US Power/Voltage

[de_LICA_ish18]

I'm going to the US next week and someone wants me to bring them back a couple of Nintendo DS's as they are cheaper over there.

The thing is the recharger plugs in the wall and they use a different type of plug to us. I know that you can get adapters, but last year I brought back an alarm clock from the States and when I plugged the transformer into the wall with the adaptor it blew up and set the safety switch off.

It didn't kill the clock just the transformer. Luckily we had an aussie transformer of the same voltage which I then used and was fine.

So anyway after this incident I'm a little worried about bringing back electrical stuff for people especially if they are spending quite a bit of money.

Anyone had much experience with this? Was this just a one off, or do I have to be careful with certain devices?

 

[jim boy]

Always check the transformer. Many, if not most adapators can handle a range of voltage and Frequency but many can't. The USA uses 120 V & 60 Hz while here we use 240 V & 50 Hz.

They almost always write these things on the transformer. If it says something like Input:'100-240 V' and '50/60' Hz the transformer you will be fine, otherwise you'll have to get a different transformer. THe adaptor plugs themselves make no difference

 

[beaumont911]

The device itself might be able to handle different voltages. I know several Apple products handle the 120V and the 240V countries, so perhaps the DS can.

 

[de_LICA_ish18]

that makes sense now. I did some searches and the ds only supports 110v in the USA. It says you need a voltage transformer. Not sure exactly what this is, or how this works. Not sure if you use this in conjunction with the overseas adapter or if you can get an all in one.

 

[beaumont911]

Cant the DS take AA batteries like the old GBA?

 

[de_LICA_ish18]

Nah doesn't take batteries.