My Dell laptop power supply says that it will work on 100-240V, 50 or 60
Hz. Wikipedia sez

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets

that Japanese receptacles, despite having 100V, 50Hz power are
essentially identical to a NEMA 1-15. However, both "bricks" that I have
use a 3-wire cord instead of a 2-wire like every other laptop I've
had/used, and it's not clear to me if a grounding type Japanese JIS C
8303 recep is the same as a NEMA 5-15 or just "similar," or even if they
are particularly common.

Do I need to pack some kind of adapter plug thing? Or should I just get
a cheater plug and carry that?

Obviously, I have never been to Japan before...

thanks

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:02:14 -0400, Nate Nagel wrote:

My Dell laptop power supply says that it will work on 100-240V, 50 or 60
Hz. Wikipedia sez

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets

that Japanese receptacles, despite having 100V, 50Hz power are
essentially identical to a NEMA 1-15. However, both "bricks" that I have
use a 3-wire cord instead of a 2-wire like every other laptop I've
had/used

My Dell laptop PSU uses a 3-wire cord - but dismantling it revealed that
the ground isn't actually connected to anything internally. I've used
mine on US power with and without a ground, and UK power (230V @ 50Hz)
with no problems (but not Japan :-)

cheers

Jules

On 03/24/2010 07:57 PM, Jules Richardson wrote:
On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:02:14 -0400, Nate Nagel wrote:

My Dell laptop power supply says that it will work on 100-240V, 50 or 60
Hz. Wikipedia sez

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets

that Japanese receptacles, despite having 100V, 50Hz power are
essentially identical to a NEMA 1-15. However, both "bricks" that I have
use a 3-wire cord instead of a 2-wire like every other laptop I've
had/used

My Dell laptop PSU uses a 3-wire cord - but dismantling it revealed that
the ground isn't actually connected to anything internally. I've used
mine on US power with and without a ground, and UK power (230V @ 50Hz)
with no problems (but not Japan :-)

cheers

Jules


good to know. I'll just toss a cheater plug in my laptop bag then and
call it good. Primarily I am planning on taking it to watch DVDs on the
plane (I have an AC/DC brick with an auto/air cord as well as an AC
cord) but hey, if I'm going to cart it with me, might as well see if I
can check my email while I'm there too.

I don't really have any easy way to generate 100V/50Hz here at my house
but I can't imagine it wouldn't work?

FWIW my laptop (Precision M90) shipped with a 130W power supply but it
seems to be fat and happy here in the living room running off the 65W
supply I just got from eBay (that's the one with the auto/air cord. I
also tested it off a benchtop 12V power supply and it seems to be good
on that too.) I guess I just won't be doing any rendering or any
processor intensive stuff while I'm in the air

Now to remember to get on Project Gutenberg and download lots of books
to read too.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

Nate Nagel wrote:

Primarily I am planning on taking it to watch DVDs on the plane

Keep in mind that many seatpower systems are extremely current limited. You may
find that the circuit breaker trips if you try to run your laptop. If so,
removing the battery (thus disabling the charger circuit) will lower the draw
enough that the laptop will work.

On 3/24/2010 7:02 PM, Nate Nagel wrote:
My Dell laptop power supply says that it will work on 100-240V, 50 or 60
Hz. Wikipedia sez

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets

that Japanese receptacles, despite having 100V, 50Hz power are
essentially identical to a NEMA 1-15. However, both "bricks" that I have
use a 3-wire cord instead of a 2-wire like every other laptop I've
had/used, and it's not clear to me if a grounding type Japanese JIS C
8303 recep is the same as a NEMA 5-15 or just "similar," or even if they
are particularly common.

Do I need to pack some kind of adapter plug thing? Or should I just get
a cheater plug and carry that?

Obviously, I have never been to Japan before...

thanks

nate


The Kanto region of Japan has 60 Hz power. But every device I have ever
brought to use over there really didn't care about line frequency.
Laptop bricks certainly don't.

I don't understand what happened that US laptop power bricks now use
grounded plugs. The equipment ground dies at the brick. If you bought
the Japanese power supply for your notebook it would have a two prong
plug that is a tighter tolerance version of NEMA 1-15.

My two older notebooks have NEMA 1-15 plugs.

On Mar 25, 12:29�pm, George wrote:
On 3/24/2010 7:02 PM, Nate Nagel wrote:





My Dell laptop power supply says that it will work on 100-240V, 50 or 60
Hz. Wikipedia sez

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets

that Japanese receptacles, despite having 100V, 50Hz power are
essentially identical to a NEMA 1-15. However, both "bricks" that I have
use a 3-wire cord instead of a 2-wire like every other laptop I've
had/used, and it's not clear to me if a grounding type Japanese JIS C
8303 recep is the same as a NEMA 5-15 or just "similar," or even if they
are particularly common.

