New t-7 will not run continuously

[Rob]

Spot on Herman

I have a buddy who used to be a carpenter here before he got into software. He emigrated to California and in the last fifteen years has renovated six houses which he rents. He's always on about the differences in voltage.

He says the upside is 115 is safer, downside, less power. On building sites here, many power tools are 110 volts and the workers have a big heavy tranny they cart around all the time. My chopsaw (a dewalt) is just such a beast. I swear the tranny weighs more than the saw!

[Ken S]

Rob, it the main difference the voltage or the cycles per second (Hertz)?  North America standardized on 60 Hertz many years ago.  As I recall, this was due to George Westinghouse, the champion of alternating current (AC) who had the good fortune to hire Nicola Tesla. Even the Tormek manufactured for sale in Europe is designed to work on 50 Hertz.

I'm no engineer, however, I believe converting (transforming) voltage is no big deal. I think converting from 60 to 50 Hertz or vice versa would be what required the big equipment.

Many of our stationary power tools can be rewired to run on 230 volts.  The reason for doing this is not more power.  Power = Volts x Amps. When a motor is rewired from 115 to 230 Volts, current (Amps) is cut in half.  The benefit of using lower amperage is less heat is generated, primarily in the wire.  That allows the use of smaller gage (gauge) supply wire or cords.

Surely Dewalt manufactures tools designed for direct use with UK power, don't they?

Perhaps differences in electrical power are another reason for the popularity of very powerful battery powered tools.

Herman, since a tea kettle has no motor (it's just a heating element), rewiring it to 230 volts should be just a matter of changing the plug.  If, like me, you happen to have an unused garbage disposal circuit running to your kitchen with a switch, changing the breaker and receptacle to 230 should be a snap.  I don't know how much time you would gain, but it should work.

Ken

[Rob]

Thanks Ken

Truth is I don't know old son. I'm blinking useless at electrics, always have been. I can do the mechanical stuff round the house to connect things, chase out walls, install boxes, jb's etc but I've never understood how it all works

I think it was the lesson on Faradays finger rule in teenage physics when the rot started 

With respect to the power tools question. All the big tool players like dewalt, makita etc that make tools aimed at construction offer a 240v and a 110v variant of their models

I wound up with a 110v chopsaw because it was a bargain on e bay and had my buddies tranny (the one that emigrated left most of his carpentry tools with me)

[Ken S]

Rob, I bought a Black and Decker mallet at aWoolworth's in London on a long ago trip to England.  It works fine in North America.  Maybe we just need to be more careful with our tool selection....

Ken

[Rob]

I chuckled at that Ken

Did you know "Wooly's" as it was affectionately known here went bust a couple years back?  Victim of the banking crisis plus online shopping.....bummer

[Ken S]

Bummer is right.  I guess that makes my mallet a collector's item.  It's a nice, simple tool.  It worked pre Y2K and still works well.

Ken

[Herman Trivilino]

He says the upside is 115 is safer, downside, less power. On building sites here, many power tools are 110 volts and the workers have a big heavy tranny they cart around all the time. My chopsaw (a dewalt) is just such a beast. I swear the tranny weighs more than the saw!

Larger tools here, such as some air compressors and table saws, are set up to run on 220 volts.  Some will run on either, but the wiring has to be modified.  Many people have ruined equipment hooking it up incorrectly.

We also have three phase in some commercial buildings, which give 110 volts using only one hot leg, but 208 volts when using two.  This can cause equipment designed to operate on 220 volts to either run less effectively or burn out.

The other thing is that induction motors such as the one in your chop saw will run at a lower speed because your electricity is 50 Hz rather than the 60 Hz we have over here.

By the time electricity was investigated seriously by engineers for practical use, scientists had already realized the advantages of uniform standards.  Thus we have only one set of units used for measurements of electric quantities, such as ampere for current and volt for electric potential, whereas there are a multitude of units for older quantities such as weight and length.  Pity they didn't continue that practice when they designed the electric grids.

[Ken S]

I'm going from memory on this.  I recall the US and Canada standardizing on 60 Hertz and 115/230 long ago, when 27 different standards existed in Great Britain.

I suspect the reason for so many power standards was national defense.  In the event of invasion, the French army would not be able to use their Cuisinarts and would probably leave.

Ken

[Rob]

LOL....very funny Ken...freedom fries springs to mind 

[Jgweaver]

The service tech e-mailed and thanked me for the info.  He will be relaying the info. to the quality department.  The machine is working great.

[Herman Trivilino]

Make sure you save that email, you have a 7 year warranty and you may need that as documentation.

I still think they owe you a new switch anyway.