Using 240V-110V converters

[Cheese]

At my age there is no WOT!

Jack

Funny...

 

[jeh]

Any issues with using a UK 110 volt/50 Hz tool in the US (110 volt/60 Hz)?

All of the tools I have purchased in the USA from Festool dealers are rated to use 110v/ 50-60 Hz. However it is possible Festool make tools not sold in the USA for the UK 110v market which do not work correctly on 60 Hz. Why not ask Festool UK directly.

It is also possible that 110v tools made by other manufacturers might not work on 60 Hz.

That's interesting since the Mafell MT-55cc delivered to the North America is 110v @ 50Hz can there be an issue with that tool running on 110v @60Hz?

If that is the case with the Mafell then they only make two models for the world (120v and 230v)?

 

[Bohdan]

A machine running with brushes only cares about the voltage, speed is adjusted by limiting the width of the AC frequency sine wave. At a lower frequency there would be some slight increase in induction losses causing a slight increase in temperature.

An induction motor would run at a speed controlled by frequency so at a lower frequency it would run slower and heat up a little more with even less fan cooling.

A brushless motor converts the AC power to DC first before it converts the DC to pulses to control the speed, unaffected by frequency but enabling much higher speeds and higher power/efficiency. This is mostly used in battery powered tools as they are DC to start with.

So you can see that in most cases, as long as the voltage is correct, most power tools should run perfectly well on either frequency as long as the 60hz design motor, used on 50hz, is not being pushed to its limits and overheats. The 50hz design, used on 60hz, would in most cases run slightly cooler due to lower losses.

Overheating is very unlikely as most motor designers would build in a tolerance to enable their design to be used worldwide. On a brush motor the frequency label is there so the you don't plug it in to a DC supply. The motor wouldn't care but the speed control wouldn't work and the switch would burn out due to excessive arcing.

 

[philphilop]

Hey guys,

There is a chance that I maybe relocating to Europe in the near future. Will my Festools that use 110V (US) operate with no issues in Europe (240) using a 240-110 converter?

Thanks for any help  you can give me.

Better solution would be to sell your 110V and replace them with proper voltage tools, instead of dragging around a big heavy lump of transformer.
And if you do arrive in europe, wellcome

 

[Holmz]

Transformers are cheap.

 

[sancho57]

Yes they are, I borrowed a buddy's for about a year, then he needed it to do a site job, so a guy I worked with redeployed back to the states and had one and I got that one and have been using it for about 6 mos or so.

 

[Jadama]

Just adding a positive note on the topic, green tools all bought from NA (Amazon) and I'm using a 5kva transformer (220-110) for about 2 years now and haven't had a hiccup. Although it's a pain to carry the trans from shop to job and back again.