Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
(OP)
On holiday in South Korea I noticed a plethora of coloured energy saving bulbs which looked rather aesthetically pleasing. I bought a blue one and brought it home (UK) plugged it into the UK mains (into a circular screw thread lamp fitting) and it appears to be working fine. The operating conditions on the side of the box said 220v at 60 hz which is what I believe S. Korean electricity runs at.
Now, a rice cooker from Korea has just arrived, telling me that it too will operate at 220v/60hz (500w at 2.3a)....
Clearly, a lightbulb is a less complex object than a rice cooker... Do I require a converter, or will the rice cooker work okay on my UK mains? Are there risks? Possible component stress? Anything I should be aware of (apart from changing the plug...)
Your valuable experiences much appreciated
monchavo
Now, a rice cooker from Korea has just arrived, telling me that it too will operate at 220v/60hz (500w at 2.3a)....
Clearly, a lightbulb is a less complex object than a rice cooker... Do I require a converter, or will the rice cooker work okay on my UK mains? Are there risks? Possible component stress? Anything I should be aware of (apart from changing the plug...)
Your valuable experiences much appreciated
monchavo





RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
Just to make your day I should point out that bringing a non-CE marked electrical appliance into the UK (effectively importing it) and putting it into service is actually a criminal offence. If you get electrocuted the government will probably imprison your dead carcass just to make a point.
In the case of a rice cooker the safety aspects are of more concern than the EMC directive.
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
Dan - Owner
http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
Kimchee, anyone? :)
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
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Eng-Tips: Help for your job, not for your homework Read FAQ731-376
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
Gunnar Englund
www.gke.org
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
Keith Cress
Flamin Systems, Inc.- http://www.flaminsystems.com
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
If it has a motor driven timer, it may not be too happy, apart from running slow, the motor will run hotter. None of that may matter in practice.
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
The 220V lamp or heater is running at nearly 10% overvoltage. The rice might cook a little quicker, but the filament lamp will not last as long. Enjoy it while it is working!
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I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy it...
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
:) could not resist!!!
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
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"It's the questions that drive us"
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RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
http:/www.jraef.com
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RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
Tangent alert!!!
Can you please add the following blocks to your diagram:
1 A sensor and comparator for rice.
2 A sensor and comparator for rice + water
3 A sequential circuit that a)promts for rice b)prompts for water c)checks that lid is on d)starts cooking.
Gunnar Englund
www.gke.org
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
10% over-voltage means 20% over power and therefore 20% over-temperature =VERY BAD. Now typically devices are rated for 10% over-voltage, at least, so it shouldn't immediately fail, but like I said earlier you are asking for trouble legally. Suppose a guest touches it and gets an electric shock. You will be in deep doo-doo legally as you are already a criminal for importing it.
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
Not sure I follow the logic of why does 10% over-voltage means 20% over power?
Clearly a hotter rice cooker is going to cook the rice quicker, I shall have to factor that into my assessment when I am adding rice and water.... :)
In regards to your comment about a "guest touching it and gets and electric shock", is the fact that the unit is operating outside of it's designed parameters going to make a shock more likely?
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
Now, the 220-> 230 vs 240 -> 230 V change is over. So even UK should be close to 230 V. But, of cours, ScottyUK knows. He lives there.
Gunnar Englund
www.gke.org
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
Keith Cress
Flamin Systems, Inc.- http://www.flaminsystems.com
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
The UK is still firmly 240V, although 'officially' it is now 230V! We're just right up at the very top end of the permitted tolerance of +10% on nominal. 230+10% = 253V. Our old standard was 240V +6% which conveniently is 254V. Thus the UK infrastructure technically does comply with the new requirements. The cost of changing all the 240V distribution transformers for a lower voltage equivalent en-masse would be astronomical. They'll just get replaced as they reach the end of their service life. For a distribution transformer that could be 40 or 50 years.
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I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy it...
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
I have noticed that the power factor for some motors has gradually got worse during the 220 -> 230 V adaption (which took 15 - 20 years and also means that 380 V is now 400 V)). Also, many incandescent lamps seemed to live shorter lives until we got the 230 V rated ones everywhere.
I will bring a DMM next time I go to UK (heck, don't I always bring scopes and voltmeters and what have you wherever I go?) so I can verify that high mains voltage. But you have gone metric? Haven't you?
Gunnar Englund
www.gke.org
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
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I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy it...
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
Actually, don't they just brand your forehead (aka for'hd) with a "V"?
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
These electrical appliance range from clocks, radios, hifi, video games to rice cookers.
So far all the rice cookers operate fine and cook properly. They don't cook any faster as far as I can see.
Occasionally some of the simpler appliances with small transformers in them such as radio clocks work fine but do seem to run slightly hotter. In one case the thermal fuse monitoring the transformer failed.
I won't even mention how some people even just bend the pins of the plug to fit into Australian power points!!!
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
I am sure there are plenty of other Korean ladies that know how to cook rice, whatever the mains frequency or voltage.
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
My girlfriend would readjust your internal voltage if she heard you saying that. :)
RE: Using a 60hz mains device in the UK
Gunnar,
As much as I enjoyed your thinking that I had made that nice block diagram, I must admit to plagiarizing it from a rice cooker mfrs website. I imagine that the weight sensor is total combined weight of rice and water so that it can tweak the time for the batch size. The cook must externally determine the rice/water ratio based on volumetric measurement as they have for countless eons. Some things don't need improvement. I also find it interesting that they sense the upper lid temp and feed that into the comparator with the cooker temp, probably to tweak for ambient conditions. For instance, if cooking rice in a igloo, the heat losses through the top might make it take longer to cook. That also might possibly be your detection circuit for the lid left up!
I still want to find the moving parts though... Motorized stirring paddles? Fluffing fork?
http:/www.jraef.com
Eng-Tips: Help for your job, not for your homework Read FAQ731-376