Will Canadian 220v 60 Htz Tig welder work in the UK?

Malcolm · 17th July 2012, 03:25 PM

My uncle has a Miller Syncrowave 180 SD tig welder he is prepared to give me. Top bloke! I just got to ship it to the UK which will be expensive but could well be cheaper than buying one here. My research says Miller is a very good brand for welding gear. The question is will a 220v 60 htz machine work in the UK where we have a 50 htz supply? The voltage is fine so what effect would the frequency difference make? Just make the amp reading inaccurate or burn the item out?

And if anyone has one of these units, I would also be interested in your opinion on them as users. I am an occaisional welder rather than a frequent welder.

Thanks

Ian Anderson · 17th July 2012, 04:22 PM

Malcolm

Is the 220 volts single or three phase?
I would bet it is three phase which will not then work in the UK as UK three phase is 415

Ian

Will Campbell · 17th July 2012, 05:28 PM

Good welder, but it is rated for 60 Hz. Why not try to contact Miller and ask them if there are jumpers or a similar approach to changing to another frequency and voltage? The docs I have don't address it, but that may be a marketing decision rather than a technical one.

Bill B · 17th July 2012, 07:39 PM

Here is a link to the operating manual for the 180SD:

http://www.millerwelds.com/om/o360j_mil.pdf

I have a Syncrowave 250 and these are single phase transformer based machines. At 50 Hz I believe you would have less capacity and also with the cooling fan running a bit slower, maybe further reduced duty cycle. As Will suggested, contact Miller and ask. They have great customer support and you can get the contact information from their website.

Ocean freight might not be too expensive, if you aren't in a hurry to get it. Good luck, I wish I would have had such generous uncles! Regards, Bill

The Baron · 17th July 2012, 09:01 PM

Malcolm, over the years I have imported thousands of electrical items from the US/NA, mainly pro audio and lighting systems. The one thing you have to be wary of is the voltage.

I had many power amplifiers (of undoubted quality) imported from California rated at 220v. I had zero failures in Ireland and zero failures in Europe but almost 100% failures in the UK.

After much research, I discovered that whilst Europe is "220 - 230" volts, what many manufacturers fail to realise that depending on time of day and location in the UK the electrical supply can reach 250 volts. I believe the generating companies are mandated to supply at between 220 and 252 volts and if you read 250 volts at any time, any equipment from the NA rated at 220 with zero diversification factored in, is going to be significantly overdriven.

I suppose the qestion to the manufacturer will be what tolerances or leeway is there on the operating voltage.

The Hz should not be a problem if there is a motor drive (such as wire feed) or fan involved. It will just run slower and you should be able to adjust for that.

Personally, in this day and age, unless it has switchable frequency and is designed to operate on at least 220 > 230 minimum I would not use it in the UK as there are some extremely high currents involved with these machines.

Other people may have different experiences - this is mine.

PS I had zero failures in Dublin, because at the time, whilst the voltage generated was supposed to reach the consumer at around 240 volts, it barely reached 200 on a Saturday night!

Malcolm · 18th July 2012, 03:17 AM

Thanks for the comments guys, most helpful. It is a single phase machine. I have tried to contact the UK Miller rep but their phone number is no longer recognised. I agree, an overseas call to Miller themselves would be a good investment. I had heard of the UK supply thing before but hearing it put your way Keith gives it more relevance. Thanks again.