Is there anyway to get 120V 60hz from a 240V 50hz power supply?

Answer 1

The way I have 110VAC/60Hz is to take 12DC power supply and 12DC to 110AC 60Hz converter, designed for car use and can be found in the netshops. Answer The way that industry used to do this is to run a motor-generator combination. The motor is matched to and runs from the available power supply while the generator is designed for the desired output. If you have a 220/50hz generator, you need to adjust the govenor to raise the speed 120%, and either find the center tap of the 220 or get a 2:1 step-down transformer which is readily available. ?Answer The above answers completely answer your question, but you might not need the 60Hz part (depending on what you are trying to run). I have lived in Europe aboard a sailboat for a number of years, and everything on the boat (which is designed for 110V/60Hz) runs fine on 110V/50Hz, with the exception of the Microwave oven. Getting 110V/50Hz from 220V/50 Hz is as simple as a 2:1 Transformer, which is readily available. Most modern TV & VCRs seem to work on 50 or 60 Hz without a problem. Check the label on the device to see if it will work with 50Hz. (Motors are the most likely to have problems and could potentially burn up running at 50 instead of 60). ?Answer To go with the above answer, clocks will not work correctly as they are tuned to the frequency and the only other appliance I had a problem with was my computer monitor for some reason. ?Answer No you CAN NOT get 110v/60hz from a 220v/50hz power supply.
The following answer maybe more in tune with the question. In North America our domastic single power supplies are 110/220/60hz or 120/240/60hz or 120/208/60hz etc. In simple terms to explain the way to generate these power supplies are to connect two generators or generator windings in series (3 wire system, lets give them a color code of Black-White-Red)(White=centre tap or neutral wire) with output of 110 volt obtain from Black with White or Red with White and 220 volt from Black with Red. While in Europe the power supply is 220v/50hz generated with one generator with no tap for 110v/50hz. ?Answer The motor-generator method is the traditional method, but for the last 30 or 40 years, and electronic method would usually be preferred. Frequency changing is much more complicated than voltage changing, but it can be done, even up to gigawatt levels. A rectifier first converts the power to DC, and an inverter then produces the required output frequency and voltage. The first answer gave an example of this approach.

Answer 2

The frequency of the generated voltage depends on the speed of your engine. I assume it's a gasoline engine. It's probably spinning at about 3600 rpm. You need to get a mechanic to fiddle with the govenor and drop it down to 3000 rpm. 50HZ is 83 percent of 60Hz so you need 83 percent of whatever speed you are currently running. My question is, why bother?

Answer 3

A very important note

There is no such thing as a 120 volt 50 Hzservice! (But see >> Correction! << below.)

Various countries around the world use 230 - 240 volts at 50 Hz as their standard national single-phase service - not 120 volts - so the two further answers which were given earlier - shown below - only apply to those standard 50 Hz services, none of which can deliver power to 120 volt appliances unless a transformer is used to drop the voltage.

However nowadays many small personal electrical items - like electric razors, camera and music player battery chargers, etc. - are already designed to operate either on 230 volts or 120 volts so it is worth checking the products' rating plates or user manuals.

If such an item is not already a "dual-voltage" type then low-power small "international voltage-converter Transformers" may be available to buy from some airport shops or from specialist electrical stores, but usually the best thing to do is to buy a dual-voltage model.

For large domestic appliances, such as washers and dryers (as are mentioned below) it is usually impractical to use a step-down transformer for reasons of their very high cost and very heavy weight. It usually makes sense to buy either new or good second-hand models in the 50 Hz country.

Further answer 1

As far as I know the only results are 1) Increased current draw and 2) Motors will run slower (such as washer agitator, dryer drum, and clocks).

Further answer 2

50 Hz power will cause synchronous ac motors to run slower than they would on 60 Hz. Synchronous AC motors rotate at exactly the supply frequency. Mechanical clocks made for 60 Hz will run slow on 50 Hz, loosing 10 minutes every hour (or 4 hours every day).

Appliances that rely on inductive AC motors, like washers and dryers and fans will usually work ok.

">>> Correction! <<Some countries DO use 120VAC 50Hz service!

Most countries use 220, 230, or 240 volts, usually at 50 Hz,

many also use 110, 115 or 120 at 60 Hz, but there are exceptions:

Barbados uses 115 V at 50 Hz.

Liberia uses 120 V at 50 Hz.

Jamaica and The Marquesas Islands in Tahiti use 110V at 50 Hz.

Libya, Monaco, Morocco and Madagascar all use 127V at 50 Hz.

Japan uses 100 V service, at 50 cycles in Tokyo, Kawasaki, Sapporo, Yokohama, and Sendai, and 60 cycles in the West, in Okinawa, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Nagoya, and Hiroshima.

Peru is 220 V at 60 cycles.

There surely must be other exceptions.

For more information see the answers to the Related questions shown below.

Answer 4

Most AC voltage supplies that need changed to another voltage, either up or down are changed with a transformer. To change 220 to 110 use a transformer made for that purpose Make sure that the wattage rating is the proper size for the load(1500 watts etc.) properly fuse and ground the transformer Warning - voltages in this range are extremely dangerous make sure you know what you are doing

Answer 5

Yes, BUT rotating machinery should not be as the appliance might over speed and wit little back EMF might burst into flames!!

<<>>

If the load is totally resistive there should be no problem with this connection. If there is a motor load associated with this appliance then this connection is not recommended. Frequency governs the speed in revolutions of the motor. In some appliances this will have a detrimental effect in its operation.

Answer 6

a transformer is your best option.