Electrical Goods
 

Hi all, am I correct in assuming that any electrical goods (apart from televisions) work okay in New Zealand (obviously with a change of plug or an adaptor)?
Just read on the NZ immigration website that "most people do not bring electrical goods with them, as most foreign items do not work here" (end quote).
I am thinking of bringing everything apart from my TV

Re: Electrical Goods
 

The things I took worked but everything ran more slowly, eg. hairdryer at half-speed, mobile phone charger took longer to charge phone to full and then the phone ran out more quickly etc. My stereo also went bang rather mysteriously after about a month in NZ. I got it woking again but it repeatedly went bang. Since i have been back in Europe everything works at normal speed again.

Re: Electrical Goods
 

Thanks Mazi, doesn't sound very promising, but I think I'm gonna take most of the stuff anyway and just wait for the "bangs". :D

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I didn't take anything big though - I think the stereo was the biggest thing. Vacuum cleaner, washing machine etc. I bought there. Oh, and our laptop was never the same after its NZ life either, but saying that, it is a few years old now so that may be adding to the problem.

Re: Electrical Goods
 

Everything electrical we brought with us broke too!
We had a little electric fire and it melted the kiwi plug we put on it and nearly set the house on fire :ohmy:

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we brought everyhting but the TV & it all works fine , as good as in UK, no probs at all

Re: Electrical Goods
 

Some interesting responses. Thanks for that. I'm a gambling man, so I'm shipping what I can. If it melts, blows up or shorts the local vicinity; tough taters! :eek:

Re: Electrical Goods
 

Just be aware that NZ plugs aren't fused as a rule

Re: Electrical Goods
 

Been here three years and none of my UK electrical appliances have failed electrically. With the exception of the TV, which suffered a power surge, but was fixed for $80 - we keep it in the rumpus room for the kids' videos and playstation.

The only other thing to not work here has been my Zanussi washing machine which needs a plastic part that can be found here, nor will Zanussi discuss sending one over... :sneaky:

We brought everything we owned here. Kettle, toaster, microwave, fridge, phone chargers, stereos, TV, video/DVD (although the DVD bit has broken now, blimmin' kids), clock/radios, lights, fan heaters, electric razor, hairdryer, food processors,.... you get the message...

Re: Electrical Goods
 

So you took your TV over? I thought a TV was one of the electrical items that wouldn't work. Probably not really an issue with myself coz the TV I have should have been binned a long time ago I think.
I was told that they use a different TV frequency (if that makes sense) and so TV's from UK would be useless. ???

Re: Electrical Goods
 

apparently they work through the video/DVD signall, but we bought a new one here (they are a bit cheaper) , but you could bring yours & get a new one too & have the old one as a spare!!

Re: Electrical Goods
 

Maybe our container was the top one and all our electrical stuff got fried on the way over and made all the wiring brittle.
Only thing that hasn't broken down since we got here is a cd player and thats it!
We brought a couple of tv's and we ended up just using them for watching videos and playing games on for the kids. I think if you have a newer model you can change a code. We could get a lovely picture but no sound on ours ... something to do with different pal systems or something.

Re: Electrical Goods
 

We brought all electricals, including the TV. All work fine with no bother. Bought a NZ video player to hook up, sound, picture fine. We now have Sky, hooked up through video and sky, we have a better picture here than back home. All the big and more expensive electricals we have attached to surge plug protectors. Bring at least 20 plug adaptors

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am i right in thinking the only problem with tvs would be no sound but this can be easily solved by running the signal through a vcr or dvd.

Re: Electrical Goods
 

By running it through a NZ VCR, not DVD. We have UK TV, UK DVD and NZ Sky hooked up through NZ VCR. We were told by some not to take tv, and by others to take it. TV was only 2 yrs old and a nice one. We took 2 TV's and half expected to just use them for DVD's and playstation games. A pleasant surprise, we don't need to buy a new one.

Re: Electrical Goods
 

I brought over a Sanyo TV that was new in 2002 - it doesn't pick up anything here except Prime. It sits in the rumpus room and is used with our UK VCR/DVD for the kids to watch their videos on and play Playstation.

Re: Electrical Goods
 

I'm confused as to why a lot of people keep suggesting taking plug adaptors. Why not just cut the Uk plug off when you get there and put a Kiwi one on? It's not a good idea to use too many adaptors.

Re: Electrical Goods
 

take some 4 or 6 way plug adaptors and then you only have to change the plug on that and not on the tv, dvd, playstation etc. most adaptors are fused and also you dont have to cut of the sealed plugs on the tv etc.

