110 volt waxing iron in 220 volt country

[karlo]

@mdf ’s post caught my eye

https://www.pugski.com/posts/392299/

What does one do in a 220v country? Recently, I was on a backcountry tour in Chile. As expected, there weren’t any shops at which to tune skis. There were rental shops at some places, the kind that rent you the whole kit, including ski jacket, pants, gloves. They would have just spray waxed. So, I brought my iron, only to belatedly discover that the power is 220v. Needless to say, I could not find a 1000 watt converter. What to do when traveling. Can’t very well carry two irons, one for 110v, one for 220v. And, I can’t imagine the size and weight of a 1000 watt converter

 

[RNZ]

Buy a dual voltage waxing iron and a plug adapter. I got mine from tools for boards who were excellent to deal with.

 

[nesneros]

I don’t know where/if you can get them in Chile, but electrically speaking a step down AC transformer is actually not very complex or overly bulky. I hopped on amazon and found a dozen or so that claim to be 2000w, designed to work with “simple heating devices - hair dryers, irons, etc) and they’re a large wall wart adapter size.

 

[Wasatchman]

@mdf ’s post caught my eye

https://www.pugski.com/posts/392299/

What does one do in a 220v country? Recently, I was on a backcountry tour in Chile. As expected, there weren’t any shops at which to tune skis. There were rental shops at some places, the kind that rent you the whole kit, including ski jacket, pants, gloves. They would have just spray waxed. So, I brought my iron, only to belatedly discover that the power is 220v. Needless to say, I could not find a 1000 watt converter. What to do when traveling. Can’t very well carry two irons, one for 110v, one for 220v. And, I can’t imagine the size and weight of a 1000 watt converter

Pretty much only US and Japan use 110v. If you go anywhere else in the world plan on 220-240v.

Like earlier posters said, you can buy a dual voltage iron or bring a transformer. If you go the transformer eoute, make sure the rated wattage is high enough.

 

[pchewn]

Pretty much only US and Japan use 110v. If you go anywhere else in the world plan on 220-240v.

Like earlier posters said, you can buy a dual voltage iron or bring a transformer. If you go the transformer eoute, make sure the rated wattage is high enough.

All of N America (US, Canada, Mexico) and much of Central America are 110V .

Complete list here: https://www.worldstandards.eu/electricity/plug-voltage-by-country/

 

[graham418]

One other note, be sure that you are buying a voltage converter, and not just a wall plug adapter. A lot of small appliances are now dual voltage, and only require a wall adapter, but they will not act as a transformer. Be aware.

 

[fatbob]

Buy a travel iron and it should have a voltage switch - suck up the risk that it won't have the thermostatic constancy of a ski iron.

 

[eok]

There is a big variation on what consumer grade step-down transformers will support, regardless of their listed watt capacities. So there is a substantial risk that what you order will not work well (or at all) with a high resistive load like a wax iron.

Do yourself a big favour and just get a respectable 200-240v wax iron. As an example, I know this one works fine and it's only about $30 USD: https://www.tognar.com/tognar-chugger-wax-iron-230v/

Seriously, that iron Is probably cheaper than the cost of a quality 2000+ watt step-down transformer - and it's probably lighter too.

 

[Primoz]

If you are already somewhere, I guess by far cheapest option is to go to store and buy normal iron. At least around here (not Chile), cheapest ones are around 15eur, so I don't think it's worth complicating much. Sure it's no same as 400eur worth Swix T71, but it will do for those few times you will need to wax your skis.

 

[Lauren]

There is a big variation on what consumer grade step-down transformers will support, regardless of their listed watt capacities. So there is a substantial risk that what you order will not work well (or at all) with a high resistive load like a wax iron.

Out of my own curiosity, could you elaborate on this? In my experience, I would think that if the transformer is the correct voltage input/output, and wattage for your load, it would work. I understand that there are different quality grades, and one might wear out or not work as long as another. But I'm really not sure about the risk that it won't work, or won't work well because it's a highly resistive load?

 

[Wilhelmson]

Just guessing that converters are against a bunch of codes. Like English measures.

By the time you buy a 220v hotplate to cook up a can of chilli might as well take the skis to a shop and find a food truck.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

I don’t know where/if you can get them in Chile, but electrically speaking a step down AC transformer is actually not very complex or overly bulky. I hopped on amazon and found a dozen or so that claim to be 2000w, designed to work with “simple heating devices - hair dryers, irons, etc) and they’re a large wall wart adapter size.

It seems like that should be true, but on our first trip skiing in Austria, my wife's hairdryer/voltage converter combo nearly caught fire and also tripped the breakers on our whole hotel. Luckily, hairdryers are really cheap. I think I'd just buy a cheap 220v iron and use it when traveling abroad.

 

[eok]

Out of my own curiosity, could you elaborate on this? In my experience, I would think that if the transformer is the correct voltage input/output, and wattage for your load, it would work. I understand that there are different quality grades, and one might wear out or not work as long as another. But I'm really not sure about the risk that it won't work, or won't work well because it's a highly resistive load?

