European 220VAC/50Hz single phase

On a sunny day (Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:08:52 GMT) it happened Jamie Morken wrote in :

I dunno, but most of Europe is 230V these days.

Here in N. America it is referred to as 110/220 split phase and is implemented as you say: 110 from neutral to (each) "hot", and 220 from hot to hot. If the inverter is built with a neutral conductor as well (as built to meet National Electrical Code specifications), it is indeed legal for use in N. America to provide these voltages.

If all you want is the 220v, you can simply not use the neutral conductor. This is how it is normally done in N. America. A ground (earth) should always accompany all of these conductors when wiring, of course.

How you implement this in Europe is anyone's guess as to its legality.

Good luck.

No problem. The hot and neutral conductor are not specified over here so equipment expects 230VAC between hot and neutral. Ofcourse, the equipment must be properly grounded when required.

It's not legal AFAIR. There is no 50:50 split-phase in Europe anymore, maybe with the exception of tiny legacy grids way out in the boonies. At least for new installation you can't do that. Just like here in the US electricians refer to line (often called phase over there) and neutral. And they expect neutral to be neutral ;-)

You should be aware of another snare, "classical earth ground" or whatever they call that. Used to be popular in Germany and it's dangerous: Protective earth is hardwired to neutral in the wall outlets. Now imagine someone touching "neutral" on your unit ... bzzzz ... THUD.

I was thinking about it more and since the output of the converter is isolated, I think one of the 110VAC phases can just hook right up to ground, and then the other will be the live 220VAC/50Hz.

cheers, Jamie

Nominally. All they really did was redefine the tolerances to cover everyone's 220V-240V systems. Britain is still 240V, but that falls withing the 230V +10% -6% range.

On a sunny day (Thu, 31 Jan 2008 08:04:27 +0000) it happened Paul Burke wrote in :

Well, that was how it started, I measure 230 here now.

Maybe I'm reading what you are saying completely wrong but just how is that dangerous? The potential of the neutral of many domestic and commercial installations worldwide is very close to earth - but not hardwired as such.

Be careful, some inverters are not isolated and put the 12V battery in series with the secondary circuit to save a few pennies on the transformer core. True sine versions are sometimes better because they sell for more money. Sometimes, not always.

Example, happened to me once: Neutral got loose in a wiring box. I plugged an appliance in and turned it on. Nada. Dang! Tilted it with both hands to see whether the power cord had fallen out the back IEC connector, and my knee touched a radiator. The large ones they use for heating over there, connected to the central heat and water. Bzzz ... OUCH! Because the neutral had come off and PE was bridged to it in a downstream outlet the enclosure was now live at 230VAC, "current limited" by a 1500W heating coil in that appliance.