First time to Europe, did I buy the right electrical converter?
Aug 13th, 2001, 08:23 AM
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
First time to Europe, did I buy the right electrical converter?
My wife and I went in search of an electrical converter for our first trip abroad. We will be going to France next week. We went to an American Tourister Outlet that also sells travel items including electric converters. Unfortunately the entire staff at American Tourister has no idea which converter to use for which country but they sell about 3 or 4 different types! The ones to use for England are obvious but the others are not. <BR> <BR>The converters do not say which country they are to be used in so here's what I bought. <BR> <BR>It's called a dual wattage converter. It has a sliding switch which can be moved back and forth between low wattage appliances (such as shavers) and high wattage appliances (such as hair dryers). It has two round prongs that stick out the back and the front has an obvious outlet for American electrical items. It's a rectangular unit about 2" wide, 4" long and maybe 1 3/4" deep. <BR>It was about $25.00 <BR> <BR>I'm sure I've give you more than enough information to tell me if it's the right unit. You seasoned travelers are probably laughing out loud at such a silly question but we'd just hate to get all the way over there to find out we bought the wrong one!
Aug 13th, 2001, 08:28 AM
#2
Guest
Posts: n/a
All you need is a converter that changes 240V to 120V and you don't even need that if you have reasonably recent appliances. Any manufactured in recent years, maybe ten or so,should be dual voltage, either automatically or with a switch. What you will definitely need is an ADAPTER that enables you to plug your American two spade plug into their two round prong outlets. For more Paris information e-mail me – [email protected]
Aug 13th, 2001, 08:52 AM
#3
Guest
Posts: n/a
Now I'm really confused.... How could I not need some sort of adapter when the plugs on European electrics are round and the plugs on American electrics are not? <BR> <BR>Fred, I guess what you're saying is that we bought the wrong adapter? I know my sister went to Europe a year ago and melted a lot of her beauty appliances by not bringing the correct adapter. I was trying to avoid doing the same! <BR> <BR>What is the name of the device I should buy?
Aug 13th, 2001, 09:16 AM
#4
Guest
Posts: n/a
Mike, <BR> <BR>You might not need the "converter" if your appliances are "dual voltage". I think what Fred was referring to is that most appliances now are "dual voltage"...so, all you would need is the "adapter" which allows you to plug your things in to the outlets. It sounds like you got both the adapter and converter?? anyway, the price sounds like you purchased both. The packaging should say on it which countries you can use it in. The 2 round pronges are right for France. <BR> <BR>We are going to "rent" our adapter/converter from AAA...we are going to several countries, and don't know if we'll ever make the trip again, so don't want to pay $'s for something we'll only use once.
Aug 13th, 2001, 09:18 AM
#5
Guest
Posts: n/a
Whether you bought the correct device depends on the appliance you wish to travel with. Converters and Adaptors are two different animals. Converters change the voltage amounts (as Fred describes) so single-voltage appliances may be used in countries with different voltage. Adaptors are merely physical devices that let you put, say, rectangular pegs into round holes. There are about 4 different shape configurations, depending on the continent to which you are traveling. If you bring a dual-voltage appliance, then you only need an adaptor (don't forget to actually switch it to the different voltage - there'll be a little switch on it somewhere). <BR>It sounds as if you've bought a combination converter/adaptor because you say it's already got two little round prongs, different from the North American rectangular plugs. <BR>Usually, I've seen kits that have a converter and then, separately, 3 different adaptors so you could take anything most anywhere and have what you need. You can also just purchase adaptors - they usually come with instructions and pictures showing what you need for what continent. <BR>
Aug 13th, 2001, 09:24 AM
#7
Guest
Posts: n/a
Hi Mike, I have an RCA Foreign Voltage Adaptor kit that I bought a couple of years ago I believe from KMart. It also has the slide to switch between 50W and 1600W. It also has 5 plug adapters that cover Europe, Australia, New Zealand, S America, Africa, Asia, Middle East and Great Britan. I think that I paid about $16.00 for it. <BR>Hope this helps. <BR>Regards, <BR>Art <BR>
Aug 13th, 2001, 10:59 AM
#10
Guest
Posts: n/a
Mike- <BR> <BR>There is a CONVERTER and there is an ADAPTER and they are two completely different gizmos. The converter is an electrical appliance that converts current from their 240V to our120V so your 120V razor won't be burned out by their 240 volts. Whether or not you use a converter, you always need an ADAPTER which adapts our two flat spades on our plugs to their two round prongs socket in the wall. You ALWAYS need an adapter or you will be trying to plug our flat spade into a round hole. It won't go. The CONVERTER you only need if your appliances are not dual voltage. If they are, they will change the curent and you won't need a CONVERTER. But you still need the ADAPTER. For more Paris information e-mail me – [email protected]
Aug 13th, 2001, 12:05 PM
#11
Guest
Posts: n/a
Fred, believe it or not I DO understand the difference between the converter and the adapter. <BR> <BR>I bought a CONVERTER that ALSO HAS 2 round pegs in the back so therefore it sounds like it's a converter AND an Adapter. <BR> <BR>You keep saying that I only need a converter if my appliances are not dual voltage so my question is, ... <BR> <BR>How do I know if my appliances are dual voltage?
