Shore power on US boat

[feef]

Anyone have info on buying a US boat and converting electrics to use in UK/EU?
Is it possible to fit an isolation transformer which steps down from 240v to 110v and changes the frequency from 50Hz up to 60Hz for the US appliances on board.

The boat is Blue Shamu, a Fisher 46, built in the UK in 1977 and exported to the US. As far as I know all on board electrics are US orientated. There is a 110v/240v Onan generator, 12v and 24v DC circuits.
I have Boatowners Mech & Elec Man by N.Calder but can't find the ultimate answer.
Is this the equivalent of buying the proverbial can of worms??
/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Any educated guesses or info welcome. Merry Xmas!

 

[PaulS]

While I understand there is such a beast available I believe they are terribly expensive. Probably would be cheaper to just replace the appliances. How many can there be? Microwave, refrig. Tv you would have to replace anyway...won't work in europe. All the boaty type stuff probably runs off of the 12 volt system.

 

[snowleopard]

to just get 110v you can buy a building site transformer from e.g. screwfix. to get from 50Hz to 60Hz you'll need an inverter or an MG set. in the long run it would be easier to replace anything that really needs 60Hz. i suspect not many things do. a lot of electrical equipment has switches to change between 110v and 220v by just selecting different transformer tappings.

 

[catmandoo]

Watch 110 volts !

Americans get 220 v by linking two phases so does your boat have 2 shore supply connections ?

 

[Talbot]

Most items that are designed for 60Hz will run perfectly well at 50Hz albeit slightly slower. If you do decide to rip out the 110v stuff and go entirely 230v, you should also replace all the mains cable as well, as it will be specced for 110v and will not be man enough for 230v

 

[Anonymous]

[ QUOTE ]
Most items that are designed for 60Hz will run perfectly well at 50Hz albeit slightly slower. If you do decide to rip out the 110v stuff and go entirely 230v, you should also replace all the mains cable as well, as it will be specced for 110v and will not be man enough for 230v

[/ QUOTE ]The cores of transformers and rotating machines can saturate at lower frequency, resulting in high loss, temperature rise, excess current and potentially fire. If the boat was built by Fisher in the UK then maybe the cable is standard 250V stuff.

 

[Talbot]

I can only speak from some years of experience of using 50Hz appliances in a 60Hz setting and vice versa. 50Hz stuff runs overfast and will burn out a long time before their designed life, but had no trouble the other way.

 

[cliffb]

Sorry Talbot, I have to disagree with you. Feef is going from 110v 60hz to 220v 50hz. Assuming that the appliances are US then the 60 hz stuff will run slower (marginally) ....which I suppose could mean that cooling fans will run slower and hence the appliance will not cool as much as it should. Is that what you meant?
Also .... 110v cable is designed to carry a higher ampage than 220v cable, therefore it should easily be man enough for 220v.
On balance though, I concur with a previous poster.... change the 110v mains appliances for 220v. Surely has to be the easiest method. Step down transformers, inverters etc are bound to cause problems in the long run.

 

[Anonymous]

[ QUOTE ]
I can only speak from some years of experience of using 50Hz appliances in a 60Hz setting and vice versa. 50Hz stuff runs overfast and will burn out a long time before their designed life, but had no trouble the other way.

[/ QUOTE ]If you are thinking of things with small motors run only for a few minutes - mixers, etc., then that makes some sense but anything with a transformer (e.g. TVs, plug-in dc adaptors, etc.) or heavier motors, is a risk. If you consider the primary winding on a transformer, it is designed so that the self inductance of the winding (on the core) is high enough to represent a very high impedance at the operating frequency. For this to work, the iron core of the transformer (or motor) must not be in (magnetic) saturation. If you reduce the frequency then the magnetising current rises, raising the flux density in the core. If the flux density exceeds the maximum for that core (and this is temperature dependant) then the core will saturate and high fault currents can flow. This can become a 'runaway' situation so just because it works when you turn it on does not mean that you won't have a problem hours later, or when the air temperature rises.

 

[npf1]

Quality 220/240 to 110 step down transformers that can handle a continous load are available for $350 in the USA - that's for a 5kw. Although it's another thing to go wrong, it a far cheaper option that replacing the appliances. Avoid the building site transformers as they are not designed for a continous load. Also, to buy a good step down in the UK costs an absolute fortune.

For most equipment, the frequency is not an issue. Where there is an issue, just buy a small UK inverter.

Problem solved!

 

[feef]

Many thanks for all your efforts folks. I am reading through all the opinions and advice.

The boat was built by Fairways Marine and Berthon. I do not know what the two diff. companies had responsibilty for. It could be that the 'thick bits' are ready for 230v-250v. I have not got all the finances together yet and naturally the cost of getting her ready for UK/EU and transport all add up.
Many thanks to all.... evaluating the pro's and con's continues.....

 

[feef]

There is a 8Kw Onan generator. I suppose that she will be quite self-sufficient (-and noisey?).
Maybe I can offset the whole shore power thing and try to become a good friend of Nigel Calder in the meantime.