Electronics > Beginners
How to wire up a 240VAC receptacle
Richard Crowley:
--- Quote from: Monkeh on May 15, 2018, 06:54:29 pm ---Bollocks. That's the American approach to breakers and that is not how they are rated in the rest of the world. A 16A breaker carries 16A continuous. A 32A plug handles 32A continuous. Those are not deratings, they are ratings.
--- End quote ---
According to the horses' mouth (the HPE document I cited) it is DERATED because of the NEMA connector capacity, not the capacity of the site wiring or circuit breaker rating.
Monkeh:
--- Quote from: Richard Crowley on May 15, 2018, 06:57:49 pm ---
--- Quote from: Monkeh on May 15, 2018, 06:54:29 pm ---Bollocks. That's the American approach to breakers and that is not how they are rated in the rest of the world. A 16A breaker carries 16A continuous. A 32A plug handles 32A continuous. Those are not deratings, they are ratings.
--- End quote ---
According to the horses' mouth (the HPE document I cited) it is DERATED because of the NEMA connector capacity, not the capacity of the site wiring or circuit breaker rating.
--- End quote ---
That particular derating I can't speak to. I would rather not need to remove and incinerate my eyes after looking at NEMA connectors further.
Spork Schivago:
--- Quote from: vk6zgo on May 15, 2018, 12:01:44 am ---
--- Quote from: Spork Schivago on May 14, 2018, 04:13:25 am ---
I'd void warranty if I replaced the plug.
--- End quote ---
I very much doubt that this is true.
If the device is not useable without the original plug, it is not "fit for purpose".
Don't just assume things, check with both the manufacturer & your local laws re warranty.
--- End quote ---
See, here, you're assuming that I'm assuming things. There is a sticker that breaks if the PDU is opened, and the sticker says WARRANTY VOID IF STICKER IS REMOVED. I believe there's a screw under that sticker, although I haven't checked. I'm pretty sure that sticker also means if it's been poked through with a screwdriver to tear the unit apart. Think about it. We have a lot of current here. Would you want to warrant a device like that if people tore it open and changed things around? Probably not. I know I wouldn't.
--- Quote --- The pics I uploaded have the L1 and Earth symbol (G), but doesn't list N. This equipment cannot run off 120VAC by itself. It's not one of those 120V or 240V. It requires 200VAC - 240VAC to operate. It's just a Power Distribution Unit for a server rack. A horizontal, metered one, made by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (or at least they outsourced someone to make it for them).
--- End quote ---
In the past, many US manufacturers made equipment for 240volt service.
Amateur radio linear amplifiers are, most often designed for 240v supplies, as it is difficult to source enough
power from the 120v Mains.
All the older, (pre-SMPS) US made stuff used in 240v countries used either of two approaches:-
Two transformer primaries which could be used in parallel for 120v, or, in series for 240v.
In both cases, the 240v wiring was built to US standards for their "split phase" 240v system, & normally used a DPST switch & fuses in both sides (hot & hot for the US system, & hence hot & neutral for, for instance, the Australian one)
Fusing the Neutral is technically against the rules in Oz, but there were plenty of US sourced units used in this country which did this.
Australian or European equipment will operate quite happily in the USA, in that it is designed so that both sides are regarded as "hot" (that way, if your power socket is wired with A & N reversed, insulation ratings are maintained).
One trap, is that non US standard 240v stuff may not have a DPST switch, & will, almost certainly, only fuse the Active side of the Mains.
If your device is from HP, it probably does conform with US standards.
[/quote]
Thank you for that information there. Like I just recently said in a previous post (that you couldn't have read before writing this), HPE does list this PDU as being International, not European, and claim that it _can_ be used in the US, so I think you're right there and it does conform with US standards. I think that's why I have the external grounding screw. The installation documents says it might not be used in some circumstances (they word it a bit differently, like if your situation requires the use of an external ground, run a 10 gauge grounding wire from the screw to your rack, something like that)
Monkeh:
--- Quote from: Spork Schivago on May 15, 2018, 07:01:36 pm ---
--- Quote from: vk6zgo on May 15, 2018, 12:01:44 am ---
--- Quote from: Spork Schivago on May 14, 2018, 04:13:25 am ---
I'd void warranty if I replaced the plug.
--- End quote ---
I very much doubt that this is true.
