I’m getting things ready for my trip this week to the UK, and I realized I (may) need to get a voltage converter. I went to look for some, but ran into a few questions, and knew that the international pool of knowledge known as the SDMB would be able to bail me out.
– My laptop’s AC adapter lists input voltages on the back, and says 100-240V and 50-60Hz. Sounds to me as if it’s smart enough to use whatever power you give it, foreign or domestic. Is it really as simple as changing the AC cable (the detachable cable from the converter box to the wall) to one shaped for UK outlets? This would mean mean that I don’t need a voltage converter if the only thing I want to do is run the laptop, but I need to find the alternate, UK cable. Where would I find something like that?
– I may still want to get a converter to charge my electric razor and run the battery charger for my camera. A voltage converter I saw at Radio Shack had multiple prongs for different countries, and was rated to 1600 Watts. But, the same converter said not to use continuously and that it was meant only for heating devices up to 1600 W. Also, it is not for use with battery chargers, electronically controlled heating devices, and other things. Is there an electrical reason why it couldn’t be used for stuff like that. Is it a matter of “poor quality” juice? Is it better to get an converter for low-wattage electronics, even if I can’t use it for bigger stuff?
– The aforementioned converter also listed two different kinds of plugs for England. One had two chunky rectangular prongs, and a third that was below and perpendicular to the other two. The other was three circular prongs configured roughly in an equilateral triangle. If I need the round kind, I’d have to buy a special adaptor. Can any UK-type folk tell me what I’m bound to find in an English hotel room, and what the deal is with the other one?
If I want to dial up to the internet there, I’ll need an adapter to change my RJ11 plug to the BT style. I don’t imagine that such an adapter is easily available at the local Wal-Mart. Does anyone know what kind of store might have such a device?
Yes, thats all. And if you can’t find a suitable AC cable, you should be able to find a little converter pack that has a female US plug on one side, and several male European style plugs on the other. They don’t change the voltage, but this doesn’t need that.
The reason such converters are unsuited to anything other than resistive loads, is because of the way it halves the voltage. Rather than use a large and heavy step-down transformer, those converters use the simple method of clipping the 220 V waveform, producing a nearly square wave at 110 V. Resistive loads (like heating appliances) don’t care about waveform, but reactive loads, particularly inductive ones like electronics with transformers, do. Putting a square, or near-square, wave across an inductor creates a very large back EMF, which could easily fry your sensitive electronic devices.
Excellent answers guys. I looked at my battery charger, and its dual voltage, just like that laptop adapter. My electric razor’s charger is dual voltage as well. But I’ll probably be using a blade, anyway.
So, it looks like I don’t need a voltage converter at all. My only problem now is to find a phone adapter. I saw some online; the Magellan’s site was one place. But I don’t have time for mail order, and need somthing I can pick up ASAP. This one may be tricky.
Although this might now be irrelevant…the plug you’ll need is the one with the rectangular pins. The round-pin version is obsolete in Britain and Ireland, but AFAIK it’s still the standard in South Africa.
No, that will still work. Instead of plugging it into the wall, as they intend, I plug the RJ11 end into my laptop. Then I’ve effectively converted my RJ11 socket into BT. Then, I just have to use an available length of British telephone cord.
I suspect I may be able to find one (albeit for a bad price) at a store in the airport. Maybe in Philadelphia, or maybe in Gatwick. But you’d tink the international terminals would have all sort of travel gizmos like that, sold for three times normal street price.
That won’t work - BT cords are asymmetrical. Although now I think about it, I’m fairly sure the telephone end is an RJ11, which means you’ll probably be able to unplug the cord from the telephone in the hotel room, and use that.
Asymmetric? That’s crazy. But I guess that would be a good reason you can’t use the adapter the other way.
Can anyone confirm that the telephone end of the cable is RJ11? Should I really be able to plug the line into my modem instead of the phone? If so, that’s awesome!
