cbgetaway2015

I have been trying to post this for two days now. The site hasn't been cooperating for me.

I have the adapters with the three round prongs for italy. Every thread I have found mentions both this type and the two round prong type. But koreso the two prong. Do I need to exchange my three prong for two prong?
I will only be plugging in phone,camera, and tablet, not thermal hair tools or anything like that.

asps

Never seen any previous post on this matter.

Most wall sockets have three holes so the three prongs plug is good. In a few cases you could find German sockets, with a round form, that have only two holes and so are only partially compatible; they work with two prongs plugs but not with three prongs plugs.

Appliances with an insulated chassis, that do not need an earth connection, are sold in Italy with two prongs plugs that are good for both types of socket.

There are also 16 ampere sockets with three holes with a larger spacing needing larger connectors, but they are used for powerful appliances like washing machines and I never saw one of them in an hotel room.

sandralist

It's just not standard. If you are traveling extensively around Italy with multiple short-stops, it can be helpful to have one of those all purpose plug adapters with several settings. If you are going to just a few destinations and staying in hotels/b&bs for many days at a time, your host will be able to help you out or you can buy a cheap adapter if you need at a local store.

Ackislander

Excellent information and advice from Sandralist.

bvlenci

Most outlets do have three holes, so your adapter should be all right in most places. The center prong of your adapter is just the ground, which isn't really necessary. The two-prong adapters are therefore more universal, because they'll work with outlets with either two or three holes.

ekc

I have stayed in places with 3 hole sockets and others with 2 hole sockets, so I just bring one of each. They are small and don't take up much room.

sandralist

The basis of my advice is that I have both an office and an apartment in Italy. At my office, the outlets will only accept 2-prong plugs --- HOWEVER, they are not simply 3-hole outlets like the outlets in my apartment except without the middle prong. The 2-prongs are spaced differently than the outer 2 holes of the 3-hole outlets in my apartment. Whenever I take my laptop from my apartment to the office, I need an adapter, even though my laptop plug only has 2 prongs.

Hope that is clear.

Like I said, most hotels can give you an adapter or any city will sell you a cheap adapter. But if you are moving around Italy quickly for business, or renting apartments, the universal adapter might be worth purchasing in advance.

greg

Look at your phone, camera, and tablet chargers. There are probably two prongs. So the third prong is not used in your application.

Is the 3 prong for "Italy" you mentioned type "L" as seen here? http://www.worldstandards.eu/electri...s-and-sockets/

For Italy, the two prong type "C" is has been most useful for electronics type application. It has 4mm pins, not 4.8mm like type "F". If you have a caliper, you can verify the pin size.

sandralist

PS: If you are renting an apartment or have booked a hotel, you can snap a cell phone picture of your plug and send it by e-mail to your Italian landlord or a hotel desk. One of the frequent problems I have with adapters is cheap square adapters that don't fit into round "inset" outlets, which are not flush with the wall. These are very common in hotel rooms.

cbgetaway2015

Yes greg it is type "l"
Thanks everyone for the help

amyb

I just spent two weeks in 5 hotels between Rome and Cinque Terre, and for charging my iPhone, iPad, Kindle, Fitbit and Nikon camera used the two-prong plug.