How do I wire UK spec 3 pin to 6Kw generator 4 pin?


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Old 03-13-17, 04:54 AM
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How do I wire UK spec 3 pin to 6Kw generator 4 pin?

I am in the Armed Forces and am Deployed in England currently. I am trying to open an American inspired food truck here as there are none. The problem I am having is that I have a US spec 4 pin generator and my electrician is trying to figure out how to wire the UK spec 3 pin (live, earth, neutral). Any and all help would be greatly appreciated as I haven't a clue of where to begin, my electrician is at a loss as well and kind of left it up to me to figure it out. Thank you.

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Last edited by eballe67; 03-13-17 at 04:55 AM. Reason: adding a pic
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Old 03-13-17, 07:00 AM
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Note that U.S. electricity is DIFFERENT from European and other areas of the world. The U.S. uses 120 volt/240 volt 60 cycle. Here is what other countries use...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_...ity_by_country
 
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Old 03-13-17, 10:01 AM
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Welcome to the forums.

A U.S. type generator will be 120/240 60hz like Bill mentioned.
Your truck would most likely need 230v 50hz.

Many electronic items and motors don't like the 60hz to 50hz change and won't operate correctly. Most heating devices and resistive loads don't care.

Technically you could use the two hot legs and the ground wire in the 4 pin plug and leave the neutral unconnected.

I'm not sure this is an acceptable connection. I'm going to check into it further and maybe some of the other guys have an idea.

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Old 03-15-17, 07:40 AM
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thank you for the quick response sir. the diagram is super helpful as well. I sent what you suggested to my electrician and have yet to hear from him. have you found if this is an acceptable connection? Here is another wiring diagram that I received from the company directly, apparently baldor was the original company was sold to generac. Please let m eknow if this hekps and thank you so much for the advice, it is really helpful. **So I am only using the 250v on the generator**

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Old 03-15-17, 11:50 AM
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I haven't found a place to confirm if it is a correct connection. If it were me.... I would try it.
If you do try it have your electrician monitor the equipment for proper operation.

Yes.... you'd only be using the high voltage outout.

Since the generator is 240v and 60hz power..... you could have the generator readjusted to run slower so that the voltage was closer to 230v and the cycles would also come down to closer to 50hz.
 
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Old 03-15-17, 12:25 PM
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As PJmax mentioned already, it all depends on what you will be using on the food truck.
I don't think there are too many devices that cares about the frequency anymore. Resistive loads such as grill or electric stoves don't care about the frequency. TVs, Monitors, Computers, Credit card machines don't care frequency as they use SMPS to convert AC to DC.

Microwave oven is only thing that I can think of will cause problem with different frequency.
Modern inverter microwave oven probably will work fine (not 100% sure), but traditional microwave oven will not work correctly.

Hood fan might cause issue as well depending on what motor was used. If it is just small motor, probably will work fine other than it will turn a little faster.

You could tune the frequency by adjusting generator's RPM to some point, but it will also affect voltage output. It is most likely to work out fine, but will depend on the generator.

It might be less of headache to just purchase generator built for use in UK.
 
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Old 03-16-17, 04:37 AM
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Thank you so much for the valuable info. The items I will be running will be a flat top, bain marie, LED lights, soup pot, a deep fryer, and the oven hood along with maybe charging some personal items like a phone or an ipad we will use as a POS. I will replace this generator with one that is tailor made for the UK, I just don't have the money to do that right now. The one I would need to power all this is around 4 grand and uncle sam doesn't pay me that well. lol. I am having the electrician come over this Saturday to go ahead with you all have suggested. Again, thank you all for the advice, is there somewhere on this site I can donate to? Everybody has been really helpful and kind to my ignorance.
 
 

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