AVB Posted May 1, 2018 Report Share Posted May 1, 2018 I have never really understood it. My dad told me not to trust it as you couldn't see it nor smell it. Anyway in Japan, where I am at the moment, they have 110 volt mains, the same as the US. What's the advantage/disadvantage of that over our 240 volt mains? I assume less people get killed by 110v but electrical things still work so I can't see the downside. So 110v vs 240v? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultrastu Posted May 1, 2018 Report Share Posted May 1, 2018 I believe that you require more current for 110 v over 240 volts . And its the current that kills not voltage .so in some ways the 110v can be more dangerous Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KB1 Posted May 1, 2018 Report Share Posted May 1, 2018 17 minutes ago, Ultrastu said: I believe that you require more current for 110 v over 240 volts . And its the current that kills not voltage .so in some ways the 110v can be more dangerous ?????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark a Posted May 1, 2018 Report Share Posted May 1, 2018 Hi i thought 110 was safer that’s why it’s used in industry for power tools mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KB1 Posted May 1, 2018 Report Share Posted May 1, 2018 7 minutes ago, mark a said: Hi i thought 110 was safer that’s why it’s used in industry for power tools mark It is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellow Bear Posted May 1, 2018 Report Share Posted May 1, 2018 to quote an old sparky that I used to work with - "It only takes 11 volts to kill a pig" - It is current that kills not voltage. IIRC 110 volts industrial is actually 55v per phase and phase to phase so if you "earth" it there is only a 55v "shock" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
figgy Posted May 1, 2018 Report Share Posted May 1, 2018 (edited) Voltage is like pressure Current is like volume. So imagine a garden hose with high pressure got a bit of oomph but no real volume to fill any thing like a pond thats lets say its like 230 volts, a fire hose with a open end has low pressure half that of the garden hose but plenty of volume to fill things with say like 110 volts. so 230 volts can run a bit of kit with say 10 amps but at 110 volts you would need 20 amps for it to work the same. Maybe not the best analogy but it how it is. Perfect example is a 12 volt car battery has low volts but huge amps. Edited May 1, 2018 by figgy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westward Posted May 1, 2018 Report Share Posted May 1, 2018 2 hours ago, Ultrastu said: I believe that you require more current for 110 v over 240 volts . And its the current that kills not voltage .so in some ways the 110v can be more dangerous You need more current to produce the same wattage (power) but the current is determined by the resistance therefore the current in something like the human body with 240v will be more than twice as much as 110v. It's directly proportional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amateur Posted May 1, 2018 Report Share Posted May 1, 2018 (edited) The history of electric power in the United States is a sordid thing. Thomas Edison was heavily invested in DC power. He had a fair portion of NYC all wired for power and quite a few booster stations up and running. The boosters were needed every few miles because of the rate of loss for DC. Beyond being committed to DC in a big way, Edison and Nikola Tesla were feuding over the AC/DC issue. Tesla, a genius in his own right, had worked for Edison at one time. He quit over Edison's disdain of Tesla's design of an AC motor and whether he should be paid extra for innovations he developed for Edison. (Tesla's motor is still in use to this day.) Later Tesla teamed up with George Westinghouse to develop the use of AC power. The two won a contract to transmit power from the Niagara Power Plant to a city quite a ways away. Possibly Buffalo but I'm not positive of that. The main reason they were awarded the contract is that AC didn't need the booster stations every 30–50 miles, thus cutting construction costs and reducing ongoing maintenance expenses. Thomas Edison then began a program to demonize AC power. He spread the idea that AC is more dangerous. To prove this he had animals of various kinds electrocuted. This spectacle culminated in the botched killing of an elephant. The animal died but it wasn't pretty. He also persuaded New York state to use AC current in the execution of people on death row. The ultimate result of all this was that although AC power was found to be far more efficient to transmit over long distances, Americans had become leery of it and didn't want the AC voltage in their homes to be very high. Therefore the standard voltage in the United States was set at 120 volts, while Europe and much of the rest of the world went with 240 volts because it is more efficient. All thanks to Thomas Edison. Lifted from the internet Edited May 1, 2018 by amateur Source Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Geordie Posted May 1, 2018 Report Share Posted May 1, 2018 3 hours ago, AVB said: I have never really understood it. My dad told me not to trust it as you couldn't see it nor smell it. Anyway in Japan, where I am at the moment, they have 110 volt mains, the same as the US. What's the advantage/disadvantage of that over our 240 volt mains? I assume less people get killed by 110v but electrical things still work so I can't see the downside. So 110v vs 240v? Half the voltage = half the price surely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_R Posted May 2, 2018 Report Share Posted May 2, 2018 (edited) Actually it is 100 volts in Japan, yet another anomaly. 220/240 is far more efficient, less voltage drop over a longer cable. The lower current means cable sizes are far smaller for the same wattage required. Many USA homes are now getting a 240 supply for the larger items, in addition to the usual 120 for everything else. Edited May 2, 2018 by John_R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPeanut Posted May 2, 2018 Report Share Posted May 2, 2018 (edited) 17 hours ago, mark a said: Hi i thought 110 was safer that’s why it’s used in industry for power tools mark 110V on site has centre tapped earth so you have 110V between L and "N" but only 55 to earth. There is no neutral in a CTE 110V system so it is really 110 between L and L Edited May 2, 2018 by MrPeanut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clakk Posted May 2, 2018 Report Share Posted May 2, 2018 Just soo glad the machines i work on are 415v ,3 phase none of this namby pamby lightweight stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westward Posted May 2, 2018 Report Share Posted May 2, 2018 46 minutes ago, clakk said: Just soo glad the machines i work on are 415v ,3 phase none of this namby pamby lightweight stuff 3 phase machinery is usually pretty serious and draws a lot of current and can unbalance the local grid if run off a single phase. My house used to be a dairy up till 1983 and when we moved in the 3 phase supply was still there with 2 phases terminated. I was sooooo tempted to be naughty but then a couple of years back the main feed was replaced as single phase so I'm glad I resisted the temptation to snarf some free juice as I would have ended up with a criminal record. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KB1 Posted May 2, 2018 Report Share Posted May 2, 2018 Even if just for a laugh, watch this short video….. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
figgy Posted May 3, 2018 Report Share Posted May 3, 2018 Idiot had me chuckling when he shot backwards out of his chair putting the electrodes to his tongue with the wrong voltage. Very amusing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clakk Posted May 3, 2018 Report Share Posted May 3, 2018 22 hours ago, Westward said: 3 phase machinery is usually pretty serious and draws a lot of current and can unbalance the local grid if run off a single phase. My house used to be a dairy up till 1983 and when we moved in the 3 phase supply was still there with 2 phases terminated. I was sooooo tempted to be naughty but then a couple of years back the main feed was replaced as single phase so I'm glad I resisted the temptation to snarf some free juice as I would have ended up with a criminal record. We have our own sub station inside the factory 4 x 11kva units and 1x 8kva so i dont want that electric bill cheers muchly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KB1 Posted May 3, 2018 Report Share Posted May 3, 2018 3 hours ago, figgy said: Idiot had me chuckling when he shot backwards out of his chair putting the electrodes to his tongue with the wrong voltage. Very amusing. I was having a look at some of his other videos on YouTube, and just cant help laughing at the guy. He comes across as a crazy genius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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