A wax iron is a very high resistive load. To be completely safe, a step-down transformer design would have to support a load well over 2000 sustained watts. The design would require a quite beefy transformer section and overall robust construction. The items typically listed on amazon seem usable but most are rather weak designs. Some specifically say they can handle irons, but if you read the reviews & FAQs you'll see users having problems using the devices for hair dryers and irons. Probably a key factor in the problems is heat. Heat is a by-product of stepping down voltage in a transformer. A high watt load means lots of amps, which means more heat generated in the transformer windings. If the load causes a voltage drop (ie: the load wants to pull more power than the converter can supply), then even more heat is generated and parts in the converter can fail/burn.

For example: I looked at a few fairly robust 3000 watt converters on Amazon. Despite the watt rating, they can handle only 1500 watts sustained - which should - in theory - be fine for an iron. However, these are pricey and weigh a lot (15-20lbs). And then if you read the description details, you'll see something like "WARNING: We do not recommend for high wattage heat producing items such as Coffee Maker, Expresso Machine, Toaster, ...". A wax iron should be in that list too. This was for the "ELC T-3000 3000-Watt Voltage Converter Transformer".

For $30 USD you can buy a nice 220v wax iron and not have to worry about anything.

 

[nesneros]

It seems like that should be true, but on our first trip skiing in Austria, my wife's hairdryer/voltage converter combo nearly caught fire and also tripped the breakers on our whole hotel. Luckily, hairdryers are really cheap. I think I'd just buy a cheap 220v iron and use it when traveling abroad.

That sounds like an adaptor was used, rather than a converter. Plugging a 110v appliance into 220v would definitely overload/burn something.

Most of these converters I see have switches or separate outlets for “adaptor mode”, so it can be used to just pass through 220v to the US style prongs or convert. Seems pretty dangerous to have everything riding on which plug is used or switch is flipped.


I agree that it’s probably cheaper to get a dedicated 220v wax iron... unless you’ve also got a hair dryer and curling iron, then a converter might make sense.

 

[nesneros]

A wax iron is a very high resistive load. To be completely safe, a step-down transformer design would have to support a load well over 2000 sustained watts. The design would require a quite beefy transformer section and overall robust construction. The items typically listed on amazon seem usable but most are rather weak designs. Some specifically say they can handle irons, but if you read the reviews & FAQs you'll see users having problems using the devices for hair dryers and irons. Probably a key factor in the problems is heat. Heat is a by-product of stepping down voltage in a transformer. A high watt load means lots of amps, which means more heat generated in the transformer windings. If the load causes a voltage drop (ie: the load wants to pull more power than the converter can supply), then even more heat is generated and parts in the converter can fail/burn.

For example: I looked at a few fairly robust 3000 watt converters on Amazon. Despite the watt rating, they can handle only 1500 watts sustained - which should - in theory - be fine for an iron. However, these are pricey and weigh a lot (15-20lbs). And then if you read the description details, you'll see something like "WARNING: We do not recommend for high wattage heat producing items such as Coffee Maker, Expresso Machine, Toaster, ...". A wax iron should be in that list too. This was for the "ELC T-3000 3000-Watt Voltage Converter Transformer".

For $30 USD you can buy a nice 220v wax iron and not have to worry about anything.

Agree that the best option is probably just another iron, for the price.

Most of these converters are not straight up transformers that would require a lot of bulk, but some form of switching power supply, similar to how PC power supplies work but cut down and simpler. That’s probably why they only advertise to work with resistive loads, not electronics, as the AC output is probably quite dirty and perhaps not even a sine wave.

 

[Muleski]

Not even a question. Buy a 220 Volt Iron, and buy a decent one. My now adult children have always had identical irons in both 110V and 220V configurations. The converter is frankly no solution.

 

[Rich McP]

Just take your 110v iron and plug it in to a 220v outlet. I guarantee it will get hot.

 

[mdf]

Just take your 110v iron and plug it in to a 220v outlet. I guarantee it will get hot.

I'm thinking a cheap iron with an analog thermostat might be just fine. The pre-heating indicator light might fail. Maybe I'll take apart my old dead iron and see if there is anything in there that should care.

A fancy digital iron, don't do that.

 

[Wilhelmson]

Get a converter you can use to charge your devices and an old iron at the thrift shop. If you're really worried put an inline fuse on the cord.

 

[karlo]

Agree that the best option is probably just another iron, for the price.

Most of these converters are not straight up transformers that would require a lot of bulk, but some form of switching power supply, similar to how PC power supplies work but cut down and simpler. That’s probably why they only advertise to work with resistive loads, not electronics, as the AC output is probably quite dirty and perhaps not even a sine wave.

Not even a question. Buy a 220 Volt Iron, and buy a decent one. My now adult children have always had identical irons in both 110V and 220V configurations. The converter is frankly no solution.

Or, I guess, just get that dual voltage iron that @RNZ suggested.