Electric Toothbrush

[ProfJohnL]

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Well yes and no. Most of Europe is 220V, we are 240V, so one of those classic EU fudges resulted. They specified that the supply should be 230V +10/-6% as you said - which meant that no-one had to do anything as 220V in Europe and 240V in the UK falls within the range.

UK supply is still 240V.

Hello Woody,

Prior to 1995 the legal UK mains voltage was 240v +/-6%. The national grid had managed to operate within this tolerance band very reliably. When the new EU ruling came into force, Yes it was a fudge, but it took note of the UKs voltage consistency and legislated for 230V +10/-6% . This easily encompasses the previous UK performance.

But like or not the legal supply voltage in the UK is now 230V +10/-6%.

The advantage of this standardisation is the any appliance designed for the EU market will work anywhere within the EU inc Britain.

 

[Woody3]

Funny that a few minutes ago my DVM was reading 241.7V then?

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

Funny that a few minutes ago my DVM was reading 241.7V then?

230 + 10% equals 243 volts, so your reading is still within spec.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Funny that a few minutes ago my DVM was reading 241.7V then?

As WC points out the reading you have given is still within the EU regs. But that raises another issue, Just because a meter is digital does not mean you can implicitly believe the reading you see. All DVM's (& analog meters) have some inaccuracy. In the case of DVM's its usually quoted as a percentage of full scale plus so many digits.

Most DVM's available to the domestic market are typically +/-0.5% +1 Least significant digit (LSD) digit, So assuming your full scale reading is 2000V that means your reading could be out by +/- 11V.!

Industrial units may improve that to about +/-0.1% +1 LSD on full scale of 2000.0 which still gives a potential (sic) error of +/-2.3V.