American power tools...

[Pete Howlett]

I know this is a topic at the front of the site but my take - I lived and worked in America and brought a lot of my power tools there. When I returned to the UK I had a transformer made up for me that would accept the very weird and flimsy 2 pin plugs that are used in the US and now have a variety of 110v and 240v routers - 13 in all! The great thing about buying US while you are over there is the cost of tools is half of that in the UK. Use them once in the coutry of pruchase and you do not have to pay duty when you bring them across the border. My daughter will be bringing me some stuff on her Christmas visit from Canada - can't wait!

 

[Grinding One]

I know this is a topic at the front of the site but my take - I lived and worked in America and brought a lot of my power tools there. When I returned to the UK I had a transformer made up for me that would accept the very weird and flimsy 2 pin plugs that are used in the US and now have a variety of 110v and 240v routers - 13 in all! The great thing about buying US while you are over there is the cost of tools is half of that in the UK. Use them once in the coutry of pruchase and you do not have to pay duty when you bring them across the border. My daughter will be bringing me some stuff on her Christmas visit from Canada - can't wait!

Holy Cow !! 2 Pins?? You must have bought China`s stuff....UL approved is 3 pin .Phase ,Gound,and neutral.Shuck that stuff away before you get hurt.There sure is a load of crap being sold over here ,I hate to see someone die from it.There has been quite a few people killed when neutrals went bad.Improperly grounded ....

 

[Pete Howlett]

How can 110v kill you? I thought that is why you guys had low voltage. All of my US stuff has just 2 pins and I have been using it for over 10 years no problem. Circuit breakers and stuff here in the UK make it all very safe.

 

[Travis]

Hello Pete
Most,if not all. power tools sold in the US have only 2 blades on the power cord if the housing of the tool is plastic. Back before the plastic housings, our power cords had 2 blades and a pin. The pin had the safety ground on it. It was attached inside the tool to the metal housing. I still have a few of the old tools with metal housings.

On another note--No need to buy cheap tools in the US--If the stock market keeps going down. you can buy the whole company.

Travis

 

[Pete Howlett]

Would that were true Travis... at the height of the pound's strength the speed sander I wanted was still over $1100 her in the UK. I could get it for $495 if I was in the US.... Prices never go down -they always go up!

 

[apj101]

How can 110v kill you? I thought that is why you guys had low voltage. All of my US stuff has just 2 pins and I have been using it for over 10 years no problem. Circuit breakers and stuff here in the UK make it all very safe.

voltage matter little, its just a measure of difference in eletrical potential, not a measure of the flow of electricity. Its the current that matters!

 

[wizer]

I have thought about this in the past. In the US Rigid do a bobbin sander which doubles as a belt sander. Looks like a top notch machine and would have cost less than the dubious one that I bought here.

Thing is, postage of power tools, especially machinery is so expensive that it wipes out any worthwhile savings. Good point about the tool being used, but that's only if you are physically bringing it back through customs. I'm not lucky enough to have regular business trips to the US, more like Shepherds Bush!

 

[p111dom]

How can 110v kill you? I thought that is why you guys had low voltage. All of my US stuff has just 2 pins and I have been using it for over 10 years no problem. Circuit breakers and stuff here in the UK make it all very safe.

voltage matter little, its just a measure of difference in eletrical potential, not a measure of the flow of electricity. Its the current that matters!

I agree. We were always tought at school volts jolt, current kills. Check out the Ampage. The US stuff seems to be higher than ours.

 

[Michaelsb]

I am trying to obtain a Sears Craftsman Radial Arm Saw, I owned one for 20 years and foolishly sold it when I moved house and have regretted it ever since.

I have found most American tools to be of good quality and often ahead of ours in term of fitting induction motors long before us.

 

[tnimble]

How can 110v kill you? I thought that is why you guys had low voltage. All of my US stuff has just 2 pins and I have been using it for over 10 years no problem. Circuit breakers and stuff here in the UK make it all very safe.

It sure can kill you, only voltages below 50V AC and 120V DC are considered safe under normal circumstance. Beside being roasted also any current over about 5mA ( 0.005 A ) for just a few thousands of a second is fatal. Causes the hart to go into ventricular fibrillation.

