Moving to the US

I will be moving to the US soon, after about 8 years in HK. I have collected lots of equipment here that primarily work on 230 V/50Hz. What is the possibility of these equipments working properly on converters that are available in the market? I've check what is dual voltage 110/230V, but have some items like bread makers, Sub woofers, amplifiers that are 230V only.


Any other tips on what to take from here and what not to are welcome !!

There are a few issues to think about:

- Power consumption of the device. If you're talking devices rated much over 50-100 watts, transformers become very big, very expensive and sometimes rather noisy ("HUMMMMMMMM...". I would say for anything bigger than 100w, forget it.

- Electronics, and sound equipment especially, can be quite sensitive to the power source. If you plug it into a transformer, you may well get hums and other fun noises. Electronics may also fry after a while. Some of this can be solved by putting an battery back-up surge protector in between, as they deliver "clean" power. That's an extra expense of course.

- Get transformers in HK if you can. Finding this stuff in the US is nowhere near as easy. Electronics stores in, say, the Wan Chai Computer Centre have these small plug in transformers that work well. Remember to get the correct "direction". ;)


Sorry I don't have better news but I've crossed the 110-220 boundary twice now and it never gets easier. I do my best to find electronics and electrics that work in both areas where possible.

Best to sell these items for the reason above. I did the same but found intermittent problems and worse unable to have anything fixed at my destination.

I agree with the other posters. Moved back to the US one time and took a lot of electronics with me and they were useless. I bought a few step down transformers from specialty electronics shop in the US and they were around US$100 for good ones. The added cost of the transformers means that it is only really worthwhile to bring expensive items back to the US. But factoring in the shipping time and cost and the fact that most items are less expensive in the US, makes it not worth bringing HK electronics over.