electrical power strip

Nosmo King wrote:

I think he means that the plug, at the other end of the wire, contains a
transformer. I'm sure some one will correct me if I am wrong but I believe
the UK is the only country in Europe which has a fuze protected plug on each
appliance lead. The rest are all protected at the point of power
distribution by a cutout for each ringmain circuit.

I assumed that he meant what I thought was called a power bar. It has a regular
cord attached to a more or less rectangular body that holds a number of
outlets. Some come with an on/off switch and some even have built in breakers.
They are generally used for multiple low power electric devices like computers
and entertainment centres.

"Dave Smith" wrote in message
...
Nosmo King wrote:

I think he means that the plug, at the other end of the wire, contains a
transformer. I'm sure some one will correct me if I am wrong but I
believe
the UK is the only country in Europe which has a fuze protected plug on
each
appliance lead. The rest are all protected at the point of power
distribution by a cutout for each ringmain circuit.

I assumed that he meant what I thought was called a power bar. It has a
regular
cord attached to a more or less rectangular body that holds a number of
outlets. Some come with an on/off switch and some even have built in
breakers.
They are generally used for multiple low power electric devices like
computers
and entertainment centres.



Ahaaaa. You mean a wandering lead.

Romeo Raabe wrote:
Has anyone done this? All electrical devices I'm taking to Europe
will
work on dual voltage, 110 to 250 volts. Rather than bring numerous
adapters and hunt for numerous outlets in a hotel room, I'm
considering
bringing one adapter and a power strip. Put the adapter on it and
voila, it's a 220V power strip and now I plug in my US plug items
into
it and only need one adapter and one outlet.

I would plan to not be an idiot and try to run several hair dryers at
one time, but if I run several low draw items this way (shaver,
camcorder battery charger, etc.) I would think it should work (that
is
a question). Sure the power strip says its only for 110 voltage, but
that's cause they don't want some idiot plugging it into his 30 amp
dryer or electric range outlet here in the states and frying anything
plugged into it, including him/herself.

My understanding is that the load in amperage is more the limiting
factor (thus no hairdryer this way) of the wire gauge used in these
devices, which typically run 16 gauge.

So, without a lengthy discussion of ohm's or Watt's law, or the need
for an electical engineering degree to understand the inevitable
replies, will this work or am I one of the afore mentioned idiots
(please note I am asking first)?
Thanks


It will work just fine. You are correct about the 120V listing on the
power strip. All cords are good for 300V (more in reality) and the plug
and power strip are not a problem. American power strips - unlike
European- tend to come with a circuit breaker: This is probably
designed for 120V and can possibly fail if you short-circuit the power
strip. However, the circuit breaker or fuse in the panel should clear
the fault anyway. (Should this rare thing happen, discard the power
strip)

For obvious reasons, the clamp on voltage of a surge arrestor designed
for 120V is much lower than on one for 230V. You won't need the surge
arrestor, so use a power strip without it.

You are also right about the neglible risk of overload: A #16 cord (the
minimum allowed by UL) is listed for 13 amps, which is about 3000 Watts
(roughly two hairdryers) at the European 230V. Coil it up and it's only
good for about a third of that.

The weak point is the adapter: A possible option is to replace the
original American plug on the power strip with a local plug. This will
ensure a reliable connection and a working equipment ground.

//C-H

"Charles Hawtrey" wrote in message
...

Everybody should know Ohm's Law. It's not at all complicated and has
a zillion day-to-day uses (like your question). Why schools teach
some of the crap that they do and yet don't teach something as simple
and practical as Ohm's Law amazes me.

Where is it that schools neglect to teach Ohm's law? It's covered in grade
10 Physical Science here (Montreal).

Richard

On Tue, 22 Feb 2005 13:46:08 GMT, (Charles
Hawtrey) wrote:

"Romeo Raabe" emerged from stupor to write:

My understanding is that the load in amperage is more the limiting
factor (thus no hairdryer this way) of the wire gauge used in these
devices, which typically run 16 gauge.

True, more or less, for your purposes. The amperage and voltage can't
be separated but you've said you don't want to know about Ohm's Law.

Try to find one with just outlets and no other components. There's a
slight chance that those components could fail due to the higher
voltage -- maybe a switch could arc over or something.

So, without a lengthy discussion of ohm's or Watt's law, or the need
for an electical engineering degree to understand the inevitable
replies, will this work or am I one of the afore mentioned idiots
(please note I am asking first)?

Should be OK but why bother with a heavy and bulky power strip? Just
get one of those little outlet-multiplier thingies. Smaller, lighter,
cheaper, and safer than a power strip.

Everybody should know Ohm's Law. It's not at all complicated and has
a zillion day-to-day uses (like your question). Why schools teach
some of the crap that they do and yet don't teach something as simple
and practical as Ohm's Law amazes me.

Because it's not as simple as V=IR.

R=Resistance, which is not the same as impedance, which is a
significant factor in many modern appliances. The more coils a product
has (like a shaver for example), the more inductive resistance occurs.
This becomes significant when going from magnitudes of 110 to 250
volts.
--
---
DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
---
--

Thanks rieker5, Terry Richards, and esbc.
Yes I am using simply a power strip with no transformer, just an on/off
switch. Its the same one I take on cruises as cruise cabins typically
have only one outlet and i have multiple battery chargers for walkie
talkies (no I'm not taking them to Europe to incur the wrath of the FCC
or any European equivalent), digital cameras, shaver, etc. I will put
my two round plug European adapter on the business end and plug it into
an outlet in hotel rooms in Europe, and then plug all my dual voltage
little things in so only the one adapter is needed (no extra
transformers needed - yes the dual voltage appliances ARE handy).

I'm sure ohm's law would be useful, in fact I used to know it, but its
been years since I had a need. Reminds me of the time I had to use an
algebraic formula and called a local high school to speak to an algebra
instructor. There was a long pause after I asked my question and
before he answered he expressed amazement that anyone ever used any of
this stuff after HS graduation. Of course he may have just been
funning me too.

Newsgroups are amazing places and the tangents they can take are very
interesting. I do appreciate all the help and suggestions and the
smiles some of them provided. Thanks all
Romeo Raabe (and his power strip) (non-transformered, non fused, 16
gauge)