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#1
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Using Canon Battery Charger in SA
I plan to take my Canon Digital Rebel (300D) to South Africa.
The battery charger CB-5L is designed for the US. The Canon website says that the charger can be used internationally. The charger has the following notation printed on it: Input 100V-240V AC50/60Hz 22VA(100V)-30VA(240V) Does anybody have any experience using this charger in SA or know what I will need to plug in into an electrical receptacle in my hotel room? There is no switch on the charger to change the voltage. The plug is an American two prong style. |
#2
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I have used my Canon battery charger in South Africa. It is not the same
one, mine came with the 60D. Yours indicates it can handle 240 Volts. That is the important number. All you need is an adapter plug that has the three South African prongs on one side and a socket for the North American plug on the other. I picked mine up at Radio Shack, but a lot of travel places sell them. Check any other electrical appliance you may be taking to ensure they can handle the 220 or 240 volts in S.A. I usually try to buy only things that will handle 110-240 volts if I might want to use them when travelling. Adapter plugs are cheaper and easier to use than voltage converters. Scott You don't need a more expensive voltage converter. "Odysseus" wrote in message news:gGuTd.53294$tl3.16287@attbi_s02... I plan to take my Canon Digital Rebel (300D) to South Africa. The battery charger CB-5L is designed for the US. The Canon website says that the charger can be used internationally. The charger has the following notation printed on it: Input 100V-240V AC50/60Hz 22VA(100V)-30VA(240V) Does anybody have any experience using this charger in SA or know what I will need to plug in into an electrical receptacle in my hotel room? There is no switch on the charger to change the voltage. The plug is an American two prong style. |
#3
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You can definitely use the charger here in South Africa. (We use
220-240V, 50Hz) Johannesburg is nominal 220V. The charger you have is a pretty standard switch-mode power supply that will automatically select the input voltage, and will adjust itsself accordingly. You will need an adaptor to our plugs. I'd suggest that you buy one in South Africa. They are readilly available at all travel shops, most large supermarkets, hardware stores etc. If you let me know which hotel you'll be in, I will be able to tell you exactly where you can get an adaptor. Regards, Marc On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 00:53:33 GMT, Odysseus wrote: I plan to take my Canon Digital Rebel (300D) to South Africa. The battery charger CB-5L is designed for the US. The Canon website says that the charger can be used internationally. The charger has the following notation printed on it: Input 100V-240V AC50/60Hz 22VA(100V)-30VA(240V) Does anybody have any experience using this charger in SA or know what I will need to plug in into an electrical receptacle in my hotel room? There is no switch on the charger to change the voltage. The plug is an American two prong style. |
#4
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My first hotel will be the Table Bay Hotel in Cape Town.
Thank you for your help. You can definitely use the charger here in South Africa. (We use 220-240V, 50Hz) Johannesburg is nominal 220V. The charger you have is a pretty standard switch-mode power supply that will automatically select the input voltage, and will adjust itsself accordingly. You will need an adaptor to our plugs. I'd suggest that you buy one in South Africa. They are readilly available at all travel shops, most large supermarkets, hardware stores etc. If you let me know which hotel you'll be in, I will be able to tell you exactly where you can get an adaptor. Regards, Marc On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 00:53:33 GMT, Odysseus wrote: I plan to take my Canon Digital Rebel (300D) to South Africa. The battery charger CB-5L is designed for the US. The Canon website says that the charger can be used internationally. The charger has the following notation printed on it: Input 100V-240V AC50/60Hz 22VA(100V)-30VA(240V) Does anybody have any experience using this charger in SA or know what I will need to plug in into an electrical receptacle in my hotel room? There is no switch on the charger to change the voltage. The plug is an American two prong style. |
#5
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"Scott Elliot" wrote in message news:hCwTd.597$hN1.224@clgrps13... You don't need a more expensive voltage converter. "Odysseus" wrote in message news:gGuTd.53294$tl3.16287@attbi_s02... I plan to take my Canon Digital Rebel (300D) to South Africa. The battery charger CB-5L is designed for the US. The Canon website says that the charger can be used internationally. The charger has the following notation printed on it: Input 100V-240V AC50/60Hz 22VA(100V)-30VA(240V) Does anybody have any experience using this charger in SA or know what I will need to plug in into an electrical receptacle in my hotel room? There is no switch on the charger to change the voltage. The plug is an American two prong style. I have used my Canon battery charger in South Africa. It is not the same one, mine came with the 60D. Yours indicates it can handle 240 Volts. That is the important number. All you need is an adapter plug that has the three South African prongs on one side and a socket for the North American plug on the other. I picked mine up at Radio Shack, but a lot of travel places sell them. Check any other electrical appliance you may be taking to ensure they can handle the 220 or 240 volts in S.A. I usually try to buy only things that will handle 110-240 volts if I might want to use them when travelling. Adapter plugs are cheaper and easier to use than voltage converters. Scott