Adapters / Surge protectors needed for China and South Korea?
Feb 2nd, 2010, 12:45 PM
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Adapters / Surge protectors needed for China and South Korea?
Can anyone please tell me which adaptors I need for ...
Beijing
Shanghai
Seoul
We will need to charge cell phone, camera, and laptop.
Thanks so much!
Dina
Beijing
Shanghai
Seoul
We will need to charge cell phone, camera, and laptop.
Thanks so much!
Dina
Feb 2nd, 2010, 01:30 PM
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Feb 2nd, 2010, 02:37 PM
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http://image.magellans.com/mitcus/Im...ical_guide.pdf
According to this from Magellens, the flat blades are tilted, not parallel. Based on Kropla, they are parallel. Can someone please verify? Thanks.
According to this from Magellens, the flat blades are tilted, not parallel. Based on Kropla, they are parallel. Can someone please verify? Thanks.
Feb 2nd, 2010, 03:10 PM
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What you need will of course depend on where you are coming from: the voltage and pin layout at home may be the same.
The most commonly seen format in China is a socket which accepts but the two flat blades common in North America and the two round pins common in Europe. Sockets with the three flat blades, two at an angle, common in Australia are also seen, but typically used for more heavy duty appliances, so if your hotel has one it may not be as immediately accessible. Many sockets will take all three formats, however, and top quality hotels especially those with Hong Kong involvement may also have sockets for the three chunky pins found in the UK.
Sockets do NOT commonly accept North American formats with the additional third round pin, NOR those with one flat blade wider than the other.
However, adapters between all these formats are available at practically any street market, department store, and innumerable electrical stores, for next to nothing.
Those coming from countries with 220/240V electricity at around 50Hz will have no problems in China, but otherwise it will be important to check that equipment taken there is automatically multi-voltage (as most laptop power supplies now are, for instance), or is switched to a 220V (travelling hair dryers, for instance), or that a transformer is taken along. At even the most modest hotels the bathroom will typically have a shaver socket with a 110V option, and many electronic equipment chargers draw little enough current to make these usable, but the wattage needs to be checked. Just compare shaver and for instance camera power supplies for the figure with a W after it, and make sure they are similar.
At better hotels voltage converters can be borrowed from housekeeping, of course.
Peter N-H
The most commonly seen format in China is a socket which accepts but the two flat blades common in North America and the two round pins common in Europe. Sockets with the three flat blades, two at an angle, common in Australia are also seen, but typically used for more heavy duty appliances, so if your hotel has one it may not be as immediately accessible. Many sockets will take all three formats, however, and top quality hotels especially those with Hong Kong involvement may also have sockets for the three chunky pins found in the UK.
Sockets do NOT commonly accept North American formats with the additional third round pin, NOR those with one flat blade wider than the other.
However, adapters between all these formats are available at practically any street market, department store, and innumerable electrical stores, for next to nothing.
Those coming from countries with 220/240V electricity at around 50Hz will have no problems in China, but otherwise it will be important to check that equipment taken there is automatically multi-voltage (as most laptop power supplies now are, for instance), or is switched to a 220V (travelling hair dryers, for instance), or that a transformer is taken along. At even the most modest hotels the bathroom will typically have a shaver socket with a 110V option, and many electronic equipment chargers draw little enough current to make these usable, but the wattage needs to be checked. Just compare shaver and for instance camera power supplies for the figure with a W after it, and make sure they are similar.
At better hotels voltage converters can be borrowed from housekeeping, of course.
Peter N-H
Feb 2nd, 2010, 07:06 PM
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Thanks, Peter, for all the great information.
We're from the US.
I would like to be prepared before we arrive instead of purchasing while we're there. (although it's good to know they're easily available!)
it sounds like china has a couple of different options, and korea is also different.
i have european adaptors that might work.
but wondering if i should purchase something like this?
http://tinyurl.com/y8flpte
thanks again,
dina
We're from the US.
I would like to be prepared before we arrive instead of purchasing while we're there. (although it's good to know they're easily available!)
it sounds like china has a couple of different options, and korea is also different.
i have european adaptors that might work.
but wondering if i should purchase something like this?
http://tinyurl.com/y8flpte
thanks again,
dina
Feb 2nd, 2010, 08:00 PM
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If you adaptors fit Continental Europe, they'll fit South Korea.
Non-polarized, non-grounded US plugs (i.e. two parallel flat blades that are of the same length and width) will fit Chinese plugs without adaptors. Cameras and cellphones should have those. Laptops depend on the power supply - as some are grounded with 3 pins.
All should take 220V (for both China and South Korea) with no problem.
Non-polarized, non-grounded US plugs (i.e. two parallel flat blades that are of the same length and width) will fit Chinese plugs without adaptors. Cameras and cellphones should have those. Laptops depend on the power supply - as some are grounded with 3 pins.
All should take 220V (for both China and South Korea) with no problem.
