Electrical question

[Ted Wong]

Can a piece of equipment rated at 230v 3ph be safely wired to a box with 208v 3ph power without having to provide any sort of transformer?

[Mark Leu]

A lot of it will depend on the quality of the motor. As far as safety goes, I don't think you will have any problem. Because of the reduced voltage the motor will draw more current and this will cause it to run hotter.

The hotter it runs, the faster it will degrade the insulation in the windings which will lead to shorter motor life. Some motors are designed to run on both voltages with out any problem. If the motor you are using is not designed for it, it will probably work ok but could shorten the motor life.

[Dan Friedrichs]

There is nothing unsafe about it, as long as you don't overheat the motor. Your available torque will be reduced by about 20%, though.

Make sure you measure the current into the motor under full load, and make sure it doesn't exceed the nameplate amps. If it doesn't, you're fine.

If it does, you can get a buck-boost transformer to take the 208 up to 230/240 pretty cheap.