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3:30 pm
Sat 3-Dec-11
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mauramac
| | Kent | |
|  Knowledegable | posts 255 | |
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Does anyone on here know if an electrical item shipped from US to UK will work here on our voltage?
Hubby has his eye on this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-Turntable-Transfer-V…..23114036fa
I thought US voltage was about 110v compared to our 240v – so I presume you would have to get a transformer of some kind.
Has anyone tried this and did it work?
He has been searching for something which will convert his vinyl albums to CD or MP3 format in the UK without too much success and then spotted this bit of kit which he likes a lot.
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4:41 pm
Sat 3-Dec-11
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veronica
| | France | |
| Knowledegable | posts 272 | |
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You do need a transformer/converter. But they must be easily available, after all Americans come over here all the time with laptops and the like. It's the sort of thing you can buy in airport shops, but you can buy them online too.
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4:57 pm
Sat 3-Dec-11
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Michelle from Oregon
| | Oregon, USA | |
|  Councillor | posts 1278 | 
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Post edited 4:59 pm – Sat 3-Dec-11 by Michelle from Oregon
You can a transformer/converter at an elecronics store too.
Our's blew up while we were visiting, and we picked up another on easily enough.
If you get it, you should check the voltage specifications (probably a tag on it somewhere).
Most laptops and high end electronics have a voltage converter on them (the black box on the cord), so you may just need an adapter.
Just don't buy him a curling iron and you'll be fine. 
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If you can't be a shining example, be a terrible warning!
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5:32 pm
Sat 3-Dec-11
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Aly
| | Normandy France | |
|  Supreme Being | posts 3119 | |
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we have an American laptop and it works without any adaptors. Just confusing going between American and French keyboards
éà§ù$£€ see what I mean
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I refuse to grow old gracefully
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5:39 pm
Sat 3-Dec-11
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seth
| | lincolnshire fens | |
| Councillor | posts 1198 | |
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These are available in the UK frequently in the advertising fall outs in the Sunday times or Telegraph.
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I don't suffer from insanity,I enjoy it.
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6:35 pm
Sat 3-Dec-11
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mauramac
| | Kent | |
| Knowledegable | posts 255 | |
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Post edited 2:33 am – Sun 4-Dec-11 by Toffeeapple
Michelle from Oregon said:
Just don't buy him a curling iron and you'll be fine.
Laughed out loud at that last comment Michelle – if anything he needs straightners!
But have just stumbled across a website all about bring electrical goods into UK and seems not quite as straightforward as you might think. Something to do with the internal motor speed 
If you are interested (or just need something to cure insomnia then read on)……….
Basics (copied from http://www.uk-yankee.com/guide/expat-guide-uk/elec…..patibility)
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz 
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6:50 pm
Sat 3-Dec-11
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Gottaknit
| | South Lincolnshire | |
|  Enthusiast | posts 145 | |
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I would have thought that you could get a similar item in the UK to save you the worry of the power differences – try this link:
http://shop.telegraph.co.uk/mm-d3939/cat-tb/christ…..&sin=
and they have an ordinary looking one without the natty retro styling. I have seen various items along those lines in those slightly irritating catalogues that infest the weekend papers at this time of the year.
If you buy from the States, bear in mind that you will have to pay import duty as well as VAT, on top of the carriage charges – makes buying locally sound a better deal!
Good luck with googling!
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7:14 pm
Sat 3-Dec-11
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mauramac
| | Kent | |
| Knowledegable | posts 255 | |
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hello Jean – I need to ask you something about knitting but better not do it here or it will get really confusing 
Re: the above – I totally agree with you and said much the same to himself this morning but he insists that the ones here in Uk are not up to much.
I have saved the data for him to read and I'm sure he will think again when he reads all the guff about it.
Speak to you in the knitting room
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8:44 am
Sun 4-Dec-11
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kayerunrig
| | lincolnshire | |
|  Expert | posts 606 | |
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OH has something very similar bought off ebay it was remarkably cheap, which is good because the novelty soon wore off…lol
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12:01 pm
Sun 4-Dec-11
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mauramac
| | Kent | |
| Knowledegable | posts 255 | |
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I dare not complain Kaye as I am a demon for buying gadgets that invariably remain in their boxes after a few uses (I have a couple on Ebay right now!) but on the other hand it makes me really easy to buy for at Christmas
We do have an enormous record collection and no loft to put it in so he thought would be a good idea to convert some of the albums and then get rid of them. What you do with it then I have no idea. At last count we also had over 400 CD's, plus vinyl records, cassettes, and now the ipod and mobile phones that play tracks  Music and concerts was what brought us together blankety blank years ago and we still love all sorts of music. Hubby still loves hard rock which I never really liked as much and I have wandered into classical and opera which he is not so keen on but the main core of our music tastes are the same so the collection is huge and still growing. I bet we will receive about 6 or 8 CD's this Christmas.
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4:16 pm
Sun 4-Dec-11
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kayerunrig
| | lincolnshire | |
| Expert | posts 606 | |
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lol…we have a very eclectic mix of audio of one sort or another , to say its diverse is an understatement , i have loads of early rock and roll and psychobilly punk with OHs pet hate my Johnny Cash collection ..He however is into 80s Techno which baffles me. We do however have in comman Ska and Northern Soul but it grates that im so old that I once went to Wigan Casino …lol
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5:06 pm
Sun 4-Dec-11
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devongarden
| | Devon, UK | |
| Councillor | posts 1195 | |
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Modern electronics often are designed to work on either 110 or 240 volts, so laptops, ipods, phones, etc are no problem to charge in either country as long as you have an adaptor so the plug fits. Anything that has a motor is more problematic, as the US uses 60 cycles/second and the UK 50. (I seem to remember that my ex found his English electric razor worked better/faster in the US for this reason.)
I had an American sewing machine and had to get a transformer for it when I moved to the UK years ago. Daughter now has the machine, and a transformer about 1/50 of the size and weight of the old one! I wouldn't bother to import anything like that now. You can get really stung for customs charges when you import things, too, and they seem to be getting more gung-ho and charging individuals when things are sent by a commercial firm which takes the cost up to what you would pay in the UK anyway.
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7:00 pm
Sun 4-Dec-11
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JoannaS
| | Latvia | |
| Supreme Being | posts 4329 | |
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We bought some stuff across with us from the US which we bought there when we lived there for two years, and we hadn't realised about the 60Hz/50Hz issue. A clock radio was useless as it wouldn't keep time and our slow cookers are slow and the toaster was painfully slow. Heating elements rely on the changes in electricity cycles to heat up. We bought a big transformer but just because we needed the size due to a vaccuum cleaner – we are considering changing the motor on that now as it doesn't cost too much to do and several smaller ones.
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