Check it out! Our very first video post from Hannover, Germany!
Apparently, European outlets kick out a vicious 220 volts of electricity. Sissy American appliances, like my electric razor, are only designed to handle 110 volts. I was told by several people (I’m looking in your direction, greasy electronics nerdling from Fred Meyer) my appliances would be ruined if I tried them in Europe. Before I moved, I bought a dozen grounded European to American outlet adapters from Amazon.com for $1 each. These adapters very specifically say, “This will not convert the voltage from 220V to 110V,” so I was expecting a real fireworks show.
When I arrived in Germany, I tried one out and did my very best to destroy my electric razor. Here is the video.
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Oh God, My Wife Is German. 
Hahaha … are you sure that wasn’t a dual voltage razor (a lot of them are now days). Having blown up a ‘crap-ton’ of crap early on here it can indeed happen. If you find yourself in need of a transformer I have a few sitting in the garage, just yell. Awesome as always.
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I have no idea. I think I’ve had that razor for over 10 years. It was my grandfather’s, which is both endearing AND disgusting.
I’m sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation, but everyone told me my razor would be destroyed. I am so disappointed.
Anything else I can test that might erupt into flames?
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Hard to tell … at this point anything I still have on a transformer (meets the eye) is like highly valued or not … I totally wanna kill my TV so I can get a new cool flat screen (we’re watching TV here with 2001 brands cause we’re cavemen I think. Lemme look around. My Cordless drill is 110 but you CANNOT have that sir!
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You gotta take video of frying your TV!
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Hey, it’s not so disgusting to have your grandfather’s razor if you’ve changed the heads and cleaned it ;-)
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God I hope I changed the heads and cleaned it…
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Hehe, I think the razor sounded like it was on speed. If anything you will have a really fast shave from now on. Keep us updated how the razor is holding up under the continuous strain of 220 Geman volts.
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Haw! I noticed that too! Maybe it will burn out sooner than it would have in the States.
Great observation Sandra!
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I have used lots of American appliances in Germany and, with only one exception, have never had a problem. The problem I had was with a hairdryer that had some sort of a switch specifically for 110 volt/220 volt conversion. I still had to use an adapter just to get the plug to fit into the German outlet, however. I forgot to also set the switch on “220” and the dryer immediately got fried. So, all said, it seems that the less sophisticated appliances (the ones without the 110/220 switch) actually work BETTER because you don’t have to remember to change the setting. Just another example of how an attempt to ‘make something better’ actually makes it worse – likely thought up by someone who doesn’t have a clue about ‘Human Factors Engineering’ (also know by the less sexy term of ‘Common Sense’).
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Haw haw haw haw! Great comment, Jaton. And so true. :)
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I also blew up my American hair dryer upon it’s first use here last year. It had an impressive amount of sparks, but no flames :(
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Nice! Let’s film it next time! :)
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I gave up using a 220/110 V hairdryer on my trips to the States a very long time ago. It’s just not worth the time drying your hair for 2 hours or so :)
~Anja~
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Oh man, that is music to my wife’s ears. She has super long hair and always complains about drying time.
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I have to nag.. actually, its 230 V today. You may find 110 V sissy, but it makes up with 60 Hz in contrast to sissy 50 german Hz, which can also be a problem
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Oh really? Nice!
Are you an electrical engineer, Thomas?
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Not really. Just a user of Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity
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Oh, that is such bullshit! Where is the firework show? On another note, you have many things to consider when moving to another country. I didn’t know this about Germany…and I guess it’s all of Europe, huh?
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I think so!
(And I’m still getting used to their weird electrical prongs. They just ain’t right.)
:)
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Hi,
I’m from Australia where we use 230~240V at 50 Hz (I think).
I accidentally plugged a dual voltage computer PSU into our mains with it set to 110V. Basically sparks shot out the back and it bricked, luckily the store took it back for a straight swap!
But yeah, in my experience shavers are 110/220V and have been for some time. My dad has one that’s pretty old (probably from the 80s/90s) that works on both.
Many other devices should work on both (including some laptop chargers), but I’d research each device before trying.
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Thank you for the information!
I have since bricked that electric shaver, but it happened in Munich. Maybe they use more power? Maybe I just used it too long. It got VERY hot.
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