OT: Voltage Converter for France

My daughter is going to France as part of an HS school exchange program.

Here's what I know:

Her camera has a charger that can be used abroad without a voltage converter, just a plug adapter. Per the manual:

"The charger can be used in regions that have 100 - 240 V (50/60 Hz) AC power. Do not use electrical transformers for foreign travel as they will cause damage."

The charger itself has input ratings on the label that say 100 - 240 V (50/60 Hz) AC.

Here's what I'm curious about:

The charger for her iPod is the type with the transformer that plugs into a receptacle and uses a removable USB cable to connect to the device.

The input specs on that charger also say 100 - 240 V (50/60 Hz) AC.

I'm pretty sure that means that she can use that charger with just an adapter, i.e. no converter is needed, but I figured I'd ask just to be sure.

Am I correct?

Reply to
DerbyDad03
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Gmmm, They are all universal input voltage switching power supply. Just get plug adaopter. My daughter is travelling europe right now after finishing her 3 month course in London.. She has MacBook. Canon dSLR camera, and iPhone with her. No problem. Good luck with her trip. Hope your daughter is bilingual. My kids are.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

DerbyDad03 wrote in news:0a60a7c8-1567-4d47-b9ec- snipped-for-privacy@e21g2000yqe.googlegroups.com:

What Tony said is my experience as well. Be sure you have adapters for your plugs. In most of Europe they use plugs with 2 round pins for hot and neutral, and "weird" grounding connectors of different kinds. Buy the adapters here (US), because they're difficult to find over there.

Make provisions for emergency cash. There are pickpockets. DAMHIKT.

Reply to
Han

And when I was in India for a few months a few decades ago I was told that (a) pickpockets like to hang out near the signs that say "Beware of Pickpockets": people will see the sign and pat the pocket where their wallet is to make sure it's still there, so the pickpocket knows which pocket to go for; and (b) some pickpockets are highly skilled, having been trained to slash with a razor or other implement and cut through a specific number of sheets of paper and thus can slash your pocket and get the wallet without you feeling it.

Perce

Reply to
Percival P. Cassidy

Somehow I doubt that the daughter is going to carry a wallet in her rear pocket, but the overall pickpocket warning is VERY true. Also, arrange a code word to be used if she really gets in trouble, there are many many scams where supposedly abroad students e-mail home for $ $ to be sent/wired to a third party address and which are total scams.

Reply to
hrhofmann

I agree that both your devices will work with an adapter.

I bought a kit with adapters that are said to include one for every configuration in the world. I bought it at a travel store and it was not inexpensive. I travel a lot and have used only one adapter from the kit other than the two prong continental adapter. Radio Shack sells the two prong continental adapter at a reasonable price. I'd suggest getting two or three, so you can do multiple devices at the same time.

Reply to
Not

Heck in England they use a plug that looks like it belongs on the end of an American electric clothes dryer cord. :-)

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

OR ELSE the UK plugs make US plugs look as if they belong in a 24V 5A system. And don't forget the UK "ring main" system, so every outlet has two paths back to the supply point. And the shuttered outlets into which junior can't stick a paperclip. And the device-appropriate fuse in each plug. And I bet they don't use "wire nuts" either.

Gee. I wonder which system is safer?

Perce

Reply to
Percival P. Cassidy

"Percival P. Cassidy" wrote

I carry two wallets in Europe. One in the back pocket that has maybe $2 in it and a couple of useless cards with no names on them. The other is carried elsewhere, be it a front pocket or inside a jacket. Cash is always split between us.

The best exchange rate is the ATM in most cases. My bank charges 1%.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

I still think about the Gypsy woman who picked my pocket at the Barcelona subway station. I took my wallet back and kicked her so hard I still feel kinda sorry for her.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Target has a kit with 5 different adapters for $8. Made by Embark. Each adapter has a list of countries/regions where they will work written on the adapter.

They also carry an Embark All-In-One converter/adapter for $30. It's one unit that contains a converter and "slide-out" prongs so you can choose the configuration you'll need.

I bought both, but I'll be returning the converter since she won't be needing it.

I'll warn her about the pick-pockets, although for the most part she'll be traveling with "adult supervision", even though she's 18. She'll be spending most of her time with the family of the girl that stayed with us last fall. Still, proper warnings will be issued.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

DerbyDad03 wrote in news:268a9ac2-6ff7-4301-bae3- snipped-for-privacy@d11g2000yqo.googlegroups.com:

Great experiences for all involved!!

