240v wall receptacles?

[zztop7]

Hubbell 30 amp Marine Grade Twist-Lock®

Hubbell 30 amp Marine Grade twist-lock®
With these you will not have a problem with corrosion.

To twist-lock® or Not to twist-lock®; that is the question.
If you trip on a twist-lock® setup, the plug WILL NOT disconnect from the receptacle. The entire fixture in the wall may disconnect if not properly & adequately attached to a stud [seen many times], or your body part may disconnect in the tripping action [including your head].
I extensively use twist-locks®, and Hubbells are the best I can find. I do not use them at the audio equipment.

I do NOT work for Hubbell or any company associated with audio.

zz

 

[BFlowers]

I had my 2060 converted to 240V a few years ago. The receptacle looks like a typical dryer receptacle. My electrician installed it on a new 30A breaker. The improvement in sound was obvious. He also reterminated the existing stock Boulder power cord. As I recall, there weren't many options on the retermination that he had access to. I have tried a Tara Labs custom cord in the past (prior to the 240 conversion) and noticed no difference. I have not made a similar comparison since the conversion.

 

[Roysen]

I have another question relating to this topic. I live in Europe where we operate on 230V. However the availability of good power cords are much better in the US. However the typical wall outlets here are the schuko type. The US power cords are terminated with wall plugs which will not fit into the schuko wall outlets. Several of the best cords have special wall plugs or is difficult to re-terminate. So it would be very practical to install US wall outlets in my home. I have talked to my local electritian, and he told me it should not break any regulations as long as I can provide documenttation from the wall outlet manufacturer that the wall outlet is built for 230V. Are there anyone around who knows any standard low current US wall outlet built to handle 230V?

 

[AMP]

Outlets and plugs in the US are governed by the NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers Association) standards. For 3 wire (grounded) wall plugs you'll often see nomenclature like 5-15 or 6-20. These define the operating voltage and amperage which, in turn, defines the size and layout of the blades. In general 5 series plugs are 120V and 6 series plugs are 240V while the digits after the dash refer to the current capacity in amps at the rated voltage. a 5-15 socket is for 120V at 15A and is the typical 3 prong wall outlet that is ubiquitous in the US. A 6-20 is 240V at 20A. Socket types prefaced with an 'L' use a twist-lock configuration to prevent accidental removal of the plug from the socket.

There's a good write-up at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEMA_connector

Plugs (the end of the cable) follow the same convention and are appended with a 'P.' An L6-30P is a twist-lock plug rated at 240V / 30A.

Keep in mind that the way in which we get 240V is different than you. For us the transformer stepping down voltage for each building is center-tapped with 120V about each side of the center tap. In our configuration each of the two current legs carries 120V and there is no neutral (except in special 4 wire cases like a dryer). In Europe there isn't a center tap and your wires are delivering 230V on the hot leg and reference to ground on the neutral. So... in theory our plugs weren't designed to work on your system, but in most cases the designs are built to withstand a certain amount of heat and be resistant to arcing up to a certain voltage. IIRC most US plugs are rated to handle up to about 600V before bad things happen.

 

[Speedskater]

It's now a nominal 240V with a 250V rating.

Do a search for 'NEMA receptacle chart'

 

[Occam]

Nema 5-15 specifications

Roysen,

The first document is a pdf from Hubbell showing the drawings for the 5-15 through 6-15/20 specification grade duplex outlets
(120v/15a though 240v/20a, and they are exactly the same save for the blade orientations)
http://www.stayonline.com/documents/5952-drawing.pdf

PDF for Hubbell spec grade HBL5262 120v/15a nema 5-15 duplex outlet -
http://www.stayonline.com/documents/3060-pdf.pdf

PDF for Hubbell spec grade HBL5462 240v/20a nema 6-20 duplex outlet -
http://www.stayonline.com/documents/5331-pdf.pdf

The only difference in any of the specifications is that the lower voltage outlet uses larger 10-32 Si-Bronze screws for the terminal/ground fixing and the 240v versions use 8-32 Brass screws. The contact material type and thickness are the same throughout the range.

I have a customer in Switzerland who is very happy using the Hubbell HBL5362 from Jena Labs, which is my subjective favorite -
http://www.jenalabs.com/ac-products/ac-parts09.html

FWIW

 

[Speedskater]

There seem to be some inconsistency's in the Hubbell HBL5462 pages. The photo does not include the 240/250V receptacle and the linked drawing page is also incorrect.

 

[Occam]

There seem to be some inconsistency's in the Hubbell HBL5462 pages. The photo does not include the 240/250V receptacle and the linked drawing page is also incorrect.

HBL5262 Nema 5-15 120vac 15 amp

HBL5362 Nema 5-15/20 120vac 20 amp

HBL5662 Nema 6-15 240vac 15 amp

HBL5462 Nema 6-15/20 240vac 20 amp

I hope the above makes it clearer....
The materials, thicknesses, etc... are the same, what changes with the currents and voltages are the orientation of the blades.

 

[DonH50]

^^^ The goal being to enable only plugs of the right voltage to fit, and for each voltage the lower-current plug will work in the higher-current socket but not the other way around.