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broken magic wand adaptor (24)

This post is on the Other BDSM web board.

16 Jan 12, 4:23 PM
Ama_Sidero
UK(GU), 7 yrs

leopard99 wrote:

Ama_Sidero wrote:
You can use any kind of an american adaptor - just check in Maplin or Dixon's, etc.

As for the speed controller. Didn't someone post they have them in hardware shops for drills & stuff?

Please be aware that thre are 2 kinds of adapters. The simplest merely allow a US plug to fit in a UK socket. Widely available, not least at airports. If you use one of these with an HMW it will run very fast for a few moments and then give up permanently.

Step down transformers (voltage converters) are what you need. Actually there are 2 types of these too. There are electronic ones which are not suitable and proper trnasformers that are. You can identify the right ones because they weigh at least a pound or so. Here is a typical example. The 45VA rating is ample for an HMW.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stepdown-240-120V-Transf...

Most, if not all, of this type of transformer are made in China. I doubt if there is any difference in quality between the ones sold by Maplin and those for under £10 sold elsewhere. They all carry the CE mark which unfortunately now means absolutely nothing. I would always make sure I unplugged them from the mains when I wasn't using them. They would probably be fine left plugged in 24/7 but my engineer's scepticism says don't tempt Murphy and his famous law.

The speed controllers sold specifically for the HMW are essentially an American 110V light dimmer packaged in a box. It should be possible to use a UK dimmer or drill speed controller **before** the stepdown transformer but I haven't tried it. The transformer will probably make some buzzing noises.

One useful hint for HMW owners is to get a US extension cable. Easy if you're over there but perhaps not so easy in the UK. This means you don't end up dragging a heavy limp of transformer around on the end of a flex that always slightly too short.

Yes I did mean a transformer. Usually, though, the American adaptors are with transformer included (yes, cricket ball size - remember when they used to be the size of a boot box? Maybe they still are for washing machines. LOL) I think, too, there is another European country with the flat 2 prongs which looks like an American plug.

@Play_Space - Next party is Friday, February 3, 2012 and the first Friday of every month!
Road Trip to the Sea!!! The October trip has tJust elapsed...More info here.

16 Jan 12, 4:53 PM
leopard99
UK(N), 2 yrs

Ama_Sidero wrote:

leopard99 wrote:

Ama_Sidero wrote:
You can use any kind of an american adaptor - just check in Maplin or Dixon's, etc.

As for the speed controller. Didn't someone post they have them in hardware shops for drills & stuff?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stepdown-240-120V-Transf...

A 2kW transformer to run a heavy appliance is shoebox size and comes with a free hernia. I've got some older small transformers that are hardly bigger than the modern ones. It's laws of physics stuff, magnetic materials and copper wire don't obey Moore's Law.

As for plugs that look like US ones, Australia and Israel use something vaguely similar but with the pins at an angle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_plug

Edited 16 Jan 12, 4:54 PM by leopard99

16 Jan 12, 6:36 PM
shit_sub
UK(W), 5 yrs

i swear those guys in maplin just *live* for girls who come in asking very specifically for USA/UK step down 45v adaptors. the one who helped me looked straight at my crotch and asked me what it was for! totally blantantly! and mister on the tills was actively smirking as he rung it up!

whew.

what an enjoyably humiliating experience

16 Jan 12, 7:41 PM
leopard99
UK(N), 2 yrs

dirtylittlecunt wrote:
...the one who helped me looked straight at my crotch and asked me what it was for!...

The unassailable reply to almost any unwanted question about the use of something is: "For agricultural purposes". This will normally stop any further questions. I was told this by a former colleague many years ago who wanted a cylinder of hydrogen for some nefarious purpose involving loud bangs. He was a farmer's son and they had an account with BOC. When he placed the order the BOC guy was a bit surprised and asked what it was for. The suggested answer worked well.

Edited 16 Jan 12, 7:44 PM by leopard99