Using Earthed Aussie Appliances in Japan.

[chrisb]

I'm heading off to the US and Japan. My laptop has an earthed connector on it.

I'm trying to find the cheapest way to use it in Japan - It appears all of the adapters are 2 pin only. I'll buy a "multi-country" type device if appropriate.

Do Japanese Hotels have 3 pin power? What about those Bathroom shaver outlets that seem to be all over the world?

I've seen the Kensington mentioned, but it seems it won't take earthed Australian plugs. (But will take earthed US ones.. go figure) (There's a picture at http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/d1/24/150562e89da0c2deb6d24110.L.jpg )

I know enough about electricity to be worried about cutting a hole in the adapter, or cutting off the earth pin of a $3 power board from bunnings, but it seems it may be the only choice for Japan.


Chrisb.

 

[Evan]

HP and IBM power supplies are fine, we always use 2 pins.
I notice the part number for some power supplies is the same for both countries just a different cable included in the package.

This is to say some manufactures already ship doubt insulated power supplies even to earth friendly countries.

Just get an adapter that allows your 3 pin plug in and 2 pins out. I find them difficult to find in shops but grabbed a couple when in Japan ages ago in electric town.

Its strange, not a lot of earthing in Japan. Wasking machines and microwaves etc seem to be about it.

E

 

[chrisb]

HP and IBM power supplies are fine, we always use 2 pins.

Hmm.. My HP Power supply is Earthed, and takes earth into the power brick. The connector into the laptop is a typical 2 pin round style.

 

[oz_mark]

Does the power pack have the double insulated symbol on it? Little picture of a square within a sqare. If so, you will probably be ok.

 

[Evan]

Does the power pack have the double insulated symbol on it? Little picture of a square within a sqare. If so, you will probably be ok.

My 2 HP supplies, one is double insulated and the other not.
Regardless i still use the normally earthed one in Japan all the time, the risk is minimal...
But you have to make that decision.

Also you notice it used to be all Toshiba power supplies were double insulated. Not sure why but i dont recall ever seeing one that was not.

E

 

[chrisb]

Does the power pack have the double insulated symbol on it? Little picture of a square within a sqare. If so, you will probably be ok.

No.. But it does have "USE ONLY WITH A GROUNDED OUTLET" on it.

The brick is completely plastic with no exposed metal at all, and from a 2007 Model HP Laptop.. You'd think it would be ok.

The 'safe' option is to probably buy one of these universal laptop AC/DC power bricks.. or just not use the laptop

Chrisb.

 

[Commuter]

My laptop has an earthed connector on it. I've used it in Japan on multi-country adapter (that accepts the three-pin but goes to a two-pin Japanese plug) without any problem.

By the way your power supply is most likely to be dual voltage, but do check that it is indeed dual voltage before you go, just in case.

 

[simongr]

I have had no issues with the Kensignton device having cut the required little hole in it. I am using a Dell laptop and that has worked everywhere.

 

[drron]

For all electrical plugs around the world I use Electricity around the world: everything about plugs, sockets, voltages, converters, etc.
There are 3 plug outlets in Japan just hard to find.

 

[NM]

Of course the earth pin is only needed if there is a fault in the power supply and it shorts to the casing. If there is no fault then there is no need for an earth connection. But you never know if and when your device will develop such a fault. The earth pin is there to protect YOU in such an event.

The safe option is to purchase a double-insulated power supply, either from HP or one of the universal ones. If doing this, you may also want to consider one that will operate from a 12V car cig-lighter or with Empower for use on aircraft with that power system. I have such power supplies for IBM T41, IBM T60 and dell D820 laptops.

 

[munitalP]

Coming from the Electrical Engineer <--- that's me!

It is very unlikely that your laptop is AC therefore has an AC to DC power-pack often called a transformer (or rectifier transformer – a bunch of diodes attached to a transformer)

It is very likely that your rector-former (AC to DC power pack) does not need an earth. The earth pin will be there by default and will serve no purpose unless the DC connection on the laptop is 3 pin. The way to find this out is (assuming there are 3 pins) plug in the laptop, turn it on and throw it in a bath full of water – if the circuit breaker trips – you know it’s earthed…. OK, just joking about the bath bit

Seriously, if the laptop DC connection has 3 pins (and you can see the metal connection inside the plastic housing), your laptop frame is earthed for static discharge. This static can build up many ways but most common is due to the cooling fan and fine positively charged particles of dust circulating…

If you touch a metal component (RS 232 port or inside of DVD drive or similar) while the static is present, this will result in you (assuming you are earthed) discharging the charge. In a hazardous environment such as hanging out in a large fuel storage tank or flying super economy in the aircraft empty fuel tanks, this could pose a real problem. However, for day to day usage, the lack of earth will not matter very much at all. Do not change RAM or other computer components without the computer being earthed!

I suggest that you go to DSE and buy a 4 point power outlet and a plug you can wire that suits the Japanese network. Get someone who knows what they are doing to wire the plug on the 4 point outlet and you will then have an outlet to drive your toys!

I never leave home (over seas except NZ) without my 6 plug board and a bunch of adaptors. This allows me to charge my phone, my computer, my iPod and camera battery all at the same time and without fiddly adaptors.

Remember also that Japan operates on 100V – so make sure your devices can operate on that voltage before plugging them in!!!

Eastern Japan 50 Hz (Tokyo, Kawasaki, Sapporo, Yokohoma, and Sendai)

Western Japan 60 Hz (Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, Hiroshima)

60 Hz will also kill some electronic goods so look for indication on your goods that the frequency range is between 50 and 60 Hz. If it does not say it will accept 60 Hz, my recommendation is to not plug it in.

Good luck!

 

[chrisb]

Yay! I have a solution.

I remembered that a couple of my dodgy ebay purchases came with adapters to allow Asian plugpacks to work. One of them has a 'universal' 3 pin socket on the top, and an aussie 2 pin on the bottom. (yeah, dodgy)

So i'll be able to go Laptop -> 3 to 2 Adapter -> Korjo Japanese Adapter -> Wall.

Thanks all.

Chrisb.

PS.. It appears the HP DC output from the power brick may actually be 3 connector. The extra one is quite small, so it could be an earth or a signalling line. Earth would be my guess. (I can't be bothered going to find my multimeter to test it...)

 

[albatross710]

<font face="Arial"><font color="#312f2f"> buy a 4 point power outlet and a plug you can wire that suits the Japanese network. Get someone who knows what they are doing to wire the plug on the 4 point outlet and you will then have an outlet to drive your toys!

I've got a 4 port board that I kept just for travel. Depending on my area of travel I change the power plug. I power adpater just doesn't power me any more with phone, computer, razor.