Why does America use 110v as single phase voltage but Europe and Asia use 230v? What benefits does it draw?
The US isn’t the only country to use 110v single phase. Another country is Japan.There are several reasons:The reason why specifically 110v is because that is roughly the conductance resistance of dry skin. So you can touch a live 110v wire without getting a shock. If your hands are wet or say you’re covered in sweat then that will still shock you.Because the risk of shock is lower the need for an earthing wire is removed. This simplifies electronics and wiring, saving costs and reducing the space needed.Where human populations are high but power generation is relatively low this can be used in conjunction with other measures to minimise the electric load each person places upon the system (per capita).No need for clunky earthing rods or expensive safety procedures.Note:Just because there may be a large domestic usage of 110v single phase power that doesn’t mean there aren’t higher voltage systems used in the domestic setting. For example, in the UK many commercial kitchens will use 350v 3-phase voltage even though the majority of domestic usage is 240v single phase.Compare these plugs:On the left a Japanese style 110v plug. On the right a UK style 240v plug.These images are to the same scale. You can quickly see that the UK plug is a lot larger and more cumbersome. It is more complicated to make, has more parts and more points of failure. E.g. the fuse can blow or the wrong fuse can be fitted. The pin protection system in sockets can easily become broken due to plugs being forced.Here’s a North American plug and socket:And here’s the equivalent for the UK 240v system:Although this time these images are not exactly to scale you can still see that UK sockets take up more space.Once you multiply this space usage several times the difference becomes bigger:So, I’d say the primary reason is because of simplicity. 110v won’t shock you so easily and when it does it’s less likely to kill you. It saves a lot of money when multiplied over millions of people.
Can I run an 80 amp 120v stick welder off of a normal house circuit with no problems?
It depends on what amps you run, how good of a welder you are, and how long you run the arc. If you max it out (80 amps) for any long weld you will trip the breaker, short tacks maybe not. If you stick the electrode pop goes the breaker. I use a Thermal Arc Arcmaster 160ts on a 15 amp circuit with no problems (best machine on the market but expensive). Yes it trips the breaker sometimes. It is better to have a 20-30 amp circuit but sometimes you just have to use what you have available. Good luck! By the way if you want to be happy with the welder you get what you pay for. Go cheap, you get cheap. I am not a fan of chicago electric welders. You are better off with a name brand industry standard welder (Esab, Hobart, Miller, Thermal arc)
Does a 240 volt use the same wattage as a 120 volt?
It can do, it depends on the rating of the appliance.A pair of toasters might be rated at 700 watts. One is 120 volt, the other is 240.700 watts is the amount of power it consumes & it is directly related to how quickly it will toast a piece of bread.However, a toaster designed for use with a 240 volt supply will use half the current (amps) as one designed for use with a 120 volt supply. The resistance (ohms)* of the 240 volt toaster will be four times that of the 120 volt toaster. As mentioned, the power (watts) of each toaster being equal in this case. *(strictly speaking it's the impedance of the item, as you're dealing with an a/c supply, but that's possibly overcomplicating things!)If you supply a toaster designed for use on 120 volts with a 240 volt supply, you'll almost certainly burn it out, as 240 volts will 'push' 4x the amount of current (amps) it was intended to use through it, plus it will try to dissipate 4x the amount of energy it was designed for. (In this case, 2,800 watts).Conversely, if you use a toaster designed for 240 volts on a 120 volt supply, it won't get as hot and will take a lot longer to toast your bread, as it will only be using 175 watts.Likewise, a 120 volt light bulb used on 240 volts will burn a lot brighter and burn-out very quickly.A 240 volt bulb used on 120 volts will be very dim.Switches to change from 120 volts to 240 volts are usually only found on pieces of equipment that use transformers in their internal power supplies. This won't usually include toasters or kettles!Voltage (V) = current (I) x resistance (R)Power (watts) = V x I
Can I power a 240 volt welder on a 220 volt line?
Are you in the United States? If so, then yes, because 220V system IS actually a 240V system, people just casually refer to it as 220V (incorrectly).If you're not in the US, then the welder’s nameplate will tell you. You should see ratings for both 50/60 Hz systems, with amperage ratings and duty cycles for each, which translates to a “yes.”If not, then I would call the manufacturer. I've seen equipment only listed for one voltage on the nameplate, but the manufacturer gave me the okay to hook it up to a different voltage.
How can I convert 12 volt dc to 220 volt ac supply?
Convertion of alternating voltages to direct voltages can be done by using rectifiers. Similarly conversion of direct voltages to alternating voltages can be done by using inverters.Here our aim is to get ac supply from dc. So by using full bridge inverter we can get alternating supply from dc.Here is the circuit of full bridge inverter(Image taken from www.reasearchgate.com)By controlling the switches we can control the output voltage waveform.Suppose if we switch on T1,T2 once,then T1 and T2 will act as short circuit, then the total voltage appears across load is +12V.By switching off T1 and T2 and by switching on T3,T4 , then T3 and T4 conducts but current flows through T3-load-T4. So the voltage across load is -12V.By using this we'll get square wave with +12 and -12V. By placing proper capacitors across load we can make it sinusoidal wave.Now our task is to make this 12V sinusoidal wave to 220V sinusoidal. This can be done by placing step up transformer 12/ 220V.It's better to use 12/240V transformer even though some voltage drop occurs in circuit we'll get around 220V.I hope your doubt is cleared. Otherwise feel free to request your question.Thank you
12V vs. 120V Appliances - which draws less power?
you calculated wrong 100 W = V * I amp hour is a measure of energy not current lets use 120 W for ease 120 W / 12 = 10 amps now if you wanted to run this for 1 hour it would take a 10 amp hour battery at LEAST.. probably more 120 W / 120 V = 1 amp this means the current in the wire is lower for the 120 volt AC device to run this for one hour with 12 volt batterys would need 10 by 12 volt batteries that would make 120 volts but this would have to really be converted to AC and there would be some loss in power there in the conversion.. one thing also to note the 120 volt wire will have 1 amp running through it .. that means you could easily have 1200 watt device running on standard 14 gauge wire but 1200 watt device at 12 volts will have 100 amps running through it .. this will require substantially thicker wire ... and will have more line loss because of the DC part of the voltage.. 100 amp wire would be VERY expensive.. for small devices 12 volts is ideal .. like a small camping cooler ... or small radio but for larger devices you will want to use AC because of the wire size required..
Moving Dryer Outlet, Can 240V Line be spliced?
I am moving the existing dryer outlet farther away within the room. Can I splice an additional 240V line (~15') to the existing one? Will there be any issues with future inspections when/if I sell the home? The junction box of the splice will be accessible for maintenance. I could run a new line (~100') back to the breaker, but obviously it is much easier to splice. Thanks in advance Louisville, KY
I plugged in a 110v device into a 220v plug, is it still useable?
Can you do it? Yes.Will the device be usable? Probably not.You might get a beautiful puff of smoke. Or a lovely fire.The other way round, 220V device into a 110V, will more likely just not function at all, but the electronics will not be damaged.The different plug types usually prevent you from even being able to plug the wrong plug into the wrong socket.Check on the back of the device - it might have 220/110V written , in which case it can happily be plugged into either source and function correctly. Most devices that are powered by a switch-mode power supply (SMPS) are flexible for both types (usually these are desktop computers, laptops, chargers, printers, screens, etc).Regardless, always check on the back label before sticking anything where it might not belong.