Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

Looking to buy a converter so to use some UK appliances in the USA. Does anyone know where to buy them? Cheers. :)

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

See the link from this:

http://phonostage.blogspot.com/2007/...3-110220v.html

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

You need a step up voltage converter, this will work only on appliances which have on their nameplate 50/60hz. Many european appliances with motors in them will NOT work in the US even if you adjust the voltage.
Have a look at this website for convertors http://www.electrashop.co.uk/convertpower.htm, US to UK convertors start about halfway down the page.

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

Waste of time and effort ....buy new on arrival ...

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

hmmm...leave behind even our braun handheld food processor? sad. :( ;)

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

Yup!!

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

The only electrical items you have which will work on the US are most probably your computer (laptop or desktop), for anything you have and would like to hang onto check on the dataplate, for it to work in the US it should have 50/60hz and 100/240V, anything with 50hz 220v only you might as well sell or donate, electrical items are not too expensive in the US.

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

With very few exceptions, it's really not worth bringing most of your electronic devices over here. Computers and laptops and anything built for 110/220 is ok, but by and large most people recommend selling them back home and using the proceeds to buy here (where things are generally a bit cheaper). If you are going to be returning in 1-2 years, then you can consider throwing a few things in storage.

Fans, hair dryers, curling irons, electric toothbrushes--it's all a bunch of hassle and easier to get new ones.

Good luck

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

Hi:

Why is it sad? They make them for the US and looking at the price of converters --

http://www.amazon.com/Braun-MR430HC-.../dp/B00004S9GX

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

Just being silly and sentimental. ;)
Thanks everyone. Let the sale begin.
Cheers.

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

Sorry to disagree, but I brought all of my appliances with me (kitchen ones, not vacuum, washer etc).

We have one big step up/step down convertor in the kitchen in a corner and IMO it was far cheaper to bring our iron, Bamix, Nespresso machine, Polti steam cleaner etc .. all the expensive stuff .. than to leave it behind to rot in storage, sell for pennies or give away, than to buy new here.

And perhaps it's being a woman you get used to certain things and yes, it is sad to leave them behind! So, OP, I fully understand and highly recommend you bring them and replace when they die.

I can't remember where we got our convertors as my H bought them online, but he did his research and got a great deal.

We have 2 large ones - the kitchen one and one for the plasma - and a couple of smaller ones for other stuff.

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

but who paid for the shipping ..

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

They didn't take up that much room in the container!

The OP needs to weigh up the sentiment v the cost of a packing box to ship and the cost of the convertor.

Even if we had paid for the shipping we would have done the same

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

LOL..thats what those who had it paid for always say ....

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

We can only go on our own personal experiences!

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

Happy to hear that. Cheers! You brought your television (plasma) as well? We got a fabulous deal (in Asia) on ours and absolutely love the quality; we'd like to bring it.

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

I'm with Ray.

Ebay/local paper/trader are your friends....soon as you've gotten rid of your stuff you won't miss it, especially when you get here and get new and improved gear.

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

I hear you on the buying new. There are some items that we haven't been able to find in the States that we got in Asia at fabulous prices and brought back to the UK with us (shipping paid for ;)), and they're definitely less expensive than they cost in the States...and certainly less expensive than from the UK (£ -> HK$ exchange).

Ok, so I was being funny about the Braun handheld food processor, but I do have some more interesting products that I'm considering bringing over...like the big screen tv and our breadmaker. If we can easily get converters for those, perhaps the little Braun should just jump in a box too. I'll have some shipping companies round to give us quotes.

Cheers. :)

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

Is your big screen TV NTSC compatible? I thought a lot of the flatscreens now aren't (unlike before, where most of the decent CRT TVs were all multisystem).

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

We will check. Thanks. :)

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

I should add that I know bugger all about electronics, I am just repeating I overheard third hand off a guy down the pub etc!

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

;)

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

I do know converters can overheat and catch fire .....

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

i could just hear mrs bucket going on about that :lol:

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

Perfect for candlelit suppers.

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

I wish I had brought my breadmaker, I can't find a similar one here.

Last time I moved from the US to the UK I took my US voltage computer speakers and scanner with me and ran them for years through a transformer that I got from a shop on Tottenham Court Road. Haven't really tried it going the other way though. My UK laptop and PC work fine in the US but we left all our other electrical items there.

