I thought about that but decided not to risk using a 110 strip at 220.
My solution was to buy a 220 strip in europe and bring a bunch of
converter plugs to change the sockets. It makes me feel safer.

If you really want to bring something I would recommend a very heavy
duty short extension cord from Home Depot. The kind that is 2 foot long
with a 3 way plug at the end. That should give you enough plugs but be
a bit sturdier than the strip. I would buy a high voltage strip though.



Romeo Raabe wrote:
    > Has anyone done this? All electrical devices I'm taking to Europe will
    > work on dual voltage, 110 to 250 volts. Rather than bring numerous
    > adapters and hunt for numerous outlets in a hotel room, I'm considering
    > bringing one adapter and a power strip. Put the adapter on it and
    > voila, it's a 220V power strip and now I plug in my US plug items into
    > it and only need one adapter and one outlet.
    >
    > I would plan to not be an idiot and try to run several hair dryers at
    > one time, but if I run several low draw items this way (shaver,
    > camcorder battery charger, etc.) I would think it should work (that is
    > a question). Sure the power strip says its only for 110 voltage, but
    > that's cause they don't want some idiot plugging it into his 30 amp
    > dryer or electric range outlet here in the states and frying anything
    > plugged into it, including him/herself.
    >
    > My understanding is that the load in amperage is more the limiting
    > factor (thus no hairdryer this way) of the wire gauge used in these
    > devices, which typically run 16 gauge.
    >
    > So, without a lengthy discussion of ohm's or Watt's law, or the need
    > for an electical engineering degree to understand the inevitable
    > replies, will this work or am I one of the afore mentioned idiots
    > (please note I am asking first)?
    > Thanks
    >

On 22 Feb 2005 02:37:33 -0800, "Romeo Raabe" <[email protected]> wrote:

    >Has anyone done this? All electrical devices I'm taking to Europe will
    >work on dual voltage, 110 to 250 volts. Rather than bring numerous
    >adapters and hunt for numerous outlets in a hotel room, I'm considering
    >bringing one adapter and a power strip. Put the adapter on it and
    >voila, it's a 220V power strip and now I plug in my US plug items into
    >it and only need one adapter and one outlet.
    >I would plan to not be an idiot and try to run several hair dryers at
    >one time, but if I run several low draw items this way (shaver,
    >camcorder battery charger, etc.) I would think it should work (that is
    >a question). Sure the power strip says its only for 110 voltage, but
    >that's cause they don't want some idiot plugging it into his 30 amp
    >dryer or electric range outlet here in the states and frying anything
    >plugged into it, including him/herself.
    >My understanding is that the load in amperage is more the limiting
    >factor (thus no hairdryer this way) of the wire gauge used in these
    >devices, which typically run 16 gauge.
    >So, without a lengthy discussion of ohm's or Watt's law, or the need
    >for an electical engineering degree to understand the inevitable
    >replies, will this work or am I one of the afore mentioned idiots
    >(please note I am asking first)?
    >Thanks

Sorry for the repost as all the veteran rec.travel.europe seem to have
all the answers.

Just be save and ask a professional!

I'd say get a powerstrip without surge supression--if you need it,
it's not going to work with 220V, you have to get something there.
Otherwise, should be OK if you don't exceed the max power rating of
the powerstrip. Bear in mind that power = V**2/R, so if R stays
constant and V doubles, you could be talking about four times the
power (depending, of course, on what your devices' impedence does,
because the power will really be V**2/Z, and should be time-averaged,
etc.).

My suggestion--take along a fairly heavy duty extension cord and one
220 plug adapter. Check the power level before trying anything. If
there's a problem, you can usually get additional 220 adapter plugs in
airports, and powerstrips in electrical stores.

<< Oh, my mistake. What exactly is a 'power strip' then? I assumed it was
just
like a multiway?
A long strip with sockets in it and one plug on a lead - does it have a
transformer or what?>>

I think he means that the plug, at the other end of the wire, contains a
transformer. I'm sure some one will correct me if I am wrong but I believe
the UK is the only country in Europe which has a fuze protected plug on each
appliance lead. The rest are all protected at the point of power
distribution by a cutout for each ringmain circuit.

