Running Bauer Oceanus E1-PB/208 on household 240v

[DiverDiverRUOK]

I have a piece of 208VAC equipment hooked up to my homes 240VAC. Trick was a small boost transformer. But correctly sizing a boost transformer for a 5HP motor is beyond my knowledge, and possibly even cost prohibitive.

If you can't figure out a transformer, a new motor for it is going to be $500, and you are unlikely to find another solution cheaper then that. ( , mounting holes may or may not line up right).

Thanks for the reply! I just looked at the actual motor on the compressor (the tag is relatively well-covered and hard to get to) - looks similar to the one in your message:

5HP
60Hz / PH1
Volts - 208-230
RPM - 3450
Amps: 22.5-20.0

This looks like it should work on 230V, am I wrong?

 

[Tracy]

Plug it in, it will work fine.

 

[tbone1004]

@tbone1004

what if I don't wanna?

@DiverDiverRUOK if you can post an actual picture of the motor that would be ideal.

Some background.

There are two ways to wiring 3-phase devices, one is Wye and the other is Delta. Delta is what power transmission uses and it is used for some big ass motors but Wye/Star is much more common in smaller applications though it requires a 4th wire. When you see a motor rated at 208/230 it typically means it is a 3-phase motor because 208 is the Wye voltage and 230 is the Delta voltage.

Irritatingly single phase voltage in the US can be called out as 110, 115, 120 even though it is all the same intended voltage. Most engineers tend to prefer to use 120vac/240vac for single phase voltage description for the US because it provides a clear definition between 230vac single pole used in Europe and 208vac which is the more common 3-phase voltage in the US.

NEMA requires that any motor designed for 230vac can run on 208vac without issue and subsequently it would have no problem running on 240vac so long as the phases are correct.

If this pump was sold in the US and was running in the US, then it is most likely fine and just has an irritating dataplate on it. It clearly calls out 1p which is ideal and then the question is whether it is 4-wire split phase *US dryer/oven type outlet*, or 3-wire single phase *Europe*, but it's most likely setup for 2-pole split-phase and you'll be perfectly fine.

 

[DiverDiverRUOK]

@tbone1004 Thanks for the response! The compressor is the yacht package version and the motor itself is covered pretty well by the frame/housing so it's hard to get a good photo of the label. All the info I could get off of it was this:

Lincoln Electric
5HP
60Hz / PH1
Volts - 208-230
RPM - 3450
Amps: 22.5-20.0

The power cable currently attached is a 10/3 - I'm guessing 3x 10 gauge wires. Plug was changed by the PO because they were using it in a trailer setup so I can put whatever plug on there makes the most sense. I did pop the current plug off and it has three wires running to it - looks like 2 hot and one ground.

 

[tbone1004]

@tbone1004 Thanks for the response! The compressor is the yacht package version and the motor itself is covered pretty well by the frame/housing so it's hard to get a good photo of the label. All the info I could get off of it was this:

Lincoln Electric
5HP
60Hz / PH1
Volts - 208-230
RPM - 3450
Amps: 22.5-20.0

The power cable currently attached is a 10/3 - I'm guessing 3x 10 gauge wires. Plug was changed by the PO because they were using it in a trailer setup so I can put whatever plug on there makes the most sense. I did pop the current plug off and it has three wires running to it - looks like 2 hot and one ground.

If it's been trailered in the US then it's setup for 240vac split phase. 10/3 without a grounding strap is like the old wiring in houses for dryers which isn't necessarily ideal since you want the 4th wire to keep the ground and neutral separate but I wouldn't worry about changing anything to it.

 

[IyaDiver]

RUOK,

Hope this can help ..........


I never knew USA electrical system has so much variants.
I know well the 120/240 3 wire split phase because of US yachts I used to take care of, but never expected 208 Y 3 phase and 240V Delta 3 phase.

I have always thought USA 3 phase would be the 460V-480V be it industry or home use.

Where I am from it is easy. It is 50hz.
A house bigger than 10.5 Kva requirement will get 3 phase 230/400V, up to 150Kva.
Below 10.5Kva we can get single phase 230V.

Above 150 Kva we will become medium voltage 20,000V customer and will have to pay for our own 20KV>>230/400V 3 phase transformer and the 20Kv switchgear and pay for KVAR fine if power factor is bad. Per unit Kw hour is surely cheaper by 40% than usual small power customer, but there will be peak demand surcharge which is the same as small power customer.