Charging am USA ipad in Ireland

Mebuccaneers

Hi
My father bought a ipad in the USA last week and I wanted to know how will he charge it back here in Ireland.
Does he just plug in the USA 2 pin scoket into a 3 pin adaptor and plug it in?
Or does he need a voltage adaptor to go from our 240v down to the 120v of the USA?
He dosen't own a PC/laptop so he can't charge it via USB.
Any advice on this would be great.
Thanks
Paul

naasrd

A regular plug adaptor will do or he can pick up a USB plug. Aldi or Lidl have them for 6.99 at the mo.

pmsurveys

The 2 pin plug that came with it transforms down to 10volts so a normal us adapter is fine. Just remember though he will need to plug it into a pc to activate it but it won't charge through computer USB as this only outputs 5 volts

Mebuccaneers

Thanks guys for the replies they are a great help!!

ironclaw

pmsurveys wrote: »

The 2 pin plug that came with it transforms down to 10volts so a normal us adapter is fine. Just remember though he will need to plug it into a pc to activate it but it won't charge through computer USB as this only outputs 5 volts

Your mixing watts with volts (Watts = Voltage x Current)

The USB of your computer outputs 5 volts at 1000mA (1Amp) which is 1 Watt

The iPad wall socket outputs 5 volts at 2000ma (2Amp) is 2 Watts

The reason the iPad charges faster from the wall is that there is more current available than from a computer.


Most, if not all, Apple chargers take between 230V and 110V AC input and then output the same. So basically the same charger works worldwide. Your Dad will be fine, just get an adapter for the plug not need for a transformer.
If you want to check, look carefully on the charger. Check the input has 230V listed as an input. Your fine then.

ZENER

ironclaw wrote: »

Your mixing watts with volts (Watts = Voltage x Current)

The USB of your computer outputs 5 volts at 1000mA (1Amp) which is 1 Watt

P(W) = V x I
V x I = P(W)
5 x 1 = 5Watts

The iPad wall socket outputs 5 volts at 2000ma (2Amp) is 2 Watts

V x I = P(W)
5.1 x 2.1 = 10.7W

The reason the iPad charges faster from the wall is that there is more current available than from a computer.

The iPad cannot be charged from the USB socket of a PC or Mac because these ports only provide 5V DC usually up to 1 Amp. The iPad requires 5V at about 2 AMP to charge therefore when connected to a standard USB port you will see "Not Charging" on the top right of the screen.

Most, if not all, Apple chargers take between 230V and 110V AC input and then output the same. So basically the same charger works worldwide. Your Dad will be fine, just get an adapter for the plug not need for a transformer.
If you want to check, look carefully on the charger. Check the input has 230V listed as an input. Your fine then.

This is true in most cases but it would be dangerous to automatically assume so in all cases.

Ken

ironclaw

According to Apple:

Charging via power adapter or USB to computer system

It does charge from a PC but it takes an age. You also need a high powered port, which some legacy machines don't have. Any iPad charger I've seen is 5V at 2 Amps. Which would differentiate it from the iPhone / iPod chargers at 5V and 1 Amp.

This is true in most cases but it would be dangerous to automatically assume so in all cases.

Fully agree. I always check and I'd know the difference. However I always tell people, if your unsure, ask!

ZENER

ironclaw wrote: »

It does charge from a PC but it takes an age. You also need a high powered port, which some legacy machines don't have. Any iPad charger I've seen is 5V at 2 Amps. Which would differentiate it from the iPhone / iPod chargers at 5V and 1 Amp.

I did originally post that the iPad required 10V to charge, my apologies While I do have one I didn't check the charger voltage instead Googleing where I found several sites claiming that the iPad required 10VDC to charge !!

Another case of " Just because it's on the 'net doesn't make it true !"

Hope you didn't mind me correcting your power calculations ? Thought it best to clarify it to avoid confusion So much misinformation on these forums.

Ken

Matt Bauer

ZENER wrote: »

The iPad cannot be charged from the USB socket of a PC or Mac because these ports only provide 5V DC usually up to 1 Amp. The iPad requires 5V at about 2 AMP to charge therefore when connected to a standard USB port you will see "Not Charging" on the top right of the screen.

Recent computers often have high powered USB ports, which can charge the iPad. For example, my one year old MacBook and two year old iMac can both charge the iPad. Older computers may only be able to charge it very slowly, if at all.

ted1

you can get cables that double up the power, basically they take two usb ports from yout PC and then supply you with one port. so they've twice the juice.

ironclaw

ted1 wrote: »

you can get cables that double up the power, basically they take two usb ports from yout PC and then supply you with one port. so they've twice the juice.

Very true. But depends on the port. Some bus's only allow 1Amp max. So if you had 4 ports, you'd only get 250mA from each.

To be honest, with a item as big as the iPad and even I find on the iPhone, your best of sticking it into the wall. Computers arn't chargers