Iron from USA – can it work in UK???

[suffol]

Looking for advice – my old Philips cord / cordless iron finally broke recently, and I was unable to source a quality equivalent in the UK. So bought one on eBay, from the US – a Panasonic that has got very good reviews on Amazon.

Now I’m panicking about whether it’ll work in the UK – from the data-sheet I found on the Panasonic US support site, its rating is 120V, 1430W. After a bad experience with a coffee-maker 😳 I’m now well-aware that I’ll probably need an adaptor, but don’t know whether I’ll find one to cope with the rating it needs.

Have I bought an already dead duck?

Many thanks in advance for any advice

Chris

[electrofix]

Re: Iron from USA – can it work in UK???

you would need a step down transformer capable of at least 1500va (1500 watts )

see this site
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/range … 9A15436A24

this model minimum
CTR1500/2

you can pick these up secondhand on ebay and the like theyare meant for use on building sites for safety puposes

Dave

[suffol]

Re: Iron from USA – can it work in UK???

Dave

Many thanks for speedy response – which is as I’d feared. Apart from the added expense, the thought of having an industrial-sized box sitting on the floor beside me is off-putting. Not the first eBay mistake I’ve made (and won’t be the last). Just a few questions before I give up hope completely:
Does the cordless bit mean that there might be some sort of transformer already in the base?
Is there any chance that it might work with a lighter-duty (= cheaper/ smaller) transformer / adapter, or would I just fry it the moment I plugged it in?
Do appliance manufacturers leave any room for manoeuvre in their advertised electrical ratings?
Finally, anyone moving to the USA want a very nice cord/ cordless iron going at a bargain price? :rolls:

Thanks again

Chris

[Martin]

Re: Iron from USA – can it work in UK???

Why not simply buy a brand new cordless iron from Argos? They cost just £15 so not too much to shell out really…..

[suffol]

Re: Iron from USA – can it work in UK???

Martin

Looked in the UK first-off, but I do a lot of ironing, and the – er – cheaper models available in the UK seem to have generally poor reviews for functionality. The cord / cordless models need to be more robust because of the way you use them (lot of banging onto base goes on). My ebay ‘bargain’ was an excellent price even taking into account the postage – or would’ve been if I hadn’t needed to spend another £50+ on a transformer.

[electrofix]

Re: Iron from USA – can it work in UK???

suffol wrote:Dave

Just a few questions before I give up hope completely:
Does the cordless bit mean that there might be some sort of transformer already in the base?
Is there any chance that it might work with a lighter-duty (= cheaper/ smaller) transformer / adapter, or would I just fry it the moment I plugged it in?
Do appliance manufacturers leave any room for manoeuvre in their advertised electrical ratings?
Finally, anyone moving to the USA want a very nice cord/ cordless iron going at a bargain price? :rolls:

Thanks again

Chris

1) no tranformer in base there is no point they make the irons to work on american voltage.
did you not enquire if they made a 230v model ?
2) tranfomer has to be able to supply 1430 watts or more anything less is a fire hazard
3) there is room for manoeuvre but only 20 volts or so not double

Dave

[Author]

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