voltage transformers

[babalicious]

going to usa, i have bought the travel adapters for the plugs as i will be wanting to charge up camcorder batteries, portable dvd etc.. do i also need a voltage tranformer? can anyone explain how it all works??

[buildersmate]

US supplies 115V at the output to the plugs so about half what is provided here. When you buy a US to UK adaptor, it should be more than just a pin converter - it should also have a voltage converter - most usually a step-up transformer. You will be able to tell if the converter you bought is one - they weigh a kilogramme or so. Mine has a UK three pin socket on the plastic box, inside which is the transformer, and a flying lead with a US plug that goes into the US socket. It delivers about 60W.

[qapmoc]

Depends on your equipment, many things these days have multi-voltage input which is rated from say... 90 -240vac and these will work fine on 110vac (US).
Check out the label on the power supply for each device - if it says something which includes 110vac (as above) it is OK but if it says 230vac or 230~ then you will need a 110vac to 230vac transformer.
The transformer goes into the power socket and takes its power at 110vac and then changes it to 230vac which is output for you to connect things to.
If you are buying a transformer then look at all your equipment and see which one takes the most power, it will be marked as W or Watts and might be something like 15W and then buy a transformer which has at least 1.5 times the power rating of the highest value for your equipments.

[david131154]

i moved to the states 3 years ago and use a 3 pin adaptor still for some of my british products and they all work just as well. ou can buy them either at the airport or here in the usa.