Aug 13th, 2001, 01:20 PM
#12
Guest
Posts: n/a
Mike, your appliance will tell you if it is dual voltage. First, look to see if there is a switch that says 110V on one side and 240V or 220V on the other side. If there is a switch, it is dual voltage. No switch? Now you have to look. Somewhere on the appliance, there is a bunch of small writing. It will probably be the same color as the casing of the appliance, and may be in a hard to see place. Get out a magnifying glass, place the appliance in a very good light and read the it. (Why is this stuff always so hard to read?) If it says 110V/60cycle or 120V/60cycle, it is single voltage for use in the U.S. If 220V/50 cycle you can't use it in the US, but can anyplace in Europe (and in most of the rest of the world). If it is dual voltage it will say something very close to 110/220V/60/50 cycle. The numbers may be slightly different. For instance the 110 may be 120. The 220 may be 230 or 240. The 50 and 60 will not change. If it says this it is dual voltage and, with the proper adapter, can be used anywhere in the world. Since you didn't find a switch (back to step on in this LONG monologue), it is self-sensing and will automatically switch to the correct voltage when you turn it on.
Aug 13th, 2001, 03:12 PM
#14
Guest
Posts: n/a
Mike, having made a HUGE mistake with my newly purchased converter/adaptor from LLBean on our recent trip to France, I know how important your question is. On our first night in St. Emilion, I thought I was using my new converter/adaptor perfectly, since the round holes seemed to match up just fine in the outlet. What I neglected to do was put the converter between my curling iron and the outlet, so when I wrapped my hot curling iron around the hair on the left side of my head, there was a major conflagration! The smell of burnt hair lasted until the next day. To make a dumb story short, from then on, I used the clunky converter every time I used an outlet and it worked like a charm. If my travel iron or curling iron was the wrong voltage, the converter toned it down a bit and I could use it safely. The moral of the story is read the directions first. Also, I do highly recommend LLBean's converter.
Aug 13th, 2001, 04:23 PM
#16
Guest
Posts: n/a
<BR>Hi Mike - here's a web site that might help you, it did me. <BR>www.voltagevalet.com/idx.html <BR>That slash doesn't look like the slash on their address but my keyboard didn't have anything resembling it, so if this is wrong, do a search for Voltage Valet. <BR> <BR>I can empathize with you! We had same concerns on our first trips there (and to Australia, NZ, and Japan - and in Australia once, I sleepily plugged in the adapter, forgot the converter and melted my curling iron!!) <BR> To avoid bringing (and worrying about repeat problem) a converter, I finally bought a dual-voltage curling iron, and dual-voltage traveling hair dryer too - Conair brand, and the packaging for any brand will specify that it is dual-voltage. Revlon makes them too. Not any more expensive, and available most variety stores. <BR>My husband just brings regular razors. <BR>I haven't had to use the hair dryer in years tho - nearly every 3 star, and 4-5 stars for sure, have hair dryers in the bathrooms. Check with your hotels. <BR>Have a great trip.
Jun 17th, 2011, 01:29 PM
#17
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 0
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I am from Canada. My camera's battery charger says ~110 - 240V. I have an adapter, will I be able to plug the charger into the adapter then into the wall in Europe (Germany,Amsterdam, Belgium and France)
Jun 17th, 2011, 02:12 PM
#19
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,568
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Yes. Electronics manufactured in recent years are (nearly) always dual voltage like your 110-240 , so cameras, ipods, cell phones, computers, etc need only the simple plug adapter you have.
Some heat appliances such as hair dryers, although dual voltage, do not perform optimally with adapters. You probably would not know how well it works until you are abroad.
A really handy electronic item for travel is a dual voltage power strip that permits you to charge several devices at the same time, a necessity in older hotels with just one inconveniently located outlet. Consider something like this if you will have phone, laptop, and camera (x2 for a couple):
http://www.magellans.com/store/Elect...cessoriesEA104
Some heat appliances such as hair dryers, although dual voltage, do not perform optimally with adapters. You probably would not know how well it works until you are abroad.
A really handy electronic item for travel is a dual voltage power strip that permits you to charge several devices at the same time, a necessity in older hotels with just one inconveniently located outlet. Consider something like this if you will have phone, laptop, and camera (x2 for a couple):
http://www.magellans.com/store/Elect...cessoriesEA104
Jun 18th, 2011, 07:13 PM
#20
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 13,617
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Any device that has heating - hair dryer, curling iron, etc. - that are manufactured for the US market are generally higher wattage than those for the European market. Even if you have the correct adaptor and you switch it to the correct voltage, you run the risk of blowing a circuit at your lodging, or the thing just wont heat up properly.
Although our European travel experience isn't as extensive as many on this site, out of 11 hotels in 5 countries, we only stayed in one that didn't come with a hairdryer in the room, and that was a boat hotel on a canal, so definitely a non-standard situation. And these weren't high end hotels - all were sub-100 euro/night.
I never take my hair dryer - just rely on the ones provided at the hotels. If I ended up with a hotel that didn't have hair driers, I would buy a cheap one there.
Although our European travel experience isn't as extensive as many on this site, out of 11 hotels in 5 countries, we only stayed in one that didn't come with a hairdryer in the room, and that was a boat hotel on a canal, so definitely a non-standard situation. And these weren't high end hotels - all were sub-100 euro/night.
I never take my hair dryer - just rely on the ones provided at the hotels. If I ended up with a hotel that didn't have hair driers, I would buy a cheap one there.
