Vintage Cooktops

[combo52]

And electric cooktop needs 240 volts

Again, there is no such thing as 220 V in the United States there has not been since the 1930s

After that time, the voltage went up to 230 V and in the 1950s it went up to 240 V

Lots of people read these forums when you talk about 220 V you look like you don’t know what you’re talking about, yes, a lot of people, call it 220 V, but that doesn’t make it correct.

Please refer to the installation instructions

John

 

[sudsmaster]

220 volts is the most common way to refer to appliance electrical requirements, as is 110 volts for stuff like light bulbs. It doesn't matter when it was boosted to, as you claim, first to 230 and then later to 240. And it is hardly a big deal: when you say 220 volts people instantly know what is meant: it's for usually a home appliance. Similarly, 110 volts refers to stuff like light bulbs. You can bitch and moan that it's not accurate but I doubt anyone is going to change they way they talk about it just to shut your trap.

 

 

[Marky_Mark]

Happy New Year!

John, thank you so much for the great info.  This is really helpful.  I'll text you later. 

 

I do not currently have 240 V at the island but I have already had someone out to quote for this.  He is hoping to fish a cable through the existing conduit.  If that is not possible, new conduit will have to go in the slab floor.  I have 240 V at my house rather than 208 V which would often be found in apartment buildings.  And I most certainly do not have 220 V, as I would be the only person in North America to have that voltage by design.  But yes you're right, Suds, even the guy who came to quote referred to it as 220 V ha ha.  I had an electrician in the UK still referring to "the fuse board" or "fuse box" even though it contained circuit breakers and no fuses.  I guess legacy terms sometimes remain in use.  Maybe this is like ending a call on your mobile phone and describing it as "I hung up on him" or talking about "dialling" a number.  But personally I would never say 220 V because it is simply inaccurate and it is just as easy to say 240 V -- with the added benefit of being correct.

 

Suds, as for the 6-burner set-up, it's good in theory. But the burners are pretty close together and you can't really use 6 pans at once, unless they are small.  It's rather like the signs in lifts/elevators that say "maximum capacity 20 persons" when really anymore than 10 people would be a little difficult, even though it's not overloaded.  Other than that, it has all the usual advantages and disadvantages of gas cooktops.

 

 

All the best for the new year

Mark

 

[chachp]

220, 221 whatever it takes

 

Here you go…

 

 

 

[DADoES]

 
Ugh!  I'm getting excess voltage.  Not 110 or 220, or 120 or 240.  A whopping 122.2 and 243.9!  Gonna hafta call for service quick, before all my devices get fried!

 

[combo52]

Excess voltage

Hi Glenn, your voltages are pretty typical of what most people are getting today.

They are allowed about a 10% variation from 240 and 120.

I find most homes in our area run about 242 to about 244 all the more reason not to call it 220 lol

John

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, since the allowable variation is 10%, and 10% of 220 is 22, that means calling a 240 circuit 220 is within the variation. I.E., a 220 circuit can actually be 242. Furthermore, a 240 circuit could be 216 and still be within spec.

 

In other words, calling a 240 circuit 220 is within the specs for 240.

 

 

[combo52]

No, not actually Rich

The normal voltage variation is more like 5%. It’s very rare to have a 10% difference so I don’t think you can justify calling 240 volts 220 just because it could possibly be that low.

I can’t believe you were ever a machinist and yet you describe things,in such in precise ways.

John

 

[sudsmaster]

John,

 

I said the "specs", not what actually occurs. Do understand what "specs" means? It means specifications. Not spectacles.

 

And, as another poster already said, everyone knows what one is talking about if one says 110 or even 220. They are within specs and so IMHO it's ok to refer to 120 or 240 circuits as such.

 

Of course some will bitch and moan about this until the cows come home. That's just the way some people are. Their problem, not mine.

 

And John, as for your opinion of my background/experience/training: I don't really care. You seem to be taking a legalistic approach which may be fine in a courtroom, but in reality it's sort of useless.

