 Question about voltage converters or adapters?
Ok. I will leave them at home. The thing is that i'm not staying at a
hotel. I'm staying at a friend's house in Australia. I guess i could
just use his hairdryer, etc.
Donald Newcomb wrote:
> <icanluv2@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:1159646298.363014.323620@b28g2000cwb.******** o********...
> > I am going to SE Asia and Australia in a few months. I've been checking
> > around the local stores for voltage adapters, but was also told that i
> > need a converter. What do i exactly need to plug in my hair dryer, etc.
> > I also need one that has a 3-prong too. Please inform me since this is
> > my first time going overseas. Any links to good sites that sell these?
>
> OK. Let's start from the beginning.
>
> If you are bringing your hair dryer on an overseas trip you first need to go
> back and reexamine all the things you are bringing. It's probably way too
> much. For the last 10 years, just about every hotel room I've stayed in has
> a hair dryer. You don't need to bring a hair dryer. Also, leave the curling
> iron at home; you don't need that either.
>
> If I have not convinced you to leave it at home and you must drag a hair
> dryer along, look at the back/side/bottom of your hair dryer. Most hair
> dryers I've seen recently have a switch that says "110/220" Dryers with this
> switch don't need a voltage converter, they have one built in (actually it
> changes around the internal wiring to accomplish the same thing.) If your
> hair dryer does not have this switch, maybe it's time to go out and buy one
> that does. Any appliances that have a switch like this or which are marked
> with something like "110-250 VAC" don't need a voltage converter; just a
> plug adapter. Plug adapters are fairly cheap and can be purchased at any
> Radio Shack or similar electronics store.
>
> If you are married to your old 110v-only dome hair dryer and absolutely
> can't live without it, the first thing you need is professional help (and a
> new hair style). But in the mean time, there are two types of voltage
> converters:
> 1. Transformer: Mostly intended for low-power electronics which need clean,
> sinusoidal AC power.
> 2. Diode: Used only for high power, resistive devices that can work with
> choppy, dirty power (like irons and hair dryers)
> You can buy kits with all the adapters, transformers and diodes for about
> $50 from places like TravelSmith.com and some Radio Shacks. One will add
> about five pounds to the weight of your luggage. If you carry one of these
> you need to go back and reread the first paragraph.
>
> One word of caution. Switch your hair dryer, iron, etc. to 220V *before*
> traveling. If you forget and leave it on 110V and plug it into 220V you will
> burn it out in a flash. OTOH plugging one set to 220V into 110V will just
> not heat as well. (Been there, done that.)
> --
> Donald R. Newcomb
> DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net
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