"Romeo Raabe" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] oups.com...
    > Has anyone done this? All electrical devices I'm taking to Europe will
    > work on dual voltage, 110 to 250 volts. Rather than bring numerous
    > adapters and hunt for numerous outlets in a hotel room, I'm considering
    > bringing one adapter and a power strip. Put the adapter on it and
    > voila, it's a 220V power strip and now I plug in my US plug items into
    > it and only need one adapter and one outlet.

Yes, it will work fine if it's just a plain vanilla power strip. I have one
sitting on my desk with two towers, a monitor, and a printer plugged into
it. The only difference is that I cut the US plug off and installed a french
one instead of using an adaptor but that's for a more or less permenant
installation.

    > My understanding is that the load in amperage is more the limiting
    > factor (thus no hairdryer this way) of the wire gauge used in these
    > devices, which typically run 16 gauge.

Right. In fact, the current will be aprox. half what it would be if you
plugged the same devices in to the same strip in the USA.

T.

Nosmo King wrote:

    > I think he means that the plug, at the other end of the wire, contains a
    > transformer. I'm sure some one will correct me if I am wrong but I believe
    > the UK is the only country in Europe which has a fuze protected plug on each
    > appliance lead. The rest are all protected at the point of power
    > distribution by a cutout for each ringmain circuit.

I assumed that he meant what I thought was called a power bar. It has a regular
cord attached to a more or less rectangular body that holds a number of
outlets. Some come with an on/off switch and some even have built in breakers.
They are generally used for multiple low power electric devices like computers
and entertainment centres.

"Dave Smith" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Nosmo King wrote:
    >> I think he means that the plug, at the other end of the wire, contains a
    >> transformer. I'm sure some one will correct me if I am wrong but I
    >> believe
    >> the UK is the only country in Europe which has a fuze protected plug on
    >> each
    >> appliance lead. The rest are all protected at the point of power
    >> distribution by a cutout for each ringmain circuit.
    > I assumed that he meant what I thought was called a power bar. It has a
    > regular
    > cord attached to a more or less rectangular body that holds a number of
    > outlets. Some come with an on/off switch and some even have built in
    > breakers.
    > They are generally used for multiple low power electric devices like
    > computers
    > and entertainment centres.

Ahaaaa. You mean a wandering lead.

Romeo Raabe wrote:
    > Has anyone done this? All electrical devices I'm taking to Europe
will
    > work on dual voltage, 110 to 250 volts. Rather than bring numerous
    > adapters and hunt for numerous outlets in a hotel room, I'm
considering
    > bringing one adapter and a power strip. Put the adapter on it and
    > voila, it's a 220V power strip and now I plug in my US plug items
into
    > it and only need one adapter and one outlet.
    > I would plan to not be an idiot and try to run several hair dryers at
    > one time, but if I run several low draw items this way (shaver,
    > camcorder battery charger, etc.) I would think it should work (that
is
    > a question). Sure the power strip says its only for 110 voltage, but
    > that's cause they don't want some idiot plugging it into his 30 amp
    > dryer or electric range outlet here in the states and frying anything
    > plugged into it, including him/herself.
    > My understanding is that the load in amperage is more the limiting
    > factor (thus no hairdryer this way) of the wire gauge used in these
    > devices, which typically run 16 gauge.
    > So, without a lengthy discussion of ohm's or Watt's law, or the need
    > for an electical engineering degree to understand the inevitable
    > replies, will this work or am I one of the afore mentioned idiots
    > (please note I am asking first)?
    > Thanks


It will work just fine. You are correct about the 120V listing on the
power strip. All cords are good for 300V (more in reality) and the plug
and power strip are not a problem. American power strips - unlike
European- tend to come with a circuit breaker: This is probably
designed for 120V and can possibly fail if you short-circuit the power
strip. However, the circuit breaker or fuse in the panel should clear
the fault anyway. (Should this rare thing happen, discard the power
strip)

For obvious reasons, the clamp on voltage of a surge arrestor designed
for 120V is much lower than on one for 230V. You won't need the surge
arrestor, so use a power strip without it.

You are also right about the neglible risk of overload: A #16 cord (the
minimum allowed by UL) is listed for 13 amps, which is about 3000 Watts
(roughly two hairdryers) at the European 230V. Coil it up and it's only
good for about a third of that.

The weak point is the adapter: A possible option is to replace the
original American plug on the power strip with a local plug. This will
ensure a reliable connection and a working equipment ground.

//C-H