Using electronics in the Holy Land

An assortment of travel plug adapters

This post was inspired by a conversation I had earlier today with one of my fellow pilgrims. Since burning up your cell-phone or camera -- or worse, a piece of essential medical equipment -- is something that can potentially ruin an entire trip, I decided I would go back and reread up on it, make sure of what I "knew," and put it all together into a blog post with proper sourcing of where I got the information. So, here is what I have gleaned regarding electrical power and plugs for Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

Before I go any further though, I’m mounting a disclaimer: Use what I say below at your own risk. I disclaim any liability whatsoever if you burn out your phone, computer, or whatever based on what I have written here.

Continue at your own risk....

First off, both Israel and the Palestinian Territories use the same power and plugs: Per “Plug, socket, & voltage by country” at Worldstandards.eu [LINK], both Israel and the Palestinian Territories use:

            Single-phase voltage (volts) – 230 V

            Frequency (hertz) – 50 Hz

            Plug type – C / H

Per the same website, at “Plug & socket types” [LINK]:

Type C Plug

·        commonly used in Europe, South America & Asia (for a full list, click here [takes you to the above-linked page by country])

·        2 pins

·        not grounded

·        2.5 A

·        almost always 220 – 240 V

·        socket compatible with plug type C

Type H Plug

·        used exclusively in Israel, the West Bank & the Gaza Strip (for a full list, click here [ditto above])

·        3 pins

·        grounded

·        16 A

·        220 – 240 V

·        socket compatible with plug types C & H (unsafe compatibility with E & F)

That last bit means that if you have a two-prong Type C plug and a three-prong Type H socket, no problem. You can plug Type C into Type H just like you can plug our own US-standard Type A two-prong ungrounded plugs into a grounded three-prong Type B socket.

Per the section “What voltage and frequency in Israel” on the page “POWER PLUGS AND SOCKETS OF THE WORLD / Israel” [LINK], “You can use your electric appliances in Israel, if the standard voltage in your country is in between 220 - 240 V (as is in the UK, Europe, Australia and most of Asia and Africa). Manufacturers take these small deviations into account. If the standard voltage in your country is in the range of 100 V - 127 V (as is in the US, Canada and most South American countries), you need a voltage converter in Israel.”

But, and this is most important, “To be sure, check the label on the appliance. Some appliances never need a converter. If the label states 'INPUT: 100-240V, 50/60 Hz' the appliance can be used in all countries in the world. This is common for chargers of tablets/laptops, photo cameras, cell phones, toothbrushes, etc.”

Frankly, that last covers everything I need. Here’s the specifics….

I will be traveling with a CPAP "breathing machine," a laptop computer (Lenovo Yoga 720), a cellphone (Samsung Galaxy S7), and very likely two small tablets (a Kindle Fire and a Samsung Galaxy Tab). I may pick up a separate digital camera before I go. I don’t anticipate having any problems with any of them. I will also be taking a variety of plug adapters:

The four things across the bottom are the same as the thing
at upper left, just broken down

I don’t know specifically where I picked up the three little white ones, which are all Type C; The two black contraptions, which break down into a variety of different adapters (including Type C), were given to us by the Pilgrimage Company several years ago when my wife and I went on the pilgrimage to Italy. Here are the “male” and “female” ends of the Type C adapter from it. 

Can you tell which is which...?

The “female” end will actually accommodate a variety of different plugs, including the two standard US plugs, Type A (ungrounded) and Type B (grounded). (Of course, plugging a Type B plug into it loses the ground connection, but that’s no different than using the little dime-a-dozen “three-prong adapters” that are ubiquitous – and in fact is connecting my computer power cord to the wall right now. (My house is old, it has no grounded circuits in most rooms. It’s not a problem.)

I don’t think I’ll need any kind of voltage converter – I never have before, and don’t think this will be any different. Here’s how I determined that:

Here’s the CPAP:

Most importantly, here is the label on the "power supply" at lower left -- a voltage converter that already comes with it:

Circled in yellow is the important information: “100-240 V ~ 50/60 Hz, 2.1 A,” followed by “12 V === 5.0 A.” The top line is, by convention (and see the other examples below), the Input; the bottom line is Output.

