Hi, I live in Europe where the electricity is 240V and 50HZ
I just bought a (WAHL) hair trimmer from the USA. The battery charger for the hair trimmer is made for USA (input 120VAC, 60HZ, 5W) and has output 2.0V DC and 1100mA.
Obviously I cannot use this charger here. I think that there are two ways to charge my trimmer:
a) Buy a variable transformer and replace it (Local shops sell variable transformers with output 1.5 or 3V and 1000mA ). I called a shop and they said that with less mA it will just take longer to charge and it does not matter if the voltage is 1.5 or 3 .He said that the trimmer's original transformer output shouldn't be exactly 2V anyway.
b) Buy a transformer for the transformer! (transform 240V AC to 120V AC) . The issue here is bulk, overheating and different frequencies.
The questions are:
1) Is it possible I damage the trimmer's battery or circuitry or motor by feeding it with 1.5 or 3V instead of 2V?
2) Would I damage anything by feeding with 1000mA instead of 1100mA?
3) Would I damage anything by feeding with 50HZ instead of 60Hz?
4) For option b, the one transformer will sit on top of the other. Are there any overheating issues here? If I am to use option b, should the
2 transformers be separated by cable so they do not touch each other?
5) Which option would you recommend, a or b ?
I have a 500W box that does b)-- it was not expensive. It also converts the plugs. I'm going the other way, but it's the same thing. It's an autotransformer. Not approved, but it's in a metal box and seems unlikely to burst into flames.
A lot of chargers/adapters are universal these days (100-240VAC input)-- especially for high-end or high power consumption equipment such as digital cameras. But not all.
Best regards, Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
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Or buy a transformer with the correct output from Wahl or find a similar unit with the same ratings? It's a battery charger, shouldn't be too critical, find something with close to the same current and voltage ratings.
That shouldn't really be an issue, you're talking a few watts, the smallest
240v-120v transformer you can find should work nicely.
You are playing fast and loose with terminology here. The battery charger is not a transformer. The output is DC.
I think b is the better option. It is what I would try to do.
Maybe.
This question doesn't really make sense. If the thing needs up to 1100 mA at 2V, then that's what you should try to provide. But it's more complicated than that. Some power supplies are actually battery chargers which monitor both voltage and current. In general, I would not swap power supplies without more detailed knowledge of what was going on.
However, if it is a fully-regulated, voltage-output power supply, you can definitely swap it with another fully-regulated voltage-output power supply of the same Voltage and the same or higher capacity (amperage). For our purposes, I would think 1000mA is close enough to 1100mA to be called the same, but I wouldn't feel comfortable about the difference between 2 and 3 Volts.
Very unlikely. There might be slightly more ripple on the internal circuitry, but it will probably not be fatal.
I would use the "try it and see" approach. Most likely they will not overheat, but if they seem to be getting too hot, you could just separate them with small metal spacers of some sort.
While technically it's not a transformer, the major component in it *is* a transformer so calling the whole unit a transformer is not uncommon or entirely incorrect.
you can build your own autotransformer with almost ANY transformer. take one with 2 primary. connect the two in series for 240vac. and feed your equipment from ONE of the primary. isolate the secondary (that can be at any voltage) NOTE this transformer while NOT isolate you from main.
| Maybe. But then the OP should have called it a "transformer" in the first | paragraph, too. | | Because it was called a "charger" in the first paragraph and a | "transformer" subsequently, I was genuinely confused and had to | re-read the whole post.
It seemed clear it was a wall-wart. But if he runs it on 50 Hz at 120 VAC it'll be toast.
I've had quite enough "double standards" regardless of country.
Some drive kilometers/hour, some pay in pesos, some drink fluid ounces. Why is there a MMF but no milli-farad? How many yen is 10 euros? Why is spacecraft velocity measured in terrestral units/sec instead of relative to C? A megohm is how many Mmho? How much does a drop of liquid _____ weigh? A Siemen is what? How much does a 10-penny nail cost? Will a euro device work in Pakistan? How tall is a horse? How far is it to Alpha Centauri? How many cars still use a positive chassis? How much energy does a hydrogen atom contain?