If the device is not useable without the original plug, it is not "fit for purpose".
Don't just assume things, check with both the manufacturer & your local laws re warranty.
--- End quote ---
See, here, you're assuming that I'm assuming things. There is a sticker that breaks if the PDU is opened, and the sticker says WARRANTY VOID IF STICKER IS REMOVED. I believe there's a screw under that sticker, although I haven't checked. I'm pretty sure that sticker also means if it's been poked through with a screwdriver to tear the unit apart. Think about it. We have a lot of current here. Would you want to warrant a device like that if people tore it open and changed things around? Probably not. I know I wouldn't.
--- End quote ---
You don't have to take that sticker off or open the unit to change the plug. You just remove the plug from the cable.
But again, this isn't really a suitable device for a split-phase installation.
Spork Schivago:
--- Quote from: Gregg on May 15, 2018, 04:07:01 am ---I have been following this thread since I posted and there is a lot of confusion that would be a lot clearer if you just posted exactly what it is that you are trying to power. If you don’t have it yet, post some links.
I believe that all of the IEC 60309 plugs can be easily taken apart and removed from the power cord and reinstalled if necessary without anyone being the wiser.
It is good that you bought the 40 amp two pole breaker and are going to wire it with 8ga wire. Most 120/240 volt breakers are only rated for continuous loads of 80% of their advertised rating.
If the device has sub breakers that are single pole, perhaps they can be changed to two pole. Or post some pictures here with details and we may be able to help make it compliant in intent if not with actual approved breakers and wiring techniques.
Is this going to be in some location that needs to be UL listed? If so you are in for a rough and expensive time; I’ve been there.
--- End quote ---
I've posted this multiple times, what unit I'm dealing with. You might have missed it. I posted it early on and then again when someone referred to it as a mystery device. It's the HPE P9S16A, which is a HPE G2 Switched 7.3kVA/60309 3-wire 32A/230V Outlets (12) C13 (4) C19/2U Horizontal INTL PDU. Here is a link, I hope this helps https://www.hpe.com/au/en/product-catalog/servers/power-distribution-units/pip.specifications.power-distribution-units.1009830086.html
I generally don't like posting links, because that link will probably be dead in a few years, if that.
This PDU is in my rack, currently, just not wired up. My server rack. I mentioned that because PDU can refer to multiple things and I didn't want any confusions. I've always been a system programmer, but I started switching carriers maybe a decade ago. I got into repair. Over time, I started learning a lot about hardware and DC. I did a lot of reading, and now I've made a circuit board. We have started an official company. We're still in the process and have to fill out a DBA once our Articles finish running in the news paper. We've invested a lot of money on hardware, software, upgrading the electrical panel in the house, etc. We are currently going to run the business out of our house.
I posted pics of the plug, but for some reason, they didn't seem to get uploaded, I can try again. Replacing the plug itself puts us in the same predicament that we're in now. That plug only has three pins, therefore, it only has three wires inside running to those three pins.
It's not like I can just through a NEMA twist-and-lock plug on there and wire it up properly. The wire itself would be what would limit us. So, the only way to really properly put a NEMA twist-and-lock plug on it or something similar, would be to tear the unit apart and see how they have the actual cable wired up, and see if I can wire it differently, where it accepts two 120VAC's, but from reading everyone's responses, it seems that it might already be wired like that. 240VAC going down the L/+ pin, or 120VAC going down the L/+ pin, 120VAC going down the Neutral pin.
You guys have been extremely helpful and I really appreciate you guys taking the time to help me learn something new and make sure I'm up to code. I'm back from the ER, and good news is I don't have anything horrible. They believe my drastic weight loss is simply due to the high level of stress that I'm under. The business is a new type of stress, but it's a good stress, that I have control over. I break everything up into smaller tasks. Each task causes a bit of stress, but when it's finished, that stress is gone. There is a lot going on in my life or that has recently gone on that I have no control over (my parents are both in the process of dying, my best friend killed himself in my backyard and the local police made me watch on my HD-DVR "because they didn't know how to use the DVR"). There's more than that, but this thread isn't about my stress and my life. Just wanted to say that I think being worried like I was, was definitely affecting my thinking, and now that I know there's nothing really wrong with me, I'm back to being able to concentrate and think a lot more clear like.
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