[Heathkit] F/S Voltage Reducer
[email protected]
[email protected]
Sat, 16 Mar 2002 15:20:28 -0800
I am afraid you are misinformed. I read in a technical magazine that
whatever group controls this, has set the "official" domestic line
voltage at 122 VAC. They do this every decade or so, in able to get it up
to where it should have been in the beginning. Our European friends are
smarter than we in this area. European line voltage has been 220 VAC for
years, maybe from the beginning. The reason is to raise it slowly over a
hundred years or so, to reduce the size of conductors in cost and weight.
This means smaller wire size, motors, transformers, less line loss, etc.
They space it out so as not to obsolete equipment too soon. When I was a
kid in the '30s it was 110 VAC. I have seen it raised to 113, 115, 117,
120 and now 122 VAC. In few more years it will go to 125 or so. Anyone
with doubts can measure theirs at the entrance. This eliminates line loss
to the outlets. Why is it that older radios and appliances have 110, 115
117 or 120 VAC stamped on the nameplates? Why is it commonly referred to
as 110/220 VAC? I monitor mine constantly and it runs from 120 to 122
according to the load.
Ed
On Sat, 16 Mar 2002 13:31:26 -0800 "N0CDY@QWEST>NET" <[email protected]>
writes:
> The American Standard was never "115 VAC" nor is it now "122 VAC". It
> is
> however (and has been for as long as I can remember) a NOMINAL 117
> VAC,
> which means it can vary a bit between localities.