I'd like to suggest that we stick to facts. Saving that "is the power cycle for ac" and that AC is 240V is a statement that I can't quite understand, because alternating current can operate at any voltage and any frequency. A little research will suggest that 60Hz was chosen in North America because of several important scientists and engineers, including Tesla (who designed motors that worked best with 60Hz AC). Westinghouse actually started out working with 133.3Hz because they were using 2000RPM steam turbines and 133.3Hz happened fairly naturally. It was also good for lighting (fast enough to avoid flickering), but they found it to be a poor frequency for driving electric motors and they started looking at lower frequencies even before Tesla started pushing for 60Hz. In contrast, Germany seems to have been an influential factor in establishing 50Hz in Europe, which was based on an engineering preference to operate steam engines at 3000RPM. Each was developed on a different continent in an era well before today's global economy and communications. Likewise, each became so widely used that making a change is hugely cost prohibitive (not to mention really sort of silly since both work). I have not found anything that would suggest that either frequency is inherently superior to the other, although I bet some lighting designers would argue in favor of 60Hz because of the potential for 50Hz to produce a more visible flicker.

As for the voltages, I will re-iterate that none of us distribute at 120V or 240V. We distribute at much higher voltages because higher voltages allow us to have lower current when delivering the same power, which reduces wire size. It's simple economics. It's also why we use AC rather than DC in the first place. As for being able to "hold more people" on 120V, it's simply not true - 120V doesn't happen until the very end of the line and has no bearing on the distribution grid. A real reason that supports why 120V is used, on the other hand, is that incandescent light bulbs designed for 120V can employ thinner filaments than 240V bulbs while offering the same lamp life. That means they are cheaper to make, which was a really big deal eighty or ninety years ago (and still pretty relevant today). I've found some things that suggest power supplies for small electrical devices were also less expensive to manufacture. And by using a 120V/208V service, we can still use 208V for larger loads (such as ovens and clothes dryers) that benefit from the higher voltage. Likewise, commercial buildings can go up to 480V.


Yes, but nine months ago there were samples on hand. They may not get be standard, or the web site may not have been updated to reflect a running design change that doesn't really matter to most of Outlaw's customers. That's why I suggested asking Outlaw directly. They do monitor the forum, but they are fairly hands-off and may not have noticed your post here.


I agree with you on this - keeping it simple is always a good idea.