Maxstar 140 on European 220v?

[fun4now]

its funny we generaly never think about our power as strange till we look at all the options. kinda neat to see all the diferent plugs.
i wonder why we chose a 120V/240V system as aposed to just strait 220V like europe??? seems easyer to stick to just 220V. i remember selling all my electronics befor returning home in the service. kind of a bummer i has some nice stuff but who wants to use the dryer outlet just to play the stereo. besides they used even stations so i dont think it would have tuned in.

[MAC702]

To really confuse things, (at least in the UK) they use 120V power just like ours to power their tools on construction sites...

[plasmaboy]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

The single-leg 220v vs. two leg 220v is exactly what i'm concerned about. If there was a transformer in the unit it for sure wouldn't matter, but since they run the unit directly off the lines (there's a basic block schematic in the manual) it seems like something could possibly go wrong running off the single 220. Most obvious pointed out to me by a friend was that if the caps are only rated to ~150 or so volts, then they're going to blow soon after plug-in...

Guess I'll have to just open it up and see if I can see the rating on the caps, and if they're okay, then just give it a shot. I've got 8 weeks til the thing gets here, so no hurry for now.

-ben

[fun4now]

are you there now or in the U.S.A. ??
i can give miller TIG teck's a call to make shore for you if you cant call them from where you are. just let me know if ya need me to.
James

[MAC702]

Whether there is a grounded conductor or both conductors are hot makes absolutely no electrical difference. It is 220V and that is all the machine sees. It is more than rated for it. It is rectified as soon as it enters the machine, too.

[fun4now]

i was thinking it might be a 2 part transformer to acomodate 120/240 but dosent it also cover 440V if so 220 on one leg would be no problem. i'm not shore how it all works inside or how the power corection works. its all guessing on my part. so keep that in mind when using my advice on it. mac may well have a better understanding of the internals.