# Solved: US power strip overseas??



## Jerold (Jun 23, 2004)

I travel to the UK for work regulary. With all the electronics that I end up carrying, I never have enough adapter plugs or the way the wall plug is in London, I can't get the adapter with my US plug to plug into the wall sockets int he hotel rooms.

I was wondering if I can take a US power strip with me, plug that into a US-UK adapter or 110v-220v transformer and connect that into the wall socket and then plug in all my device chargers to the US power strip.

There are 2 types of plug adapters. One is just a straight thru US prong to UK prong. The other one is the classic transformer type converting 110v to 220v. Since most all electronic devices automatically detects the voltages, can I just use the straight thru adapter instead of the transformer with the power strip.

Thanks,
Jerold


----------



## Ladybbird (May 2, 2008)

Why would you need to do that? I thought the UK was the same voltage as the US and you can buy every type of adaptors for every country in the UK


----------



## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

I'd be very careful with the straight-through adapter. The UK uses 230 volts/50 Hz systems (used to be 240). You say that they have voltage-sensing capabilities, but many have a 110/220 switch to flip in order to use 220. One second of being wrong and your device is toast. It's safer to use the transformer. And, yes, you can use a power strip on it. Just don't overload it (which you won't if just adapters for your devices, but no space-heaters, please!).


----------



## Ladybbird (May 2, 2008)

Sorry Im getting confused between all these countries, I am from the UK and always go to buy my laptops from the US but they are dual voltage so I dont have problems in any country - except the constant power cuts/outages here in the DR which have damaged 3 laptops and now my sons XBox, wish there was some magical device that could solve our electric probs here.


----------



## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

Ladybbird said:


> Sorry Im getting confused between all these countries, I am from the UK and always go to buy my laptops from the US but they are dual voltage so I dont have problems in any country - except the constant power cuts/outages here in the DR which have damaged 3 laptops and now my sons XBox, wish there was some magical device that could solve our electric probs here.


Does that mean my advice is good or you have an addition? Never been to the UK myself.


----------



## Ladybbird (May 2, 2008)

Elvandil said:


> Does that mean my advice is good or you have an addition? Never been to the UK myself.


Pop over here for a week and sort out these power surges that destroy so much electrical equipment, by the way do you know how I can reduce a photo pix size to add to my profile? sorry to go off topic but you seem knowledgable


----------



## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

IrfanView

Image menu > Resize/Resample > Check the box to preserve ratio > change width > File Menu > Save As...


----------



## Jerold (Jun 23, 2004)

except the constant power cuts/outages here in the DR ...[/QUOTE said:


> Wouldn't using a power strip that also doubles as a surge protector prevent damage to electronics?


----------



## Jerold (Jun 23, 2004)

Update:

Got back from my trip.

Before I left, I found a Travel power strip by Belkin that I picked up at the store.

I was able to use that with just a US-UK plug adapter. I plugged in the following items without any problems:

Laptop (although, the power brick adjusts to whatever power it is plugged into)
Palm Treo 750 phone charger
Apple iPod charger
Archos PVP charger

I got a little paranoid about the archos, so I used my transformer plug (converts 240 to 110) and plugged in the archos charger. It charged, but the plug for the archos get really hot. It never gets that hot if at all when i have it plugged in here in the US.
I guess I could've just plugged it into the power strip/US-UK adapter without any problems.

So in conclusion, I think that this works and I highly recommend the Belkin Mini Power Strip. They come in 4 plugs or 6 plugs. I got the 4 plug for $19. The cor is short and plugs into itself for storage. An all around great travel item (US or overseas).


----------

