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#1
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electrical outlets in Europe hotel bathrooms
Hi,
In many, if not most, of the hotels in the U.K. and France have an electric outlet in the bathroom that says "For shavers only" (and provides both U.S. and European voltage choices). In the case of the U.K. it is a 2 prong outlet, as opposed to the usual 3 prong. How does one use things like a curling iron, flat iron, waterpik or electric toothbrush in this situation. I purchased European versions of my toothbrush, etc. so that the voltage would be compatible. But in France I plugged my Braun toothbrush into the outlet in the bathroom and it killed the recharger base. Therefore, I haven't tried anything else in it. Although I can use my curling iron in the other room of the hotel, I can only use my waterpik in the bathroom but the "For shavers only" makes me hestitate. Any one know how this works? Many thanks, Jan |
#2
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electrical outlets in Europe hotel bathrooms
Jan Hanford wrote:
Hi, In many, if not most, of the hotels in the U.K. and France have an electric outlet in the bathroom that says "For shavers only" (and provides both U.S. and European voltage choices). In the case of the U.K. it is a 2 prong outlet, as opposed to the usual 3 prong. How does one use things like a curling iron, flat iron, waterpik or electric toothbrush in this situation. I purchased European versions of my toothbrush, etc. so that the voltage would be compatible. But in France I plugged my Braun toothbrush into the outlet in the bathroom and it killed the recharger base. Therefore, I haven't tried anything else in it. Although I can use my curling iron in the other room of the hotel, I can only use my waterpik in the bathroom but the "For shavers only" makes me hestitate. Any one know how this works? Many thanks, Jan These outlets are usually fused at 1 amp, so anything using more amperage - most things other than shavers - will blow the fuse. Hair driers and curling tongs are definitely too powerful for a 1 amp fuse to handle. Stick to an adapter plug and use the 3 pin sockets in the main room. Llamedos -- Has anyone ever found a double-yolker creme egg? The views and expressions contained in this message do not necessarily coincide with those of my employer. |
#3
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electrical outlets in Europe hotel bathrooms
"Llamedos" wrote in message ... Jan Hanford wrote: Hi, In many, if not most, of the hotels in the U.K. and France have an electric outlet in the bathroom that says "For shavers only" (and provides both U.S. and European voltage choices). In the case of the U.K. it is a 2 prong outlet, as opposed to the usual 3 prong. How does one use things like a curling iron, flat iron, waterpik or electric toothbrush in this situation. I purchased European versions of my toothbrush, etc. so that the voltage would be compatible. But in France I plugged my Braun toothbrush into the outlet in the bathroom and it killed the recharger base. Therefore, I haven't tried anything else in it. Although I can use my curling iron in the other room of the hotel, I can only use my waterpik in the bathroom but the "For shavers only" makes me hestitate. Any one know how this works? Many thanks, Jan These outlets are usually fused at 1 amp, so anything using more amperage - most things other than shavers - will blow the fuse. Hair driers and curling tongs are definitely too powerful for a 1 amp fuse to handle. Stick to an adapter plug and use the 3 pin sockets in the main room. Llamedos -- That wont solve the problem US mains voltage is 110V at 60 Hz,just about everybody else uses 220 at 50 Hz You can get a 220-110v transformer but they are limited to low power applications so while a toothbrush would be fine a flat iron would draw too much power. Keith |
#5
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electrical outlets in Europe hotel bathrooms
How does one use things like a curling iron, flat iron, waterpik or electric
toothbrush in this situation. You could cut down on some of the stress involved by looking at your holiday or trip differently from the way you do things at home. For instance, leave the electric toothbrush and waterpik at home - and take an old-fashion manually operated toothbrush and some floss on the trip. Maybe they won't do as good a job, but it's only for a short time. About the flat iron - when my wife and I began traveling many decades ago, we too took a small travel iron. Then we found we never used it and we started taking clothes that don't wrinkle as much. The travel iron hasn't gone with us for 15 years. My wife doesn't use a curling iron. She still takes a very small hairdryer. I try to get her to leave it behind. She has short hair but likes the dryer in case the hair goes the wrong way during the night. We stay mostly at 2-star hotels. Even these are putting hairdryers in their bathrooms. |
#6
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electrical outlets in Europe hotel bathrooms
Keith Willshaw wrote:
