Technical Bulletin No.

2
International Line Voltages and Frequencies Supply Voltages and Primary Windings for Power Transformers The purpose of a power transformer is to convert AC supply voltage to one or more different AC voltages. In most cases it also provides electrical insulation between the supply voltage and the user's equipment. The secondary windings of the transformer provide the voltages and currents required by the user to power lamps or motors, or to supply rectifiers. The Rated Power of the transformer is the sum of the VA (Volts x Amps) for all of the secondary windings. The primary winding of a transformer must be designed to match the voltage and the frequency from the power source to the transformer, and must be able to transfer the necessary VA to the secondaries without overheating. The current carried by the primary winding thus depends on the secondary VA, but the voltage depends only on the power source. Supply Voltages Worldwide The power used by transformers in electronic equipment is single phase sinewave AC taken from a wall outlet, with the voltage and the frequency delivered by the local power utility. The US Department of Commerce has published a booklet "Electric Current Abroad" which lists the voltages and frequencies used in each city around the world. Using this booklet as source, we have developed the following list of all single phase voltages and frequencies used and the number of countries where each voltage is used: 60Hz Supply 110V 60Hz 115V 60Hz 120V 60Hz 125V 60Hz 127V 60Hz 150V 60Hz 208V 60Hz 216V 60Hz 220V 60Hz 230V 60Hz 240V 60Hz 260V 60Hz 380V 60Hz 400V 60Hz 8 countries 3 countries 12 countries 2 countries 6 countries 1 country 3 countries 2 countries 14 countries 2 countries 11 countries 1 country 3 countries 1 country 100V 50Hz 110V 50Hz 115V 50Hz 120V 50Hz 127V 50Hz 190V 50Hz 200V 50Hz 202V 50 Hz 220V 50Hz 230V 50Hz 231V 50Hz 240V 50Hz 250V 50Hz 380V 50Hz 400V 50Hz 415V 50Hz 433V 50Hz 440V 50Hz 450V 50Hz 50Hz Supply 1 country 5 counties 1 country 1 country 9 countries 1 country 2 countries 1 country 89 countries 20 countries 1 country 16 countries 1 country 85 countries 18 countries 14 countries 1 country 1 country 1 country

The allowable variation in voltage is normally 10% and the frequency is normally stable to better than

.1%. The voltages and frequencies used in most industrialized countries are in bold. (Japan uses 100V 50Hz and 100V 60Hz.) Some countries use different voltages and frequencies in different locations such countries are included in the country count more than once. To see the name of the country(countries) corresponding to each voltage, click here. Nominal Primary Voltages Ideally, the nominal primary voltage for a transformer should be equal to the nominal supply voltage, and the rated frequency should be equal to the supply frequency. It would obviously be impractical to follow these rules strictly and it is not necessary. The transformer design does not impose any lower limit on the supply voltage. The output voltage from the transformer does, however, decrease with decreasing supply voltage, so a lower limit is set by the tolerance required for the secondary voltages. This tolerance is usually in the order of -10% At the rated frequency, supply voltages higher than the nominal primary voltage will eventually cause noticeable mechanical hum or saturation effects, but a properly designed transformer should allow for more than + 10% headroom before this happens. The transformer design does not impose any practical upper limit on how much the supply frequency can exceed the rated frequency, but a supply frequency lower than the rated frequency has the same effect as an overvoltage. The voltage headroom will be decreased by the percentage reduction in supply frequency below rated frequency, and a frequency larger than the rated frequency will increase the headroom. (A 50Hz transformer will have 6% headroom when run at 48Hz, but more than 32% headroom at 60Hz.) As a general rule it can be assumed that it is safe to use a transformer for nominal supply voltages between about 95% and 105% of the transformer's nominal primary voltage. The listing below shows selected nominal primary voltages and corresponding ranges of supply voltages supported by each: Nominal Primary Nominal Supply Voltage/Frequency Voltage/Frequency 100V at 50Hz 115V at 50Hz 117V at 60Hz 120V at 50Hz 220V at 50Hz 100V-105V 50Hz and 100V-105V 60H 110V-120V 50Hz and 110V-127V 60H 110V-120V 60H 110V-130V 50Hz and 110V-130V 60H 200V-230V 50Hz and 220V-240V 60H

Multiple Primary Voltages A transformer must be provided with more than one primary winding if it is to be used for several nominal voltages. One way to do this is to make a winding with several taps, but other methods are often more economical, as the following example will show:

A transformer for 115V primary voltage has a power rating of 210VA. The primary must supply 210VA to the secondary, plus the total losses in the transformer, say 20W. The primary current will thus be (210VA + 20W)/ 115V = 2.0A. If we add turns to this primary so we get a second voltage of 230V, the primary current will be only (210 + 20)/230 = 1A when the total winding is used, but we cannot change the wire size in the 115V part of the primary. The second half of the primary will thus take up winding space when the 115V tap is used, but will not contribute to the output of the transformer. If we instead make the transformer with two primary windings, each for 115V and 1A, we can connect the primaries in parallel for 115V supply, and in series for 230V supply. In both cases all the wire in the primary windings contributes to the output, so winding space is not wasted. As a result a smaller size transformer can be made.

