Help! North American students

[jackts]

Hi,

I am packing now and I have just thought of this problem.
All my electrical appliances are bought in North America. If I were to use them in Australia I would need to solve two problems

1) wall socket is different
2)voltage and Hertz rate is different.

I'm wondering how people have solved this problem in the past. Should I buy several wall sockets
or
Can I simply buy one wall socket to connect to an extension cord(north american)


thanks, Jack

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[redshifteffect]

Originally posted by jackts
Hi,

I am packing now and I have just thought of this problem.
All my electrical appliances are bought in North America. If I were to use them in Australia I would need to solve two problems

1) wall socket is different
2)voltage and Hertz rate is different.

I'm wondering how people have solved this problem in the past. Should I buy several wall sockets
or
Can I simply buy one wall socket to connect to an extension cord(north american)


thanks, Jack

The best thing to do would be to buy several wall sockets. Depending on how sensitive ur applicances are you can overload the board by using the extension cord. Remember u will also have to run a voltage converter on that one cord...so u'd be risking it by just using one extension cord.

Save ur money and buy it when u get here. Dick Smith $12 (Aussie) multi reverse adaptor but if you need voltage converters buy them in N.America as they are much cheaper there...here it's about $50 i believe at dick smith.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Originally posted by jackts
Hi,

I am packing now and I have just thought of this problem.
All my electrical appliances are bought in North America. If I were to use them in Australia I would need to solve two problems

1) wall socket is different
2)voltage and Hertz rate is different.

I'm wondering how people have solved this problem in the past. Should I buy several wall sockets
or
Can I simply buy one wall socket to connect to an extension cord(north american)


thanks, Jack

Buy a step down converter at someplace like Radio Shack before you leave (as you will need to "step down" the Aussie voltage for your American applicances to work and not fry).

The wall plugs aren't expensive in the states - lots of places carry them for pretty reasonable prices - I don't see the advantage of waiting to get to Oz.

I suppose you could run them all together but how many electronics are you bringing? Better choice (rather than risk burning your stuff) is to either only keep 1 or 2 things plugged in at once or rethink bringing some of the things (ie, don't bring your iron, blow dryer, etc. - stuff you can get there cheaply).

 

[redshifteffect]

Originally posted by Kimberli Cox
Buy a step down converter at someplace like Radio Shack before you leave (as you will need to "step down" the Aussie voltage for your American applicances to work and not fry).

The wall plugs aren't expensive in the states - lots of places carry them for pretty reasonable prices - I don't see the advantage of waiting to get to Oz.

I suppose you could run them all together but how many electronics are you bringing? Better choice (rather than risk burning your stuff) is to either only keep 1 or 2 things plugged in at once or rethink bringing some of the things (ie, don't bring your iron, blow dryer, etc. - stuff you can get there cheaply).

The advantage is that u have a good exchange rate from US to Australian dollars and u don't waste space in ur luggage...i wasted a lot of space and it wasn't that much difference in price.

 

[Jatpot]

North Americans who have been in Australia for a while--did you guys bring a computer? I have a new laptop and have heard that the new ones contain internal voltage adapters so that all I need is the cheap plug adapter--any insight? I plan to bring my computer, but obviously don't want to fry it.

Thanks much.

 

[pitman]

Originally posted by Kimberli Cox
Buy a step down converter at someplace like Radio Shack before you leave (as you will need to "step down" the Aussie voltage for your American applicances to work and not fry).

I was going to wait until I arrived to get step-down converters (I'll be getting a couple 1KW babies!) -- are they not available there?

-pitman

 

[pitman]

Originally posted by Jatpot
North Americans who have been in Australia for a while--did you guys bring a computer? I have a new laptop and have heard that the new ones contain internal voltage adapters so that all I need is the cheap plug adapter--any insight? I plan to bring my computer, but obviously don't want to fry it.

Thanks much.

If your laptop has an external power supply like most do, just buy a new one when you get there.

-pitman

 

[redshifteffect]

Originally posted by pitman
I was going to wait until I arrived to get step-down converters (I'll be getting a couple 1KW babies!) -- are they not available there?

-pitman

yeah step down converters are available here... might be a bit more expensive..simple plug adaptors though are definitely cheaper here *with exchange rate...