More issues with a 230v appliance here in the US

[JackSpade24]

Back again with another question about a 230v apple grinder that I am using here in the US. I was able to wire on the correct plug and use the machine at a friends house who has a 240v outlet. Unfortunately, I do not have a 240v outlet at my house and have no open circuits to have one installed. I have tried using a 5,000 watt step up transformer but it cannot handle the surge when the grinder is turned on and the fuse blows as the motor is revving up. Is there anything else I can do to get this thing running at my place or am I better off just processing the apples at my friends place who has the 240v outlet?

I was thinking I could rent or borrow a generator? Would that be possible and if so what size would I need? Getting a larger transformer seems unlikely given that anything over 5000w needs to be hardwired into my electrical system and that seems like more trouble than it is worth.

Any and all suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

I have tried using a 5,000 watt step up transformer but it cannot handle the surge when the grinder is turned on and the fuse blows as the motor is revving up.

As I mentioned in the previous thread, I don't call that a 5,000 watt transformer. Many of those consumer products contain a 'budget grade' of transformer a few sizes smaller than they claim, and so they must put in an undersize fuse to stop it catching fire if used at what is meant to be its full power. They say in their own publicity not to use it for anything larger than 3kVA which makes a nonsense of the 5kVA rating.

A real 5kVA transformer designed for machinery, with built-in slow-acting circuit breaker, will almost certainly operate the grinder perfectly. That still leaves you with the problem of getting the 20-25 amps at 120V needed to power the transformer. My hunch is it might work fine on a 20A outlet but I can't tell from here. If you were going to get a 30A 120V circuit fitted, you might as well get a 20A 240V circuit and avoid the transformer.

Depending on what main panel you have and what breakers are fitted, sometimes it is possible to free up space for a new circuit. If two existing single-pole breakers are replaced with tandems (which pack two breakers into one module width) you would then have room for a double-pole breaker for the 240V circuit.

 

[JackSpade24]

As I mentioned in the previous thread, I don't call that a 5,000 watt transformer. Many of those consumer products contain a 'budget grade' of transformer a few sizes smaller than they claim, and so they must put in an undersize fuse to stop it catching fire if used at what is meant to be its full power. They say in their own publicity not to use it for anything larger than 3kVA which makes a nonsense of the 5kVA rating.

A real 5kVA transformer designed for machinery, with built-in slow-acting circuit breaker, will almost certainly operate the grinder perfectly. That still leaves you with the problem of getting the 20-25 amps at 120V needed to power the transformer. My hunch is it might work fine on a 20A outlet but I can't tell from here. If you were going to get a 30A 120V circuit fitted, you might as well get a 20A 240V circuit and avoid the transformer.

Depending on what main panel you have and what breakers are fitted, sometimes it is possible to free up space for a new circuit. If two existing single-pole breakers are replaced with tandems (which pack two breakers into one module width) you would then have room for a double-pole breaker for the 240V circuit.

So I guess the question is, how much would it cost to do that work and put in the new circuit? Am I looking at thousands of dollars worth of work?

 

[JackSpade24]

As I mentioned in the previous thread, I don't call that a 5,000 watt transformer. Many of those consumer products contain a 'budget grade' of transformer a few sizes smaller than they claim, and so they must put in an undersize fuse to stop it catching fire if used at what is meant to be its full power. They say in their own publicity not to use it for anything larger than 3kVA which makes a nonsense of the 5kVA rating.

A real 5kVA transformer designed for machinery, with built-in slow-acting circuit breaker, will almost certainly operate the grinder perfectly. That still leaves you with the problem of getting the 20-25 amps at 120V needed to power the transformer. My hunch is it might work fine on a 20A outlet but I can't tell from here. If you were going to get a 30A 120V circuit fitted, you might as well get a 20A 240V circuit and avoid the transformer.

Depending on what main panel you have and what breakers are fitted, sometimes it is possible to free up space for a new circuit. If two existing single-pole breakers are replaced with tandems (which pack two breakers into one module width) you would then have room for a double-pole breaker for the 240V circuit.

And if I did want to go the generator route, what size generator would I need? I have a friend who offered a 6500w generator with a 30A 120/250v outlet. I would have to wire on a new plug but other than that it seems like this would work right? Or am I wrong and would I need something larger?