sharat@cvl.UUCP (Sharat Chandran) (03/14/86)
Most appliances that one buys in the US work only on 110 volts.
However, a lot of countries use the other standard of 220 (plus/minus!)
volts. The following questions therefore are relevant :
(i) What is the best way of getting along in these countries?
(ii) Are there standard shops where one can buy appliances with
dual voltages with little difference in cost?
(iii) Conversely, if one buys something from such countries, is
there a nice little adapter to use here?
(iv) Besides the voltage problem, do other problems arise (e.g.
no of lines in a TV, touch-tone in a telephone)?
The appliances I am thinking of are shavers, hair dryers, cassete players
irons, etc. What is the experience of those who travel?
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ARPA :sharat@cvl
UUCP : seismo!umcp-cs!cvl!sharatgoddard@rochester.UUCP (Nigel Goddard) (03/16/86)
In article <1299@cvl.UUCP> sharat@cvl.UUCP writes: > >Most appliances that one buys in the US work only on 110 volts. >However, a lot of countries use the other standard of 220 (plus/minus!) >volts. The following questions therefore are relevant : >[...] The other problem to watch out for is that the US operates on 60 Hz and many other countries on 50 Hz. This is critical only for those appliances that use the frequency for timing functions e.g. some motors in cassette players, disk players, and maybe other things. Check with manufacturer. I think US TV system is totally incompatible with those in Europe; buy another. As for the 110/220 problem, you could try this if you are really desperate, but I don't recommend it: in Holland, and probably other Continental European countries (but not Britain!), there are three wires, viz +110, -110, and ground. Normal usage is between +110 and -110 giving a 220 gap. [yes this works with AC] You could TRY operating between say +110 and ground. But as we all know, hacks are risky, so converters would be my choice. Nigel Goddard
ken@rochester.UUCP (Ipse dixit) (03/17/86)
>As for the 110/220 problem, you could try this if you are really desperate, >but I don't recommend it: in Holland, and probably other Continental >European countries (but not Britain!), there are three wires, viz +110, >-110, and ground. Normal usage is between +110 and -110 giving a 220 gap. Nope - the wires are live, neutral and ground. Live is 220vac above ground. Neutral is close to but not at ground potential. Ground is for safety shielding. If you tried to connect an appliance between neutral to ground, it wouldn't run. If you connected it between live and ground you would blow a fuse, trip a circuit breaker, or worse. 1. Do without unnecessary appliances. Failing that: 2. Get dual voltage appliances or a voltage converter for a short trip. 3. Buy new appliances when you get there - it doesn't cost that much. Ken -- UUCP: ..!{allegra,decvax,seismo}!rochester!ken ARPA: ken@rochester.arpa Snail: CS Dept., U. of Roch., NY 14627. Voice: Ken!
daver@hp-pcd.UUCP (daver) (03/22/86)
Your best bet, where possible, is to buy a battery-powered appliance; it's easy to get battery eliminators anywhere in Europe and the fact that the device uses DC gets rid of any 50Hz/60Hz problems. Dave Rabinowitz hp-pcd!daver