Do I need to pack some kind of adapter plug thing? Or should I just get
a cheater plug and carry that?

Obviously, I have never been to Japan before...

thanks

nate

The Kanto region of Japan has 60 Hz power. But every device I have ever
brought to use over there really didn't care about line frequency.
Laptop bricks certainly don't.

I don't understand what happened that US laptop power bricks now use
grounded plugs. The equipment ground dies at the brick. If you bought
the Japanese power supply for your notebook it would have a two prong
plug that is a tighter tolerance version of NEMA 1-15.

My two older notebooks have NEMA 1-15 plugs.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

As your computer actually runs on DC, the frequency is niether here
nor there as the "brick" has a rectifier. 60Hz or 50Hz, doesn't matter.

On Mar 24, 8:06*pm, Nate Nagel wrote:
On 03/24/2010 07:57 PM, Jules Richardson wrote:



On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:02:14 -0400, Nate Nagel wrote:

My Dell laptop power supply says that it will work on 100-240V, 50 or 60
Hz. *Wikipedia sez

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets

that Japanese receptacles, despite having 100V, 50Hz power are
essentially identical to a NEMA 1-15. However, both "bricks" that I have
use a 3-wire cord instead of a 2-wire like every other laptop I've
had/used

My Dell laptop PSU uses a 3-wire cord - but dismantling it revealed that
the ground isn't actually connected to anything internally. I've used
mine on US power with and without a ground, and UK power (230V @ 50Hz)
with no problems (but not Japan :-)

cheers

Jules

good to know. *I'll just toss a cheater plug in my laptop bag then and
call it good. *Primarily I am planning on taking it to watch DVDs on the
plane (I have an AC/DC brick with an auto/air cord as well as an AC
cord) but hey, if I'm going to cart it with me, might as well see if I
can check my email while I'm there too.

I don't really have any easy way to generate 100V/50Hz here at my house
but I can't imagine it wouldn't work?

FWIW my laptop (Precision M90) shipped with a 130W power supply but it
seems to be fat and happy here in the living room running off the 65W
supply I just got from eBay (that's the one with the auto/air cord. *I
also tested it off a benchtop 12V power supply and it seems to be good
on that too.) *I guess I just won't be doing any rendering or any
processor intensive stuff while I'm in the air

Now to remember to get on Project Gutenberg and download lots of books
to read too.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.http://members.cox.net/njnagel

Check the label on your PSU, if it says something like 100 to 240
50/60 hz you are good to go.

Jimmie

On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 23:57:21 +0000 (UTC), Jules Richardson
wrote:

On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:02:14 -0400, Nate Nagel wrote:

My Dell laptop power supply says that it will work on 100-240V, 50 or 60
Hz. Wikipedia sez

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets

that Japanese receptacles, despite having 100V, 50Hz power are
essentially identical to a NEMA 1-15. However, both "bricks" that I have
use a 3-wire cord instead of a 2-wire like every other laptop I've
had/used

My Dell laptop PSU uses a 3-wire cord - but dismantling it revealed that
the ground isn't actually connected to anything internally. I've used
mine on US power with and without a ground, and UK power (230V @ 50Hz)
with no problems (but not Japan :-)

cheers

Jules
The 3 wire plug on a 2-wire "brick" cord is just an ecforced
polarizing device IF you have the polarizwd end on the brick end -
whick the universal power supply I just got as a "test supply" does
not have - so the "ground" connector is totally redundant.

On Mar 24, 6:02*pm, Nate Nagel wrote:
My Dell laptop power supply says that it will work on 100-240V, 50 or 60
Hz. *Wikipedia sez

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets

that Japanese receptacles, despite having 100V, 50Hz power are
essentially identical to a NEMA 1-15. However, both "bricks" that I have
use a 3-wire cord instead of a 2-wire like every other laptop I've
had/used, and it's not clear to me if a grounding type Japanese JIS C
8303 recep is the same as a NEMA 5-15 or just "similar," or even if they
are particularly common.

Do I need to pack some kind of adapter plug thing? *Or should I just get
a cheater plug and carry that?

Obviously, I have never been to Japan before...

thanks

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.http://members.cox.net/njnagel

By cheater plug I assume you mean a 3-wire to 2-wire adapter. As
everyone else has indicated, you should be fine. I have the same
arrangement for my HP computer and I have been to Japan several times
and always had a great time.

