Quote:
Originally Posted by KiwiHopeful
1. Buy your transformers before you come to NZ! I bought mine here: Heavy Duty Step UP and Down Voltage Transformers Thankfully, I initially thought I'd just buy 2, then decided to go for 4. I spent less on all 4 than I would have for just one here. |
I bought a half dozen or so transformers from the same place. Most of them are still on the last container, but I brought one with me on the plane (the "Style D"). Unfortunately, it has already burnt out. I'm not sure if I just got a bad one, or what, but I probably won't use that particular outfit again, even though their prices are very appealing.
I do agree that you should buy transformers before you come, if there's any chance you'll need one. I personally wouldn't try to make it work for things like a vacuum cleaner, though -- hauling a 20-pound transformer around behind you doesn't sound like fun. Also, the transformers convert only the voltage, not the frequency. Most of the time that isn't a problem, but some motors designed to work on 60 Hz don't work very well at NZ's 50 Hz. We have a blender, for example, that gets insanely loud on 50 Hz.
The other thing about using transformers for motor-driven items is that you should size the transformer to be at least twice and ideally three or more times as many watts as the motor needs. Motors use a burst of power on start-up, and you can easily overload the transformer if it's not large enough.