Thread: Experience with 60Hz motors in Australia?

60 cycles motors will run on 50-cycle power at slower speed. This is usually not a problem, but if you ever find that the motor stalls or buzzes then you should stop its operation.





I was once the factory manager of a large Japanese factory in Malaysia for 15 years. 100V 60 cycles motors in machines from Japan were run at 100V 50 cycles (through a large factory wide 230V to 100V step down tranformer) with no problems at all.

The answer your question will depend on WHAT TYPE OF MOTOR you are intending to use. Universal motors will work OK. They are the motors with brushes and are quite noisy, like in a router, drill , shop-vac, portable thicknesser ie. most hand-held tools. Induction motors will not work well, they will overheat. Induction motors are larger for their horspower than universal motors and much quieter. They are the type of motor usually found in drill presses, table saws, dust extractors, ie most stationary tools. If you go down this path be aware that it can be a hassle using transformers. Make sure that the volt/amp rating of the transformer is sufficient for the load. I have a thicknesser, shop-vac and an old router that are 115v and a 3KvA transformer. They work fine, but one day I will replace with 240v equipment...

Just re-read your post. See you have a table saw... I suggest bring the saw, but have the motor re-wound or purchase a new motor. As an aside, I lived in the USA in the 70's as a kid and my dad bought himself a radial arm saw. Bringing it home he operated it through a 240v-120v step down transformer. but with extended use it would overheat and trip the cct breaker.

Hope this helps,

Chris

There appears to be no 'rule of thumb' that you can go on. I have a 15 year old drill press with a rewound 115V 60Hz motor. It has worked for hours drilling 1/2" and larger holes in steel. Gets warm but has never appeared to be distressed. A friend has a similar press with what appears to be an identical motor. His motor smells hot after 10 mins of running and has at times blistered the paint - it still goes but only because he is careful.
No great help but just an example
Cheers

Thanks for the replies & advice!

Perhaps I should pick up a 60Hz honda generator and install a whisper quiet muffler on it (so the neighbours can sleep). )

Cheers,

Arian

Induction motors will run at 5/6 speed and have bit less power. Universal or series wound motors (those with brushes) may run a little warmer but as you are not likely to have a 240V one of these, you'll need a 240/110V transformer.

Hi there

years ago when I worked in commercial air conditioning we had a job where some air conditioners were imported from the US specifically for the job as some genius consultant engineer had specified somthing that was not commonly available in australia.

The fan motors in the AC units were 3 phase 60 hz units an on 50Hz they all ran at or above the nameplate FLA. As I was part of the commissioning team this was brought to the attention of the engineers and we carried out a few adhoc tests. Apart from running a bit warmer and drawing their nameplate or slightly above nameplate amps they seemed to work ok.

To my knowledge they are still running and the building hasn't burn't down in the last 12 years they have been running.

The motors were semi enclosed induction motors


Darryn