Fiji electric outlet question

[divebuddy68]

Hi All!

I'm going to Fiji in a month. What type of electric outlets do they have in the hotels and what is the voltage? Did you buy a converter to use your US plugs?

Thanks

 

[nikyyo]

I forget what voltage they have but you WILL need a converter. I picked one up at Radio Shack a while back that I can use all over the world (it has several plugs in it). It was about thirty bucks.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Most Resorts and Liveaboards should have the proper adaptor to use (be careful! A proper adaptor is not necessarily a proper voltage converter as well. . .)
Fiji uses 240 V 50 HZ AC with an Australian style plug; make sure your charger is rated to handle this higher voltage

 

[RonDawg]

What type of appliances do you plan to bring? Certain appliances such as clocks don't work well with voltage converters, as these operate off the "cycle" of AC electricity. North America uses 60 Hz cycles, while the 240 volt world uses 50 Hz. If it's a high wattage appliance such as a hair dryer, make sure the voltage converter is adequately rated for the wattage, as many can't handle such a high current draw.

Check their labels as well; a surprising number of appliances such as shavers, cell phone chargers, and laptop computers are dual voltage, only requiring a plug adapter.

Kev mentions that Fiji uses Aussie-type electric outlets. If so, they may also have what Aussie hotels have, and that is a special plug in the bathroom that allows you to use US-type two prong plugs without any sort of adapter or converter.

 

[miketsp]

..snip..
Kev mentions that Fiji uses Aussie-type electric outlets. If so, they may also have what Aussie hotels have, and that is a special plug in the bathroom that allows you to use US-type two prong plugs without any sort of adapter or converter.

If you want to see the type "I" adapter for Australia / Fiji
http://users.pandora.be/worldstandards/electricity.htm

Be very careful using bathroom outlets.
It's very rare to find one with a high power rating - most are fused at very low powers, typically 15/25W just enough to drive an electric razor.
Many have RCDs (residual current detectors) to detect an earth loop and protect against shock.
I blew up my laptop power adapter using a Belgian hotel bathroom socket because it started pulsing the output. It saw the adapter as a high load and backed off the power. The adapter then went high impedance and the power reappeared. Then it saw the adapter again and the cycle restarted. After a couple of minutes the adapter blew up.
Next trip I took the right adapter to use the room outlets.

 

[divebuddy68]

Thanks for the replies. The only things I plan on using are my battery chargers, IPOD charger and speakers.

Do you think this light duty converter will work well?

http://www.world-import.com/WSS204KIT.htm

 

[miketsp]

Thanks for the replies. The only things I plan on using are my battery chargers, IPOD charger and speakers.

Do you think this light duty converter will work well?

http://www.world-import.com/WSS204KIT.htm

I'd just email them to check that the spec goes up to 240V input.
It should do because they show a UK 3 pin adapter and an Australian adapter, but the page heading only states up to 220V and the strange thing is that the version in Google's cache says 240 while the current page doesn't. The same thing happens on the Home-Depot page which sells the same kit.
So just ask for confirmation in writing before purchasing.

 

[DesertEagle]

That adapter looks like it should work fine. It's both a step-down transormer and a plug adapter.

My computer and AA chargers run on 120v/50Hz and 240v/50Hz. All I needed were plug adapters. I ordered them with a bunch of other stuff from Radio Shack's site. They cost $2.99 each. The Fiji/NZ ones have angled plugs.

 

[RonDawg]

If you are using the Apple factory charger (either the USB or FireWire version), these are dual-voltage. In fact, you can get an Apple accessory that has different plugs that fits directly into the factory iPod charger; it's the same accessory as for the PowerBooks. However, these are quite expensive, as much if not more than a true transformer/adapter set.

 

[RonDawg]

Be very careful using bathroom outlets.
It's very rare to find one with a high power rating - most are fused at very low powers, typically 15/25W just enough to drive an electric razor.

Very true, and I had mentioned that in another similar thread. However, with the exception of a hair dryer and perhaps a laptop computer, the kind of appliances most people bring on their trip (shavers, MP3 players, cell phone chargers, etc.) would work well with this outlet.