Thread: Emigrating tools

Hi John,
No, they will all run backwards in the Southern hemisphere!

Seriously though, yes, the power supply in Aus is 240V 50Hz. For small tools (up to - say 1000W), it may be economical to purchase a 240 to 110V transformer (here or there). Once you go above that, the price of the transformer becomes excessive.
So it may be more sensible to sell your electrical tools and purchase replacements once you are here. Transformers are heavy items and my guess is you would get sick of carting that around building sites pretty quickly.
Hope that helps in your decision.
Congratulations on your choice of country to live in!

Joe (ex Germany)

I work with an Irish chippy who carts a tranformer with him. He has been doing it for several years now. He finds it ok but says that it was a bit of a pain to get the transformer built. Not sure why. He says that if he was doing it again he would have brought a transformer with him. Depending on how many tools you have I would be going 240 volt
Ben

On the other hand.......

If you have Festools you may want to stick with the 110v because you can then purchase more from the USA (best prices) without much hassle.

I just recently bought a 2500 watt 110 volt step-down transformer for my workshop on FleaBay for $88. Works okay. I'm only using it to run battery chargers from the US. It was cheaper than buying 240 volt chargers locally from Bosch.

Big machines might be a problem but even transformers for those can be sourced relatively inexpensively. It's just the portability issues.

If you are selling them, buy replacements in the UK on the way through. Way cheaper than here.

I am aware that GB uses 110V on construction sites, but don't know where this is derived from. Do individual tradies have their own transformers, or is there a master transformer provided by the principal contractor?

I am thinking that if you have an adequate transformer, it would be cheapest to freight that with the tools that match it. If not it would be touch and go re economics. For example, Isolating stepdown transformers are around $260 for 1KVA to $600 for 2KVA here. Auto transformers (on the same page) are cheaper but can leave you or the tool exposed to 240 if they suffer a failure. 2KVA would be light for running a planer or trim router due to the start currents, and potential starting frequency. I haven't seen a circ saw on the market here that I would be willing to run from even a 2KVA transformer, they are typically 1400- 2000W (VA), so would want a transformer rated around 6 KVA min to operate them. Similar range for your average 1200-1500W routers. I do run a batch of 110V chargers for US sourced cordless tools via a 1200VA transformer without problems, but these work out at about 200W per charger, without huge starting surge currents etc.

Malb, those units look suspiciously similar to the acknowledged Chinese made units on eBay. Given there is no claim of Australian manufacture, I would bet these are too.

Chinese manufacturers often make similar products of different quality at different price points. Sometimes in the same factory. However, more than three times the price and quality? They seem to have very similar specifications to those on eBay.

I could be totally wrong. I'm not an electrical engineer. Am I missing something here?

Here is the exact item I bought on eBay made by ProStar in China.

Originally Posted by malb

I am aware that GB uses 110V on construction sites, but don't know where this is derived from. Do individual tradies have their own transformers, or is there a master transformer provided by the principal contractor?

I am thinking that if you have an adequate transformer, it would be cheapest to freight that with the tools that match it. If not it would be touch and go re economics. For example, Isolating stepdown transformers are around $260 for 1KVA to $600 for 2KVA here. Auto transformers (on the same page) are cheaper but can leave you or the tool exposed to 240 if they suffer a failure. 2KVA would be light for running a planer or trim router due to the start currents, and potential starting frequency. I haven't seen a circ saw on the market here that I would be willing to run from even a 2KVA transformer, they are typically 1400- 2000W (VA), so would want a transformer rated around 6 KVA min to operate them. Similar range for your average 1200-1500W routers. I do run a batch of 110V chargers for US sourced cordless tools via a 1200VA transformer without problems, but these work out at about 200W per charger, without huge starting surge currents etc.

Auto transformers are STRICTLY FORBIDDEN BY LAW in this kind of application. Please read the appropriate section of ASNZ 5000, the Electrical Standards Manual.

Chas.

Any 110v tools that you bring here will immediately devalue as soon as you arrive and using a transormer adds a level of awkwardness to your work.
I dont work on building sites but have found as I move from industrial site to site the safety tagging requirements have driven me to use battery tools only as every site wants their own electricians to check my cables wasting my time.
I now have a collection of Makita 18v lithium tools as a result

Hi John,

best wishes or 2012!

