Toaster thats rated at 100v but needs to be 240v

[david7]

A friend of mine bought a VW Camper van toaster from japan, it was fitted with a 2 prong plug (euro) she plugged it in and the circuit board/micro chip has burnt out. Does anyone know how to convert a 100v appliance to work on 240v without the need of a transformer. or maybe convert another circuit board to take the load.

Thanks David

[ianmunt]

You really need a transformer,only other option would be to connect it in series with another product which had the same voltage/power requirements,

[markysngc]

you need either a transformer, to be stepping up the 12v car to 100v for the toaster or one to step down the existing 240v to 100v.

Though I think the more important thing here is she has already plugged it in to 240v and "burnt" it out. in which case time to invest in another toaster, paying a little more attention to voltages on the new one.

Though I do like ianmunt's idea of connecting 2 in series, in theory would work great, I can spot a couple of practical flaws in this plan :)

[Hymie]

Where an appliance only contains heating elements, it is possible to run the appliance from 240V with a suitably rated diode in line with the supply (giving half-wave rectification), effectively resulting in 120V applied to the elements.
The diode must have a reverse voltage withstand of at least 600V and a rated current of the appliance, or greater (calculated from Watts divided by Volts).

Safety will be compromised since the appliance will have been designed to operate with a peak sine wave voltage based on 100Vac, whereas you will be applying a peak sine wave voltage based on 240Vac operation.

[david7]

Thanks for the great answers I did'nt know it was only rated at 100v until I started to investigate the reasons for it not working, I thought transformer but hoped there was another way, I have warned her about buying electrical items from abroad because of the variation in voltage demand. Thanks again

[buildersmate]

Unfortunately you will pay more for a transformer capable of stepping down 240V to 100V, rated at (say) 1500VA (which is what you will need) than the toaster is worth.