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

http://www.accessorystore.co.uk/acat...sformers.html; they should have them and a lot cheaper than in the UK

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

This is where we bought ours from http://www.voltageconverters.com/vol...onverters.html

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

I'm not bothering. Just bringing only stuff which is already designed to work on 100/110/230/240v @ 50/60Hz:

2 x laptops (power bricks will take anything form 100v to 240v)
PC (will give the 230v PSU away to a mate prior to shipping and buy a new PSU when we get there)
DivX/DVD player
Buffalo Linkstation networked HDD
Cisco Pix firewall
Camcorder
Linksys PAP2 VoIP ATA
Motorola bluetooth headset
Medion (Mitac clone) PDA cradle/charger thingy
Other stuff I forgot about

It's amazing how much CE stuff now is just universally power-able. Makes sense I suppose.

Am bringing a few 5-way gang extensions to plug it all into, that way I don't have to buy as many converter plugs.

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

It looks like this site is for a retailer who is in the UK. But you mention they should have them a lot cheaper than in the UK. Did I read that incorrectly? Thanks.

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

Thanks! ;)

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

Hi everyone,

I am going to the US this summer and would like to take my laptop with me.

I have seen on this post that others have managed to do this successfully:

I have a HP Pavillion Laptop.

Does this mean that all I need to do is purchase a wire with a US plug on it to go into my laptop power pack? :confused:

If so where could I obtain such a wire? I have had a look on ebay UK but I don’t really know what I am looking for.

Any help would be appreciated. :)

Thanks

Mark

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

If you are going to be here for awhile, best to buy the wire. It's probably a standard power cord that you can buy at any Best Buy, Circuit City, or Radio Shack in the USA. Probably even walmart. On one side it will have a standard US plug (3 prongs) and on the other it will have something that looks like a figure 8 or sort of a square/trapazoid with three holes in it (unplug the cord you have and take a look to see).

But if you are just here a short while, you can get a simple plug transformer that takes the bulky UK 220 prongs and converts them to US prongs. Pretty easy to find that anywhere in the UK.

Long term I'd recommend the cord rather than the convertor thing, but for a few weeks, not a big deal.

Of course, double check the brick to make sure it is 110-220. It will say on the brick.

Here's a pic of the 'figure 8' looking thing
http://www.cablewholesale.com/prodimages/10w1-132.jpg

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

Thanks for your quick reply.

My powerbrick says input 100V - 240V so I presume there is no problem there.

I have considered the adaptors before and had a look on ebay but the description states that they are not suitable for laptops as they do not convert voltage:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/US-USA-2-PINto...QQcmdZViewItem

I would like to purchase the wire that you recomend from the UK if this is possible. :confused:

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

The laptop's power "brick" converts the voltage, from 100v to 240v--it will give you the necessary power. Laptop makers were thinking ahead when they added those bricks as their users were always trotting around to different countries. All you need to do is get the plug into the outlet ('into the mains', as they say). For that the thing you showed on ebay should be sufficient.

Not sure where you could buy a cord in the UK. A walk down Oxford Street toward TCR tube used to be where you'd go for weird electronics things, but haven't been there in awhile.

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

I always get my cables in the UK from www.revealcable.co.uk - great prices, even including shipping, and quick too.

I am about to have a practice pack to see what stuff I am bringing/shipping to see how many US mains to figure of 8 / clover / kettle leads I will need, then I will be putting an order in with them.

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

I bought mine from the following company whose adapters are excellent.
I use them on most small-scale appliances, although my UK shredder doesn't work to full strength.

I ordered from Teleadapt, they are in Watford. They have a site but best call them on +44 (0) 1923 810 200.

A good way to deal with several UK-plugged appliances in one area (like the kitchen or office equipment), is to get a UK 5-way strip. Cut off the UK plug and replace it with a USA plug (get an electrician to do this if you don't know what you're doing). Then just plug in all your UK appliances in the 5-way strip section and away you go.

By the way, I have found USA electrical outlets and plugs to be less secure than UK designs.

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

Hi:

I've traveled with my US lap-top to Europe and it has run fine on 240v system. I just needed a plug adapter. When you get stateside, you might want to get the "wire" at an "Radio Shack" store. If you have time, I'm sure they can be found on the Internet.

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

True enough. Outlets not switched and plugs not fused. Just like the continent. But I have never seen a GFCI in a UK bathroom/WC or the kitchen of a self-catered apartment.

BTW, last year I took my oldest laptop [ThinkPad 600] to Europe. [I didn't particularly care if it got stolen since it has no economic value]. It had a three-prong plug attached to the brick, but used a two prong adapter [no insults please]. The German plugs had a grounding clip on the side which the US grounding prong was in contact with while the Czech plugs did not. Go figure.

Re: Converters to for UK electrical appliances in USA
 

Ooops.

By the way, that Ebay item is from a US plug to a UK wall / outlet / main, not the other way around (which is what you are looking for).