US -> UK travel adapters

Skyfire · 29 Mar 2006 at 20:48

My daughter bought me a camera from america but I haven't been able to find a travel adapter anywhere in the high street for a US -> UK conversion. I was thinking of getting one online - Belkin Universal AC Travel Adapter - will this work do ya think?

iSam · 29 Mar 2006 at 20:53

Yea, it should work fine, it also has the adaptors for Europe, Asia, China as well as the U.S so it should work no problem.

Wryel · 29 Mar 2006 at 20:55

You could try an adaptor from a generic electronics store, one of those with multiple 'tips'. Not sure if the US has different standards though.

ljveni · 29 Mar 2006 at 22:39

B&Q sell the universal plug adaptors.

PhilthyPhil · 29 Mar 2006 at 23:00

Can't you just cut the US plug off and put a UK one on?

Energize · 29 Mar 2006 at 23:12

PhilthyPhil said:
Can't you just cut the US plug off and put a UK one on?

Uk and us use a different voltage and frequency so it might not work. Also usa devices dont have an earth wire for safety.

PhilthyPhil · 29 Mar 2006 at 23:39

Well there would be no difference between using an adaptor and replacing the plug, it just saves having to look for the correct adaptor as plugs are much easier to get. However this obviously won't work if its the sort of plug with a transformer built into it. I didn't think of this before as my camera came with a 2 pin plug with transformer in a seperate box so I just cut the plug off and put a UK one on. If its the sort with the transformer in the plug the only option is an adaptor (or a US extension lead with a UK plug on it).

Adam_151 · 30 Mar 2006 at 00:30

Energize said:
Uk and us use a different voltage and frequency so it might not work. Also usa devices dont have an earth wire for safety.

While it is true that some appliances in the USA are class 0 (something that would never be allowed in this country) the notion that they don't use an earth wire is mistaken (though if you count the fact that theycall it ground instead...) but you're right about voltage and frequncy, 100v 60hz as opposed to our 230v 50hz

jhmaeng · 30 Mar 2006 at 00:43

In most cases you can detach the AC power cable anyway. It's normally a figure-of-8 plug which means you can just replace it with a UK cord.

Most decent camera adapters will be able to handle all voltages (100v-240v) and 50/60Hz since people travel with cameras. Same with laptop power supplies too. In that case, as I said you just need to replace the cord from the adapter block to the wall socket (or use a simple plug adapter).

PS. A lot of US and Japan style AC plugs do not in fact have an Earth/Ground socket. They usually use two thin double prongs without ground, and I find that plugs with ground hole is not all that common in some houses or places.

Energize · 30 Mar 2006 at 00:48

Adam_151 said:
While it is true that some appliances in the USA are class 0 (something that would never be allowed in this country) the notion that they don't use an earth wire is mistaken (though if you count the fact that theycall it ground instead...) but you're right about voltage and frequncy, 100v 60hz as opposed to our 230v 50hz

How can they use an earth wire, when there are only 2 pins for live and neutral?

Baron G · 30 Mar 2006 at 08:05

Energize said:
How can they use an earth wire, when there are only 2 pins for live and neutral?

An American 3-pin wall socket...

And an American 3-pin plug.

Mickey_D · 30 Mar 2006 at 09:44

US wall transformer (adapter). Note the missing third prong. That's because in the US neutral and earth are the same thing. The earthing prong is a silly, unnecessary thing. There's no need for it as neutral and earth are electrically the same thing. The third prong is pointless.

PhilthyPhil · 30 Mar 2006 at 10:01

Its not pointless at all. Earth is a safety feature, for example carrying the current if the appliance develops an insulation fault. Its also dangerous if the neutral breaks when you don't have a seperate earth and you can't use an RCD.