We do have a variation for professional outdoor equipment - a building site will have so-called 'site transformers' ranging from 500W portable units to multi-output multi-kW units that take the 240V in and produce 110V with a centre-tapped earth, much like your 220V system. This gives 110V for site tools in which there's no more than 55VAC from earth. They're not really used outside the building trade, though.
On Fri, Mar 21, 2025 at 11:51 PM David Pye <[email protected]> wrote: > Not just the UK - the whole EU is like that! > > David > > On Fri, 21 Mar 2025, 23:40 gregebert, <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Wow! I had no idea the full 220V was present in the UK; that's a very >> dangerous voltage to touch. In the US, neutral is connected to GND at the >> point-of-entry to the building and there is also a grounding rod though the >> electrical code only requires a maximum of 25 ohms to Earth (it varies due >> to soil condition), and definitely wont suffice as a redundant neutral. >> >> On Friday, March 21, 2025 at 5:58:40 PM UTC+7 Adrian Godwin wrote: >> >>> GFCI is mandatory on new installations in the UK, typically 20mA. >>> However there are a lot of older installations without them. >>> However note that the 230V is not served centre-tapped about earth like >>> US range power : We have a 230V 'live' terminal and neutral is earthed at >>> the substation so may be a few volts above earth at the house due to >>> voltage drops in distribution. So it's nominally 230V above earth too, >>> there is no possibility of getting 110V without a transformer. >>> >>> >>> On Fri, Mar 21, 2025 at 9:55 AM Rik Declercq <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> GFCI is mandatory in Belgium on +all+ outlets, they're placed in the >>>> switchboard, right after the main manual switch, before all other fuses. >>>> There's even 2, actually, one that triggers @ 0.03A (for surviving bathroom >>>> and washing machines.... 'wet' accidents) and one @ 0.3 A for everything >>>> else. Those are placed in series, so often trigger both if you do something >>>> very stupid. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On Fri, Mar 21, 2025 at 8:20 AM gregebert <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>>> For those who live with 220V mains, I'm curious if anyone has used >>>>> 110VAC-to-GND for their projects. I'm sure it violates electrical codes, >>>>> and there are plenty of reasons why doing that is unsafe, but I wouldn't >>>>> be >>>>> surprised if it's been tried by folks here. >>>>> >>>>> GFCI (ground fault circuit interruptors) are commonly used here in the >>>>> US for some outlets inside homes, usually in areas like kitchens or >>>>> bathrooms where water is running, and also outdoors. So, exploiting the >>>>> GND >>>>> prong would cause a GFCI to trip; it's also redundant because all outlets >>>>> have a neutral conductor anyways, so using the GND accomplishes nothing. >>>>> In >>>>> other words, we can't get 60VAC using GND (yeah, if we *did*, then I >>>>> probably would have used it). >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>> Groups "neonixie-l" group. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>>> To view this discussion, visit >>>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/cc46c9e3-2a36-4d2b-8a9f-be150cde0268n%40googlegroups.com >>>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/cc46c9e3-2a36-4d2b-8a9f-be150cde0268n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>>> . >>>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "neonixie-l" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>> >>> To view this discussion, visit >>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CAFNBpdFRa6aoPw3YfMY%2BAizecLxMqO22BN6PfVXeroLnvFuOFg%40mail.gmail.com >>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CAFNBpdFRa6aoPw3YfMY%2BAizecLxMqO22BN6PfVXeroLnvFuOFg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>> . >>>> >>> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "neonixie-l" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To view this discussion, visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/fd1d4ff1-2806-46fb-b4ce-178120a0633cn%40googlegroups.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/fd1d4ff1-2806-46fb-b4ce-178120a0633cn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "neonixie-l" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CAOQ6x0EbfPWxzdbevNvbSm4dC5UgduYqtL9E8tu%2B9mh51vnbgw%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CAOQ6x0EbfPWxzdbevNvbSm4dC5UgduYqtL9E8tu%2B9mh51vnbgw%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CALiMYrsZOOmq-cd%2BirQrBHwEB6BP4hfxnKZe2ZvpNgdCAf5JfA%40mail.gmail.com.
