Running a March Pump @ 240VAC/60Hz

Hi all. Long time reader, first time poster.

I'm currently designing my minimal HERMS brewery utilizing the standard Camco 5.5KW heater element, but I am disappointed to discover that my house only has 3-wire 240VAC 60Hz (US) system. As a result I can not efficiently or safely split the rails to get a 120VAC line as many electric rigs do in order run my theoretical March pump.

The data sheet for the pump lists that is operates at 115VAC/230VAC and both 50/60Hz. Given this I may just want to stick with 240VAC throughout the entire system, but I can't find any information here or elsewhere with people running their pumps at 240VAC 60Hz.

Thoughts/Experiences?

Um, we all have 3 wire service to the house. 2 hot wires and a neutral. The ground usually goes to your water line or something else buried in the ground like a grounding rod.

If you have any regular outlets in your house, you have 120. Or, are you saying that the 240V outlet you're using is an old 3 wire type?

Um, most outlets have 3 wires, but one is hot, one is neutral and one is ground. I think if you put a voltmeter on the two wires on two sides of your outlet, you'll find that you have 120V. There aren't any houses in the U.S. that have only 240 everywhere - they'd burn up pretty much every appliance.
Actually getting 240 is going to be a bigger problem.

I run everything except my small MD 3 LG pump at 220v, if I could find a small pump for recirculating that would run at 220v I would drop 110v all together.
220v= johnson controller, HERMS 1500w Elem. duel thermometers LG MD 5 pump
110v LG MD 3 pump

The March pump I bought is a 240V unit and I'm almost done building the new rig and am providing a switched 240V outlet for the pump since there's already 240V there for the heating element. I've tested the pump ok and I don't anticipate any problems with such a setup.

bdjohns1 said:

Um, we all have 3 wire service to the house. 2 hot wires and a neutral. The ground usually goes to your water line or something else buried in the ground like a grounding rod.

If you have any regular outlets in your house, you have 120. Or, are you saying that the 240V outlet you're using is an old 3 wire type?

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Derp on me... I guess I couldn't have possibly made that post any more confusing. Obviously the main electrical feed to the house is 240VAC@60Hz - standard US voltages/frequency. What I meant to say was that the dryer outlet from which I plan to run my system is the older-style NEMA 10-30 3-prong connector.

Since I will be using the neutral line to effectively ground the electronics, pots, and aluminum structure I can not safely use a single hot line referenced to the neutral line to create a 120VAC@60Hz line since it will not be grounded. So therein lies my issue. If I can just use 240VAC@60HZ throughout my brewery that will simplify things greatly, and the only thing keeping me from being able to do so is the pump. So has anyone operated the referenced March Pump at 240VAC@60Hz or do I need a more specialized model?

Junkster said:

The March pump I bought is a 240V unit and I'm almost done building the new rig and am providing a switched 240V outlet for the pump since there's already 240V there for the heating element. I've tested the pump ok and I don't anticipate any problems with such a setup.

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Thanks for the info Junkster. Since you're listed as being in Ohio I assuem you're also on the 60Hz system. Can you provide a link to the model you are using so I can verify?

Here's the link to the pump I have:
http://www.marchpump.com/ac-5c-md/

Here's the drawing & I just checked the motor number again and it's the 230V, 50/60 HZ version. http://www.marchpump.com/site/files/966/109451/375237/514877/Dimensional_Drawing_-_PDF__230V_.pdf

Apparently, this model pump can be equipped with either type motor - 2 different part numbers, so I doubt that they're the universal type which can be wired / optioned for either. If you're in doubt about yours, I'd check with March Tech Support.

Junkster said:

Apparently, this model pump can be equipped with either type motor - 2 different part numbers, so I doubt that they're the universal type which can be wired / optioned for either. If you're in doubt about yours, I'd check with March Tech Support.

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Ah, that makes perfect sense- same pump different motors. I'll double check with the company (why the heck didn't I think of that obvious solution first?). Thanks for the input.