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wrote:
My wife moved here from the UK... she brought with her a unit called a
"hostess trolley" it is used to keep food warm before serving. She
loves it but it's a 220/240 volt unit.

We've tried running it with a converter and that didn't work.

Describe the failure mode. If it's merely a thermostat & heater,
a simple converter should work. If there's a motor in it (e.g. a
clock), the motor might run at the wrong speed.

Are you sure the converter was of sufficient capacity? A heater
can take a lot of power, and trip protection circuits in the
converter.

We've re-wired it for a 220 volt US plug and that didn't work.

Presumably you plugged it in to a 220 volt single phase source? Did it
fail the same way? Are you sure you wired it correctly?

So, it must be a problem with 60 / 50 hertz.

Usually the transition this direction is easier, because 60 Hz requires
less iron in transformers, which is the real issue in many (most?) cases.

Anybody have an idea about what else we could try to make it work in
the States?

It's possible the device has circuitry specifically designed to
preclude that, but unlikely.

Bob

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