Does anyone have any recommendations on whole house electrical conversion from 127 volt 50 hertz to 120/60. I understand some people have done this.

I know of houses that have been converted from 127V to 120/115V 50 Hz. This was done using transformers.

I'm not aware of anyone that has gone the route of trying to convert the 50Hz to 60Hz which would require some sort of motor-generator conversion or conversion to DC and back to AC. Either motor-generator or the "DC path" conversion will have conversion efficiency issues that probably over-ride any benefits derived from a frequency change. I'd love to hear that there is an inexpensive, viable solution to conversion to the 120/60 standard - I'm not aware of any.

On the plus side, once you do the voltage "step-down" to 115V, most motor driven appliances (fans, refrigerators, etc) designed for 60 Hz will perform OK. The problem with leaving the voltage at 127 Hz is the motors and compressors will overheat and suffer an early failure.

Just for grins, I did a quick Google search for frequency conversion. At http://www.elect-spec.com/freqchgr_a.htm#B you can convert 230V/50Hz to 115V/60Hz. These conversion units appear to accept a +- 20% input voltage variation which should handle Bonaire's voltage. Anyway, a 250VA unit costs about $2,000 and a 5,000VA unit costs $13,635. At full load the efficiency factor is 78% minimum, so you should add about 20% to the already high cost of electricity if one installed this solution.

The unit fits in a 17" equipment rack and weighs 70 lbs.

It can be done. The reason that the frequency converters are so inefficient is that they are basically a 50Hz motor driving a 60Hz generator. There are solid state ones, too, but they don't generate a sine wave, they generate a square wave. That will hurt your motor worse than Bonaire power.

I can't think of any reason to do it. I have a transformer on my clothes dryer, and nothing else. My microwave and refrigerator are European 220V models, and my washer doesn't stress its motor hard enough to need a transformer. If you had an American microwave and refrigerator, that would be only two more transformers at a cost of $150 or so. Small appliances, computers, TVs, etc. generally get by without any problems.

I have only used a transformer for my fridge and washing machine for the past 20 years. Knock on wood, only lost one microwave over the years. I Agree with Kevin. The only thing I do at home and at the shop is to use line conditioners on my computes which evens out the power dips.

I just installed a new us made microwave and it does not work?? It is on a transformer, it will only stay on if you keep your finger on the start button. When you take it off, it stops?? Any suggestions?

Did you buy the microwave on Bonaire? I bought a Sharp on Bonaire (120v, 60Hz) model and with a transformer it worked fine.

My first suggestion is measure the voltage out of the transformer. Most transformers have multiple taps so it is possible that the microwave is not getting the correct voltage.

Question: is the transformer the correct size for the microwave. A microwave transformer will need to be a lot larger (able to deliver about 1.5 KVA) than the transformer used by a refrigerator, for example.

I had it shipped from the states, it's a whirlpool. I had the maintenance guy at or condo complex install the transformer and hook up the electrical, so I don't know the size. I'll send them a note to check the voltage and transformer size!

Thanks Barton!