I have an electrical question. My display table at Oxford will be a stained
glass sundial assembly table and I want to be able to use my soldering iron
and glass grinder that are both 120 volts.
The last time I went to England, I brought the wrong power converter. They
sell five or six different types at the hardware store. Does anybody know
which kind I should buy?
I've run US devices in the UK and still run UK stuff in the US.
Their are a number of criteria to be watch for. First what power
rating do your devices have. Many converters are just for low power
devices such as shavers or radios. Probably a converter that will
handle a hair drier will handle the soldering iron. The frequency
difference can cause some problems on high power (> 1hp.) AC electric
motors but hopefully your grinder is not that big.
If you get a transformer, get an autotransformer. They are lighter
and therefore cheaper. They don't have separate coils so they don't
have electrical isolation between the primary and secondary but you
don't need that.
Franzus used to make a line of autotransformers from 50 watts to 1000
watts to transform 220 to 110. They also had a line of plug adapters
to match the plugs. I'd try and get one before you leave since the
dollar is not buying much over there these days.
--
Cheers,
John
-
