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Thread: 220v from 2 x 110v plugs

  1. #61
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by adam krause View Post
    I see this is a very old thread but I'm in the middle of making a decision on this topic. I'm a commercial painting contractor and we also refinish hardwood floors. We just bought a brand new Clarke Floor Crafter belt sander that runs on 220. On a floor refinishing forum not unlike this one, a few guys said they have used this Sidewinder Power Cord to pull from (2) 110 outlets to get 220 into the machine while working in older buildings where there is no dryer or stove plug. I'm glad I stumbled across this forum because it seems like most of you say NO, NO, NO.
    Question: Does anyone have any experience with this cord @ bottom of the page on the following link: http://www.ussander.com/products/?main=su&type=plug
    That thing is an abomination, should never see the light of day and it cannot possibly be legal. Think about it for a minute; what happens if 1 of the 120V cord ends gets unplugged when the machine is turned on? That's right, you will have a 120V live prong exposed & waiting to zap someone because it's getting back fed from the other circuit through the machine. Even if the motor is not running but the machine has electronic controls that are in the circuit it can be enough to deal a fatal shock.

    I hate to even think of the trouble you would be in if you brought that on to a job site & someone got hurt.

    It would be possible to build such a thing with protection relays in it to disconnect everything if one of the sources is disconnected, but the website doesn't make any references to that.

  2. #62
    There have been numerous times one of the other trades comes to us on a job with some cobbled together thing and asked one of us to hook it up for them so they can run one of their machines. Usually, I've had to make some alterations to the setup like doing some rewiring or make something from our job stock. Some of these contraptions were one moment from disaster yet the owner of the machine would say, "I've hooked it up on other jobs and it worked fine."

    That Sidewinder thing has almost all the cord length on the 120v side. I can just see now... someone plugging one end into an outlet then going from one outlet to the next with the other end until they got 240v. And then saying, "OK! We're good to go! Let 'er rip!""


  3. #63
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Cutler View Post
    Art

    The motor on my General International, 50-220C, hybrid, tablesaw, is rated for 2 hp. It came with a pre-wired, moulded , 120vac, 15 amp plug. It's got, or had, the UL cert tag right on the cord.
    I think that's pretty unusual, Mike. 120V times 15 amps is 1,800 watts. A HP is about 750 watts but there are losses in the motor, plus a power factor issue. In my experience a good efficient motor will require at least 1,000 VA (volts times amps, which accounts for the power factor losses) and perhaps even more than 1,000 VA per HP.

    And if it really will produce 2 HP it seems that it would be pretty easy to exceed 15 amps when it's producing that 2HP.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  4. #64
    Somebody mentioned it before but a 5000W or bigger generator would work if you just need to run you 220V machines to make some cuts and then go back to your 110V tools. Almost all generators in this class have a 220V 30amp twist lock plug. Heavy usage of the 220V stuff would make this option not too desirable due to fuel cost and hassle factor, but it is an option.

  5. #65
    You could apparently do what the OP wants in Canada, but not necessarily the US.
    http://woodgears.ca/bandmill/misadventure.html

  6. #66
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Henderson View Post
    I think that's pretty unusual, Mike. 120V times 15 amps is 1,800 watts. A HP is about 750 watts but there are losses in the motor, plus a power factor issue. In my experience a good efficient motor will require at least 1,000 VA (volts times amps, which accounts for the power factor losses) and perhaps even more than 1,000 VA per HP.

    And if it really will produce 2 HP it seems that it would be pretty easy to exceed 15 amps when it's producing that 2HP.

    Mike
    Mike

    I actually don't think it's 2 hp personally, something less in all probability, but that is how the motor nameplate data reads.
    I was surprised it came prewired.
    "The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)

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