Using American power tools in Europe?

[Hammerhans]

Hey there. I was just curious if anyone is familiar with using power tools which are bought in the US but used in Europe.

See, the US Makita catalog offers a wider selection of power tools which are not available here in Europe.

I can imagine that 50 years ago this could be a problem for various reasons, but what is the situation today?

I have a friend who bought an american PlayStation 3 from the US, he simply put on a power-plug adapter so that the plug would fit into a European plug and whoola, works perfectly. But I want to be 100% sure that the powertools I buy from Makita will work here flawlessly, because they could unlike the PS3 be dangerous is used incorrectly.

Hope you can answer my question.

 

[Moose-LandTran]

Europe is 240v, NA is 120v. I guess you could rig up one of those yellow jobsite power adapters but otherwise they won't work so great. Might be like my ex's hair straighteners that caught fire when she tried to use them here.

 

[1320stang]

Also, is Europe 60Hz or 50Hz? We're doing some Carribean projects and they have 50Hz there (or try to).

 

[Zorro13]

I took quite some tools from the US to Europe. Everything works fine if used with a 240V -> 120V converter. The 50/60 Hz issue is none. Only very few motors are frequency bound (like e.g. the pump motors of the washing machine).

So go on your shopping spree and enjoy.

BTW: PS3 is somewhat tricky. The eraly ones came with a 120/240V universal power supply, so you just needed an adapter for the connector. Later versions are either stuck to 120 OR 240 V, so you need a power converter.

 

[EdT]

Most hand held power tools running on line voltage use universal motors (brushed) and , even if you change the plug, they will burn up on euro voltage. Double the voltage = 4x the power. You'd have to use some kind of step down transformer with sufficient current handling capability to make it work right. One of the little "travel plugs" is unlikely to cut it. Stationary tools use induction type motors and will not run properly on the wrong voltage although some U.S. tools may have motors that can be wired to run on either 120 or 240. Europe is 220V 50Hz which will cause this type of motor to run slower than on 60Hz and deliver less power than on 240. Higher end motors are often a placarded for both set ups and will show rpms and power at the various inputs. Electronic devices these days are often equipped with an IEC cord that plugs into the device and also into the wall. Generally, but not always, these systems run off an internal switch mode power supply that can accept a wide range of input voltages and convert it to what is needed by the device. There may be some chargers for battery operated tools that have this feature, but I've not sen one.

 

[Groovy]

I was on a boat that did the Med it was wired for the US and as Zorro says there is an adapter in this case it was a yellow box looked like a pelican case that pluged in the shore power from the dock and the boat plugged into it. It was rented and all the power tools (dewalt) worked I used a 4" grinder and drill to make some repairs the xbox, TV, DVD, lap tops, AC all worked off that converter

 

[american lockpicker]

FWIW IDrill can be used anywhere.

http://www.idrill.com/default.aspx

It's also the first truly global domestic device. The i-drill's high-performance Japanese lithium cells use a global charger that knows no borders. It's approved for use in every major worldwide market.

(Sorry about pic quality couldn't find it online and had to use Sears catalog.)

Not sure about the quality though.

 

[Monte]

FWIW IDrill can be used anywhere.

http://www.idrill.com/default.aspx

(Sorry about pic quality couldn't find it online and had to use Sears catalog.)

Not sure about the quality though.

interesting - i thought only we have it over here.. www.meister-idrill.de

www.meister-werkzeuge.de

 

[american lockpicker]

Is it made in Germany?

 

[Monte]

Is it made in Germany?

hahaha

 

[Rural53]

Back in the day I worked for a greenhouse automation company. In NZ our single phase power is 240V/50Hz. We used to buy electric linear actuators from the US to open greenhouse vents etc. They were 110v/60Hz so we used to install a 240/110V step down transformer and run them off that. We had one installation where the actuators started to fail. After much scratching of heads and investigation we discovered the manufacturer had changed starter capacitor suppliers. The old capacitors were 60Hz +/- 20% so worked fine at 50Hz. The new ones were 60Hz +/- 10% that eventually died when subjected to 50Hz.

What I'm saying is some 60Hz equipment will tolerate 50Hz and some wont.

