Taking power tools down under

[Phillip Ngan]

In the near future I'll be taking my woodworking tools from North America to New Zealand, where the voltage supply is 240 VAC, 50Hz. I was wondering whether a few of my tools will work in NZ with a step-down transformer. They are:

- Bosch jigsaw, variable speed
- Porter Cable single speed router
- DeWalt thickness planer
- Dewalt compressor

I'd dearly love to take these because they would be expensive to replace there.
Does anyone know whether these will operate at 50Hz?

With great sadness I'll leave my dust collector, low speed grinder, and drill press because (I think) they use an induction motor which will overheat at 50Hz.

With joy I'll take my Ridgid jointer which says it can operate at 220VAC/50Hz with some rewiring, and I'll look for a replacement motor for my Ridgid table saw.

[Josiah Bartlett]

Tools with a universal motor will be fine at 50 Hz or even DC if the voltage is within range of the nominal design for the motor. The variable speed router's motor speed control may or may not act a little bit funny.

Your air compressor probably has an induction motor. Many induction motors are just fine on 50 Hz as long as the fan is working and you don't stall the motor, but I would expect an air compressor motor to not be very happy on 50 hz unless it says so on the nameplate.