[Hallicrafters] Did Power Line Voltage Increase from 110 to 120V?

[K6JEK]

I see a lot of variation.  Is that normal?

I keep a nice Heathkit Line Voltage Monitor plugged in.   Right now  
it says a measly 119 V and nothing significant is on in the shack or  
the house -- a couple of lights here and there, no furnace, no  
dishwasher,  no pair of 3CX800A7s.  This morning it showed a whopping  
127 V.   This surprises me.  Should I track this down, maybe call the  
the local utility company or should I chalk it up to just the way  
things are?

I gave up using a Variac for the boat anchors and went for a brute  
force solution, an Elgar AC Line Conditioner.   It puts out 115V come  
rain or shine and reacts in milliseconds.  It weighs about a million  
pounds and it's noisy.   But my old stuff likes it.

Jon



On Feb 18, 2008, at 6:20 PM, Glen Zook wrote:

> Many electric companies these days try to maintain 125
> volts +/- 2 volts with the "+" side being pretty much
> "standard" especially during the warmer months when
> air conditioning is in use.
>
> I spent 10 years with Texas Utilities ("TXU" - the
> electric company for about half the State of Texas)
> from 1989 until 1999 and they were maintaining 125
> volts+ for quite a number of years before I went to
> work there.  It is the same for ERCOT (Electric
> Reliability Council of Texas) which is the agency that
> controls interconnection within the state and with
> external sources.
>
> Glen, K9STH
>
>
> --- Edward B Richards <zuu6k at juno.com> wrote:
>
> I read several years ago that the official residential
> voltage was being increased again. This time to 122
> VAC. They have periodically raised the voltage through
> the years. The higher the voltage the smaller wiring
> can be. Less cost, less weight for aerial
> distribution. The link does not imply that the
> official voltage has not changed. The post is just
> discussing the actual voltage at the load due to IR
> losses. I firmly believe any older equipment should be
> run at a lower voltage. A cheap, easy to build voltage
> reducer is shown on the BAMA home page. Thank you.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Glen, K9STH
>
> Website:  http://k9sth.com
>
>
>        
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