Oh dear, what was my name again?
It's not so much that it is too difficult to learn all these units and standards, but the question is *why* all the units and standards? Why must we devote so much cognitive effort to what amounts to unneccesary and completely unproductive complexity? Is that going to make us smarter? I'd wager that millions of hours of cognitive time is wasted every day just in the confusion and adaptation of units and measures. Why must we defend all these standards? Why must they endure? Why not simplify the entire mess nad get everyone on the same page? Why not *remove* some standards for a change, instead of creating more new ones? At what point must something give? At what point will the design break down? When is enough?
If the UK can systematically convert its entire economy over to a new currency without so much as a hiccup, what does that say about our capabilities?
I know, I know. Regarding scientists, the discoverers do deserve credit for their discoveries. In elementary school we are taught presidents and world history - but never who Ohm or Volta or Maxwell is. This should be changed - it is important to know all the major discoverers. So instead, we use their names in units of measurement. Ohms and Volts and Maxwell's Equations. How flattering it must be, to have your name used in daily conversation forever... and also how egotistical. An airoplane isn't called a "DaVinci Flyer," even though in many aspects he might have been the biggest initial conduit to conceptualization. What's more, we're so accustomed to calling them "planes" that "DaVinci Flyer" sounds downright absurd. Well most units and measures sound like this literally. An ohm could be known as a "hwernyoe" and as long as we learned it that way, that would sound correct to us. Does "22 hwernyoe @ 12 yequilads = 0.545454 popuzingas" make sense to you?
How about 12E / 22R = 0.545454I?
Defend it, if you must.
But if everyone used X EMF at X Frequency with X style plug, then there'd be no bitching. Whose fault is that? Surely you don't say it's all the US's fault. Is the logic "if all else fails, blame the US?" I can't blame any country (even the US) for wanting to "retain their individuality" but come on. Anyone who creates a double standard has to live with the consequences. Nobody is forcing anyone to buy foreign goods. I have to convert mL into quarts and pints all the time. But wouldn't it be nice to have one set of standards?
Things would be very different, if I had a say in it. I suppose you're glad I don't. Well at least we've got the free-speech thing down, for the most part. Two billion more advancements to go.
-- "It's the new millennium. Do you know where your kids are?" (Sponserd bt the fookt-on-honiks skool for newage edjumication) MCJ
Why 100v? He specifically stated that it was a 120v appliance from America.
To the OP, as many have stated, yes, you need a 240v-120v transformer. Possibly you can find a 240v to [whatever voltage device it is] to eliminate this step. I think I'd look for a comparable device which operates from the local power, myself. I have carried a lot of US devices through Europe, and used transformers to power them; but I was bringing them back.... Where I could, I bought replacement wall warts for the ones I used most regularly. If you're actually living there, that would be an option.
--
Depending on the inductance designed to be seen looking into the
primary at 60 Hz, a 50 Hz signal could allow enough current to flow
into the primary to saturate the core. In order to keep the flux
density in the core the same at both frequencies, the voltage into the
primary must change in proportion to the change in frequency:
flo 50Hz
Eplo = Ephi ----- = 120V ------ = 100V
fhi 60Hz
Now, of course, the charger may not work since it'll only have 100V on
its input, but that's another story!-)
| From your postings I see that I should use a transformer of 240V->120V | (and if the charger burns out in the future for whatever reason, then I | will buy a variable transformer)
The problem is that the US transformer products have JUST enough iron for
120 VAC at 60 Hz. If you run them at 100 VAC on 50 Hz they will survive (100/120 == 50/60). Used to do that in New Zealand and everything still ran OK.
N
| Things would be very different, if I had a say in it. I suppose | you're glad I don't. Well at least we've got the free-speech thing | down, for the most part. Two billion more advancements to go.
"People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid". Freedom of Speech - Kierkegaard, Soren - 1813-1855 Danish Philosopher Writer
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