Re: Electrical Goods
 

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dangerous Dan. Never a good idea to have too many things plugged into one adaptor thingumy, especially not UK plugged things into an NZ whatnot. I (and others I have known) had a serious electric shock as a result of that - threw me across the room, burnt my arm and I was still lying on the floor when Boyfriend returned half an hour later. My arm was dead for a week afterwards. Just cut the bleedin' plugs off, put Kiwi ones on and have done with it.

Re: Electrical Goods
 

OUCH,

Re: Electrical Goods
 

Because the individual plugs cost about $10 each and the cheaper ones are hopeless - I can't get the screws out of two of them, so that's $14 wasted...
Think of the number of electrical items you have... there's nearly 10 items in my kitchen alone!

Plus I would always keep my computer and TV on a circuit breaker type adaptor because of the power surges which are fairly common.

I'm considering bringing across some british plug faceplates and just replacing the wall end of the plug instead of the equipment :D

Re: Electrical Goods
 

Urmm, interesting and confusing! Would be worth while taking my TV if it wasn't begging to be put out of it's misery. I think I'll let it lie and put the old thing to rest. I think when I get over to NZ, I'll treat myself to a nice new TV (not that the programmes are worth watching, so I've heard!) Sounds like Sky is a must! Never had it in the UK. Anyone give me any idea how much a decent TV over there may cost and how much Sky may cost. :thumbup:

Re: Electrical Goods
 

Have you tried it through a NZ video. Ours is a Philips TV.

Re: Electrical Goods
 

Mazi, what's wrong with using adaptors. We were abit worried cos all our electricals are from UK, we got an electrician to give us the OK.

Re: Electrical Goods
 

My hubby thinks that Sky is a must, at $79 per month, I think it's a waste. Well, it keeps him quiet for a while - but I'm sick of sport.

Re: Electrical Goods
 

I was once told by a washer repair man never to plug my washer into an adapter ... don't know why but he told me a tale about a little boy being killed by the family washing machine not being earthed because of it or something. May be a myth but I never risked it since I was told that.

Re: Electrical Goods
 

I'm safe then, my washer was one of the few things we chucked out. Got a front loader when we got here.

Re: Electrical Goods
 

Very jealous!
We bought a top loader and it doesn't wash nearly as well.

Re: Electrical Goods
 

See my post about the electric shock - and I've been told by electricians not to do it, inc. Kiwi electricians, and some electrical goods have a warning on the package not to do it. The odd one may be OK, but not 4 or 5 things in one, all of which have UK plugs and then go through the adaptor to a Kiwi power point. And they're ugly.

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I hear you! Top loaders are dreadful inventions - it doesn''t even make sense - clothes get washed by tumbling over and over, not by spinning round and round. Weirdly our clothes always smelled awful when they came out of the machine in NZ too - and yes, we used washing powder! It could have been the water though, which was often brown.

Re: Electrical Goods
 

I never double up on plugs, it was a kiwi leccy that checked ours.

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Someone was suggesting using a 5-way thing, not doubling up on plugs. I didn't double up on plugs either.

Hope you enjoy the shock when it comes - it was painful but almost in a sado-masochist way. When my arm started getting some feeling back after a week it was all tingly and made me laugh in a delerious way.

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I don´t suppose anyone knows if my hubbys 110 power tools will work??? He´s a carpenter and we can´t really afford to replace all of his DeWalt gear! :eek:

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We brought over a step down transformer which our chippy bro in law has nicked off of us cos he didn't think to bring one for all his power tools.

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sky, do you like football? Willow74 needs some support down your way.

Re: Electrical Goods
 

Actually, no... maybe I ought to... we've got an NZ vcr too... :embarrassment:

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No was glad to leave that sport well and truly behind!

Re: Electrical Goods
 

oh well - I hate it too, it's evil.

Re: Electrical Goods
 

As a chartered electrical engineer I can state quite categorically here that you're talking rubbish. Provided the total load on the NZ plug is within the rating (ie 10A), you are perfectly safe to use UK multi-socket boards on a NZ plug. In fact, probably safer, because each UK plug will have an individual fuse rated to the load of that appliance. Have a look at most of the stuff you plug in around your computer - phone chargers, modem, LCD monitor etc etc, most of it is rated at an amp or less, so you're perfectly OK to use a 5 or 6 way plug board - provided you check the total current.
I don't know why you had an electric shock, but blindly blaming it on multi-socket boards is a bit like never driving a car because one once crashed into you (which I'm sure lots did in NZ).
[/rant]

Re: Electrical Goods
 

What about my washer tale ... is that rubbish too?
Just asking before you bite my head off cos genuinely interested.