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Really? I have never heard of that in Austria. All power tools use 230V. I've never seen or heard of a 110V tool that's on sale in Europe. I could imagine that
by jakobegger 9y ago
Really? I have never heard of that in Austria. All power tools use 230V. I've never seen or heard of a 110V tool that's on sale in Europe.
I could imagine that some professional might use a specialized tool in a niche where only a 110V version is available -- but I've never heard of that either.
The safety aspect sounds odd -- 230V is not that dangerous, especially considering that ground fault circuit breakers are mandatory. Accidentally touching a live 230V wire doesn't really hurt that much.
- Lio 9y agoI guess it might just be a UK health and safety thing. Like you I've touched 230v a couple of times as a kid but can't say it's exactly pleasant. This blog post lists the reasons professional builders in the UK could use 230v and an RCD but generally dont. https://www.its.co.uk/blog/buying-guides/what-is-110v-do-we-need-it/ https://www.its.co.uk/blog/buying-guides/what-is-110v-do-we-...
- jakobegger 9y agoThanks for the link! It looks like there's another important safety feature: the center of the output side of the transformers is connected to ground --> this means that you have two phases that both have only 55V to ground. I imagine that accidentally touching an exposed wire with a voltage difference of 55V is a lot less dangerous than 230V. I love HN. You learn new stuff every day.