Hi all. Unfortunately first time traveling in the age of cell phones. I have an iPhone and received an adapter for my friend with USB ports to plug in the iPhone. Do I phones also need to have converters. I know for my hair dryer or flat iron I will need the converter and the adapter. Important stuff here. Thank you
Posted by
Medford, OR, USA
5837 posts
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/phones-tech/electric-adapters-converters
American appliances run on 110 volts, while European appliances are
220 volts. Today's gadgets are "dual voltage," which means they work
on both American and European current. If you see a range of voltages
printed on the item or its plug (such as "110–220"), you're OK in
Europe
https://www.wired.com/2013/12/charging-devices-faq/
A PC USB charger delivers 2.5 Watts of power (5 volts at 500 mA). An
iPhone charger delivers 5 Watts (5 volts at 1000 mA). A Retina iPad
mini charger delivers 10 watts (5.1 volts at 2100 mA).While all of these will charge your iPad, using the USB connected to a
PC will charge your Retina mini four times slower than if you used the
iPad charger it came with. Conversely, if you use a tablet charger for
your smartphone, it'd charge up faster than normal (Note: Some devices
like the iPhone will only draw up to 1A of current no matter the
charger). If you play mix-and-match with these types of chargers like
this, don't worry – you're not going to blow up your phone or anything
crazy like that.
Posted by
Green Bay
21274 posts
Your I-phone should just need a plug adapter. Look on your existing charger closely and you should see "120-240 VAC, 50-60 HZ". That means it will work just fine on Italian, or anywhere else's electricity in Europe. You just need a plug adapter so you can plug it into an Italian wall socket.
I have know idea about your friend's USB device. Read the fine print.
Devices requiring heat are a whole different animal. Most Italian hotels will have hair dryers. Make sure the converter for the flat iron matches the power requirements in KW. Again, it is in the device's fine print.
Posted by
OP
16 posts
Thank you all. The adapter says AC max 6A 250 VAC. USB Mac 2490 mA 5vdc caution AC-AC of no voltage conversion. So assuming an iPhone and iPad are good. Need my old converter for any heat appliance.
Posted by
Medford, OR, USA
5837 posts
Need my old converter for any heat appliance.
Check to see that your "converter" has adequate capacity for your devices. I literally saw a 120v iron smoked in Germany when the undersize "converter" didn't work. It could have been a power surge because irons typically cycle on and off to maintain temperature between high-low set points.
The following seems like resonable advice:
https://www.quick220.com/blog/how-to-buy-a-voltage-converter-or-voltage-transformer/
Multiply Your Total Wattage Needed by 3x
Some types of higher-powered appliances will cause a gigantic
temporary spike in power consumption when they’re turned on. While
it’s unlikely that you’ll bring your dad’s table saw with you to
France, it’s still safest to buy a voltage converter that offers 3x
the maximum power handling capacity that you think you’ll need. The
extra power-handling in the transformer won’t hurt your devices.