Suggestions for the best converter to charge my camera battery in England, Scotland and Ireland.
You'll need a converter from 250v to 120v. They also have a different plug configuration. I have a kit from Sharper Image.
The one that came with your camera. Most chargers work on input of 100-240V, 50/60Hz. You just need a plug adapter that has two round pins that probably came with your camera also.
OddJobber wrote:
The one that came with your camera. Most chargers work on input of 100-240V, 50/60Hz. You just need a plug adapter that has two round pins that probably came with your camera also.
Larry is correct. I haven't checked the chargers in awhile. I'm living in the past....
Larry is correct - just looked at my Canon charger: 100 - 240V. Did not come with a Euro plug adapter, but there available at many sites. Amazon $5.99.
You only need to adapt the plug so you can plug it in the outlet. The voltage and frequency although different from the US, the charger can take it. In England their outlet is different from those in France and Germany which have round pin. In England they have rather square and large pin.
al13 wrote:
Suggestions for the best converter to charge my camera battery in England, Scotland and Ireland.
Plug adapters are widely available for around €1.50 in any euro / dollar store ($1.26 at current rates). Adapting American pins to the UK square pin plugs is better than the euro to square pin. The body of the charger sits flat against the adapter with the American plug. Most adapters will take any of the 3 plug types to convert to the local plug. I have a chinese one which takes all 3 and converts to the uk square pin, yes even the square pin.
Maybe thats so you can just leave it plugged into a wall socket. It's possible to jam in a euro plug into an english socket, but it bends the socket pins and then the native plug doesn't work.
If you have access to a car, a car type charger will work anywhere. About the only thing that you might bring that probably will not work is a hair dryer. Since W= I V and V=I R plugging in a hair dryer with double the volts will mean double the current and double the watts. Most wall chargers convert ac to dc to charge and are flexible enough on the input voltage.
John N
Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK
If you've got a charger that uses an appliance lead (like the ones you used to get radio's etc.) you might do better to get a secondary lead (3 pin to charger) and skip the converter. If you've got a 2 pin flip out plug like my CANON you'll have to get the converter.
Several times I asked the hotel for an adapter. They let me use it for free.
Thanks to all, will not need the converter after all.
al13 wrote:
Suggestions for the best converter to charge my camera battery in England, Scotland and Ireland.
Every electronic device I've taken to the UK and Ireland since 2001 has operated just fine on the 250 volts there with a simple plug adapter. Two things that have NOT worked well over there have been hair dryers and a Sonicare toothbrush. No matter what they say, those transformer voltage adapators, 250 to 120, can't handle the current of a hair dryer without a significant voltage drop and loss of heat and blower velocity. Travel hair dryers do work, but if you forget to change the voltage from 120 to 250, you'll probably catch your hair on fire before the thing blows up in a shower of sparks. The charger on our older model Sonicare toothbrush will only work on 110-120 volts, and I've read reports of the chargers frying when plugged into 250, but one interesting thing is that you can plug them directly into the 115 volt shaver plug in the bathrooms in hotels, and they work just fine. You don't even need a plug adapter.
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