110v appliances on a boat

[andyc]

Well, I have a 110v system run by 2 shorepower transformers or a Generator.My fridge freezer,Kettle ,coffee machine,Battery chargers and the like are all 110V.My tv and a few sockets run 240 V.
My fridge has stopped getting cold and the battery charger has stopped working.

Shall I buy convert and buy 240v or are there any sources for 110v appliances in the UK

I would go 240 all the way through but I would probably have to replace the Genny, Air con/heater , water heater,Ice maker etc and every thing else and It would probably cost £lots . Any suggestions.

 

[Nigelhg]

I would have thought that your fridge and ice maker wouldn't work via the transformer as fridge motors are usually AC synched (110v ones are designed for 60Hz not 50Hz mains). Sorry to say this but if your going to run the appliances off shorepower rather than a 110v 60Hz gennny you would probably be better rewiring and changing your appliances.

 

[ccscott49]

Your fridge has probably quit, due to you running it at 50hz rather than 60hz. also probably your charger, but they are normally more forgiving.
Next to go will be your AC if you use it much. You can either only run your AC, fridge, freezer from the genny or change them. You might be able to find a frequency changing transformer/unit, which would solve all your problems, but not sure about that and if you do find one, likely to be eye wateringly expensive.
I do believe dependant on type, that your genny may be able to be converted to 230v 50 hz, but again not sure. No matter what, this is going to get expensive. Lots of boats from the states that cruise europe have both voltages aboard, for different things.
Sorry I could not be the bearer of good tidings!

 

[zt260]

These guys specialise in transformers for using usa appliances in uk
http://www.airlinktransformers.com/american-transformers.asp
prices pretty reasonable io once put a 5.5kva in a boat(a bit over specfor the boat i had)it cost about £250
good luck
ash

 

[BartW]

use the 110V Genny for charging the battery's,
and add on a decent 230V invertor to the DC cirquit.
this way no hassle with the 60Hz, ...
and as an extra advantage you can run the 230V applications without the Genny for a while (depending on the Battery capacity) when silence is required.

 

[andyc]

The fridge still works, just doesnt get cold.The battery charger has never worked from when it was imported.
I already have 2 transformers that are annoying because they buzz.They are identacle looking to construction ones but are quite a bit bigger.
i will have to look into the Hz issue.
I might see if I can get a fridge engineer to look at the fridge as maybe it is out of gas or something.

I think I am going to put in some mains sockets around the rest of the boat and convert the apliances as they break.I am sur I must be able to have the generator converted to do both 240 and 110 as most construction gennys can run either.

 

[zt260]

http://www.airlinktransformers.com/uk-transformers-in-america.asp put one of the upscale transformers between your genny and the 240v appliances if you decide to change them,

ash

 

[Nigelhg]

60Hz fridge motors will not work at 50hz, for a start they are running 18% slower. You might consider wiring them to only run from the 12/24v dc system. FWIW most DC fridges are actually AC with a small inverter. The other option is to see if a 240v 50hz compressor and inverter are available for your model of fridge. If you know what make it is and they do a 240v version chances are this will be case and a competent refridgeration engineer could swap them over for you. Your genny may be able to be configured to 230v, your manual should have details of the wiring configuation for this. If this is possible then the speed of the generator will also need to be changed from 1800 rpm to 1500 or from 3600 rpm to 3000 to change the output frequency to 50Hz. Hope this helps - Nigel.

 

[ccscott49]

Very interesting, these transformers, but they do not change the Herz. Just step up or down transformers. Same as a building site type.
Think about this, 110v 60Hz marine air conditioning units are so cheap in the states they have offers all the time, 12k btu, $850.0. for a full kit! If it was just a matter of a transformer, which you can pick up for 50 quid, why isnt everybody using 110v 60Hz AC's?? Well the point is, they work, but not for long. The voltage is not the problem, the frequency is. So you can use 110v kettles and stuff like that, but anything that has a motor in it or compressor, you have problems.
An inverter could be used, 24 volt to 110v 60Hz, for smaller items, but AC? Not really. I would be discussing this with a specialist in the subject, after all there have been a lot of US boats imported to UK, but all the ones I know have eventually been converted to European standard.

 

[andyc]

It turns out the transformers I have, are the ones on the site mentioned earlier and are specificaly for Us to Uk conversion.They are not construction ones.

 

[claudio]

Interestingly they don't say that they are 'isolating transformers' I assume then that they are autotransformers. Although they 'do the job' and step down the voltage, they will not isolate the boat from galvanic corrosion whilst connected to shore power.