[rescue] The HP D250

[James]

At 09:57 AM 2/3/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>I got back from trucking this thing home this weekend and lugging the rack
>up the stairs.... Jeebus these are heavy.... and I took all the skins off,
>the tray out, and the counterweights out (those are a huge load all by
>themselves).  My question is this... both the Jamaica enclosure and the D
>class are set to run on 230V and the PDU is the 230 V variety with the 230V
>blower fan tray.  I can switch the server to 115, and the back of the
>Jamaica says use 230V or 115V, so I assume it is auto-switching (caveats?).
>I would really like to actually run the cage fans and strip.  Can I get a
>stepup transformer of some kind and safely/reliably do this?  The ratings
>are 230V 18A, but I know it can't possibly draw that much amperage from
>merely a D250, a fan tray, and JBOD.  The PDU is just a 230V power strip.
>The pdu's power strip plugs are inverted computer power cables (male
>connectors).  The wall plug for the pdu is a 250V 30A twist-lock.  Should I
>do plug surgery and get a 220V normal outlet and a stepup transformer?

You would be far better off giving it the power it wants. It will be 
cheaper in the long run and very little time invested. For a shortcut use a 
dryer or stove outlet (note that these are 3-wire and the unit will be 
4-wire - a simple conversion is possible). If you want specifics of how to 
do the wiring respond back.

I'm not at all familiar with the specific HP you have, but you want to make 
dead sure that it doesn't want 3-phase. Look on the power plate for "3 
phase" or find the symbol for phase (a circle with a line through it).

If you try to convert it to 110V you will double its amperage requirement 
and you will quickly run into concerns with uncommon connectors, bigass 
breakers and thick wire guages.