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power outlet adaptors\converters
Dareth Ram
regular
regular
So I'm traveling to Europe next month, and my parents have one of these adapters that you plug into the wall and lets you plug in your North American stuff.
My parents got theirs for Italy, and I'm wondering if the same one with work in the UK. I'm thinking yes, but I want to be sure rather then make assumptions.
My parents got theirs for Italy, and I'm wondering if the same one with work in the UK. I'm thinking yes, but I want to be sure rather then make assumptions.
Dareth Ram on
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Most of those adapters don't really work for electronics. Even if they claim to adjust the voltage, the method they use isn't really suitable except for things like blow dryers and they almost always tell you to do not to use them for more than 15 minutes.
If your electronic equipment has a worldwide A/C adapter (should specify a range like "100-240v") all you need is an adapter to let you plug it in to a different socket. If not, you need a step-up/step-down transformer.
The adapters sold for blow dryers are not the same as the adapters for other stuff. With most electronics the adapter won’t be anything other than a physical plug adapter to work with the AC adapter. And he’s only going to the UK—the UK doesn’t have the horrible quality of electrical service that keeps electronics from working in parts of continental Europe.
o_O
The problem is that European AC is delivered at 50Hz instead of 60Hz. Anything that relies on the AC frequency for timing is probably not going to work properly. In theory, properly designed electronics shouldn't rely on the AC frequency or be able to compensate for it, but in practice a lot do.
To the OP: is the adapter you have a step-down transformer? The US uses 120V, whereas the UK and most of Europe uses 230V. Some things are designed to work at either voltage (very common in electric shavers, for example), but not everything is.
Finally, the UK uses a different socket shape (three rectangular pins arranged in a triangle) to the rest of the EU (which predominantly uses two or three round pins in a straight line).