Connecting 220v reball station in usa

[matt.zepess@gmail.com]

Hello, I bought a Chinese rework station from a gentleman in the states already. He chopped off the European plug and connected a nema 6-20r, my idea is a simple rewire to 10-30p as I believe ohms law will save me by not allowing it to pull the full 30a. I mentioned it to my step dad and he’s worried about safety. Machine will only be plugged in and on when I’m nearby if that helps but he can’t fathom what I’m trying to do. Any tips? Machine is already fused with a replaceable 20a so I’d imagine that would work in event of failure. Any help would be appreciated.

[Andy Chee]

You are correct about ohms law.

However your assumption that a rework station will behave according to ohms law like a simple resistor, may be incorrect, particularly if there is a switchmode power supply inside.

A schematic diagram of the rework station would help clarify things, failing that, several good closeup photos of the internal circuit board.

[Ian.M]

NEMA 10 series is depreciated, (banned for new installations since NEC 1996 edition) as they do not have a ground pin.  It is likely that a rework station originally fitted with a Schuko European plug has a three wire cord and requires a ground for safety.   IMHO unless it has a two wire cord, your stepdad is correct and fitting a NEMA 10-30P would be unsafe.   The heater insulation of these Chinese rework stations is often questionable, so I wouldn't trust one with mains voltage heating elements and a two wire cord anyway!

Its also worth noting that the max rated current for any European socket that can take a Schuko plug is 16A, so either that 20A fuse isn't original or the manufacturer bumped up the rating because they were getting nuisance fuse blowing due to inrush current.

A way forward would be to refit the circuit for a properly wired NEMA 6-30 outlet if you don't have any equipment that needs the Neutral for 120V control circuits, or get a ground to the outlet somehow and fit a NEMA 14-30 outlet.  Rather than fitting an over-rated plug on the appliance use a NEMA  6-30P or 14-30P to  6-20R adapter.

If you cant refit the circuit with a grounded outlet (e.g. rented property), for private use you could make up an adapter with a separate ground wire which *MUST* be permanently connected to a good tested electrical ground.  Don't let OSHA see it!