electricron - an electric question

[Katie H]

Hi electricron-

 

Someone told me you could answer my question. We are sailing on the Spirit in a few weeks and I am wondering if I will be able to use my own hairdryer. It is 1800 watts. If it can't be used on 110, it does have a converter switch on it. Would it work on 220, if not on 110? I seem to remember when I used other hairdryers with the 220 switch when in Europe, they would only operate on low speed, which defeats the purpose of having a good hairdryer. It also seems that those hairdryers would die within a few weeks of returning from Europe. Coincidence? Also, will the 110 outlet be sufficient (and safe) for recharging my cell phone or for my laptop? The only other thing I need the outlet for is my nightlight and I am sure that will be fine.

 

Thanks for any expertise you can offer.

[IWORK2CRUISE]

Never had a problem with my 1800+ blower on the Spirit. Two trips.

[Toyz711]

take a outlet strip...mine was a surge protector. that way i could use my laptop (old model, won't work long on battery) and charge my camera's batteries.

the outlets by the desk are the 1st photo, the 2nd one of the sink area of the bathroom

[electricron]

120 volt hairdryers on the Spirit can cause problems. The 120 volt plug is only rated for 500 watts, your 1800 watts hairdryer could trip a circuit breaker.

 

Since your hairdryer is a dual voltage hairdryer with a switch, I suggest switching it to 220 volt and using the 220 volt plug on the Spirit. So you can plug it into the 220 volt receptacle, you'll need a plug adapter.

 

As for why your other hairdryers have failed, I wouldn't guess without taking a close look myself. They could have just failed because of old age.

 

My coffee maker failed this morning for no apparent reason. I hadn't used it on 220 volts. Things fail all the time, and they don't make appliances as good as they used to in the past. I replaced it.

[Katie H]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I guess I will take an adapter and try on the 220, but if that only gives me low speed it will be no better than the one they provide in the bathroom. I have tried those on Celebrity and it is only slightly faster than having DH blow on my head. If anyone is on the repo cruise, I'll be the one with the flat, stringy hair :D.

[salty dingo]

Devices like laptops, cell phones, etc. do not draw much current and should be fine to plug in. I have never read of any electrical problems that would cause damage... just think about all the TVs in the cabins - they can't afford to have power surges to the extent they would damage electronics.