110 Volts were decided on as a maximum that was still safe. When touching a live wire in adverse circumstances (moist hands, standing on something damp or metal), a shock from 110 Volts is survivable in many cases. Changes are much slimmer with 200 Volts and beyond. In Europe, the prefered safety voltage for the metal processing industry (like with guys working inside ship's hulls or boilers, with metal totally surrounding them) is even below 70 Volts (42 Volts is a widely used standard).

An "auto transformer" was mentioned above. This transformer type has only one coil, with a tap somewhere in the middle of the amount of windings that the coil has. This manufacturing method saves weight and copper and thus cost, but the safety that you would normally have with a proper transformer, is out of the window. A good transformer has a "primary" input voltage coil and a separated "secundary" output coil. This will give the necessary safety with 220-240 Volts machines, the voltage of which would be too dangerous for direct connection to the live-against-ground-situation of a mains supply. But, as stated above, an auto-transformer with a live-wire of only 110 volts is less of a risk than a auto-transformer with 240 Volts output would be.

Dragging the transformer around is the only drawback i can see here. You already possess quality 110 Volts tools, which would already be safe on a cheaper auto-transformer. Should be able to obtain a true primary/secundary "separated" transformer, you will have a safety level with your tools that no-one on the site can match. It's almost like using the very very safe 42 Volts tools.

Also, you can add to your tool assortment from a choice of high quality American tools, like unique router and worm drive saw designs, which are solely made for the US 120 Volts market. In that case, try to go for older 115 Volts models, since there will be power loss with 110 volts as a power source. The power loss in an electric motor is the square root of the voltage loss.

Examples: when you operate a 120 Volts tool on 110 Volts, this tool will operate on the voltage that is 0.91666 of what it should be. 0.91666 times 0.91666 equals 0.8402, so the 120 Volts tool motor will have 0.8402 of the power that it would have had on 120 volts. A 115 Volts motor will fare slightly better. 110 Volts is 0.95652 times lower as 115 Volts and 0.95952 times 0.95652 equals 0.9149. Meaning that a 120 Volts motor will have 16% power loss when operated on 110 volts, whereas a 115 Volts motor will only have 9% power loss.

success and greetings

gerhard

As we have come to expect, Gerhard's answer is very detailed, and no doubt highly accurate! However, there is one thing he couldn't know: I can just hear the guy who inspects tools on the bigger sites saying "Mate, I don't care what Gerhard says, it's not on this list, so you can't use them here!"

You'd have to think that for long term peace of mind, and using the tools in a public place, it would be easier to have conforming tools. Whether or not this would extend to UK 240v 50Hz tools I don't know. Certainly the tools wouldn't have an Aussie compliance plate on them, so even they could get bounced off-site.

Amazing that Australian site inspectors should raise objections against 110 Volts tools, since these are inherently safer to use. Electrical engineers worldwide agree on this. If this objection is merely caused by some petty comformity sticker missing on the tool, it is very bureaucratic. Things are not that strict in the Netherlands; here the European CEE, German DIN/VDE or Dutch NEN regulations apply, and these are similar to a high degree. Full metal ground-connected tools are forbidden on sites, but even those are allowed here, if used with a separation transformer, equalling these otherwise dangerous machines with the recommended double insulated ones. If this method is deemed sound enough for electric tools that even use water for cooling, like diamond concrete saws or core drills on 240 Volts, then where's the harm for "dry" 110 Volts tools? Indeed Oz regulators seem to be a bit more nitpickish.

greetings

gerhard

Gerhard, I think you are just way too polite. I doubt that most of the "inspectors" actually even understand what they are doing.

Originally Posted by markharrison

Gerhard, I think you are just way too polite. I doubt that most of the "inspectors" actually even understand what they are doing.

Yes, and I guess that's my point Mark: "It ain't on the list mate, and that means I'll have to think for meself, and that ain't gonna happen any time soon".

Do we have lots of electrocutions as a result of using 240v (additional to those we would get if we were using 110v)?
I have found it is much easier, and in the long term cheaper to just do what they want on site.
I am not going to waste my time in arguments which I will lose anyway because the guy I am arguing with is probably the guy I am invoicing for my time and may decide on future work and a reference.