Gordon Shumway wrote:
On Thu, 1 Jul 2010 12:21:21 -0700 (PDT), Hoosierpopi
wrote:


I was asked today about a motor stamped 240VAC. I kept saying 220
volts and my neighbor would interupt and remind me it said 240 VAC.

I told hm that I didn't think it mattered and that I'd never heard an
explanation of why we see stuff rated at 240 VAC when most of our
homes seem to come standard with 220 VAC and 115VAC.


snip

If you wire your shop with 240 and accidentally get two US-generated
120 volt lines run in by accident, you can get 240 by using a trick I
learned from an old electrician. Just put each source into its own
fuse box and then turn one of the boxes upside down. That'll invert
one of the two up and down sine waves to down and up, giving you 240.
DO NOT just turn the box sideways, since that'll give you 165 volts
and you'll be limited to just using Canadian tools with it.

Aha! This answers the original question. It addresses boxes that are
mounted at a slight angle.

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA