European Seagate Freeagent - how to safely use in N.A.?

[johndrake939393]

Hello,

I purchased a Seagate Freeagent Desktop in Europe (Sweden), a 250 gb,
and I would
like to safely access the data already stored on the drive in North
America, specifically
Canada. The voltage in Europe was 220v, the voltage in Canada is
110v. I own a voltage
converter that's safe for up to 50 w, and I have an adapter plug to
use the European adapter
plug in a North American outlet. However, the bundled adapter from
Seagate bought in Europe
says it's rated for 110/220v.

How I safely access the data on the drive in North America? Does the
Seagate adapter
already have a converter/transformer built in? And all I need to do
is use the adapter plug ?

Or should I plug in the adapter from Seagate into the adapter plug and
then into the voltage
converter?

Anyone who has done this before and uses the drive from overseas
safely, is preferred.

I contacted Seagate (18007324283) and forget it. The India call
center doesn't know anything,
and I waited 1 hour. I went into a live chat session with Seagate
afterwards, and there was no
improvement.

Thank-you !

 

[Rod Speed]

I purchased a Seagate Freeagent Desktop in Europe (Sweden),
a 250 gb, and I would like to safely access the data already
stored on the drive in North America, specifically Canada.
The voltage in Europe was 220v, the voltage in Canada is 110v.
I own a voltage converter that's safe for up to 50 w, and I have
an adapter plug to use the European adapter plug in a North
American outlet. However, the bundled adapter from Seagate
bought in Europe says it's rated for 110/220v.

That last is pretty typical with most stuff now.

How I safely access the data on the drive in North America?

It'll be fine.

Does the Seagate adapter already have a converter/transformer built in?

Yes, thats what the 110/220v rating means.

And all I need to do is use the adapter plug ?
Yes.

Or should I plug in the adapter from Seagate into the
adapter plug and then into the voltage converter?
Nope.

Anyone who has done this before and uses
the drive from overseas safely, is preferred.

It aint specific to that particular drive, that 110/220v rating is all you need.

I contacted Seagate (18007324283) and forget it. The India call center
doesn't know anything, and I waited 1 hour. I went into a live chat
session with Seagate afterwards, and there was no improvement.

Likely because they found it hard to accept that you were asking such a
basic question and assumed it was more complicated than it appeared to be.

 

[Nik Simpson]

Hello,

I purchased a Seagate Freeagent Desktop in Europe (Sweden), a 250 gb,
and I would
like to safely access the data already stored on the drive in North
America, specifically
Canada. The voltage in Europe was 220v, the voltage in Canada is
110v. I own a voltage
converter that's safe for up to 50 w, and I have an adapter plug to
use the European adapter
plug in a North American outlet. However, the bundled adapter from
Seagate bought in Europe
says it's rated for 110/220v.

I do the reverse all the time, i.e. use a US 120V product with a voltage
sensing adapter in Europe. These days most power bricks on laptops and
other portable devices are safe to use in either environment, all you'll
need is a power cable to fit the wall socket in the appropriate country.

 

[Arno Wagner]

Hello,

I purchased a Seagate Freeagent Desktop in Europe (Sweden), a 250 gb,
and I would
like to safely access the data already stored on the drive in North
America, specifically
Canada. The voltage in Europe was 220v, the voltage in Canada is
110v. I own a voltage
converter that's safe for up to 50 w, and I have an adapter plug to
use the European adapter
plug in a North American outlet. However, the bundled adapter from
Seagate bought in Europe
says it's rated for 110/220v.

This likely is a wide-range adapter. Check on the brick itself.
Likely it is has something like 100V-240V. These are indended to
be usable worldwide, so the manufacturer only needs to produce
one variant. The mains-cable is typically detachable as well,
for the same reason.

How I safely access the data on the drive in North America? Does the
Seagate adapter
already have a converter/transformer built in? And all I need to do
is use the adapter plug ?

It works a bit differently. However as long as the local AC is in
range of what it says on the brick, it is fine. You can either
get a pass-through adapter or a different mains cable.

Or should I plug in the adapter from Seagate into the adapter plug and
then into the voltage
converter?

Actually that could destroy it under rare circumstances.
Better connect it directly.

Anyone who has done this before and uses the drive from overseas
safely, is preferred.

Done it numerous times with my laptop PSU, which is rated at 100V-240V.

I contacted Seagate (18007324283) and forget it. The India call
center doesn't know anything,
and I waited 1 hour. I went into a live chat session with Seagate
afterwards, and there was no
improvement.

Thank-you !

Arno

 

[Aidan Karley]

The mains-cable is typically detachable as well,
for the same reason.

There is an additional reason : to make some slight attempt at
getting people to fit the correct size of fuse for particular devices,
the IEC have recommended a number of variants on the standard "kettle
lead" connection, which are designed to be suitable for 1A mains
current, 2A mains, 5A mains etc., and are mutually incompatible. So
hopefully you won't get people replacing a 2A-rated cable for a 300W
device with the 3250W rated cable from the kettle and then complaining
about the power brick melting.
I didn't realise this myself until I started cursing and
swearing at Compaq for introducing new "clover leaf" style mains leads,
which I thought was just meaningless trouble-making. I later discovered
that the leads were actually standard ones, just an poorly-known and
little-implemented standard. So I have to apologise to Compaq for that
bit of cursing and swearing. But I'll find enough other reasons for
shouting at them, I'm sure.

 

[Arno Wagner]

There is an additional reason : to make some slight attempt at
getting people to fit the correct size of fuse for particular devices,
the IEC have recommended a number of variants on the standard "kettle
lead" connection, which are designed to be suitable for 1A mains
current, 2A mains, 5A mains etc., and are mutually incompatible. So
hopefully you won't get people replacing a 2A-rated cable for a 300W
device with the 3250W rated cable from the kettle and then complaining
about the power brick melting.

There is no such risk. The cable may melt if you do it the wrong
way round, but there already is standards for that. The traditional
PC PSU connectors are rated at >= 10A and so are the cables attached.
The slim, 2-wire cables without ground are rated at 2.5A.

Conventional fuses do not work well with withe-range PSUs.

I didn't realise this myself until I started cursing and
swearing at Compaq for introducing new "clover leaf" style mains leads,
which I thought was just meaningless trouble-making. I later discovered
that the leads were actually standard ones, just an poorly-known and
little-implemented standard. So I have to apologise to Compaq for that
bit of cursing and swearing. But I'll find enough other reasons for
shouting at them, I'm sure.

I think there are currently just three variants.

Arno