jdemaris

Thanks for keeping the "would be electric experts" straightened out. Stops them from passing wrong info on and on. I flinch every time I read some of the wrong things they come up with but don't have time to correct every one of them. Don't schools teach any thing about watts and horse power any more? At least we have the "burn water" people shut up, at least for a little while.

Well, I have to admit that when I was a kid working as a little "helper monkey" for various half-drunk contractors, I often heard comments about 240 volts having more power, running cheaper, etc. I also got a lot of bad advice about women to go with it. I learned many of the corrections in regard to wiring long before I discovered the reality about women. IBEW required me to know something when I became a lineman.

I suspect much of the 220 VAC myth is based on bad wiring. I'm sure there were many motors hooked to 12 or 14 gauge wire that worked much better on 240 VAC. That's a wiring and voltage drop issue, not a voltage superiority issue.

And women? I'm afraid I really believed 1st - the "sugar and spice and everything nice" deal as a kid. Then - when working for some of these contractors that spent half their lives in bar-rooms - well, let's just say not the greatest source for astute studies on female behavior. I found out the old fashioned way. I married a wack-job. Then, later, married just the oppostie - and I've been "happier ever after."

And now you're wondering - how the heck did I get from 240 VAC to woman? Sorry, maybe I'm getting a little wacky now.

And to be fair, on some motors there can be a very slight gain in motor-starting power when hooked on 240 VAC. Slight and not the general rule for all motors.

The misconceptions on this forum are broad and deep. You really have to wonder if schools are teaching physics anymore. This should be pretty basic stuff for anyone with a high school diploma. I'm not talking just about electricity; there have been many wild statements made about things as basic as mechanical advantage, heat, work and energy.

And I think he owns at least one of every model of vehicle and tractor/crawler ever made.

VERY interesting fellow.

Paul