220v and 110v when travelling?
I've travelled to other countries that have 220 volts and used a step down convertor for my laptop and hair dryer.
We have a friend visiting and in their country they use 220 volts.
I assume they will bring devices like a hair dryer, CD player, cell phone charger, etc.
I can see how 220 can be coverted to 110.
Not clear how our 110 in the US can provide 220 for personal devices that require 220 when there is only 110 in the line (outlet)
We have a friend visiting and in their country they use 220 volts.
I assume they will bring devices like a hair dryer, CD player, cell phone charger, etc.
I can see how 220 can be coverted to 110.
Not clear how our 110 in the US can provide 220 for personal devices that require 220 when there is only 110 in the line (outlet)
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Why are you using a step-down for a laptop? Every laptop I've had in the past 15 years has an auto-switching power supply...the brick. Takes a range from 100VAC/50Hz up to 240VAC/60Hz. The only thing you have to do is attach the correct plug end to fit the receptacle.
That's what I said. I have a travel hairdryer that has a switch, but most othet things deal with it themselves. I have a picture of the specification label that says input 100-240v 50-60 hz and that the output is constant, but something is broken on this site at the moment and I am unable to post the picture from my mobile.
aha, found out why it wouldn't post.The only thing that needs altering is the plug to fit the wall outlet.
... and the orientation of the picture. I thought they had fixed that glitch.
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My hair dryer did have a 110-220 switch.
The laptop did not. It was a Compaq Presario 1600-XL-146 (quite old, at least 11 years)
The visitor said they would buy a 110 > 220 converter before they leave home.
I'll check prices here and compare to their estimated cost there.
I do have several different type of plug adapters.
The laptop did not. It was a Compaq Presario 1600-XL-146 (quite old, at least 11 years)
The visitor said they would buy a 110 > 220 converter before they leave home.
I'll check prices here and compare to their estimated cost there.
I do have several different type of plug adapters.
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Thank you much. : )
a snippet:
A transformer consists of 2 coils of wire and (almost always) some sort of 'core' which links them.
When an electric current passes through a wire, it generates a magnetic field, the strength and direction depend on the current. When the wire is rolled into a spring-shaped (helical) coil, the shape of the magnetic field becomes very convenient, like a bar magnet, with the strongest field at the center of the coil.
If you apply an alternating current to the coil, the magnetic field will also alternate (constantly changing in strength and direction). Now, here's the trick. A changing magnetic field will create a voltage in a nearby wire.
So, if you have a coil of wire, connected to alternating voltage, and producing an alternating magnetic field, the magnetic field will create an equal and opposite alternating voltage in the wire. The result is that your input voltage gets cancelled out by the voltage 'reflected' back from the magnetic field. (See note 1).
So, if you apply 100 V AC to a coil with 100 turns, the 'equal and opposite' reflection will reflect 1 V into each turn of wire. The result is that this 'reflected' voltage cancels out the supply voltage, only a very small current will flow in the coil (just enough to create the magnetic field).
Now, imagine what happens if you have 2 coils of wire very close to each other - let's assume that they have 100 turns each, and 1 is connected to 100 V AC, and the other is left unconnected. Because both are exposed to the same fluctuating magnetic field, both experience the reflected voltage. So, you now have 100 V appearing "out of nowhere" on the second coil.
What happens if you put 1000 turns on the 2nd coil? Well, you have a very long wire, which picks up 1000 reflections. The input strength is 1 V per turn - which gives you 1000 volts on the second coil.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2189775