American plugs

[andrewlee]

A friend has just returned from the US having bought various electrical items, which come with bonded US mains plugs.   Is there an adaptor available to use these in the UK?   If not, and the plugs have to be changed for UK fittings,  does anyone know what colour the live, neutral and earth leads are?

Thanks

[Hammer]

I think you will struggle to get them to work as the US system is 110v whereas in the UK it is 240v

[SteveD]

More than this IT WILL BE DANGEROUS TO PLUG THEM IN without a transformer.

[terrij]

yes you can buy a transformer (try an electrical shop) we brought christmas tree lights home from usa when we lived there. we bought a transformer here and they lasted us for over ten years the best lights we ever had.ha ha......we also used hairdryers and other things we brought back which also worked well.

[ames]

dixons sell an adapter...think its 7.99

[peanut]

some things come with a switch on the back to change the voltage then its just a matter of changing plugs.

[peanut]

sorry andrewlee, to specifically answer your question there are usually no colors for the wires on the eqiupment its self to tell you what is what but there is a slightly wider prong on the plug to keep from being plugged in backwards

[norfolk boy]

On the American system Black is the live and White is the neutral.If you view the spec plate and it only mentions 60 hz the appliances will not last too long due to the fact european frequency is 50 hz.All appliances in this country must use a fused plug unless hardwired. Fuse will be dependant upon size of cable.To dispel a common myth the fuse protects the cable and not the appliance!

[norfolk boy]

Forgot to mention if 110volts will need a transformer!