power conversion problem?

[sponge bob]

Well,
I have an interesting problem. I looks very likely that O'l Sponge Bob will be moving from the U.S. and heading overseas to Switzerland. (My wife has a job offer to good to pass up)
and could be there for quite a while.

The problem is I have been buying up gear left and right for the last 6 months, and she says the plugs & voltage are different over there. So... is there any power conditioners, converters or adapter that I can use with all my US gear? (There's no way I'm leaving it behind!)

Any help is greatly appreciated,
Sponge Bob

[Bushice]

Check out these resources:

This one will show you the electric current and the types of plugs used around the world. Scroll down to the alphabetical listing, and then scroll up to the pics of the plugs.

http://www.ita.doc.gov/td/machinery/ecabroad/

This one has converter products you can buy, but there are a bunch of websites out there that sell this stuff, so you need to research prices a bit

http://www.dvdoverseas.com/voltage_converters.htm

This one has facts and figures on switzerland, , useful if you'll be there a while!

http://www.travelfinder.com/wfacts2/sz.html

It is a good starting point, but there are other resources out there. I would recomend some surge protection for your voltage converter. Overseas voltages can fluctuate, and you don't want to burn out anything valuable!


Good luck

Bushice

[ola]

Originally posted by Bushice
Overseas voltages can fluctuate, and you don't want to burn out anything valuable!

Oh dear. May I be so bold as to say that most European countries have at least as stable power supply as the US.

The most important thing to remember when using US gear anywhere else is that you run 60Hz and almost all other countries run 50Hz. Voltage can easily be converted so those converters are cheap. The gear that need frequency convertion will be quite expensive to run as those converter cost a leg and an arm.

So, check if your gear will run on 50Hz and if not, consider if you really need it because the converter will cost as much as the piece of gear itself. Lots of electronical stuff has a switch for 50/60Hz operation.

/Ola

One last thing, bring oranges and chocolates, we don't have them here...

[ola]

I forgot, if your gear runs on DC, great. Just buy a bunch of wall warts when you arrive and you're set.

[Bushice]

Ola,

I wasn't making judgements. I've been to Japan, and the Philippines, and have had problems with fluctuations.

Hey, America has power surges too, and I'd as easily warn all other out of country travelers to have some surge protection. This was not a knock on other countries, as much as a warning to protect your gear just as you would here. It's so easy to just buy a converter, but that converter will do you no good if your equipment has become toast because of a power surge.

One last thing. Not all Americans need Oranges and chocolates to survive.

Bushice

[lucid]

i used to live in the philippines (manila) and they had horrible power surges there. power went out continnuously too! our house had a generator it was so bad!

europe actually has decent power... just like the US. the philippines and europe are not comparable!

[kristian]

US = 60 Hz... Swizterland = 50Hz. You are buggered. It really isn't worth the pain of using cycle converters. Like Ola said, if its DC great! The only things that really work anywhere at this price range are ADATs and Computers. Any reel to reels say adios.