Reply to
Han

My pet peeve as well - GFCIs on hairdryers. The vast majority of housing in the US has had GFCI or AFCIs on bath circuits for decades. Yet we're paying a premium to day to cover the one idiot who lives in substandard housing from electrocuting hiimself while drying hair in the shower.

Reply to
Robert Neville

I have both and travel internationally extensively. The slide out prong unit is mildly useful if you are travelling through multiple countries as it saves you from having to keep track of the baggie with 10 separate plug adapters. It's large though, so it can block other outlet.

If you are just going to one country you're better off buying a couple of the single plug adapters, but they are usually sold in a set.

I haven't used a transformer in years as the hotels I stay at tend to have them in the room and the eletronics I carry is pretty much rated for 120/240.

Reply to
Robert Neville

When I was in the Navy the street kids in Naples were pretty good at mobbing you and trying to pick your pocket. After the first time you got burned you learned to smack one so they kept away. My first time after I got pissed and chased them off I felt a breeze. They had unbuttoned my pea coat and got my smokes from the inside pocket. Never knew when it happened. After that I'd seriously try to smack one right off and they left me alone. Since I was forewarned by mates I kept my ID and cash in my zippered inside jumper pocket. Custom blues. Left my wallet on the ship. I never carry a wallet in dicey circumstances. Plenty of places to hide the jewels from pickpockets. Small inconvenience compared to possible loss.

--Vic

Reply to
Vic Smith

In the US and Canada the insulation is rated at 600 volts because we use 120 for our outlets except things like a dryer or stove. In the UK the insulation is rated at 1,000 volts because they are using 250 for outlets. I like my smaller space saving plugs better. ^_^

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

Vic Smith wrote the following:

When I read the OP's message, I started remembering my time in the Navy back in the late 50s. Of all the ports I visited in the Med over a period of 2 years, Naples was the only one where you had to worry about pickpockets, and like you said, they were the kids. I walked alone, in a US Navy uniform, in many ports, just to see the way people lived, this included Beirut Lebanon, Istanbul Turkey, Split Yugoslavia, Tripoli Libya, Genoa Italy, Barcelona Spain. I never had a problem, in any way, in any of those ports.

Reply to
willshak

I'd have to see some good stats to believe that claim. GFCI/AFCI protection may be the norm on post-1970 or so houses, but a large fraction, perhaps even a majority, of the housing stock in this country is older than that. Unless upgraded by an owner (and how often does that happen in non-DIY world?) or remodeled and brought up to current code, odds are the bath outlets are still as-built.

This 1960 house still had miswired 2-hole outlets in half the positions, but the boxes were grounded, so I replaced those with modern outlets, and tested every one. The original bath had a GFCI, but it was hung off the old 2-wire medicine cabinet feed, so I replaced the run for that one. But I grew up in the business (even though I'm not an electrician), so it wasn't a big deal for me. Most owners of older starter houses don't have the skill set or awareness of the dangers, and never will.

Reply to
aemeijers

Same here. House built in '59. Not a single GFCI except about 6 still in the box. I should really put them in. (-: I've replaced about half the 2-hole outlets with 3-hole. Actually, my son did them.. It's all conduit and he used self-tappers to wire the receptacle ground to the boxes. No testing, just that the work. What do you recommend for testing? What always gets me is switches breaking the neutral. I never trust a switch to kill power. When a plumber replaced my lift system pump he said just turning off the pump wall switch should do when he started pulling the wires from the old pump. I told him I wouldn't trust the wall switch and suggested I run lighting to another circuit and flip the breaker supplying the pump. The lights we had on were the same circuit as the pump. But he said "No, this is fine." Then he got zapped. "Vic, go ahead and plug the lights in somewhere else and flip this breaker."

--Vic

Reply to
Vic Smith

Yes, they sometimes sell plug adapters at dollar stores, for a dollar. If not, at luggage shops for much more, or the luggage department of depeartment stores, or by mail I'm sure. Around here there is one specialty shops that deal a lot with imported food etc and also have these adapters. Plus at hardware stores in foreign countries. They don't sell the reverse at hardware stores in the US because we don't give a darn if foreigners can use their appliances or not.

Reply to
mm

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