Making the switch from 120V outlets to 220V outlets has mostly been uneventful and annoying. I purchased several converters in the US. Some only convert the US plug into a EU plug, others actually convert the power too. Most expensive electronics like laptops have their own built in power converter. It's that little box in the middle of the cord. Those electronics are the easiest to convert. You just plug in a small flat piece of plastic, and you can plug it into the wall. Smaller electronics like blow dryers, DS chargers, and Wii's only allow 120V power input. That's what I purchased converters for.
Something unfortunate happened 2 days ago. The power converters have 2 settings: 50W and 1600W. After our alarm clock didn't work on 50W, we set it to 1600W, and the time was still slow. When we plugged in the Wii, I had set it to 50W. Joe convinced me to change it to 1600W. For some reason I listened. The outlet/converter began to buzz. A few seconds later a sparks similar to the ones on our old electric fence jumped in the middle of the cord, by the battery box. We quickly unplugged it, but it was too late. The Wii had no more power. We fried it! Of course it's the most expensive piece of electronics that happened to get fried.
Joe insists there is a chance that braker is broken, but I have no hopes. All I can think about is how we have to buy a new Wii. So then the question becomes; do we buy one here in Europe, and guarantee that it can't get fried again? And hope it will work once we move back to the US? Or do we buy another one from the US, and guard it with our lives?
UPDATE: After some research, I have a glimmer of hope. There is a small chance that only the AC Adapter got fried, and not the Wii console itself. I can't wait to borrow my cousin's AC Adapter and test it out.
1 week ago
2 comments:
The US alarm clock will always be slow because europe has a 50Hz powercycle and the US a 60Hz cycle, which some simpler clocks use to count time. This difference can also ruin other electronic equipment that cannot handle the different powercycle, like TV's and monitors. I have seen a few blow up like you describe before. Hope that with the Wii it is only the powersupply. In that case it is best to buy a new European powersupply and when you get back to the States switch for a US one.
Funny, we did the same. It was only the cord to the wii. Wii should be safe. We bought a new one online and had it shipped, and then life returned to normal.
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