 

[JohnBrown]

How can 110v kill you? I thought that is why you guys had low voltage. All of my US stuff has just 2 pins and I have been using it for over 10 years no problem. Circuit breakers and stuff here in the UK make it all very safe.

voltage matter little, its just a measure of difference in eletrical potential, not a measure of the flow of electricity. Its the current that matters!

I agree. We were always tought at school volts jolt, current kills. Check out the Ampage. The US stuff seems to be higher than ours.

Errr.. Current and voltage are intimately related! The amount of current that a power tool needs is irelevant. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohm's_law

 

[TheTiddles]

it also depends on where the current goes and how susceptible you are. Old guys with heart conditions are not in a good state to withstand shocks of any sort.

Aidan

 

[ike]

I've had electrickery shocks. 110V is unpleasant to say the least. 240V is a real b*****d! Fatal? - well I guess I was lucky on all occasions!

 

[Mr Ed]

I am no electrical engineer so will not enter the discussion on current, voltage and the like.

What I do know from my work in construction and what I have been told in countless safety courses is that 110V at whatever current we use it at on UK sites is not likely to be fatal. In fact there are no recorded deaths on UK construction sites from electrocution by 110V.

Cheers, Ed

 

[JohnBrown]

As I understand it, the power on construction sites is 110V but with a centre tap to ground, so the maximum theoretical voltage you can experience is 55V. This is not the case for either USA household wiring, or the auto-transformers you might buy for running American household appliances in the UK.

 

[tnimble]

As I understand it, the power on construction sites is 110V but with a centre tap to ground, so the maximum theoretical voltage you can experience is 55V. This is not the case for either USA household wiring, or the auto-transformers you might buy for running American household appliances in the UK.

Has little to do with halving the voltage. The grounding of the metal part cause an immediate short-circuit when the equipment is faulty blowing the fuse instead of having the metal parts having a voltage on them until the human touches it and the short cirquit goes through the human.

Also there are many ways for a human to receive an electrical shock. Standing about on isolating shoes on isolating carpet while leaning your back against a copper or metal water tube while holding a drill with metal part that faults will be most probably fatal. Only a residual current device (RCD) or a residual current circuit breaker (RCCB) can have saved that person.

Standing in a puddle with the same drill in your right hand would give you a good jolt and with no RCD / RCCB present may give you some pretty burns on your hand and probably a numb and sore right arm and leg for a couple of hours. A lefty would be in worse shape.

 

[Anonymous]

I am no electrical engineer so will not enter the discussion on current, voltage and the like.

What I do know from my work in construction and what I have been told in countless safety courses is that 110V at whatever current we use it at on UK sites is not likely to be fatal. In fact there are no recorded deaths on UK construction sites from electrocution by 110V.

Cheers, Ed

I am an electrical engineer and 110V CAN kill.

It takes only a few tens of mA across the heart in very unfavourable conditions, and a few hundred milliamps across the chest for more than 10mS is enough to cause ventricular fibrillation (heart stops beating and flutters - no blood is pumped)

Any voltage above 30V is considered dangerous in the wrong circumstances.

In fact there are no recorded deaths on UK construction sites from electrocution by 110V

Do you have a source for this?


110V reduces the risk from electric shock, it deos not illiminate it.

 

[Lee Brubaker]

Voltage is voltage, ampherage is ampherage, & the only difference between the two sides of the pond is that on our side the hydro is 60 cycles & on your side it's 50 cycles. Hence when we visit relatives up in Hartlepool I need an adaptor for my electric shaver.
This is why an individual with sharp eyesight can actually see your light bulbs pulse due to the lower cycles.

Lee

 

[Mr Ed]

In fact there are no recorded deaths on UK construction sites from electrocution by 110V

Do you have a source for this?

Something I was told by a trainer on an IOSH Health and Safety course. I don't know the source of his information, but I presumed it to be based on something reasonably robust to be included in the course. Note that he was not saying you cannot die from 110V, nor was he saying that no-one ever has, just that on UK construction sites (with whatever configuration of 110V we have to use there) there are no recorded fatalities. Its probably wrong of me to repeat a statement without having the full provenance of it to hand, but I had no reason to doubt it.

Cheers, Ed

 

[Mr Ed]

An interesting discussion on exactly this in this thread here;

http://www.iosh.co.uk/index.cfm?go=disc ... read=23497

Several other people repeating the 'no recorded deaths'. Fact or not fact - who can say, but its not just me thats been told it...

Cheers, Ed