US plug? UPDATE, ITS ARRIVED

Myser

MrsE wrote: »

That's up to 45 watts, mine is 120 watts

Your charger requires 120 Volts but consumes 2 Watts. The Maplin or Amazon step-down transformer can work with appliances that require up to 45W so no problem there.

Although, it may be easier to purchase a UK charger as mentioned above!

You may get an annoying buzzing sound from some cheaper step-down transformers. One of the reviewers on the Maplin site said that the transformer stopped working after about an hour when connected to a 12W device?

Ben84

MrsE wrote: »

The 45 W is confusing me.

Electricity is measured in a few ways. Amps, watts and volts.

Volts are the difference in electrical charge across the circuit. They're analogous to the pressure of water in a pipe, they correspond to how strongly electrons are attracted to flow through the circuit.

Amps are the volume of electrons allowed to flow through the appliance. Using the water in a pipe analogy again, this corresponds to how much you turn the tap on and how much is allowed out.

Now, both amps and volts represent energy being delivered to the appliance in their own way. The attracting force of volts across a circuit is a source of energy and so is the volume of electrons moving through it. As the volts go up the amps needed to deliver a set amount of energy goes down, and vice versa. So, rather than state electric use as two numbers, which is clunky, it's simplified in to watts, which is best summed up as "watts = amps x volts".

Anyway, your US appliance cannot be connected to the UK mains at twice the voltage, something will almost certainly break if you apply twice the electrical 'pressure' it was designed for. A step down transformer reduces the voltage, making it possible to use. However, the step down transformer can only handle up to a certain amount of electricity in total (the internal components waste some as heat and have to be sized sufficiently to dissipate it safely, for example), which is why it has a wattage rating. The 45w transformer can safely power an appliance of 45w or less. If you have anything with a higher wattage, you'll need a bigger transformer. The wattage of an appliance should always be printed on it somewhere for you to check.

Hopefully this helps make sense of the ways electricity is defined and measured so you know the type of transformer you'd need to buy?

MrsE_2

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/270858887436?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649 the little black us adapter arrived this morning, it doesnt fit :-(

MrsE_2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stepdown-240-120V-Transformer-45VA/dp/B000NJ26X2/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1369475617&sr=1-3&keywords=Stepdown+240%2F120V+Transformer+USA+to+UK

I guess its this then?

Myser

MrsE wrote: »

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/270858887436?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649 the little black us adapter arrived this morning, it doesnt fit :-(

I saw plenty of that type but did not recommend it as the pin socket sizes are clearly the same.

You need one with different size pins sockets like the one I posted a picture of in post 30:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=61392897&postcount=30

The Expansys one seems as though it may have different size pin sockets?

MrsE_2

Myser wrote: »

I saw plenty of that type but did not recommend it as the pin socket sizes are clearly the same.

You need one with different size pins sockets like the one I posted a picture of in post 30:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=61392897&postcount=30

The Expansys one seems as though it may have different size pin sockets?

Yes, you one does look better. With the one I bought I coukdnt be sure fromthe photo. You didnt post a link, so I didnt know where to get it.

I got the step down for £10 in maplin today, its happliy charging now.