Cheap Conair CNRTS1875CKN Converter and Adapter Set

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The Amazon description for this product (Conair CNRTS1875CKN Converter and Adapter Set) says "Dual wattage converter converts 220V foreign electricity to 110V". This is very misleading, because the voltage conversion only takes place at the low-wattage setting.

This product is actually two different converters built into one package. At `LO' setting (0-25W), it uses a small AC transformer to convert 220V sinusoidal waveform into 110V sinusoidal waveform. This is the preferred approach which works well for any low-power electronic appliance. One obvious limitation is that the appliance's power consumption must be under 25W (most laptop computer's AC adapters are rated for 90W or higher, by the way). If you connect a higher-power appliance to this converter at LO setting, the transformer's iron core will become saturated. This results in runaway input current, which may then cause overheating.

At `HI' setting (up to 1875 Watt), the converter simply uses an electronic switch to 'chop' the 220V sinusoidal input voltage into smaller segments, such that the average power delivered to output load is reduced. This is the same principle used by most incandescent lamp dimmers. It works reasonably well for simple HEATING appliances, such as travel irons or hair dryers. But if you try to power any electronic appliance that is rated for 110V-only at this setting, the high-voltage stress will likely cause the appliance to break down and burn out within seconds!

This is not to say that this product is completely useless, only that you have to be EXTREMELY careful about what you can plug in at each setting. Unfortunately, some appliances fall into the grey area between 'heating' and 'electronic'. For example, most people will classify a curling iron (hair straightener) as a heating appliance. Yet it contains electronic circuit and its power consumption is higher than 25W, which means neither high nor low settings can be used.

The good news is that most portable electronics (such as chargers for cameras, cell phones, laptops, etc) are already designed to handle universal input voltage. Check the AC adapter of your appliance to make sure. If it says "Input: 100 240V AC", then you don't have to use a voltage converter at all. All you need is a set of adapter plugs (such as the inexpensive Travel Smart Polarized Adapter Plug 5 Piece Set), which allows you to physically plug into AC outlets in other countries, and you are good to go.

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States it should work with high voltage items such as hair dryers/straighteners. It does not. A horrible smell and hissing sound started immediately coming from appliances.

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The converter and adapters were exactly what I needed and they are packed perfectly for travel. I would recommend it.

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We bought this for our trip to London. It did not work for my hairdryer or my flat iron. Complete waste of money.

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It accomplished the job I needed it for. I just needed the converter and not the adapters. It heated up but that might just be the nature of using a converter.