European (1-phase) 220V Stove

[swrodent]

Hi,

I have a 220V stove designed for use in 220V countries where the supply is 1-phased.

It's a Frigidaire, model MFF351BCWB, made in the US. I do have the wiring diagrams, if that's of any help.

The stove is now sitting in my garage in California.
My question is, is this stove of any possible use in North America? Or should I just haul it off to the dump? It's about 7 years old, but was only in use for 3, and has been in storage the last 4 years, so it's still in great shape.

Someone suggested to me that Frigidaire uses a transformer in its circuitry, as opposed to having a "native" one-phased European circuit. This gave me hope that maybe this could be ripped out of my stove, making it directly usable on American AC circuits with 2-phase 220V. If so, I'd try to sell it through the classifieds or EBay rather than scrapping it.

Does this theory make any sense? Can it be easily converted for the US? Or should I just forget about it?

Thanks for any suggestions.

[jjl3rd]

I'm gonna shoot a little bit from the hip on this one. I'd be willing to bet that there is not a transformer to convert the voltage as our US stoves use 220 too. Also the cost, weight, and effiency losses would be prohibitive. At the 220 volt level the major difference is that we have our ground placed in the center tap of the 220 line (which is how we get our 110 conections) and the european system grounds one side of the total voltage. Their grounded side would be the blue wire. For it to work here that connection (blue) would have to go to one side of our 220V line while the other connection (brown) would need to go to the other side of the 220 volt line. These would be the two "phases" of which you speak though technically ours is single phase. CAUTION wiring this way could cause a real problem DEPENDING on the internal wiring of the stove. The frame of the stove could be HOT which would cause the breaker to blow if the frame is grounded or you to get hurt if it isn't. I would check with the manufacturer to be sure but I bet that it could be converted. Additionally, any electronics that derive timing functions from the AC line frequency would be affected as ours is 60 hz while thiers is 50. Hope this helps I really would check with the manufacturer they have helped me make similar conversions.
John

[Troy]

welcome back, jjl3rd! []