World Map of Mains Voltages and Frequencies

Details: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity_by_country

172 points · 27 comments · view on lemmy.world

27 Comments

lime@feddit.nu · 50 pts · 260d (1 reply)

the japan one will always be funny.

yeah the west island bought their first generator from the germans so it ran at 50Hz, and the east one bought theirs from the americans so it ran at 60
– and then they unified the systems, right?
...
– right?
anyway that's why switch-mode power supplies were invented

SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 260d

Hahahahaha 😭😭😭🫠

otter@lemmy.ca · 39 pts · 260d (2 replies)

Yes, this is because of the recent Technology Connections video

https://youtube.com/watch?v=INZybkX8tLI

My car charger can boil water really fast

That title might be the best effort I can pull off.

Other stuff:

Technology Connections on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/techconnectify.bsky.social

Technology Connections on Mastodon: https://mas.to/@TechConnectify

litchralee@sh.itjust.works · 17 pts · 260d

Somehow it's like Technology Connections is spying on me and delivering bespoke content. I had already considered how a 240v electric kettle would work in the USA (and I probably spend way too much time thinking about our electricity supplies) but that video firmly answers the feasibility question, with a resounding yes.

One day I'll commit to having that NEMA 6-20 receptacle. It could also be useful if I get a portable iinduction wok or something like that.

theskyisfalling@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 11 pts · 260d

I have watched so many videos on things I never thought I'd could care about such as heat pumps, dishwashers, freeze drying etc all because of this guy. His videos are great!

drolex@sopuli.xyz · 28 pts · 260d (1 reply)

My country: obvious and very clever choice

Your country: ridiculous and unpractical choice, borderline sociopathic

Guyana: now that is bold

(What is my country or your country? Irrelevant.)

SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml · 6 pts · 260d

Why does 230@60Hz exist? Using the euro voltage with US frequency must be a compatibility nightmare

lvxferre@mander.xyz · 18 pts · 260d (2 replies)
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T4V0@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 260d (1 reply)

[Fun fact to lighten things up: people often call volts "velas" candles here. So e.g. "127V" and "220V" are often called "cem velas" (100 candles) and "duzentas velas" (200 candles) respectively. Confusingly enough some also do it with watts.]

Never heard this before, brazilian here btw.

All regular sockets in my city are 220V 60Hz. I think only places like hotels have different voltages.

Or people who have old houses, 2 pins sockets, and rip apart the ground pin from their 3 pins plugs.

Yep, my dad can't stand the ground pin in almost every plug. I had to convince him not to destroy them all.

lvxferre@mander.xyz · 3 pts · 260d
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teft@piefed.social · 15 pts · 260d (3 replies)

The first time I ever used an electric kettle was in south korea for my ramen. I was like "man, when I get home I'm so buying one of these. 5 minute ramen is great."

Then I got home and bought a kettle and it took for-fucking-ever to boil. 120v is such bullshit. Give me POWAH!!!

ooterness@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 260d

Technology Connections just published a video about this. By the end, he's got an overclocked 6 kW tea kettle boiling water in under a minute before destroying itself.

LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net · 6 pts · 260d (1 reply)

Was this a while ago? I've gone through several on 120v and I don't think it's ever taken more than 5 min.

teft@piefed.social · 9 pts · 260d

It was early 2000s but power standards haven't changed. 5 minutes is a long time when you're used to 1:30 minute to boil. I meant 5 minutes from tearing the package to eating it not 5 minutes to boil but I can see how my phrasing was confusing.

myotheraccount@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 260d (4 replies)

What's up with those 127V?

Successful_Try543@feddit.org · 26 pts · 260d (1 reply)

Much, maybe all, of Mexico supplies single phase power via 2 phases from three phase power. In the US that is known in the power industry as "network power" and is usually 120/208 volts. Now 208 volts sucks. But to get 240 volts from such a configuration, you'd have to have 138.5 volts on line to neutral, and that is a bit too much for most things that want 120 volts. In Mexico they have chosen a compromise where the L-N voltage is just a little high (127 volts) and the L-L voltage is just a little low (220 volts).

electronics-lab.com

myotheraccount@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 260d

Thank you

criticon@lemmy.ca · 13 pts · 260d

As a Mexican I thought 127V was the norm in the West until very recently

BastingChemina@slrpnk.net · 3 pts · 260d

I think it's because in a three phase system is you have 220v between two phases then you'll have 127v between one phase and the ground.

I know in France at one point before the 50s most of the country was using 110v, then some of it switched to 127v but from the 50s they decided to unify the national electrical grid to 220v. It took a while but now I don't think there is any 110v left.

Kenny2999@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 260d (3 replies)

I member the switch to 230v. There was a buzz and then nothing.

Theoriginalthon@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 260d

Well the tolerance is +10% -6%, so that's 253-216v

pHr34kY@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 260d (1 reply)

I swear Australia just did it quietly. We could have done with that extra juice to charge our cars faster.

AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space · 2 pts · 260d

IIRC, they loosened the tolerance and lowered the nominal voltage from generators to be around 235, to provide more leeway for electricity fed in from domestic solar panels without tripping circuit breakers.

sanguinepar@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 260d (2 replies)

That's odd - all my life I've believed the UK was at 240v, yet here and in the article it says 230. My life has been a lie.

Benchamoneh@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 10 pts · 260d (1 reply)

It was originally, but we changed to 230 to align with mainland countries. Some older substation equipment and warning labels still state 240 if you go looking

sanguinepar@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 260d

Ah, thank you, that explains it 😁👍

Swemg@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 260d (3 replies)

So I was to move to Colombia from Europe, could I bring my tools or would it never works?

teft@piefed.social · 4 pts · 260d

Depends on the tool. Some things will work fine by just flipping a switch near the power plug while others will emit the magic blue smoke or melt down. If you don't know if your devices are compatible the best bet is just to get a step down converter or use local electronics.

Junkers_Klunker@feddit.dk · 2 pts · 260d

That probably wouldn’t be a problem as the voltage is the same, but as the frequency is higher your record player will likely spin too fast. Most things won’t care as they’re rated for both 50hz and 60hz

lvxferre@mander.xyz · 1 pts · 260d
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