I wanted to use my cordless drill/screwdriver and another products that are made to be used with US electricity in my country. We have 220- 230V and 50Hz power standard here. I could locate proper charger for power tool but this would be solution specific only to this power tool. What if I have kitchen appliances made to be used in US or something else where above solution will not be appropriate? This is where step up/down voltage transformers come and so far there are mixed Amazon reviews on many and not that encouraging:
1.
GoldSource STU-1000 seems to be of low quality wormanship according to negative reviews
2.
Power Bright VC1000W seems to be same
3.
Rockstone Power 1000W seems more reliable than above
4.
AU-1000 ACUPWR (TM) this one is made in USA with premium copper and looks like heavy beast weighing 7 lbs. I saw it through reply to negative review of one of first two products. Person told he has been using ACUPWR for years and so far so good.
5.
Diamond Series Voltage Transformers are ones that do not appear on Amazon so I have no way of knowing about these with absense of reviews. They offer 5 year warranty though but just thinking about using warranty being outside of US and hassle of shipping back etc. makes me think twice.
I read review that said that someone used voltage transformer with mixer and burned its motor. People replied that mixer probably did not support power frequency that transformer was outputting so 50Hz and 60Hz should be taken into account too but I have not found anything in descriptions of above products mentioning power frequency of products. I assume voltage transformers convert only voltages but not power frequency i.e. 50Hz to 60Hz and vice versa.
Do any of you use voltage step up/down transformers? If these are any of above, can you share your experience with such product? Maybe you know about brands above and have something to add? Your output is welcome.
What makes it more complex to me is that I am outside of US and use freight forwarder so I pay shipping inside US and international shipping. I also take risk of having DOA product and messing with returns would be a hassle. Same with using warranty because returning defective or malfunctioned product would mean having replacement which is often new product and not fixed. I would have to pay same import taxes for customs clearance again for new product if company decides to offer replacement. That's why I must make sure I get working and reliable voltage transformer.