It's bad practice to be sure, but no need for melodrama here. 220 is
household power in Europe, using plugs in some countries that are no
bigger than our 110 volt plugs -- just different.

You can get 220 volt 15-amp or 20-amp plugs and receptacles that fit
in an ordinary box. They look like an ordinary plug except the
prongs are sideways. It would be a good idea to change to that.

More important: have the wiring feeding that box be compatible with
the breaker protecting it at the source. 12 gage wire, 20 amp
breaker. With 220 the breaker must be a dual breaker. They're not
expensive. If you feed ordinary 12 or 14 gage wire from a stove or
dryer circuit, you risk a fire with overload.


On 11 Aug 2004 10:14:36 -0700, (alderotes) wrote:

Derek wrote in message
I have a German buzz box hooked up like this in my garage. It's
designed to run at 50 Hertz at 220, but is fed 220 at 60 Hertz. That
extra 10 Hertz sure gets it buzzing! Foolishly, I hooked it up
through a regular wall outlet above my welder, with a sign warning
that it was a 220V supply. A few years ago, my wife was outside and
needed to plug in the baby monitor ...... guess which one she chose!!

Change the plug today! Why kill the next poor fellow who buys your
house, or your wife, or your kid?