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Plug adaptor question

Posted by (Seattle, WA) on

I posted my question in Beyond Europe and no one responded so I will try again here. We are going to Patagonia next March and will visit both Chile and Argentina. I consulted this chart to see what kinds of plug adapters we will need:

http://www.worldstandards.eu/electricity/plugs-and-sockets/

We will have only one iPhone and one iPad, both of which we have charged in Europe with a Type C two-pin adaptor. Chile uses the same kind so we are OK there. My question concerns the Type I plug adaptor which we will need for Argentina. (The same type is used in Australia.)

Type I includes both two-pin and 3-pin versions. Is there any reason we can't just take and use the 2-pin Type I ones we already have? They are smaller and flatter than the one shown in the photo, but do have the two angled flat prongs. They much easier to pack than the bulky 3-pin one.

I am thinking the 3-pin one is grounded and the 2-pin one is not, but does this matter for an iPhone or iPad?

Posted by
8056 posts

Your iPhone and iPad do not require a ground pin, which is the difference between the 2 and 3 pin adapters. The twp pin should be fine, maybe a safer bet depending where you stay, older places may only have a 2 pin option.

Posted by
32350 posts

Lola,

As the iPhone and iPad only use two-pin plugs, you don't need to use a grounded version. The grounding pin would be superfluous and would serve no purpose.

If travelling in that area, I'd probably pack two Plug Adaptors of each type, since you're charging two devices and always nice to have a backup in case one Adaptor is "misplaced".

Posted by
17425 posts

Thanks, Ken. I usually take 3-4 because my husband is good at leaving them stuck in the outlet when we leave a hotel. This is the main reason I wanted to confirm that the two flat prong Type I will be ok for our devices. Taking 3 or 4 3-prong Australian style plugs would be very bulky!

Posted by
32350 posts

Lola,

You may need to pack along the Euro two-pin Adaptors as well, as you may encounter those. This website has a good summary....

http://wanderingtrader.com/using-electronics-overseas-outlets-in-south-america/

Where do you normally buy Plug Adaptors? I'm not sure which area you're closest to, but if you need to buy different models for South America, here are a couple of possibilities......

Posted by
381 posts

Apple makes an adaptor kit that includes adaptors for any Apple device anywhere in the world.

Posted by
17425 posts

Thanks, everyone. We will be taking both the Type C adaptors (Euro 2-pin) for Chile and the Type I with two angled prongs (like Australia) for Argentina. We already have these so no need to go shopping, which is good. We are now pretty well covered for anywhere we plan to go in the next few year. After Patagonia, our next non-European trip will be to Japan---where they use the same plugs as the US and Canada, so no adaptors on that trip at all.

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