldnt recommend doing it ever its pointless!

JMB

I've seen a guy run a 240V angle grinder at 380V once,I wouldn't recommend that either.

I don't think it ran much faster, but I do remember the grinder made a pretty loud funky sputtering sound. It was a 230mm bosch J(which stands for softstart), and it didn't get killed by the incident.

It started with the guy that was doing the welding, he had a welding machine that could run on both 220V and 380V, he concocted a thick cable with a standard 220V plug on one end and a big 380V plug on the other end to use with the welding machine. He was done and didn't pack up the cable with the machine right away, so the other guy hooked up the angle grinder to it, thinking it was a regular extensioncord.
 
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