plug polarity

[fredhead]

I have a bought a battery charger that I will connect to a 110 volt supply.

The charger is from the USA and has a plug that will be cut off and a new
compatible 110 volt site plug fitted.

The power lead is a twin wire and the wire polarity is identified by a
series of raised lines which run the whole length. This is for identifying
either positive or negative. I need to know which one is which.

To help further the raised wire enters the existing plug on the side that
has the larger of the two pins.

If I haven't explained this well enough please ask me whatever other info
you need.

Thanks

fred

 

[Ken]

I have a bought a battery charger that I will connect to a 110 volt supply.

The charger is from the USA and has a plug that will be cut off and a new
compatible 110 volt site plug fitted.

The power lead is a twin wire and the wire polarity is identified by a
series of raised lines which run the whole length. This is for identifying
either positive or negative. I need to know which one is which.

To help further the raised wire enters the existing plug on the side that
has the larger of the two pins.

If I haven't explained this well enough please ask me whatever other info
you need.

Thanks

fred

The wider blade on a 110 volt plug is the neutral side.

 

[fredhead]

Ok

So the marked side of the cable is the neutral.

Thanks

 

[SQLit]

I have a bought a battery charger that I will connect to a 110 volt supply.

The charger is from the USA and has a plug that will be cut off and a new
compatible 110 volt site plug fitted.

The power lead is a twin wire and the wire polarity is identified by a
series of raised lines which run the whole length. This is for identifying
either positive or negative. I need to know which one is which.

To help further the raised wire enters the existing plug on the side that
has the larger of the two pins.

If I haven't explained this well enough please ask me whatever other info
you need.

Thanks

fred

Why does the plug have to be cut off?

 

[Kilowatt]

Why does the plug have to be cut off?

That was my question. If it was bought in the US it should already
have the correct plug installed.

The marked/neutral wire will be connected to the light colored screw
and the other hot conductor will be connected to the black/dark screw.

 

[fredhead]

Ahhh you assumed I was in the US when in fact I am in the UK, easy mistake
seeing as I didn't mention it.

I wish to use the charger on a work site and on worksites we use 110 Volt
power supplies.
The power supplies do not use the US type plugs. That's why I need to know
which is the positive and which is the negative wire.

Thanks

 

[SQLit]

Ahhh you assumed I was in the US when in fact I am in the UK, easy mistake
seeing as I didn't mention it.

I wish to use the charger on a work site and on worksites we use 110 Volt
power supplies.
The power supplies do not use the US type plugs. That's why I need to know
which is the positive and which is the negative wire.

Thanks

Nope I did not assume anything. I asked what I thought was relevant to get
to a solution.

Is your 120v stuff 60 cycle? or is it 50? That could be a problem for your
battery charger if it is 60 cycle and electronic.

 

[fredhead]

I knew this would be difficult to get a simple answer to a straight forward
question from a techy news group.
Now you are assuming that I want to gain knowledge about things I haven't
asked about.
I know this isn't the best way forward in getting my question answered but
if anyone out there can assist I would be very thankful.

Regards
fred

 

[John G]

I knew this would be difficult to get a simple answer to a straight
forward
question from a techy news group.
Now you are assuming that I want to gain knowledge about things I
haven't
asked about.
I know this isn't the best way forward in getting my question answered
but
if anyone out there can assist I would be very thankful.

Regards
fred

Fred,
I do not want to be negative or offend you.

You first asked about positive and negative connections which
demonstrated to most that you did not know much about electricity and so
more questions flowed to find out what you were trying to do and if the
advice given would really fit your circumstances.
This happens almost every day on technical groups where the questioner
does not give enough info to show he will understand a simple answer.

In the UK you use 230 volt Multiple earthed neutral system for power and
100 volt centre tap earthed transformers for building sites I believe.
Both of course at 50 HZ

There is no neutral as such on the 100volt side so connections to the
plug are irrelevant (Except of course the ground if applicable.)

Your battery charger may not function correctly on the 20% lower
frequency or the 10% lower voltage and may overload the transformer
especially as it will be a continuous load

load.http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/roshepower/site.htm

 

[fredhead]

Thanks for the info Phil.
I can at least grasp what you are telling me.
The power supply comes from the 240 volt AC mains and a transformer is used
on site to reduce the current to 110v AC.
The charger I am referring to is a DeWalt battery charger that charges the
18v cordless batteries.
It is an American version charger and doesn't have an earthling/ground wire.
The unit has only one flex that has a twin core.
The case is constructed in plastic.
It common here to use these US version chargers and use the 110v site boxes.

