power converters help

[Ian H]

Its quite easy really
2005 Fleetwood Revolution needs to be converted for UK use
US power 110v 60Hz
UK power 240v 50Hz
I found a few companies on the internet that make converters to handle this problem
dont know how much yet but does anyone forsee anything i might be missing
the UK motorhome forum replies overloaded my brain with sine waves

 

[Tom]

US power 110v 60Hz
UK power 240v 50Hz

That's it in a nutshell Ian. The sine wave issue that folks are referring to is something that affects some appliances such as microwave ovens. Care to share some of the web site addresses you've found for converters?

I assume the converter would be on board the RV, maybe in a bay. If so, the only other issues I can think of are the power plug and the power cord would need replacing. The insulation on the wires of your existing power cord may not be rated for 240V.

 

[Ian H]

The idea Tom is to install it in the side locker where the cable is stored and connected,I will then get my electrician in the UK to connect everything so i only have the UK shore power lead to deal with.When i get a reply i will let you know the companies that can help 2 are in the states and 1 is in Ilfracombe just over the water eh!
There are 110v 240v LCD tv`s on the market i have been informed so that will be a problem solved.

 

[Tom]

Sounds like you have a plan Ian. How about posting a photo when it's installed?

 

[Ian H]

Dunno about a plan Tom
this is a very interestng site www.world-import.com .this will come in handy for many UK importers
The multi system televisions was what i am looking at

 

[Tom]

Thanks Ian. Is that the same site where you were looking at the converters?

 

[Ian H]

The sites for converters are industrial rather than retail
still waiting for replies

 

[John From Detroit]

There are two problems

Problem 1: 50 Hz.  This will affect some (But not all) timing circuits such as the clock on the microwave... Alas read on
            Some electronics, again the microwave comes to mind, are also going to object.

Problem 2: The voltage: Most everything that runs on 110 VAC in the motor home, this includes the AC, possibly and ice maker, possibly the furnance blower and the AC elements in the 'fridge and hot water heater. 

For low-current stuff you can pick up a transformer.  The good news is resistive stuff does not care about the frequency AT ALL, only voltage.  For high current the transformer gets very heavy and costly (This includes the heat elements and AC units) may well be cheaper to replace  Replacement of the heat elements in the how water and fridge is easy and low-cost

AC (And the furnance blower) may be re-wriable, If you have an ice maker in your freezer, you can run it on a transformer (it's under 100 watts peak) though it will work "Slower" due to the timing, this won't affect anything but output rate.  You may have to adjust the re-fill adjustment (The control that sets the water level) since this is a timer and frequency senestive... Scratch may, replace with WILL, to the negative side

The AC may, and I stress MAY be re-configurable to 240 volts, check with it's maker

Finally you will have to replace the outlets in the MH with the proper 240 British style

There may be other issues I've over looked

Oh yes.. the power converter (Battery re-charger) it too may be re-configurable... but don't count on it, Mine is about 1,000 watt, that makes for a fairly big transformer

 

[Ian H]

Thanks John
wow i feel like a rest now
Give me a 40ft RV on its side in a ditch or a travel trailer jacknifed overloaded complete with kids ,dogs and only now starting their holiday i would cope no worries
(i must be missing work more than i think) .Electrics i will leave to the experts ,not sure but i think conversions by some companies in the UK you are looking at spending around $4-$5 k so if i can find a company to supply what i need at reasonable cost i will do it my way (the wife says i have always got to do things the hard way)

 

[Karl]

Ian,

Another alternative is the motor-generator. It's like a regular genset, but has an electric motor to drive the generator. The motor section in your case would be 240V/50Hz and the generator section would output 120V/60Hz. Upside: no outlet or plugs/equipment/appliance changes. Downside: cost/weight/space/initial wiring into your panel. These units are generally considered an industrial device, but I can see no reason why one couldn't be used in a MH. Here's a link to one such mfg.: http://www.electricpowergenerator.com/motor-generator-sets.html

OOPS! Almost forgot - output is pure sine wave, unlike many inverters/frequency converters.

 

[Ian H]

Just had a reply from 2 UK companies (no national holiday there) asking about wattages etc,as a thought if i had a transformer or converter as some call it that matches the onan7.5 gen set would that suffice ,the average power supply i have been informed  is 16 amps at UK campgrounds  if that is any help

 

[Tom]

if i had a transformer or converter as some call it that matches the onan7.5 gen set would that suffice ,the average power supply i have been informed is 16 amps at UK campgrounds if that is any help

Ian, just for clarification, a simple transformer will only change the voltage (e.g. from 240V to 110V), but will not change the frequency from 50Hz to 60Hz, although I suspect there's not a lot of appliances that would care about it. In the case of TVs, you have to change them anyway from our NTSC to PAL. But, I also suspect that the PAL TVs you buy are likely to be 240V only. Maybe a small transformer located behind each of the TVs to transform back to 240V would do the trick.

16 amps at 240V is approx 35 amps at 110V. Your Onan 7.5 KW supplies roughly 68 amps at 110V, which translates to roughly 31 amps at 240V. So it appears that the average UK campground power hookup will supply only half of the equivalent power of your Onan, unless you supply each leg from a separate campground 16 amp outlet and power cord, and use two transformers, one for each leg.

 

[Ian H]

Hi Tom
the televisions have an easy cure World-import sell a video converter that converts the UK pal signal to US ntsc signal,so i buy 1 of them $290 inc delivery and run the original tv`s and home theatre system (also converts from French secam and vise versa).The only thing i need is to set up SKY satelite with the dish on the roof to get all UK television channels.One of the companies in the UK is looking into a transformer 240 to 110 for all of the non sensitive items and separate frequency changers for the sensitive items,so far quotes have been quite reasonable

 

[Tom]

Ian,

I forgot about the video converter solution. Used to have to use something like that to watch VCR tapes from the old country.