Italian electricity

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldShooter Be very careful if planning to use transformers and check the wattage ratings. The wattage of the transformer must be at least as much as the wattage of the appliance. For example, that little transformer will probably not run a hair dryer. FWIW I can't remember the if I ever used or carried the transformer that came in a plug kit we once bought. As an EE, just looking at the thing I can see that it won't handle much. If I ran across a device that I needed on a trip and it was 110vac only I would look at replacing it...

The travel transformers typically claim a 50W rating, and even that may be overrated. I used it for my toothbrush charger, and that took a few watts.

There are so-called voltage converters that claim ratings of kW range, yet are small and light. They work by cutting the duty cycle of output, and work only for loads of resistance type. They will blow up electronic devices that cannot tolerate 220-230V. Electronic devices' input first stage is a rectifier to first convert the AC to DC, and it still see the peak voltage that the above converter passes through.

[OldShooter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound ... There are so-called voltage converters that claim ratings of kW range, yet are small and light. They work by cutting the duty cycle of output, and work only for loads of resistance type. They will blow up electronic devices that cannot tolerate 220-230V. Electronic devices' input first stage is a rectifier to first convert the AC to DC, and it still see the peak voltage that the above converter passes through.

Ack! I'd instantly add those to the "I'm not interested." list that already has step-down transformers listed. It's just too easy to get dual voltage versions of anything I could possible need when traveling. And 99% of the time the dual voltage comes at no price premium.

[kcowan]

We had two problems: hair dryer/curling iron and electric tooth brush. We decided to borrow the suitable ones from landlord/hotel. The toothbrush worked for 8 days on a charge. We travel light. BTW Malaysia has clunky too as a former commonwealth member.

[Fedup]

Bring this thread up to ask about Canada. I assume they use the same thing as USA, I don't need to bring anything but what I use in USA right? Last time we were in Canada, we didn't depend on electronic gadgets so much.

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fedup Bring this thread up to ask about Canada. I assume they use the same thing as USA, I don't need to bring anything but what I use in USA right? Last time we were in Canada, we didn't depend on electronic gadgets so much.

That's right.

[ivinsfan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcowan We had two problems: hair dryer/curling iron and electric tooth brush. We decided to borrow the suitable ones from landlord/hotel. The toothbrush worked for 8 days on a charge. We travel light. BTW Malaysia has clunky too as a former commonwealth member.

You are talking charger and not toothbrush, right

[marko]

Lived in Europe many years. Italy is part of the EU and most of it has moved over to the EU format; same plug as France, Germany, Spain etc etc. There may be a few outliers in the boonies but I doubt it.

We always stayed away from the 220 to 110v converters. Never had good luck with them.

Instead, most cell phone and hair dryers are dual voltage. (be sure to remember to switch! but cell phone chargers usually do it automatically).

Also, most hotels either have plug converters and/or hair dryers for you to use.

In days gone by, I used to carry 8 or 9 different plug adapters as well as an equal number of phone line adapters (during the dial-up days) for different countries. And a pair of alligator clips if things got difficult. Had them labeled with each country etc. Added a few pounds to my bag!

I also recall the day that a co-worker and I had to get online asap for an important email document...we actually rented a hotel room for the full price just to have a few minutes of phone time so that we could download the email...the good ol' days!

[Chuckanut]

I cook with an electric stove/oven. One thing for sure, when I use Italian electricity my pizzas have a crisper crust, better roasted veggies, tastier sauce and zestier cheese.

[YVRRocketSurgery]

To state the obvious, ensure you have adapters that the fit the number of prongs your devices have. Some of our devices (a laptop, travel power bar, etc) have the third grounding prong so we need an adapter that goes from 3 to 2 prongs.

If in a pinch, in Rome, we ran into a number of street vendors that sold adapters that we were able to haggle down to a couple of Euros.