Thanks

fred

| Ahhh you assumed I was in the US when in fact I am in the UK, easy mistake
| seeing as I didn't mention it.
|
| I wish to use the charger on a work site and on worksites we use 110 Volt
| power supplies.
| The power supplies do not use the US type plugs. That's why I need to know
| which is the positive and which is the negative wire.

Work site power in the UK is actually a 55/110 volt split system
similary to the 120/240 volt split system in the USA. What that
does is gives you 1/4 the voltage relative to ground, but still
enough to power heavy duty tools.

Such a power system (60/120) is used in the USA for certain audio
purposes where ground noise is an issue. But there are rules that
restrict its use because not all 120 volt equipment is compatible.

The USA battery charger MAY cause a ground fault when used. If the
frame of the battery charger is wired to the NEUTRAL wire (wider
blade), plugging it into UK work site power would energize the frame
with 55 volts, and trip your leakage breaker when you touch it, or
give you a shock if it fails to.

If the charger has a 3-prong plug, then it MAY work. But be sure to
wire the ground in as well.

If it only has a 2-prong plug, check how it is wired inside before
trying to use it. It may be best to replace the entire cord with a
3-wire cord intended for the UK 55/110 volt work site system that
includes ground, and wire the ground wire to the frame and the TWO
hot wires to the transformer and switch w/o crossing to the frame.

http://ka9wgn.ham.org/ |

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

---

 

[fredhead]

Thanks to everyone for all the advice.
Maybe I prefer Greg's and will have a Guinness or two then think about what
to do next.
Thanks guys

 

[Paul Hovnanian P.E.]

| If you are using this on an AC source, which it sure sounds like
| you are doing, there is no Positive or Negative wire. Hot and
| neutral possibly. If you are running it on a 55/110 split system,
| it really doesn't matter which wire connects to what pin.

But if the device expects USA style power and attaches the neutral wire
to the device frame, he now has a device frame energized at 55 volts.
That's not good, and will trip GFI/leakage protectors.

USA style devices do not connect the neutral to their frame. The safety
risks created by assuming that receptacles are always correctly
polarized are too great to allow this practice.

 

[Beachcomber]

USA style devices do not connect the neutral to their frame. The safety
risks created by assuming that receptacles are always correctly
polarized are too great to allow this practice.

Seems to be some confusion here between "frame" and "chassis". There
have been many USA style TV's sold in recent years that have hot
(polarized neutral connected) chassis. It eliminates the expense of a
heavy transformer that you would sometimes find in older tvs. Voltage
doublers and triplers are used to create the high voltage for the CRT.
Yet all the external parts are non-conductive plastic, for safety.
(I'm old enough to have owned a portable TV with a metal frame, though
- I remember it used to give pretty good shocks!).

This is why isolation transformers have been ( or used to be, anyway)
used in TV repair shops. The TV would operate perfectly fine if the
polarized plug whas connected in either direction. The position that
puts a building hot wire on tv ground/chassis can be dangerous when
you are working on it, though. Of course, these days, most TV's don't
even have metal chassis anymore, just a big circuit board and module
connectors.

Beachcomber

 

[Beachcomber]

There isn't any metal in a TV. It's a single card about the size of a baby AT
system board and a few ancillary cards for the controls and tube neck. I
haven't seen a hot chassis TV since they took the vacuum tubes out ... about
the time we landed on the moon

This is true but you don't see any bulky transformers in a modern TV
either. The ground in the circuitry is still connected directly to
the line voltage source, in most cases.

Beachcomber

 

[Ted Rubbeford]

I have a bought a battery charger that I will connect to a 110 volt supply.

The charger is from the USA and has a plug that will be cut off and a new
compatible 110 volt site plug fitted.

The power lead is a twin wire and the wire polarity is identified by a
series of raised lines which run the whole length. This is for identifying
either positive or negative. I need to know which one is which.

To help further the raised wire enters the existing plug on the side that
has the larger of the two pins.

If I haven't explained this well enough please ask me whatever other info
you need.

Thanks

fred

Simple, it doesnt matter.

Just stick a yellow plug on it and away u go.

Teddy Rubberford.
The Man In The Rubber Suit.

 

[Roy Q.T.]

That's it:

All you needs to do is slide an adapter over it. haven't you any kits by
now?

I thought he needed to Re-Patriate It =(the plug) and all It needs to do
is learn to Converse.