Hi all,
My electric iron is European (230 Volts, 1400 Watts). I have brought it
to USA where the supply is 110 Volts. Do I need an adaptor to run my
iron in US?
Thanks
Vijay
Thanks Roby. I am wondering if I plug in this iron into the 110V
socket, will it malfunction or will it burn out?
I think that it will burn out because of the larger current and so 4
times heat losses. Am I correct?
Regards,
Vijay
Roby wrote:
Not quite. Heating elements such as in your iron will not draw more current
at the lower voltage. With simple resistance elements, P=E^2/R. So with
1/2 the voltage, you will get 1/4 the power / heat. Not a very useful iron,
but it won't burn out.
Don't try the reverse though. Taking a US 110V iron to Europe and running
it on 220V would be disasterous. The heating element would put out ~4 times
the heat. And the thermostat switch inside may arc-weld inside.
As Roby said, best to just get a US iron.
daestrom
With the proper plug your iron should run quite well from the dryer
outlet in most US houses.
I am not sure about the code reqirements for running portable items from
the 240 volt outlets in USA.
Not a great idea. The 30A 250V North American receptacles are for
stationary appliances are are likely to be 4 wire (2 hots, neutral,
and a ground) and no ground fault protection. You are unlikely to
find a (legal) adapter for a Euro-Style plug to a dryer outlet, plus,
in many cases, you would have to move a large dryer and unplug it and
insert a home brew adapter. Without the ground fault protection, you
could kill yourself if there are any faults in your setup.
The best solution has already been mentioned. Buy a NA style 120V
iron. Stores like Walmart would carry this item for a very cheap
price. There are many other alternatives if you don't like Walmart.
(Garage sales, Craigs list, eBay)...
Ordinarily, a step-up 120V-240V transformer would be suitable for
certain Euro appliances, but an iron draws a pretty hefty wattage and
the transformer needs to be sized accordingly, which means big, heavy,
bulky, and expensive.
Beachcomber
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