I’m going to be on vacation in Europe next week, and I’ve gotta be wired. In particular, I’m going to need my GBA for long train rides and such, and my battery recharger for the digital camera. Now, all the European converters/adapters I’ve been able to find have big “Do not use for rechargeable batteries or electronics” warnings on them.
So my questions: is that a real warning that I should take seriously, or just a cover-your-ass move from the manufacturers? And what’s the alternative? Do I have to buy a battery recharger and GBA recharger out there? Are there adapters/converters readily available that are suitable for electronics? I went all over the place and didn’t see any.
I’m not sure what will happen if you ignore the warnings, but a voltage converter I bought for Europe didn’t work that great. My hair dryer blew out extremely hot air. The problem is that even though voltage can be converted, but the frequencies can’t. Here in the U.S., we run at 60hz, and Europe runs at 50hz. The voltage converter I bought recommended that it only be used for brief periods at a time, si I’m thinking those warnings should probably be taken seriously. I’ll search on-line to see if some sort of product is availabe for you.
I would double-check the power plugs on the items. There will either be a line that says Input: 120 V or one that says something like Input: 100 V - 240 V. If it’s the latter, you don’t need a voltage converter, just a plug converter, which is a $3 item at most. And I’m sure there’s no issue using those in any application.
Thanks for the tip, x-ray. I’d looked around for converters online, but hadn’t seen that site. And of course I put it off too late to order anything online in the first place; I’ll have to pick up something there.
And good point, SmackFu – most of the stuff I have to recharge already uses an adapter, so I just need to convert the plug. Or in other words, duh. (Hey, I said in advance it was a dumb question.)