 

[Jononon]

I can't understand why you'd want to do this. There's very little missing from the European Makita catalogue when compared to the US one, other than cordless tools (not built to work with site transformers), and you'll be buying, with no warranty support, from a market with very different price and quality expectations.

That being said, most corded tools will not give any problems when used with a 110V site transformer.

 

[lbgradwell]

www.meister-idrill.de

Yummy fräulein, if nothing else!

 

[Hammerhans]

Thanks for the informative replies guys Quality posts.

I can't understand why you'd want to do this. There's very little missing from the European Makita catalogue when compared to the US one, other than cordless tools (not built to work with site transformers), and you'll be buying, with no warranty support, from a market with very different price and quality expectations.

That being said, most corded tools will not give any problems when used with a 110V site transformer.

Yes for the most part the catalogs are very alike. My circular saw is an old Metabo from the early 80's and in my opinion slightly underpowered and lacks certain features that modern saws have.

We have some saws at our store, but they are all from the European catalog, the American catalog has offered a Hypoid Saw for several years now, and our contact at Makita tells us that they don't expect it to arrive in Europe in the close future, two of the first guys I spoke to last week at Makita regarding the saw didint even know it existed!

The saw im talking about is this one:

http://www.makita.com/en-us/modules/tools/ToolDetails.aspx?ID=284294

Just takes the piss that it has been on the US market for years and is not available here.

 

[Zorro13]

I can't understand why you'd want to do this. There's very little missing from the European Makita catalogue when compared to the US one, other than cordless tools (not built to work with site transformers), and you'll be buying, with no warranty support, from a market with very different price and quality expectations.

... stuff in the US is often much cheaper than over in Europe. So it makes perfectly sensne to buy it in the new world. Got myself i.e. a Bosch 5 piece Cordless reconditioned 18V Li-Ion set for $299 + tax. In Germany I would just get a single drill for this. OK, it's recon, but who cares... .

 

[Jononon]

That is frustrating. I can't find any European market circular saws with longitudinal motors, although there are numerous 184 and 190mm saws. Personally, if I could justify the expense, I'd buy a Mafell KSP65F to do much the same job.

... stuff in the US is often much cheaper than over in Europe.

They don't always match in terms of quality, sadly. One example is the plastic gearboxes on US market DeWalt (die-cast metal on the equivalent Euro. market tools.) You also need to consider shipping, duty, tax and the lack of warranty.

 

[MattT]

Electronic devices these days are often equipped with an IEC cord that plugs into the device and also into the wall. Generally, but not always, these systems run off an internal switch mode power supply that can accept a wide range of input voltages and convert it to what is needed by the device. There may be some chargers for battery operated tools that have this feature, but I've not sen one.

The Ingersoll Rand IQv charger is universal voltage with an IEC cord. It's the only one I'm aware of.

We have some saws at our store, but they are all from the European catalog, the American catalog has offered a Hypoid Saw for several years now, and our contact at Makita tells us that they don't expect it to arrive in Europe in the close future, two of the first guys I spoke to last week at Makita regarding the saw didint even know it existed!

Makita might not feel a geared hypoid saw is necessary for 240v markets which aren't as power limited as the US 120v x 15A.

FWIW the Makita Hypoid is a powerful saw but it's also heavy. I only use mine when I have to. Most of the time I grab my 18v Milwaukee.

 

[Monte]

I don´t know whats so special about this Makita saw but you could buy a Festool or Mafell saw which are probably twice the quality
If you look at the new Makita hammer drills and other tools were the colors of the plastic parts don´t match or there are sharp edges in the plastic etc. it just don´t look good anymore. The quality of Makita went downhill since almost everything is outsourced now.

 

[Hammerhans]

Righto boys, called Makita U.S today and had a nice chat with Blair, their product expert.

He told me that the Hypoid Saw supports both 50 and 60 Hz. So the only thing I need to do is get a "step down transformer" so the machine is fed with 110v rather than 230v. And wholah, it should in theory work.

I think I might aswell give this a try.

 

[Davor]

Hi Hamerhans

Please let me know did You finally use US power tools in europe with transformer or not. Which is your impresions.