Moved from France to UK- powering my electronics

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Level 1

24 points

Moved from France to UK- powering my electronics

Hello everyone-

I've just moved from France to the UK and was surprised to find that the UK socket adapters all have fuses in them. Instead of buying a bunch of socket adapters, I would ideally like to buy one each to plug into our APC power strip/surge protectors and then plug my iMacs (yes, two of them), printer, PS3s (yes, two of them), etc. into them using their existing EU power cords.

If this is possible, what type of fused socket adapter should I get? I've seen them anywhere from 3 to 13 amps. Is there a difference? If so, which is preferable.

If I cannot run them all off of the same power strip using a single socket adapter, which one should I use for my iMacs?

Sorry if this is jumbled, I am just surprised at how wonky things are here regarding electricity! :D

iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Feb 22, 2013 5:50 AM

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Answer 1

Jeff Sorley Author

Level 1

24 points

Feb 22, 2013 6:13 AM in response to Jeff Sorley

Addendum- my power strips are rated up to 10 amps, so a 13 amp socket adapter should work fine, right?

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Answer 2

Klaus1

Level 9

52,749 points

Feb 22, 2013 8:01 AM in response to Jeff Sorley

Yes, the UK system is far safer than that in Europe. Each of your items should have their own fused plugs, rated as appropriately, then connect to the power surge strip, which is itself protected only up to 13 amp.

You can read about fuse ratings here:

http://www.davesdiytips.com/2009/08/fuse-ratings-in-plug-tops/

Short answer: use more than one power surge strip, do not plug them into each other, and use separate wall sockets!

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Answer 3

Jeff Sorley Author

Level 1

24 points

Feb 22, 2013 9:54 AM in response to Klaus1

Klaus1-

Thanks for the reply. Perhaps I was a bit unclear in my description- I have two APC power strips with Euro sockets that I want to use for my electronics I have brought over from France, so I can't put fused plugs on them b/c then they won't go into the strip. Is it possible to just use a single 13amp adapter for the strip instead? I mean, once it goes from the wall through the fused socket adapter into the power strip, it's really no different than how I had it set up back in France. And if the strip is rated up to 10amps and I used to have the iMac, printer/scanner, and external drive on it with no problems, it should generally be fine here too?

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