The power bar works - and you KNOW your power adapters work. Buying "cheap" adapters in europe you don't know what you have. (and you end up with another pile of crap to store when you get home. The single plug adapter is the lowest cost solution, and the least duplication (which is why I have used it several times, and my daughter has used it on her African sojurns - without any problems.
On the cruise ship I didn't even need the plug adapter as the plugs were "universal" - took american flat blade as well as euro round pin plugs - but all 240 volt only.
The best arguement yet for buying ONE plug adapter and putting it on the power bar. Get one that has the sideways plugs to accept numerous wall warts side by side.
The only thing to really worry about is any over-voltage/lightning/surge pr otector built into the power strip. Remember, 120V AC is really 170 volts peak, double that for 240V AC. Then you have to find out what the surge pr otector guarantees. The surge protector rating also assumes a certain sour ce impedance, relatively high compared to the impedance of the raw voltage that will be introduced by a direct connection to the power mains.
No because you won't have a 120 volt outlet strip with 240 volts on it. It sounds ok until someone accidentaly plugs in a 120 only device without looking.
You're right. But his point is that if he buys the powerbar in Europe, then he has to get the pin adapters for each of the AC adapters he plugs into it.
He wants to buy one set of pin adapters, for the powerbar, then the North American power bar will take all his existing ac adapters, "solving the problem". Since they are North American, he needs the powerbar to plug them into, but since they are switching supplies and apparently are all able to run on 240V, they will be fine in Europe.
That's relatively easy. Any hardware store, electrical store, DIY store, etc will have them for about $2-$3 each. Here in Israel, they were $5 each until we switched from 3 rectangular pins to 2 or 3 round pins on all our plugs and sockets. The same adaptors can be used for the old plugs to the new sockets and everyone needed lots of them and they went down in price.
It will be fine until someone sees the outlet strip and thinks it is
120 volts and plugs in a 120 volt only device. I expect that a single person, staying in single bed rooms will be ok, but anyone traveling in a group, sharing their hotel room, or staying in a hostel is heading for disaster.
I've given you the link to the UL-listed solution.
The answer is that you _won't_ find an "ordinary" power strip w/ 125 VAC US plugs that says it will handle 250V because the US plug of that configuration is only UL-rated for 125V by US convention/code.
It is against NEC Code to use plugs for other than their rating; hence manufacturers are _NOT_ going to market any device that doesn't conform to NEMA/NEC/UL for the purpose. That means that any device w/ a 125 VAC plug style in the US will be marked for 125V only. End of story.
Now, we're back to the previous discussion -- is breakdown voltage in practice greater than rated and does the device in question contain a protective circuit that will "blow" when hit by the over-voltage and if does, are you comfortable using it?
See other responses for my take on that one. I come back that if you're not comfortable and not knowledgeable enough to be able to determine the answers, use the approved route of the multiple-outlet adapter strip showed previously or similar.
Many overseas hotels have few if any outlets. My wife and I use two different dual voltage custom battery chargers for our cameras and two dual voltage chargers for our tablets. Therefore, I need 4 plug adapters (and 4 available outlets) to charge all 4 devices at the same time. I've started traveling with 1 plug adapter, 1 six foot 16 gauge
120v extension cord with an unpolarized plug at one end and an unpolarized triple socket at the other end, along with an old fashioned screw-in lamp socket adapter that has a 120V plug socket on each side before terminating in another lamp socket. I'm prepared for whatever I find in the hotel room. The current the 4 devices draw is so low that I'm not worried about overloading the 120V adapters and extension cords with 240V service and on 3 recent trips, I haven't had a bit of trouble with arcing and not a trace of warmth anywhere along any of my 120V attachments. Obviously this setup is not to be used with hair dryers, travel irons, or other devices that consume more than a few watts.
The "problem" that will be multiplied is the fact that none of the american spec dual voltage adapters will fit the euro power bar - meaning the OP needs to buy numerous plug adapters or new power supplies. Think about what the poor guy is trying to do before answering the question.......
He has a mumber of chargers/adapters with parallel blade (american 15 amp) plugs that are rated for 85-250 volts, 50 /60 hz and he wants to use them on a trip to europe. What is the easiest, simplest, cheapest way to do it??? Buy one adapter from the local (2 round pin) 240 volt connector to the
15 amp american blade style plug, to connect a 120 volt power bar to the 240 volt sourse, and then plug all of his existing "universal" devices into the power bar. MOST surge protected power bars clamp at
300, 400, or 500 volts. If it is a 300 volt clamping surge protector the 340 volt peak to peak voltage could blow the MOV. If it is the much more common 400 volt unit, there will be no problem, and of course the 500 volt unit will also have no problem. Units with more sophisticated filtering than MOVs may have a problem - but virtually all regular, cheap, power bars only have 400 volt MOV protection.
This has been done by hundreds and thousands of travellers for decades, without serious consequences.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.