Bit of an odd one this...

I've got a USA battery charger which has been pre-wired for American plug sockets and I want to change it to a normal UK 3-pin plug. It currently has 2 flat blade pins, 2 wires, no earth, no fuse etc.

I want to chop the USA plug off and wire up a UK plug so that I don't have to use an adaptor (can't get one delivered before Christmas anyway). The wiring isn't coloured, just two black wires running side by side as one flat cable, the blades look identical except that one of them has a number '1' next to it. I'm guessing that this is the live feed and the other is the neutral?

Finally, how do I work out the fuse size? (3amp, 5amp or 13amp)

Details on the label are: -

Class 2 Battery Charger: Model LC3-24-2A

INPUT: AC 100-240v 50/60Hz

INPUT POWER: 57W (Max)

OUTPUT: DC24v/2.0A

Cheers...

Bit of an odd one this...

I've got a USA battery charger which has been pre-wired for American plug sockets and I want to change it to a normal UK 3-pin plug. It currently has 2 flat blade pins, 2 wires, no earth, no fuse etc.

I want to chop the USA plug off and wire up a UK plug so that I don't have to use an adaptor (can't get one delivered before Christmas anyway). The wiring isn't coloured, just two black wires running side by side as one flat cable, the blades look identical except that one of them has a number '1' next to it. I'm guessing that this is the live feed and the other is the neutral?

Finally, how do I work out the fuse size? (3amp, 5amp or 13amp)

Details on the label are: -

Class 2 Battery Charger: Model LC3-24-2A

INPUT: AC 100-240v 50/60Hz

INPUT POWER: 57W (Max)

OUTPUT: DC24v/2.0A

Cheers...

P=V*I

57 (max) = 24 * (more-or-less) 2 (as per spec)

Therefore 2 Amp, 3 at a push.

No idea about the plug though. Although it sounds like it's not earthed so I would just bung on the two wires onto live & neutral (doesn't matter which way round).

Cheers Tim, 3 amp it is then...

I'll open the charger up and see if that gives me a clue which wire is the heart stopper/starter

Sorry, fuse is on primary side, therefore 57watt = 22 * current, I = 0.26 amp, so half amp fuse.

Cheers Tim, 3 amp it is then...

I'll open the charger up and see if that gives me a clue which wire is the heart stopper/starter

Can you though? These things are usually sealed units these days.

In the UK are you guys using 220 I imagine? And your 3 wires are a hot, a return and a ground is that correct?

The two wires on the US are your hot and your return (sometimes called neuteral) I would bet it is double insulated so it is not running a seperate ground

One of the blades on the US plug will be larger then the other, cannot for the life of me remember at the moment if the larger is the hot or the neuteral, will find it in a second.

So, assuming that You are running 220 on one leg, and neuteral on the other and ground (earth) on the third

You will need to add an additional chassis ground into your charger out to your plug.

Let me go find if the hot is the bigger or smaller blade.

Cheers Tim, 3 amp it is then...

I'll open the charger up and see if that gives me a clue which wire is the heart stopper/starter

Can you though? These things are usually sealed units these days.

Yep, 4 hidden screws

Yep, 4 hidden screws

Why do I get the impression this is going to end in tears and a little kid with a flat battery on Xmas Day?

Small prong is the hot.

http://www.acmehowto.com/howto/homemainten...ical/outlet.php

In the UK are you guys using 220 I imagine? And your 3 wires are a hot, a return and a ground is that correct?

The two wires on the US are your hot and your return (sometimes called neuteral) I would bet it is double insulated so it is not running a seperate ground

One of the blades on the US plug will be larger then the other, cannot for the life of me remember at the moment if the larger is the hot or the neuteral, will find it in a second.

So, assuming that You are running 220 on one leg, and neuteral on the other and ground (earth) on the third

You will need to add an additional chassis ground into your charger out to your plug.

Let me go find if the hot is the bigger or smaller blade.

240v in the UK, Hot (live), Return (Neutral), Ground (Earth). Not all UK appliances are earthed, some of them are double insulated as you say so I'm sure the charger will be ok to use. I could get USA to UK adapter online but I need to charge the bike batteries up before Christmas...

The blades 'look' identical, I'll have to get the digital measurer thingy out to double check

If the blades are identical (you would see it easily no calipers needed) then just hook one blade to return, one to hot and you will have to supply a ground (earth)

When we do 220 here, we have two 110 hot legs. (why I asked)

I think Germany did 220 on a hot leg and a return as well.

If the blades are identical (you would see it easily no calipers needed) then just hook one blade to return, one to hot and you will have to supply a ground (earth)

When we do 220 here, we have two 110 hot legs. (why I asked)

I think Germany did 220 on a hot leg and a return as well.

Wow! That's just melted my brain

For calculations you use 230 but the range in UK you can get from 210 to 250 V in your house just depends really.

Can just see it now,

It doesn't matter which way round you have the two wires on an AC transformer on the input.

Don't get confused by all this Hot Leg talk ( Rod Stewart springs to mind ) its only relevant on DC inputs.

What the charger is effectively doing is taking an AC supply through a primary winding on a transformer, reducing the voltage on a secondry winding , then through a bridge rectifier converting it to DC... Simple

As toofasttim said, you want a .5amp fuse on the supply

Is that an Oset your charging The Geographically Challenged One?

Andy is a one aint he, just realised what happened there

Edited December 20, 200619 yr by Betarev3