For something silly like a grounding plug on a power supply brick,
I take a few seconds with the hacksaw and it eliminates the
hassles. If the prongs are polarized, a few swipes with a file
solve that issue as well. There's no harm, since the brick
exterior is non-conductive and the output is low voltage DC,
anyway. Maybe if there was a major short inside the brick and
120/240 was delivered to the laptop, the ground might be
appreciated, but I'll take my chances.

--
Nonny
Suppose you were an idiot.
And suppose you were a member
of Congress.... But then I repeat myself.'

-Mark Twain
..

On Thu, 25 Mar 2010 11:36:55 -0700 (PDT), "hr(bob) "
wrote:

On Mar 24, 6:02Â*pm, Nate Nagel wrote:
My Dell laptop power supply says that it will work on 100-240V, 50 or 60
Hz. Â*Wikipedia sez

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets

that Japanese receptacles, despite having 100V, 50Hz power are
essentially identical to a NEMA 1-15. However, both "bricks" that I have
use a 3-wire cord instead of a 2-wire like every other laptop I've
had/used, and it's not clear to me if a grounding type Japanese JIS C
8303 recep is the same as a NEMA 5-15 or just "similar," or even if they
are particularly common.

Do I need to pack some kind of adapter plug thing? Â*Or should I just get
a cheater plug and carry that?

Obviously, I have never been to Japan before...

thanks

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.http://members.cox.net/njnagel

By cheater plug I assume you mean a 3-wire to 2-wire adapter. As
everyone else has indicated, you should be fine. I have the same
arrangement for my HP computer and I have been to Japan several times
and always had a great time.
In many cases you can just get the 2 wire cord to fit your power
supply.Canon printer cords are 2 wire and fit my laptop power supply
that has a 3 wire plug on a no-polarized 2 wire cord.

On 3/25/2010 12:54 PM, harry wrote:
On Mar 25, 12:29�pm, wrote:
On 3/24/2010 7:02 PM, Nate Nagel wrote:





My Dell laptop power supply says that it will work on 100-240V, 50 or 60
Hz. Wikipedia sez

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets

that Japanese receptacles, despite having 100V, 50Hz power are
essentially identical to a NEMA 1-15. However, both "bricks" that I have
use a 3-wire cord instead of a 2-wire like every other laptop I've
had/used, and it's not clear to me if a grounding type Japanese JIS C
8303 recep is the same as a NEMA 5-15 or just "similar," or even if they
are particularly common.

Do I need to pack some kind of adapter plug thing? Or should I just get
a cheater plug and carry that?

Obviously, I have never been to Japan before...

thanks

nate

The Kanto region of Japan has 60 Hz power. But every device I have ever
brought to use over there really didn't care about line frequency.
Laptop bricks certainly don't.

I don't understand what happened that US laptop power bricks now use
grounded plugs. The equipment ground dies at the brick. If you bought
the Japanese power supply for your notebook it would have a two prong
plug that is a tighter tolerance version of NEMA 1-15.

My two older notebooks have NEMA 1-15 plugs.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

As your computer actually runs on DC, the frequency is niether here
nor there as the "brick" has a rectifier. 60Hz or 50Hz, doesn't matter.

Sure, I just added that there are substantial areas that use 60 Hz
because it was noted that Japan uses 50 Hz.

harry wrote:
On Mar 25, 12:29�pm, George wrote:
On 3/24/2010 7:02 PM, Nate Nagel wrote:





My Dell laptop power supply says that it will work on 100-240V, 50 or 60
Hz. Wikipedia sez
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets
that Japanese receptacles, despite having 100V, 50Hz power are
essentially identical to a NEMA 1-15. However, both "bricks" that I have
use a 3-wire cord instead of a 2-wire like every other laptop I've
had/used, and it's not clear to me if a grounding type Japanese JIS C
8303 recep is the same as a NEMA 5-15 or just "similar," or even if they
are particularly common.
Do I need to pack some kind of adapter plug thing? Or should I just get
a cheater plug and carry that?
Obviously, I have never been to Japan before...
thanks
nate
The Kanto region of Japan has 60 Hz power. But every device I have ever
brought to use over there really didn't care about line frequency.
Laptop bricks certainly don't.

I don't understand what happened that US laptop power bricks now use
grounded plugs. The equipment ground dies at the brick. If you bought
the Japanese power supply for your notebook it would have a two prong
plug that is a tighter tolerance version of NEMA 1-15.

My two older notebooks have NEMA 1-15 plugs.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

As your computer actually runs on DC, the frequency is niether here
nor there as the "brick" has a rectifier. 60Hz or 50Hz, doesn't matter.

The "brick" is not just a rectifier, it is a switching regulator type
power supply.

TDD