"Llamedos" wrote in message ... Jan Hanford wrote: Hi, In many, if not most, of the hotels in the U.K. and France have an electric outlet in the bathroom that says "For shavers only" (and provides both U.S. and European voltage choices). In the case of the U.K. it is a 2 prong outlet, as opposed to the usual 3 prong. How does one use things like a curling iron, flat iron, waterpik or electric toothbrush in this situation. I purchased European versions of my toothbrush, etc. so that the voltage would be compatible. But in France I plugged my Braun toothbrush into the outlet in the bathroom and it killed the recharger base. Therefore, I haven't tried anything else in it. Although I can use my curling iron in the other room of the hotel, I can only use my waterpik in the bathroom but the "For shavers only" makes me hestitate. Any one know how this works? Many thanks, Jan These outlets are usually fused at 1 amp, so anything using more amperage - most things other than shavers - will blow the fuse. Hair driers and curling tongs are definitely too powerful for a 1 amp fuse to handle. Stick to an adapter plug and use the 3 pin sockets in the main room. Llamedos That wont solve the problem US mains voltage is 110V at 60 Hz,just about everybody else uses 220 at 50 Hz You can get a 220-110v transformer but they are limited to low power applications so while a toothbrush would be fine a flat iron would draw too much power. Keith That is a bit of an over generalization. It is not uncommon for the power circuit on modern appliances to operate on a wide range of standards. The charger for my camera battery, for example, runs on pretty much any input 100V - 250V and about 40 Hz to about 70 Hz. As to transformers they can handle pretty much any load you desire. It's just that for high loads they get heavy & expensive. FFM |
#7
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electrical outlets in Europe hotel bathrooms
"Frank F. Matthews" wrote in message ... Keith Willshaw wrote: "Llamedos" wrote in message ... Jan Hanford wrote: Hi, In many, if not most, of the hotels in the U.K. and France have an electric outlet in the bathroom that says "For shavers only" (and provides both U.S. and European voltage choices). In the case of the U.K. it is a 2 prong outlet, as opposed to the usual 3 prong. How does one use things like a curling iron, flat iron, waterpik or electric toothbrush in this situation. I purchased European versions of my toothbrush, etc. so that the voltage would be compatible. But in France I plugged my Braun toothbrush into the outlet in the bathroom and it killed the recharger base. Therefore, I haven't tried anything else in it. Although I can use my curling iron in the other room of the hotel, I can only use my waterpik in the bathroom but the "For shavers only" makes me hestitate. Any one know how this works? Many thanks, Jan These outlets are usually fused at 1 amp, so anything using more amperage - most things other than shavers - will blow the fuse. Hair driers and curling tongs are definitely too powerful for a 1 amp fuse to handle. Stick to an adapter plug and use the 3 pin sockets in the main room. Llamedos That wont solve the problem US mains voltage is 110V at 60 Hz,just about everybody else uses 220 at 50 Hz You can get a 220-110v transformer but they are limited to low power applications so while a toothbrush would be fine a flat iron would draw too much power. Keith That is a bit of an over generalization. It is not uncommon for the power circuit on modern appliances to operate on a wide range of standards. The charger for my camera battery, for example, runs on pretty much any input 100V - 250V and about 40 Hz to about 70 Hz. So does my laptop but in the US they dont put multivoltage power supplies on devices like curling tongs, flatirons and toothbrushes As to transformers they can handle pretty much any load you desire. It's just that for high loads they get heavy & expensive. FFM The transformers you'll see on sale at most stores are however limited to a couple of amps at most. A transformer capable of handling the power absorbed by a flat iron weighs around 24 lbs Keit Keith |
#8
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electrical outlets in Europe hotel bathrooms
Keith Willshaw wrote:
So does my laptop but in the US they dont put multivoltage power supplies on devices like curling tongs, flatirons and toothbrushes Not entirely correct. It's not general, but _some_ US-sold irons and dryers are made to work on either US or UK power sources. Sheila |
#9
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electrical outlets in Europe hotel bathrooms
S Viemeister schrieb: Keith Willshaw wrote: So does my laptop but in the US they dont put multivoltage power supplies on devices like curling tongs, flatirons and toothbrushes Not entirely correct. It's not general, but _some_ US-sold irons and dryers are made to work on either US or UK power sources. Sheila Our daughter brought a 110v hair curler (actually a hair straightener) with a US style plug back from a Mexico trip to Europe. I told her on no account to try and plug it in to our 220v sockets, it would most likely melt, catch fire, burn out our house wiring, or all three. So much for father's advice- she jury-rigged a plug and socket from our collection of travel adapters, and plugged it in- it works. Tom. |
#10
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electrical outlets in Europe hotel bathrooms
"Thomas Peel" wrote in message ... S Viemeister schrieb: Keith Willshaw wrote: So does my laptop but in the US they dont put multivoltage power supplies on devices like curling tongs, flatirons and toothbrushes Not entirely correct. It's not general, but _some_ US-sold irons and dryers are made to work on either US or UK power sources. Sheila Our daughter brought a 110v hair curler (actually a hair straightener) with a US style plug back from a Mexico trip to Europe. I told her on no account to try and plug it in to our 220v sockets, it would most likely melt, catch fire, burn out our house wiring, or all three. So much for father's advice- she jury-rigged a plug and socket from our collection of travel adapters, and plugged it in- it works. As long as the thermostat works that will be fine since it cuts the power to the heating coil when the selected temperature is reached. HOWEVER if it should fail the heating element will very likely produce dangerously high temperatures as at 220v you'll get twice the heat output through the same resistance That could be nasty. Keith |
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