View Single Post
  #10  
Old 01-17-2009, 01:18 PM
mike31154's Avatar
mike31154 mike31154 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Vernon
Posts: 2,073
mike31154 will become famous soon enough
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by banditpowdercoat View Post
What change in cycles??? 120/240 IS 110/220 It's the same. I have just allways called it 120/240 throughout my electrical carrier. But, if you were to measure voltage at alot of different peoples houses, you would find that it ranges between 110/220 and 120/240. There is no one SET voltage. It fluctuates
He may be referring to the frequency, not voltage. Frequency in most countries using 220V such as Europe is 50 Hz vs. the 60 Hz we use for 110V in North America. Either way, it's not a big issue with most of the equipment we use for our tanks. There is some frequency sensitive equipment out there, mostly the more sensitive electronic components. Items such as pumps will actually run a little faster with 60 Hz as opposed to 50 Hz, but they'll run... They may even run a little cooler since at 60 Hz the sine wave is 'faster' and the dwell time at peak voltage is less. Downside is you may lose a little torque. Some electronic ballasts may not deal well with the change in frequency depending on circuitry design. I'd venture to say even some MH magnetic ballasts designed for 50 Hz may not drive your bulbs optimally since they work on the transformer/capacitor principle, which is frequency sensitive. The chararcteristics of such a circuit changes with frequency.
__________________
Mike
77g sumpless SW
DIY 10 watt multi-chip LED build http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=82206
Reply With Quote