American hot tub connections.

[Fella82]

Hi
I have been asked to connect a s series propak hotub. The installation manual is all American based and the wiring diagrams for the connections is all American. I am not to sure if a uk 240v supply can be connected. The terminal block has four points to connect. Line 1 120v line 2 120v ground and neutral. The hot tub can run on 240v but it is with a 240v across line1 and line2. Do I need to transform the voltage to 110v therefore I may need two 110v transformers. Or is a case of connecting my 240v supply into line 1 and link it with line 2.
Anyone come across this before?

 

[Darkwood]

Be safe and install as a cold tub.... bonus on saving a fortune in power.... hope your domestic supply is up to been loaded up 50amps.... be fun if the DNO is a 60amp fuse in the cutout :frown2:

 

[norcal]

Be safe and install as a cold tub.... bonus on saving a fortune in power.... hope your domestic supply is up to been loaded up 50amps.... be fun if the DNO is a 60amp fuse in the cutout :frown2:

I am a firm believer of using appliances made for the local market, any equipment made for a 120/240V or 120/208V supply will not do well in the 50 Hz world, seen many threads where folks got a "good deal" on American appliances such as ovens & clothes dryers, then they want help to connect them to the 230V 50Hz supply,the timer, lighting & in the case of clothes dryers, the motor is 120 volts, just no simple way to do it.

 

[shanky887614]

I am a firm believer of using appliances made for the local market, any equipment made for a 120/240V or 120/208V supply will not do well in the 50 Hz world, seen many threads where folks got a "good deal" on American appliances such as ovens & clothes dryers, then they want help to connect them to the 230V 50Hz supply,the timer, lighting & in the case of clothes dryers, the motor is 120 volts, just no simple way to do it.

The only time it is really worth it is electronics like phones and battery operated tools.

for example buying a phone they all take 5v dc over usb.

With power tools its different because it is likely you will need to buy a charger in your local country

 

[Engineer54]

I am a firm believer of using appliances made for the local market, any equipment made for a 120/240V or 120/208V supply will not do well in the 50 Hz world, seen many threads where folks got a "good deal" on American appliances such as ovens & clothes dryers, then they want help to connect them to the 230V 50Hz supply,the timer, lighting & in the case of clothes dryers, the motor is 120 volts, just no simple way to do it.

Only a class A, grade 1 idiot would purchase anything from the States/Canada for use in the UK/Europe that requires a dual voltage set-up of 120V with either a 240/208V. And we've had a few of those idiots on here, that have actually done exactly that!! lol!!

 

[PEG]

That manual only lists 240 V,50 A,60 Hz as an input,so if that's the case here,no probs. The other voltages listed are outputs from the control board and are therefore internal and not a concern. Also,as in many other of these high tech neighbour annoying show-boating planet wasting garden ornament travesties,there are jumpers in the board to limit current,if your 50 A is a worry. Enjoy...

 

[Knobhead]

To me this says it isn’t suitable. The white wire is the centre point neutral. Red and black 240V Ph→Ph.

 

[Silly Sausage]

Knowing absolutely nowt about Yank split phase equipment, I'm just wondering here, if you connected our 240V across the above (top wiring diagram) L2 L1, would that N be sitting at 120V?

 

[Knobhead]

Only if it has equal loads either side. Otherwise you have the dreaded floating neutral giving all kinds of strange voltages.

 

[Silly Sausage]

That makes sense.

 

[PEG]

Where is the OP with these pics?...Some of these yankee gadgets come with a UK abridged wiring instruction that enables connection to our single phase 240 V.The loss of the 120 V does not always affect control or any great detriment of function,but you would need to know this. I have had this a number of times with USA built-in charging units mounted on self-propelled battery powered access equipment,where jumpers allow UK connection with minimal loss of characteristics. This is a lot of speculation when a simple bath works fine...

 

[PEG]

...Just fished out the handbook for a hot-tub i decommissioned and removed 4 weeks ago. It's a BAJA spa,from the states,and the illustrated wiring set-up is identical to the OP's. This was connected to 230 ac SF via a 32A MCB (yes,i know...)and worked fine prior to being "re-possessed". Although,i am starting to think the OP is in his already,with a Pimms...

 

[Fella82]

Eventually got back to the hot tub to take some photos of the connections for the supply. I think I will only need to connect LIVE into LINE 1 and neutral and earth. Anyone knows if this would be correct?

 

[Lucien Nunes]

At a quick glance, the unit shown in that manual is not suitable for a UK supply. It may be connected to either 120V (in which case all pumps used with it must be 120V) or 120-0-120 (called 240V in the US and in the manual) in which case pumps/blowers may be either 120 or 240V according to whether the internal links are set to connect them between L1 & L2 or L1/2 & N. But in either case, there would be 120V between L1 & N and this might be required for the unit to operate.

Connecting 230V L1-N would give it double the voltage across these points compared to that shown in the instructions. It might be fitted with a wide-range PSU that can accept this but you would have to check with the manufacturers or find the EU version of the manual.

Alternatively, if the PSU is connected L1-L2 you might be allowed to feed 230V between these points and omit the N terminal. Again, outside the scope of these US-style instructions, you would need to check to avoid blowing it up.

Remember that US documentation will invariably assume that 240V in a domestic situation is derived from 120-0-120 and that the midpoint neutral is available.

 

[Knobhead]

Eventually got back to the hot tub to take some photos of the connections for the supply. I think I will only need to connect LIVE into LINE 1 and neutral and earth. Anyone knows if this would be correct?

Look at #21!

IT IS NOT SUTABLE FOR THE UK!

 

[Engineer54]

Stop faffing about, the manual may not correspond to the actual unit, best bet is to contact the manufacturers or the UK agents for this hot tub... As i stated earlier there must be thousands upon thousands of US/Canada made spa's and hot tubs working perfectly well in the UK, and from what i gather, this unit has been purchased in the UK so it has to be fit for purpose.....