A parallel/series connection works only when the high voltage is a whole multiple of the low voltage. Taps are needed for 100/120V or 220/240V, but the wasted winding space is quite small in these cases. If the primary must cover a wide range of voltages, it is always best to combine small taps with the series/parallel connection of the tapped windings. Standard Primaries At TOROID we use three types of primary windings as standard: Single 117V 60Hz "US Primary"

(black sleeve + white-white) Dual 115V 50/60Hz in parallel 230V 50/60Hz in series (black sleeve + white-yellow/orangeblack) Quad 100/120V 50/60Hz in parallel "Worldwide" "International"

200/220/240V at 50/60Hz in series (black sleeve + white-blueyellow/orange- red-black)

The color coding of these primaries is as shown. A Quad primary has two blue leads and two red leads. Leads with like colors must be joined outside the transformer to form a blue and a red tap. This way of forming a tap is standard in all TOROID transformers. The standard Quad primary is designed to have the two 100V windings in parallel for 100V operation, so a 6-lead voltage selector should be used. If the standard Quad primary is used with a 5-lead voltage selector, the rated VA for the transformer at the 100V tap must be reduced by about 4%. ( The 5-lead selector uses one half of the primary winding as an autotransformer for the 100V tap, so the primary copper losses are higher than for parallel 100V windings.) Cores with primary windings of the three standard types are kept in inventory by TOROID for better economy and faster turnaround of small orders. Upon request we will make primaries for any voltage or voltage combination, and with custom color coding. How to Reduce Cost and Size of a Transformer Correct specification of the secondary data is the most important rule for cost and size reduction of a transformer. Tips on how to specify secondary data for several transformer applications will be given in future issues of Transformer Facts. The cost of a transformer increases with the size of the transformer and with the number of primary windings, so savings can also be made by following these rules for specifying primary data: a. Do not specify a lower rated frequency than needed. (A 60Hz transformer has 20% higher rated power than a 50Hz transformer of the same size and weight.) b. Do not specify more primary windings than needed. (Taps in the primary windings waste winding space, and thus make it necessary to make the transformer bigger.) c. Do not specify more voltage headroom than needed. (The size of the transformer increases if the maximum supply voltage specified is larger than 110% of the nominal primary voltage.) Conclusions: Do not include extra safety margins. Tell us what you need, and let us decide what margins to allow. You can save money by using a single-primary 60Hz transformer in USA and Canada, and using a 50Hz Dual primary or Quad primary only in other markets. We can design the two transformers to give identical output data, but your mechanical design must leave space for the larger 50Hz version. Appendix to Section 1: Supply Voltages Worldwide Used in at least one location in the country 100V 50Hz 110V 60Hz 110V 50Hz Japan Bahrain, Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras, Taiwan Bolivia, Guyana, Jamaica, Lebanon, Somalia

115V 60Hz 115V 50Hz 120V 60Hz 120V 50Hz 125V 60Hz 127V 60Hz 127V 50Hz 150V 60Hz 190V 50Hz 200V 50Hz 202V 50Hz 208V 60Hz 208V 50Hz 216V 60Hz 220V 60Hz 220V 50Hz

Brazil, El Salvador, Trinidad and Tobago Barbados Bahamas, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Liberia, Nicaragua, Palau, Panama Barbados Brazil, Philippines Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Suriname, Tahiti Algeria, Indonesia, Italy, Madagascar, Monaco, Morocco, Senegal, Togo, Vietnam Colombia Lebanon Barbados, Japan Hong Kong Bahamas, Bermuda, Ecuador Vietnam Philippine, Brazil Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican, Ecuador, Haiti, Honduras, Korea (south), Mexico, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Suriname, Tahiti, Taiwan Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China (P.R.), Congo, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Gambia, Greece, Greenland, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakstan, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Macedonia, Madagascar, Mali, Monaco, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Serbia-Montenegro, Slovak, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikstan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago Bahrain, Barbados, Finland, Germany, Grenada, India, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mauritius, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, United Kingdom, Western Samoa Botswana Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Liberia, Nicaragua, Palau, Panama, Venezuela Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Liberia, Nicaragua, Palau, Panama, Venezuela South Africa Colombia Brazil, S. Korea, Peru Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central Africann Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Congo, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Gambia, Greece, Greenland, Guinea, Guinea-

230V 60Hz 230V 50Hz

231V 50Hz 240V 60Hz 240V 60Hz 250V 50Hz 260V 60Hz 380V 60Hz 380V 50Hz

Bissau, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Kazakstan, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Macedonia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Monaco, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia-Montenegro, Slovak, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikstan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe 400V 60Hz 400V 50Hz Trinidad and Tobago Bahrain, Botswana, Burma, Finland, Germany, Grenada, India, Malawi, Mauritius, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, Western Samoa Brunei, Fiji, Ghana, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, Malta, Qatar, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, United Kingdom South Africa Somalia Seychelles

415V 50Hz 433V 50Hz 440V 50Hz 450V 50Hz