 

 

 

 

[sudsmaster]

Mark,

 

Thanks. As you say, the professionals often will say 220 instead of 240, or 110 instead of 120. But everyone (within reason) knows what they mean.

 

As for the cooktop, I have a five burner Frigidaire Gas-on-Glass cooktop that is now at least 20 years old, and which I much prefer to any resistance electric cooktop I've ever encountered. I suppose an induction cooktop would also be fine, except for the fact that some cookware won't heat up on induction burners. Notice I said "burners". Will someone try to sue me over that? I wonder...

 

I can certainly see how a 36" wide six burner cooktop could be problematic in terms of space between pots and pans. However it's rare that I've ever got all five burners going at once, so it may not be all that much of an issue even with the six burner setup. I suspect someone in the cooktop marketing department figured a six burner setup would attract more sales... and they may well have goofed on that assumption.

 

[sudsmaster]

Glen,

 

Like was already discussed, and I know you're likely joking, but 122 and 244 are within the range of specs for 120 and 240 circuits. As are 110 and 220. Because the specifications say +/- 10%.

 

 

[DADoES]

 
I have several UPS battery units with display panels that indicate various parameters such as incoming voltage.  Currently (LOL) is 123.  The lowest I recall noticing was 114 in the early evening on one of those scorcher summer days.

The ANSI C84.1 standard which utilities commonly follow allows a service variation (at the meter) of +/-5% on a 120v supply ... 114v to 126v.

https://voltage-disturbance.com/voltage-quality/voltage-tolerance-standard-ansi-c84-1/

 

[Marky_Mark]

Reply 29

Hi Ralph.  I suppose I would be happy to oblige by suing you over the use of the word "burner" in the context of induction.

 

In the UK, they are called "burners" if they are gas.  They are called "zones" in the case of induction.  And they are called "elements" if they are...well...elements, such as coil elements which could also be called rings.  On ceramic resistance types they are called zones or elements.  I think the people who refer to induction "burners" are typically the same people who connect them to 220 Volts .

 

[appnut]

Isn't there also the term "eye" used for referring to the "burner" on stoves or cooktops?

 

[sudsmaster]

For those who get all twisted out of shape when somebody calls an electric stove "element" a "burner":

 

<h1 class="post-title">How To Replace an Electric Stove Burner</h1>
 

<span class="post-author">Scott The Fix-It Guy</span>

<h2>Introduction</h2>
When you turn on your electric stove burners, they're supposed to heat up quickly. When they don't, you might be tempted to set up a service call to get them fixed.

 

But wait! You might be able to easily fix the problem yourself. Here you'll learn the simple steps to troubleshoot the problem, and two possible solutions.

<h2> </h2>
 ...

https://www.familyhandyman.com/project/how-to-replace-an-electric-stove-burner/

 

[DADoES]

 
My family has used the term burner for electric coil units since the beginning of my lifetime.  Also for gas.  Also for smoothtop electric.  No one in the family thus far has induction but I don't doubt the same terminology would apply.

Because they get hot and can burn stuff ...

 

[ea56]

I’m with you Glenn, they are burners. Thats the way I and everyone else that I know have always referred to them.

The first time I heard someone refer to an electric stove burner as a “eye”, I thought WTH are you talking about? How can you cook anything on an eye? Electric burner elements don’t even closely resemble an eye. And they sure as hell can’t see anything. I can’t understand how that term ever came into use.

Now if they had referred to the burner as an element that I would have understood, because after all the functioning part of the burner is an electric element.

Eddie

 

[luxflairguy]

Paula Deen always referred to burners as "eyes". Always thought that was odd or a Southern thing! Greg

 

[petek]

Burner is pretty much standard usage everywhere in N.America, well maybe not Mexico

 

[ozzie908]

From what I recall we had gas stoves so it was put a pan on the gas and on the rare time we had electric it was known as a ring. Seems now all we have are gas tops and electric ovens and for electric its those horrible solid hotplates or ceramic and Induction. I am a fan of Induction having cooked on many sources including solids fuel.