European vs. American voltage variations
European vs. American voltage variations
(OP)
What allows IEC governed installations a much larger voltage variation limit?
IEC 60038 allows +/- 10% voltage variation under normal conditions. EN 50160 further defines normal as 95% of the time and does not have a limit for the other 5%.
ANSI C84.1 limits supply voltage to +/-5% under normal condition. Under abnormal conditions, C84.1 allows up to +6/-8% voltage variation.
The IEC 60038 allowed building voltage drop is slightly at 4% vs 5% for ANSI.
Including the building voltage drop, IEC 60038 allows +10/-14% variation. Does European equipment have a larger input range than the +/-10% suggested by the ITI (CBEMA) curve ?
Thanks,
Mark Pigman
Tacoma, WA, USA
IEC 60038 allows +/- 10% voltage variation under normal conditions. EN 50160 further defines normal as 95% of the time and does not have a limit for the other 5%.
ANSI C84.1 limits supply voltage to +/-5% under normal condition. Under abnormal conditions, C84.1 allows up to +6/-8% voltage variation.
The IEC 60038 allowed building voltage drop is slightly at 4% vs 5% for ANSI.
Including the building voltage drop, IEC 60038 allows +10/-14% variation. Does European equipment have a larger input range than the +/-10% suggested by the ITI (CBEMA) curve ?
Thanks,
Mark Pigman
Tacoma, WA, USA






RE: European vs. American voltage variations
RE: European vs. American voltage variations
Well, I really hope that the number of German-made TV sets being sold in the UK has increased significantly and that British refrigerators are a huge success in France. We seem to get most of our stuff from East Asia these days. So, we don't seem to be benefitting from the harmonization at all.
Gunnar Englund
www.gke.org
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Half full - Half empty? I don't mind. It's what in it that counts.
RE: European vs. American voltage variations
RE: European vs. American voltage variations
Makes a good case for a manufacturer to use universal motors, with several voltage taps (flexable voltage and frequency). Sort of like the instructions in several languages, complete with mis-spellings and bad grammer.
RE: European vs. American voltage variations
The basic premise isn't actually a bad one, but there are aspects of the implementation which have been very poorly handled.
RE: European vs. American voltage variations
However 230 V seems to be common in many countries, just that it can be phase to phase, or phase to ground is different.
RE: European vs. American voltage variations
In any case, you can only use the supply authority's lower voltage limits if you have your own HV/LV transformers. If you are fed by a utility at LV in the UK, you can only apply the voltage drop laid down by BS7671 (the building voltage drop as you call it) which is harmonised with another IEC standard (IEC 60368 I think). The maximum allowble drop in the UK (adopting the supply authority's tolerances) is -11%, not -14%, but the upper voltage limit is +10%, so one has to assume that all EEC electrical equipment is designed around those limits.
RE: European vs. American voltage variations
Although using the ANSI B range of +6/-8 seems reasonable for equipment failures, I am struggling with the acceptable range for maintenance projects that last from a few days to several weeks.
Trying to meet the ANSI A range of +/-5% is quite challenging for long duration maintenance projects.
In another IEC publication it was suggested that 95% of 10 minute samples be within the limit. This seems a much clearer guideline than the ANSI A vs B range.
RE: European vs. American voltage variations
Less than 10 seconds Phase to Earth +50% -100% Phase to Phase +20% - 100%.
Impulse voltage 6 kV peak.
So as you can see the variation can be quite substantial. As I stated earlier, Australia was a 415/240 volt country that has now 'moved' to 400/230 in line with IEC standards. In reality nothing changed and this is perhaps reflected in the distribution code where the upper limit tolerance is a higher percentage then the lower limit.