[time-nuts] Line Voltage - USA

Van Horn, David david.vanhorn at backcountryaccess.com
Tue Jan 3 12:47:52 EST 2017


I once had some odd equipment failures which we found out were caused by the line voltage being at 142V.
This was in the mid 80's in Costa Mesa CA.  The tech they sent out told me they had us on the wrong transformer tap.

Lowest I've seen was 70V in Hawaii, with everyone coming home about 5PM and switching on air conditioners.  We had to run our TV on a variac and adjust the voltage to keep the picture from shrinking.

Since those days, that's the numbers I design equipment to, if it is to run from 115V supplies.  That rule has never let me down.


More information about the time-nuts mailing list