Electrical question - slightly OT

[mo]

With no electrical newsgroup this seems like the enxt best place...

I am importing a mobile phone from the USA. It will have one of those small USB chargers.

Ideally I want to just use an existing UK charger that I already have insteading of buying an adaptorto convert the 2 pin to 3 pin.

Issue is - I understand that american plugs are 110v and UK is 240v. Does that mean i could possibly fry the phone if I used a UK charger on it?

Will I need a transformer?

The manual of the ph----------------------

AC adapter Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz DC output: 5V and 1A

----------------------

Which indicates it could take a UK plug...

Thoughts?

[S Viemeister]

I've had no problems using US mobiles with UK chargers - but I _do_ check both phone and charger, to make sure they are compatible. What phone is it?

[Alan]

In message , mo wrote

Assuming a wall wart type charger there will be a label on the bit where it plugs into the mains giving the input and output voltages.

If it says input 100V to 240V then it has a switched mode supply and will work in both countries. The manual indicates this is what it will say.

If it just says input 110V (maybe 100v to 120V) then it only work in the USA and not the UK.

If it is truly a USB charger then buying a 230V to 5V DC USB charger from Ebay will be possibly be cheaper than any pin a pin travel adapter. Do a search on (UK) Ebay for a charger for your model of phone and you may find one for the UK market for less than a fiver.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If it really is USB, then that is the standard, not the mains voltage. So any USB charger capable of supplying enough current should work.

The DC output is the important bit. If you have a charger which supplies

5v at 1 amp and has the correct connector you should be ok.

Other way - but only if you have the skills - is Maplin etc sell empty wall wart cases with a 13 amp plug built in. I've transferred the 'guts' from a US two pin one (which says it will work at 240v) into one of these.

[Reentrant]

(OT squared) I just bought a phone charger off eBay from Hong Kong for

99p (Buy It Now price, including postage) and it's absolutely fine. I just don't see how they can supply at that price, including postage and a nice jiffy bag, and still make a worth-while profit.

[John MacLeod]

Easy -- they undoubtedly have a good contract deal from the freight company or mail contractors or both.

I had a friend who was in business in Shanghai and he could get things by DHL for a purely nominal sum. Main business was exporting architectural trees around the world, where the freight charge was nominal. He imported a quad for someone with a freight charge of, IIRC, well under =A3100. Yes, from China. In any case, I bought quite a few genuine Nokia branded phone chargers last year for 99p each in this country. All those in use have been just fine and they've been connected up for about a year.

[Spamlet]

Charge it off your pc or laptop while you are writing to us?

S