Adapter vs Converter

Adventure is a State of Mind

If you’re new to traveling internationally, you may have never had to deal with an adapter or a converter. But if you’re getting ready to travel abroad, this is an important topic that you want to make sure and educate yourself about.

What in the World Are Adapters and Converters?

In today’s world, most of us have at least one electronic device that we rely on fairly frequently, so making sure you can plug it in to use it or recharge it is crucial. Making sure you can plug it in without it self-destructing is even more crucial. For those reasons, you need to understand voltage adapters and converters.

The first thing you need to know is that the electrical plug shapes in different countries are often different from your home country. If they are, you will need an adapter to use on the end of your plug in order to fit it into the socket.

The second important thing you need to know is that the type of voltage in other countries may be different than what you have at home, and unless your devices are “dual voltage,” you will need a converter to change the type of voltage.

Adapters

You can think of an adapter as something that helps your plug adapt to a differently shaped socket by changing its shape. To confuse things, you will occasionally see an adapter referred to as a “travel plug converter,” but it’s important to realize that if it is a device to help you fit a plug into a differently shaped socket, it’s still an adapter.

The U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Japan use plugs that have two flat vertical prongs (referred to as a Type A plug) with or without a round bottom prong (referred to as a Type B plug). Many countries in Europe use Type C, Type E, and Type F plugs, which all use two round prongs, although the plugs have slight differences in shape or in the use of grounding pins.

Some countries in Europe use different plugs. Italy (and Chile, interestingly enough) uses a three round-pronged Type L plug, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein use a Type J plug, which also has three round prongs but in a different configuration.

The variety of plugs goes from Type A up to Type O, which is used in Thailand. The large variety of plugs means that if your travel adventures are taking you to multiple countries, it is possible that you will need to bring several types of adapters on a single trip!

If you want to see what the different plugs in different countries look like, you can visit this website or you can do an internet search for the specific country you are visiting by typing something like “electric plugs in ____________” or “type of electrical adapter in ______________.”

There are international or so-called universal adapters that transform themselves into multiple configurations or contain a set of multiple plugs, but as far as I can tell, none of them are truly universal in that they do not contain the entire alphabet of plug types up to Type O. My advice is to read carefully if you buy a universal adapter to make sure it has exactly what you will need. If it has most but not all of the plugs you need when visiting multiple countries, you can also buy an additional single plug adapter of whichever type you need. An internet search for the type and the word “adapter” or “plug adapter” should give you options for where you can buy what you need.

Converters

Unfortunately, an adapter is not a converter, so if you plan to bring any electronic devices with you that are not dual voltage, you will need a converter. To remember this, I remind myself that a converter changes or converts 120 volts to 220 volts and vice versa.

The electronics you buy in a country are designed to use the voltage type of that country and will not work in a country using a different voltage unless the device is labeled “dual voltage,” in which case it can be used with both types of systems, although sometimes it has a switch you need to toggle. This means not only do you need a voltage converter if you want to use your non-dual voltage devices in a country using different voltage but also that if you buy a device or tool in another country, you might not be able to use it at home if it is not dual voltage.

Some converter packages you buy may also include different adapter plugs. Again, do your research to figure out if it has all of the parts you will need for your specific trips.

Danger!

What will happen if you don’t use a converter with a non-dual voltage device? Bad things, very bad things. Actually, you risk blowing a fuse in a device or even in the place where you are staying. Sparks and smoke are also possible outcomes.

I learned my lesson the hard way — years ago I used an adapter plug with my curling iron in Spain but didn’t use a converter. I didn’t realize this resulted in the iron overheating to the point that my hair started to melt the minute I closed the iron on my bangs. I’m pretty sure if I hadn’t smelled that horrible burning hair smell and opened up the tongs immediately, my hair would have caught on fire instead of just giving me a set of singed bangs. (Now, that would have been a travel story to tell!) And if I’d walked away from the curling iron, I’m guessing there would have been some risk of it catching on fire or parts of it melting.

Although it can be dangerous, the most common outcome of not using a converter is that your device won’t work, but there is also a risk of completely ruining your device. A good friend of mine recently told me that a few years ago, he learned a very expensive converter lesson when his CPAP medical device was destroyed because he used only an adapter plug without using a voltage converter.

What Do I Need?

By now you’re probably wondering which of your devices need a converter. The good news is that most modern mobile phones and laptop computers already have dual voltage capability built in. You can double check this by doing an internet search inquiring whether your device is dual voltage.

One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of looking at things.

Henry Miller

A Special Note Regarding Hair

Many hair care devices, such as hair dryers and hair straighteners, will say that they are dual voltage (and may or may not have a switch that needs to be moved depending on which country you are in), but that does not mean that they will work as well when you are abroad as they do at home. Hair dryers, especially, require a lot of energy, and even when they are supposed to work with a different voltage, they sometimes just wimp out and don’t work as well or don’t work at all. Because of having experienced some of these frustrations and because of the burnt hair incident (see above), over time I’ve tried to figure out hairstyles that don’t require any appliance help.

If you know you need a hair dryer, some lodgings are beginning to provide these, especially hotels. It’s better not to assume, however, so check with them ahead of your stay. Also, if you know you absolutely can’t live without certain devices, especially if you are traveling to the same place frequently, I have heard of individuals buying the device they need (such as a hair straightener) in the country where they will be staying so that they know it will work there. They then just bring that same device back each time they travel back to that country.

What electrical devices do you want or need to take with you on your travel adventures? Do you need an adapter and/or a converter for the country or countries you are planning to visit?