Best 'Travel Adapter'? (for using US gadgets in NZ)

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Best 'Travel Adapter'? (for using US gadgets in NZ)

mgeek

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#261618 6-Dec-2019 14:18

From what I've seen prices range from $5 to $25, but experience has shown that price is no indication of quality..! I've bought and returned some pretty horrible rattley flimsy things in the past.

For using low powered (<1A) US gadgets in NZ. Wall warts so can't chop/replace the plugs, and not a fan of bending the pins :-)

Any recommendations on brand/stores?

Thanks.

Senecio

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#2369610 6-Dec-2019 14:22

Korjo are the only adapters that I trust for my gear.

https://www.korjo.com/product/adaptor-australia-eu-us/

sbiddle

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#2369657 6-Dec-2019 15:26

With the price of wall wart supplies being so cheap why not just buy new power supplies? Or are they custom plugs?

Travel adapters are not designed for permanent use. Just don't buy one of these https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgpJSQAweDk they are banned in NZ but I still saw them around last year and complained.

richms

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#2369718 6-Dec-2019 16:46

Ive found US plugs are fine in almost anything, its the damn euro plug that is a problem with adapters sagging or not connecting ok to them. Recently I have just been getting a 4 outlet universal powerstrip with an IEC inlet for my US plugged stuff, but its useless on the couple of euro plug things I have.

Really annoying when aliex sellers list plug options but instead of an AU style plug adapter they send a EU one with a loose trashy adapter.

Richard rich.ms

mgeek

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#2369720 6-Dec-2019 16:52

sbiddle:

With the price of wall wart supplies being so cheap why not just buy new power supplies? Or are they custom plugs?

That's the longer term plan. In this specific case it's two 5.1V/1.0A to a standard micro-usb.

5.1v sounded pretty unusual but maybe I should be asking where is the best place to get well made wall warts? :-)

andrewNZ

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#2369736 6-Dec-2019 17:53

That'll just be a standard USB supply. Any usb phone charger will do.

sbiddle

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#2369811 6-Dec-2019 20:19

andrewNZ: That'll just be a standard USB supply. Any usb phone charger will do.

Yip +1 will cost more for travel adapters than just buying a AS/NZ certified USB power supply.

frankv

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#2369920 7-Dec-2019 06:53

Bring a US 4-way multiplug so you can plug in one NZ-US adapter and then plug in all your devices to the multiplug.

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mgeek

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#2369942 7-Dec-2019 08:25

andrewNZ: That'll just be a standard USB supply. Any usb phone charger will do.

Hmm, hadn't really considered that. Wonder why they went for 5.1V though rather than 5V!?

sbiddle

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#2369951 7-Dec-2019 09:16

mgeek:

andrewNZ: That'll just be a standard USB supply. Any usb phone charger will do.

Hmm, hadn't really considered that. Wonder why they went for 5.1V though rather than 5V!?

It's still fully within USB power specs. I've seen several USB powered devices (ie non phones) that have come with 5.1 or 5.2V USB adapters, with my assumption being it's to overcome losses if the device was used with a longer USB cable (say 5m) to minimise voltage drop.

neb

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#2370050 7-Dec-2019 14:08

It could also be an attempt to deal with crappy USB power supplies with saggy outputs where the voltage vs. current follows a steadily descending curve as you go beyond about 0.5 - 1A.

neb

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#2370061 7-Dec-2019 15:30

Senecio:
Korjo are the only adapters that I trust for my gear.

Problem with the NZ -> anything Korjo's is that they're gigantic ugly black lumps, while the ones for the other way round are compact white ones that fit nicely on the end of a white power cord. Look at this thing, it's huge, crowds out other plugs on a power board (taking up the room of three plugs), and is a gigantic black lump that sticks out like a sore thumb among all the white cables and board.

richms

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#2370064 7-Dec-2019 15:57

Its because of the UK socket that they have to do that to prevent people putting the earth into the live pins or putting only the active pins in and the earth in free space. If you can find ones that dont take that monstrosity of a plug then they are much smaller.

Richard rich.ms