Converting frequency on US devices (60Hz - 50Hz)

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and.and

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Hi friends, hope this is the right session where to post this thread..
first of all hank you so much for the opportunity to write herei'm looking for a solution to make it work in Italy an USA air dryer.The air dryer is compatible with 120V/60hz 15amp, in Italy we use 230V 50HZ. I am looking to design my own frequency converter / circuit even rewinding he motor, Another option is to make it work with an inverter which should still provide the correct voltage & 60Hz frequency sinewave output.
as you can imagine i am looking any way possible to make this air dryer work in italy, i really need his particular model to work in Italy and implement it in my wife air saloon.
Thank you really in advance everybody that give me any support and even willing to work with me on his project
Best regards Andrea
 
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and.and said:
thank you so much , i see this frequency adjuster is very heavy industrial type , i am very amazed that nothing smaller for homes use can be find on the market
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There's no need, and they would cost a lot, so there would be little point in producing something like that.

The hair dryer that you want to use is about the only appliance that is high power, might not work with the wrong frequency supply, and is not available with a version for 240 V 50Hz supplies.

Very low power appliances are USB powered, or they work on a wide range of voltages, or they are easily available in local voltage forms. Lightbulbs would fall into that last category.

Larger appliances are not expected to be moved from one country to another, so they are usually available for the local voltages, or are switchable, or just work with any input voltage.

Stoves and dryers etc. are often made for 240 V when supplied to the American market, and run on the two phases that supply most American houses. Appliances like that will almost always work on the 240 V Live - Neutral that is common in the rest of the world.

For the few remaining devices, a transformer will usually work.

Which all means that the market for frequency conversion at higher powers is really very small.
 
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Thank you so much for this reply it make a lot of sense.
Yr
Diver300 said:
might not work with the wrong frequency supply,
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Yes i have been reading online and it seems very clear to me that the only step down voltage transformer is not sufficient to make this think work properly.
If i want to put hands on the motor and do some technical process that involves modifying the motor's coil or rewinding the motor to match the new voltage and new frequency do you think is something possible?
 
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I think that there are two motors, one for the fan that blows hot air and one that is the vacuum. I think that both are variable speed.

As MaxHeadRoom78 says, you need to determine what type of motor they are. The fact that the speed varies means that the electrical supply can't be directly connected to the motor. There has to be some change to vary the speed. How that is done depends on the type of motor.

It would not be a good plan to rewind the motor. It would be far easier to provide 120 V 60 Hz to the electronics that feeds the motor. There would not need to be much power if the heater were separated off and run from a transformer.
 
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and.and said:
Thank you so much for this reply it make a lot of sense.
Yr

Yes i have been reading online and it seems very clear to me that the only step down voltage transformer is not sufficient to make this think work properly.
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You almost certainly are completely wrong on that - why not just get one and try it?.

It's VERY, VERY rare for 110V/60Hz devices not to work on 110V/50Hz - and they are generally things with syncronous motors that need to run at the correct speed, like clocks or record decks.
 
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and.and said:
Yes i have been reading online and it seems very clear to me that the only step down voltage transformer is not sufficient to make this think work properly.
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There's been nothing in this thread to support that view. The instructions say that the hair dryer can't be run from a transformer, but, as I said before, that can't be technically correct because everything is run from transformer, usually one at the end of the street or on a utility pole.

The instructions are probably trying to say that there are no voltage converters or adaptors that you might travel with which will work, which could well be correct. A transformer that can supply 2kW is around 15 kg.

While it's just about possible to have devices that don't work at 50 Hz, they are rare. One hairdressing device are the trimmers or clippers, which are resonant at the mains frequency, and they won't work at 50 Hz if designed for 60 Hz, and vice-versa. Of course they only run at one speed.
 
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For The Popcorn said:
Did you look at link? It's US$400 for one of these things! If there's any honesty to the company's claims that using a converter or transformer will destroy the (adjective deleted) thing, that would be a costly test!
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Just because they post something doesn't mean it has the slightest meaning in reality - perhaps you care to explain your reasoning behind beleiving it?, and the mechanism of such destruction?.
 
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For The Popcorn said:
I will refrain from arguing my point. Do I believe that using a transform will destroy it? Probably not. But what reason would the vendor have to make that claim?
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The reason is obvious - to prevent people plugging them in to 220/230/240V and blowing them up.

Many of the 'so called' voltage converters are also just crude electronic devices (not mains transformers), which don't really convert properly anyway, and can only handle very low powers. Using such a device is going to kill it, and most likely feed full 230V mains to the drier.
 
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You should use a work site isolation transformer (230-to-115V) to get the right voltage. You'll have to live with the frequency difference which will manifest itself as a slightly slower motor speed (depends on the type of motor actually). If you can separate the motor from the heater elements you could power the motor using a simple inverter as the power consumption of the motor itself will be quite reasonable.
 
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Pommie said:
Would half wave rectification work in most cases?

Mike.
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No. It would help in a few cases.

However there are almost certainly adaptors out there that claim to convert 240 to 120 V by just half wave rectifying and ignore that fact that it will destroy many appliances.

It is the existence of such adaptors that encourages the hair dryer manufacturer to say that no adaptors can possibly work.
 
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Pommie said:
Would half wave rectification work in most cases?

Mike.
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No, no, and no - it would destroy the unit - it doesn't half the voltage, or the power.

I came across numerous examples of it where people had bought gear in the USA, and brought it back to the UK - and tried a half wave rectifer. We used to often supply auto-transformers to people who brought gear back.
 
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MaxHeadRoom78 said:
You need to determine the type of motor fitted first.
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good evening dear friend , i hear you very well, i am getting in touch with somebody i hire on fiveer that is buying the product in usa and shipping it to me, getting closer to have the product here with me so i can snap some pictures and show you what is in it
 
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Diver300 said:
As MaxHeadRoom78 says, you need to determine what type of motor they are. The fact that the speed varies means that the electrical supply can't be directly connected to the motor.
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thank you so much sir appreciate to learn from you
Diver300 said:
How that is done depends on the type of motor.
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iam actually doing all the possible to get the product in Italy, so that we can opent this easter egg lol
iam hiring somebody on Fiveer and will let the person ship me as a family gift so that i no pay duty tax or get it seized. lets see.
 
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thank you dear sir for your reply, noted.

to be honest iam just trying to let it work in the safest way possible, then after i succed, i will install in my wife hair salon and from the gain from it i will actually buy more and do all the experiment till we find a better solution So at moment i have strictly the money to buy 1 piece and make it to work.
 
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christinescoms said:
site isolation transformer
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thank you so much sir for your reply never heard of this one before am on it googling and learning
christinescoms said:
(depends on the type of motor actually).
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actually my plan is to open up a device as soon i have it in my hands, and show here a picture of this terrible frequency fear fear motor lolz
so just in case you guys give me a red flag about any solely trasformer application i wouldnt move
sincerely Andrea
 
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