Lee Burningham on thu 21 nov 02
Howdy,
I need some advice from some of the European world-travellers among us. Is
there a charger designed to charge up a a video camera battery from Europe,
with the original equipment charger plug comprising of the two, round plugs?
I have a converter that I use in Europe on American equipment. I will be
stopping at the local electronics stores on the way home to see what they
say, just wondering if there is anything out there?
Lee Burningham
Fredrick Paget on thu 21 nov 02
There are a lot of battery chargers coming with equipment that will work on
anything from 100 volts AC to 240 volts AC. My electric razor is of this
type. Also I found a NiMetal Hydride battery charger that does this.
If yours is one of these it should say so on the equipment label. If it is
a single voltage such as 120 volts AC you will need a small 50 watt
transformer to reduce the European 220 volts to an acceptable 120 volts..
These are sold in kits with an assortment of attachment plug adapters to
fit the various plugs you may encounter.
England has a large plug and Germany another medium size that is different.
Italy and France use a smaller plug with round pins and so on. What
country are you going to?
Or are you trying to increase the American 120 volts to 220 so you can use
a European charger that only works on 220? If that is the case the same
transformer could work if it was hooked up backwards. That is a job for
someone who is savey to electricity.
Maybe you could buy this voltage reducing transformer preconfigured in Europe.
Fred
>Howdy,
>
>I need some advice from some of the European world-travellers among us. Is
>there a charger designed to charge up a a video camera battery from Europe,
>with the original equipment charger plug comprising of the two, round plugs?
>I have a converter that I use in Europe on American equipment. I will be
>stopping at the local electronics stores on the way home to see what they
>say, just wondering if there is anything out there?
>
>Lee Burningham
From Fred Paget, Marin County, California, USA
Janet Kaiser on fri 22 nov 02
Sounds like you bought the video camera in Europe? But you will need to
know which country. The pins are different... Cannot be the UK, because we
have three, square pins.
But MOST IMPORTANT: you need to check the voltage... It should be written
on the camera somewhere. A panel of some sort.
A lot of equipment (like cameras, scanners, etc.) sold in Europe, is made
in China and other countries and is actually 110V. It is supplied with a
converter plug (small black, bigger than usual plug) to reduce the European
220-240V to 110V. In which case, all you will need is a new cable with
attached US plug. You keep the European cable and plug for use over here
and other countries which use 220-240V. Or you just buy an "adapter plug"
which has holes corresponding to your appliance plug and plugs into a US
socket.
However, if it is rated 220-240V (the usual Euro-voltage) you will need a
converter. That will boost the supply from 110 to 220-240V. Best take the
camera to an electro-supply shop to get the correct kit including a plug
adapter. It can be difficult sourcing adapters, because every country seems
to have its own plug and one cannot expect dealers to keep them all in
stock.
An international airport can be a good place to find a multi-pack
"international plug adapter set", but remember that you must always check
on the voltage of your equipment as well as the supply in the country you
are visiting. Plugging 110V equipment into 220-240V supply tends to melt
the appliance with a flash and bang, putting whole streets into darkness!
Vice-versa and your charger will not work...
Sincerely
Janet Kaiser
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********
On 21/11/02 at 16:11 Lee Burningham wrote:
>I need some advice from some of the European world-travellers among us. Is
>there a charger designed to charge up a a video camera battery from
Europe,
>with the original equipment charger plug comprising of the two, round
>plugs?
>I have a converter that I use in Europe on American equipment. I will be
>stopping at the local electronics stores on the way home to see what they
>say, just wondering if there is anything out there?
***************************************************
Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art =95 Capel Celfyddyd
8 Marine Crescent, Criccieth LL52 0EA, Wales, UK
Tel: 01766-523570 URL: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
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