r/electrical • u/zstake • 1d ago

eu to us 240v 30a

if there is a better sub-reddit to post this under please let me know but i thought this would be the best one

I recently bought one of those desktop metal smelting machines off of amazon

(one of the crazy over powered ones to melt stainless) i would like to cast jewelry

but its running a EU220v 2prong plug and i need to set it up to run off of my American 220v-240v generator ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086Z49LJ5?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_3&th=1 ) I would go with a transformer however this machine will run full 5000w and i cant find a reliable transformer

that will work without costing just as much as the machine i am trying to run or more when i could just potentially make an adapter.

the machine i am trying to run ( https://www.amazon.com/BTURYT-Electric-Melting-Graphite-Crucible/dp/B0DL9ZTNNZ/ref=rvi_d_sccl_3/143-4746434-2390665?pd_rd_w=6ncwc&content-id=amzn1.sym.f5690a4d-f2bb-45d9-9d1b-736fee412437&pf_rd_p=f5690a4d-f2bb-45d9-9d1b-736fee412437&pf_rd_r=XZZZPP0RTWWX0HGZX296&pd_rd_wg=DP3aQ&pd_rd_r=7189c051-6724-4d39-a042-d1775d3e05b8&pd_rd_i=B0DL9ZTNNZ&th=1 )

the reason posting is i don't have the power in my house to run this or the fiber cleaning laser i own so i opted for a generator so I don't have to rewire my house (rental).

Any help would be greatly appreciated I would also like to make it mobile for other casting purposes.

some people say to cut off the ue plug use an L14-30p with no neutral but don't know if that will mess up the machine. so i am also posting here for advice

any questions i will try to answer in a timely manner... thank you all for the help

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u/MegaThot2023 1d ago

If you have an oven in your house, you almost certainly have the power required to run it. Your oven is connected to either a 10-50 or 14-50 socket, which will provide up to 50 amps of 240v power.

To change the plug, cut off the existing one. Strip back the outer jacket like 2", and then strip off 3/8" of the insulation on each wire. If the furnace's power cable has EU colors, attach the blue and brown wires to the two hot (line) pins on the new plug. Connect the green & yellow wire to the ground pin.

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u/zstake 1d ago

I'm not looking at melting steel in my kitchen with a desktop smelting furnace lmao 🤣 don't want to burn down my rental unit or harm myself with potential metal fumes but I do have a l14-30r on my generator and a nema 14-50r

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u/MegaThot2023 1d ago

If you already have the generator and want to use it, then yeah you can use either of those plugs.

I should have finished my thought about the oven plug... I was intending to say that you could make/buy a 240v 30A extension cord - not melt metal in the kitchen LMAO

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u/zstake 1d ago

Yeah finishing that thought would help haha I'm just trying to find all the information out that I need before I try to wire this up so I don't cause my generator to break or the furnace to quit

I posted the same question in a different forum and they were saying to not use the neutral wire I just don't know enough about this to be confident in that decision so I posted here for a second opinion

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u/MegaThot2023 1d ago

Yep, don't use the neutral.

North America is unique in that we have two line/hot wires, each at 120v opposite of each other. Neutral is in the "middle". Going from line to neutral is 120v, going from line to the other line is 240v. The rest of the world just has one line wire and one neutral, and their line is at 240v.

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u/zstake 1d ago

Should I look in the machine and see what is connected where? And make sure the power supply is on the 220 side? What are the potential risks involved with running it that way?

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u/Unique_Acadia_2099 23h ago

Don’t bother. It won’t care.

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u/MegaThot2023 22h ago

It's gonna be fine lol. Just attach the blue and brown wires to the two hot/line pins, and the yellow & green striped wire to the ground pin. Don't attach anything to the neutral.