Electrical Plug AdaptersThere are two essential aspects to take note of. At the first instance, it is important to note that the electrical power specifications may vary from country to country that you are visiting. Not many countries have a electrical power specification as you have at home, and hence you should have the right adapter with you when you travel abroad. Secondly, the kind of wall mounted power outlet sockets in most of the countries, are not usually the ones that you find at home. It is entirely different, and your device power input plug may not fit into that socket at all. The mains power voltage specifications differ from country to country. For example, the electrical and electronic devices in U.S. operate on 120 Volts AC, but the United Kingdom has a 220 volts AC outlet, which is different from the one in the United States. Secondly, your device power input plug will never fit the power outlet sockets available in the United Kingdom. Therefore, if you are traveling from home to the United Kingdom, you do not only need an adapter for your device power input plug, but a voltage converter as well, of the type which would convert the 220 Volts AC electrical power output to 110 Volts AC for your device to work properly. It is recommended that, when-ever you plan your next visit abroad, take a look at the guide of the power outlet specifications available in the country or countries that you are visiting and prepare yourself to carry appropriate electrical accessories for those devices to work properly. There are indeed universal plug adapters available, which will comply with the power out input sockets of many countries, but the need of voltage converters cannot be ignored A guide to international electric outlet specification is presented below: COUNTRY VOLTAGE FREQUENCY Afghanistan 220V 50 Hz Primary sources: Electric Current Abroad (1998 edition), U.S. Department of Commerce, National Technical Information Service; World Electricity Supplies and Electrical Plugs; an International Survey, (both 1993), British Standards Institute. Additionally, since this table was first posted in late 1995, numerous revisions have (and continue to be) made as a result of personal observations or reports from other travelers. For further references please visit http://www.mindlogic.com/VOLT_ADPT.shtml Now, it is not the question of having the right adapter with you when you visit abroad. You must be also concerned with the electrical power specification that is available in the country of your visit. Looking at the guide above, it is clearly understood that your electrical and electronic devices will require not only plug adapters but also a built-in or separate voltage converter. If you are planning a visit to the United Kingdom, you will need a device which converts the electrical power of 230 Volts Alternating Current (AC) to 110 Volts AC before you can apply that power to your equipment.. These converters need to be of the right specification of providing the right output alternating current and the frequency as well for your equipment to work correctly. If you need to charge your digital camera in Beijing, you will need an adapter which lets you plug in your charger on the wall socket. That's not all. Beijing has an electrical power output of 220 Volts AC with 50 Hz frequency and your charger can only accept an input voltage of 120 Volts AC and 60Hz. Hz, which is the short form of Hertz, is the number of cycles the alternating voltage goes through one cycle. This AC output voltage is normally a sine-wave, alternating between a positive and a negative level. This is a smooth variation with time as the other variant, and completion of one such cycle in one second is termed as 1Hz. Therefore, a 110 Volt AC of 60 Hz has 60 cycles in one second. Remaining on the aspect of charging your digital camera in Beijing, you do not only need a plug adapter but also the right voltage converter, which will give you a 120 Volts AC, 60 Hz output from an input of 220 Volts AC of 50 Hz, which is the standard electrical power in China. The converted AC voltage applied to your charger produces a much lower Direct Current (DC) voltage output to your digital camera, for charging the camera's re-chargeable battery. Application of the direct 220 Volts AC output, without a converter will not only destroy the charger unit but may also damage your digital camera, if it is plugged into the charger, Therefore, when you travel abroad, it is desirable that you check the electrical power specification of the country or countries that you are visiting. At the same time you should determine the plug adapter that you would be wanting. For this purpose you may like to visit http://www.mindlogic.com/VOLT_ADPT.shtml for more information. Voltage converters are available in different specifications, which mainly depend upon the purpose of its application. For example, a voltage converter for your digital camera recharging unit will be much smaller than the one you would need to turn on your iron, if you have one with you. The varying sizes of such converters depend upon the kind of alternating current or wattage that you would require to either turn on the charger or the iron. The wattage along with the specification of input and output voltages are generally specified on the body of the converter units that you are buying. There are adapters available which cater for multi-voltage operation. For example, the adapter itself will give you an option to be switched from 110 Volts AC output to 230 volts AC output. This is done through a toggle, at times appearing as a screw head on the converter body itself. But then again you may need a plug adapter to plug this mini-converter in the electrical power source available in the country that you are visiting. In certain countries the electrical power may have surges. Surges are high frequency levels of very high voltages, suddenly appearing at the output of the power source for a fraction of a millisecond or even micro-second. There are such adapters which are available with surge protection. Please bear in mind, thunderstorms can produce these electrical surges which may damage your equipment. 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