"Joel Kolstad" wrote in message
...
"erica" wrote in message
ups.com...
Voltage 220V, 8A fused.

^^^^^^^^^^^^ This is something of a show-stopper for those of us in the
US...



ALL us homes have 220 brought to the fuse / breaker box. It is a 220 volt,
center tapped transformer on the pole and all three lines are brought to the
breaker box. . Each half of this winding supplies the 120, 110, 117,
whatever you choose to call it. Half of the circuits in your home come from
one of the winding ends (phase) and the center tap is connected to the
common; the other half come from the other "phase".. Therefore you have
two phases of 120 and they are 180 degrees apart. Some call it single
phase, I think it should be called two phase...cuz it is. (:-)

If you really need to get 220 quickly and easily [ and do not draw more than
than the 15 or 20 amps of your brealers] you can find two outlets on the
two phases and get one half of the 220 from each.
I did this for a visiting relative from Germany so he could run his electric
shaver. It is still the talk of the relatives...
Since I built my house and did the wiring with Dad's help, I kept a drawing
of all the circuits, I knew that I already had two phases in the guest room.
A couple of cheap extension cords was all it took, with one blade of a
"three prong adaprer" inserted into each hot side of each extension. Guest
220 in 5 minutes!

I'd feel ok drawing 8A this way, but you shouldn't try this at home...I'm a
professional. (:-)

Linears should have either
1- both 110 and 220 internal wiring options, or
2- just 220

But 120 is is a real stretch.

73, Steve, K9DCI