ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area 127 Volts?

We leave our substations with 127 volts everyday 24/7. We set ours with a 1.5 bandwidth so it is possible to leave with as much as 128.5 or 125.5. The 240 side runs about 252 to 255. This is on a system of 22000 customers and very wide spread.

 
Agreeing with C-H, Jefferson electric makes a dytype for Mexico with a 220Y/127V secondary.

ANSI std C84.1 lists an aboslute maximum of 127V on a 120V system, with most utilities limiting that to 125.

127V can be pretty tough on electronics and incandescent lamps.

Years ago, I heard that a small part of the older section of Bogota (capital city of Colombia) had 150 volts. However the nominal voltage in the rest of the city is 120 at 60 hertz.

According to my grandmother, Cali used to be slightly lower (nominal 110V), but according to that city's utility company, the nominal voltage there is also 120...so who knows. When she moved to Bogota, she took her large Philips multi-volt radio and remembers turning the voltage selector knob to 125 (from the 115 spot it was set for).

I don't know if this 150 volt system still exists. Probably not.

As far as 127 volts, I've heard it's the nominal voltage in Mexico...or at least was. Wiring devices and appliances I see imported from Mexico are rated either 125 or 127 volts at x-amps.

I wonder if that's also the case in the USA/Mexico border. Can anyone living in San Ysidro or such border towns give us a voltage reading at their normal wall sockets?

Maybe next time I go visit Tijuana or if I go to Cancun, I'll take a small volt-meter with me. Just for kicks.

Local voltage in New York City is about 118. I've heard of some parts of the USA having voltages as high as 125 or as low as 105.

I have an Army manual that shows a 3 phase 4 wire system, with 220 volts p-p and 127 volts p-n. The 127 volt designation is just 220/1.73=127 volts. It could just be the nominal voltage designation.

Somehow I can't put in a photo to show the 125 and 145 Volts terminal on a masterclock.

I have submitted the piccies to the webmaster, see what happens.

Is this it here Ray?.

Great,

Many thanks Trumpy

Wasn't there someplace where the nominal line voltage was about 250 volts?

That would make some sense.

250/1.73 = 144.5 volts

????

Interesting thought Arend, I didn't think under that angle. I know that in Belgium a 3 x 230 Volts system was used but in the older days some countries and perhaps local hydro powerstations in switzerland may have had some different non standard voltages.
That voltage is on a swiss built clock which I bought on Ebay.

Cheers Ray

In the Netherlands (where I live) electricity was also 127/220 at first.

Until some years ago there were still small parts of the old powergrid active in Amsterdam and Delft (at least that is what i heard).

As far as i heard, all the power grids build after WW2 were of the 380/220 kind (upgraded later to 400/230)

Sometimes, in old places you can still see the fuseboxes with 2 fuses per circuit. Where only 1 is still connected. This is rare to see as most of the fuseboxes have been replaced already during the past 50 years.

In the early days people used 127 volts, after that they used 2 phases of the 127 volt grid to power appliances at 220 volts and nowadays everything is 400/230 volts.

Most old PHILIPS appliances that are stamped with "Made in Holland" are selectable between: 110, 127, 220 and 240 Volts. Even the appliances sold in the 60's and 70's. So i guess some 127 volts services were still used in europe at that time.

- Arend