Using 110V to charge mobile phone

[Tweek]

I'll be going to the states for a month-long holiday, and I bought a transformer to step-up the 110V power supply in the states to 220V so that I can charge my NiMH AAs and my mobile phone batt. My NiMH AA battery charger fits nicely into the transformer. However I just realised that the transformer I bought (a cheapo one) has only a two-pin outlet, and the charger of my mobile phone has three pins, so it won't fit into the transformer.

So I was thinking, what if I charge my mobile directly (I have an adaptor to convert from the US pins to the Singapore type) at 110V, will there be a risk? Effectively the power supplied is halved, so theoretically the only side effect is that the charging time will be doubled. That's ok since my mobile charges in 1 hr typically.

What I want to ask is, is the longer charging time the only risk? Or will there be other damages to my mobile phone if I charge it at 110V? Thanks in advanced!

 

[Lennier]

Well, theoretically yeah, duration is doubled. But I wouldn't risk it. There could be components inside the phone charger that may require a minimum voltage e.g. 200V - 250V to work, and 110V would be out of spec.

I'm sure there should be converter plugs that bring our 3 pins down to 2 to fit your transformer. The grounding and negative pins are connected together.

 

[Tweek]

Originally posted by Lennier
Well, theoretically yeah, duration is doubled. But I wouldn't risk it. There could be components inside the phone charger that may require a minimum voltage e.g. 200V - 250V to work, and 110V would be out of spec.

I'm sure there should be converter plugs that bring our 3 pins down to 2 to fit your transformer. The grounding and negative pins are connected together.

Hmm ok I'd try to source for such a convertor. I tried 110V on my hi-fi just now, nothing serious happened, just that the LED display is dimmer, and of course there is no music out of the speakers.

Thanks Lennier!

 

[erwinx]

My Nokia charger is rated for 100-240v and actually can fit some Motorola handphones (tried before)... maybe borrow someone's Nokia charger and see if it fits your handphone (what brand is it..?)

Originally posted by Lennier
Well, theoretically yeah, duration is doubled. But I wouldn't risk it. There could be components inside the phone charger that may require a minimum voltage e.g. 200V - 250V to work, and 110V would be out of spec.

I'm sure there should be converter plugs that bring our 3 pins down to 2 to fit your transformer. The grounding and negative pins are connected together.

 

[kaipium]

Is the transformer is just for the battery charger and phone charger?

Most phone chargers can be used with 110-240V so you can check it out first.

Sanyo battery charger can also be used for 110V also. Think this will be cheaper than getting the transformer. More important thing to get is the multi-adapter to fit all the possible type of sockets that you might encounter in the States.

 

[Zoomer]

Well, I've found that my equiepments can accept 110v too.

You might want to check; turn your stuff upside down and eyeball it.

 

[Tweek]

thanks everyone for your contribution. I've realised my charger has the optional 2 pin plug to fit into my transformer, so all problems solved! But it still only supports 220-240V so the transformer still can't be dispensed with.