European Appliance, 230V 50hz to USA 60hz

[unclejemima]

I've got a European Electric stove that is 50hz that I would like to use in North America.

The specs of the stove say it requires 230/400V~50Hz 3N connection.

Is there any creative converter that can make our North American 60hz power work with this appliance? I've heard there is a AC/DC/AC converter/inverter that can achieve this, but I can't find any commercial units for sale and I have no clue how reliable such a test would be.

I'm sure I'm not first to attempt such a task?

 

[Punx0r]

A frequency converter of required size is probably going to be quite expensive.

I would be tempted to look inside and see if you can't just run it at 60Hz. Any resistive heating elements would not care, any motors would run 20% faster and any driving a fan would see higher load than designed for. That might be a problem or it might not. Likewise, any transformers will run hotter.

 

[unclejemima]

Thanks PunxOr.

Can you amuse me on what is considered expensive? Its a really nice stove

Would it be possible to find any reliable frequency converters that can be purchased from electrical wholesale...or is this something that's done home-made, custom style?

 

[nicobie]

How about a VFD?

 

[Punx0r]

Sorry, couldn't recommend one, but voltage converts and phase converters cost hundreds as a rough guide for a few kW. It's a huge waste just to power a resistive element.

As another idea you might run a small converter (if such a thing is available) to run everything but the heating elements, and then feed those off your 60Hz supply. You'd need to do a little rewiring.

 

[unclejemima]

Thanks for the reply guys. This sounds a little more complicated than I first hoped. I think I'll just stick with the USA 60hz stuff and avoid any problems. Had it been a toaster, i would not mind, but the stove is worth $$$ and not worth damaging.

Take care,