USA electrical equipment used on board- can I?

[rubblequeen]

Selling up in the States and have several power tools etc just wondered if they can be used on board plugged into the 12v circuit somehow.

 

Tried to research it but to be honest don't understand a thing about volts and amps etc. All I know is my wife plugged in her hair dryer to a regular British socket - with a plug adapter - and it burnt out.

 

So do I leave it all there or can I make use of the tools here?

 

Thanks Tony

[Alan de Enfield]

USA 'mains' is 110 volt at 60 Hz

 

UK mains is 220 volt at 50hz

 

Boat electrics 12 volt DC (usually)

 

Basically it is not practical to use USA tools in the UK - they will burn out.

 

You can get a 220 to 110 transformer which my Brother in law has done on his US camper van so it just depends on how much 'messing about' you want to do - if you adapt your boat electrics to 110 volt then you cannot use UK 220 volt stuff.

[Robbo]

Lots of site tools here are 110v, they use a site transformer to convert from 240v. They cost around £60-80 so it depends if your tools are really worth keeping, etc to bring over.

[Alan de Enfield]

Lots of site tools here are 110v, they use a site transformer to convert from 240v. They cost around £60-80 so it depends if your tools are really worth keeping, etc to bring over.

 

I do not know if that would work as US equipment is designed to run at 60hz.

My Brother In Law certainly had to get a 'special' transformer to allow the washing machine, microwave and coffee maker to work.

 

Maybe drills etc are less sensitive.

 

One way around it would be to buy a US Inverter 12v DC - 110 v AC 60hz, you could then have the inverter on a 'fly lead' connected to the batteries when you wanted to use the tools - I'd suggest it would be a bit of a 'faff'.

 

Have a yard sale and then buy new ones here.

[Alan de Enfield]

12v to 120v-110v US Inverter $66

 

http://www.amazon.com/BESTEK-1000w-Inverter-Supply-MRI10011-1/dp/B007SLDDHQ

[rubblequeen]

Thanks everyone, made the decision easy - donate them to the local charity shop.

Tony

[Detling]

Another option is to buy a 12V inverter in the States and bring it with you, you can then have 110V 60Hz on the boat via the inverter from the batteries. You would probably need to bring the breakers and sockets to make it a safe installation, I suspect you may need a 240V 50Hz system for UK sourced items as well on the boat.