Correct you are, sir, and you bring up another important point. ALWAYS READ THE VOLTAGE RATING on your electrical items! The OP saw that his charger said "110V-240V" which means it can accept the US standard (120V) as well as the international standards (220V, some with 240V). The 50/60 Hertz (Hz, frequency or 'cycles', same thing) means that will run on US standard (60Hz) or the rest of the world (50Hz). Most folks ignore the Hz thing, which is mostly fine. More on Hz in a second. To prevent having to completely redesign for world markets, most good-quality electronic equipment is rated for either 110V to 220V (it says '110V-220V') and 50-60Hz, and as such you can just use an adaptor. If your equipment only says "input 110V/60Hz, then you MUST use a transformer, not an adaptor. Pretty much every world traveller has fried something in the early days from using an adaptor, not a transformer, because they did not read the input rating. If you are not sure which it is, use the transformer as it will not harm anything. For those who don't want to admit that they get confused, and are spooked about plugging precious things into the wall when they go to other countries, here are some guidelines and definitions: ADAPTER a little lightweight plastic thingy that will accept one type of plug in its female (recieving) end, and has a different type of plug in its male end. It has no internal electronics or wiring, just a straight changeover from one type of plug to another. This will enable your plug to physically fit into a socket, but unless the item is designed to be able to accept the current that is in the wall, you WILL burn it out instantly. And often dramatically, with sparks, bluegreen smoke, and darkness in the neighborhood. TRANSFORMER or VOLTAGE CONVERTER (these are the same things): a heavier electronic gizmo that transforms current from one voltage to another, like from 110V to 220V, or vice versa. (Transformers do NOT transform Hertz, FREQUENCY CONVERTERS do, but they are expensive and no one uses them outside of businesses with expensive tools that require them.) Transformers tend to be big and heavy, and have a range of power capabilities. Smaller ones are about the size of a golf ball and can be only for 10 or 20 watts, and are only good for things like pocket radios, or camera chargers. Bigger ones can be 2000 or 3000 watts, are as big as a canteloupe, weigh about 5 pounds, and can run your refrigerator. (Giant ones for running commercial devices are big enough to fit in a truck.) That little black box that plugs into the wall and has a long wire that plugs into your Walkman or laptop is a transformer. It transforms the wall power (110V) into 12V, which is what battery powered things really run on. Sometimes these have the same type of plug in the female and the male end, sometimes not. If not, you may need an adaptor also. Its completely okay to plug something tiny like a battery charger into a transformer designed to run a tank, but not vice versa. As a result, many folks who move internationally carry a few 750W or 1000W ones with them, plug a powerstrip into it, and run a bunch of stuff off of it at once. If the item is important to you, its better to overkill and use a big transformer like a 500W one. I run my US-wired stereo, CD player, tape deck and desk lamp off a single 750W transformer with a power strip. (Don't be fooled by those little white things that are about as big as your fist and say they are rated for 50-1600 watts. They only will work on things like irons, coffee makers or other items that have a lot of internal resistance. If you plug your stereo (or computer) into them, you'll lose it. I don't use those things for anything) If you have an item that has its own transformer (like your laptop computer does), then read the power rating on that item, NOT on your computer! Its that transformer you are plugging into the wall, not your computer. Usually, you only need an adaptor for that thing, and all is well (if it says 'input 110-240V") Back to Hertz...some items have little clocks in them (like your alarm clock, d'uh). Those usually run on the pulses of the cycles in the current, so if you use one in a different country, even with a transformer, it will run slow. Just buy one locally. Hope this helps. --riverman |
#6
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Well, if you're staying at the Table Bay Hotel, there are several
places inside the V&A Waterfront where you can buy an adaptor. Try the CNA, or Cape Union Mart, or any of the audio/visual stores in the Waterfront. The CNA is probably the cheapest. Rgds, Marc On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 12:32:35 GMT, Odysseus wrote: My first hotel will be the Table Bay Hotel in Cape Town. Thank you for your help. You can definitely use the charger here in South Africa. (We use 220-240V, 50Hz) Johannesburg is nominal 220V. The charger you have is a pretty standard switch-mode power supply that will automatically select the input voltage, and will adjust itsself accordingly. You will need an adaptor to our plugs. I'd suggest that you buy one in South Africa. They are readilly available at all travel shops, most large supermarkets, hardware stores etc. If you let me know which hotel you'll be in, I will be able to tell you exactly where you can get an adaptor. Regards, Marc On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 00:53:33 GMT, Odysseus wrote: I plan to take my Canon Digital Rebel (300D) to South Africa. The battery charger CB-5L is designed for the US. The Canon website says that the charger can be used internationally. The charger has the following notation printed on it: Input 100V-240V AC50/60Hz 22VA(100V)-30VA(240V) Does anybody have any experience using this charger in SA or know what I will need to plug in into an electrical receptacle in my hotel room? There is no switch on the charger to change the voltage. The plug is an American two prong style. |
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