The Output is what the CPAP power supply puts out. Here in the US, it takes in standard 120 V at 60 Hz power) through a standard Type A socket (ungrounded) and puts out 12 V / 5 A power. (Okay, confession – I don’t know how that 5 A “amperage” relates into it, except that it is a measure of the strength of the electric current. I do know that I had no problem in 2014 in Italy, where the power standard is the same as Israel.)

Comparing the power to the CPAP adapter label, of course, US 120 V is between 100 and 240 V, so that’s okay; similarly, 60 Hz is one of the two values listed, so that’s okay. In Israel, remember, the power standard is 230 V at 50 Hz. 230 V also falls in the “100-240 V” span listed, and 50 Hz is the other value listed – that’s okay. So I don’t need a separate adapter – just plug the CPAP’s Type A plug into the female end of the Type C plug adapter, plug it into the wall, and everything’s cool. I can breathe easy.

Similarly, here’s the label on the power supply for my laptop:

Circled in yellow (although very hard to read): “INPUT …: 100-240 V ~ 1.3A 50-60Hz.” “OUTPUT …: 20V === 2.25A/15V === 3V/9V === 2A/5V === 2A.” Okay, to be honest again, I don’t understand all those different output values except that it puts out power that my laptop can use, having taken in US standard 120V @ 60Hz – and will handle Israel’s 230V @ 50Hz just fine.

And, the same is true for the little USB chargers for my Kindle and the phone and tablets as well, just to show them:

Kindle:

“Input: 100-240V ~ 50/60 Hz 0.15A   Output: 5V ===1A.”

Generic phone/tablet USB charger – actually just one of the little $5 double-USB chargers you can pick up by the cash register at Walgreen’s:

“Input: 100-240V ~ 50/60Hz 0.2A,” “OUTPUT: 5.0V === 1150mA.” Of course, 1150mA is the same as 1.150A. But from experience, I can tell you I interchange that Kindle-specific USB charger with that generic charger all the time, and have never had a problem. 0.15A is obviously close enough to 0.2A, as is 1150mA to 1A.

So, all of my electronics will work fine in the Holy Land with just the Type C plug adapter, no need for a separate voltage adapter as long as the label on the power supply or charger has the standard "INPUT 100-240V ~ 50/60Hz" rating. The output is no problem -- that's what the power or supply or charger is for, to put out the correct "juice."

But here’s a question: What about plugging a surge protector/power strip such as this:

… (notice it has a grounded Type B plug and six sockets for the same) directly into the wall via the Type C plug adapter and just plugging all my electronics into that?

Here’s my final confession. I think I’ve done that before, in Italy. Nothing blew up. But, upon further thought – I would not do it again, and I definitely would not advise it. Look at the label on the back of the surge protector:

It’s hard to read, just being molded, raised lettering, black on black, but all it says is “15A 120VAC 60Hz.” Nothing about input vs. output. As I read it, it’s rated only for 120V @ 60Hz input, i.e., only for use in the US, Canada, Mexico … and Japan. The basic idea may be safe if you're using a power strip without the surge protector, but to be safe, if you have several items you may be wanting to plug in all at the same time in Israel, take several plug adapters and hope that your hotel room has several sockets available!

Here’s one last thing to note. The difference in frequency (50 vs. 60Hz), might do funny things to an electric alarm clock, because old-fashioned electric clocks keep time by using the frequency of the current. So if your alarm clock is keeping great time at home in the US based on the higher frequency 60Hz current, time is literally going to pass more slowly in the Holy Land ("For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday...") based on the lower frequency 50Hz current! … No it’s not, actually. You’re just going to end up being late to breakfast, or worse, missing your appointment!

Let me remind you before you go: USE ANY INFORMATION YOU HAVE FOUND HERE AT YOUR OWN RISK. I ADMIT AND ASSUME NO LIABILITY WHATSOEVER IF YOU DO ANYTHING I SAY HERE AND BAD THINGS HAPPEN!

(I'm confident that everything I have written here is correct, but in today's hyper-litigious climate, one can never be too safe....)