US water-pik system--should I bother bringing it to the UK?

First of all, I must say WOW to Paul's info on electronics! 

Anyway, should I bother bringing my US water-pik over and using it with an adapter or will it just blow up?

I bought a travel one that runs on batteries.

First of all, I must say WOW to Paul's info on electronics! 

 

Anyway, should I bother bringing my US water-pik over and using it with an adapter or will it just blow up?

Which particular product is it?   

I will have that infor for you a little bit later today, Paul!

Which particular product is it?

It's a Waterpik  model#  WP-40W

I can't find the WP-40W specifically, but looking at the current range of similar products, it appears that they employ a separate 6V DC power supply.  Is this what you have -- A seprate little black power unit which plugs into the wall?   

If this is the case, then it will work here just fine.  You could either plug the existing power unit into a 240-to-120V transformer, or obtain a replacement power unit which converts directly to the 6V DC (or whatever your specific model uses).

A seprate little black power unit which plugs into the wall?

I don't think it has anything black at all.  It looks very much like this one:

http://www.waterpik.com/graphics/wti_graphic/149_72PPI.jpg

http://www.waterpik.com/products/SpecDisplay.do?prdNbr=132

I guess the one I have has been discontinued.

Could be that yours has an integral supply then.  They might use that in conjunction with a small D.C. motor in either the base unit or the handheld part, or they might use an A.C. pump motor in the base unit. 

Either way, connecting via a 240-120 stepdown transformer would be effective.  If it's a synchronous A.C. motor though, it will run a little slower due to the different U.K. supply frequency though.

Ok, thanks Paul.  It does say a.c. on the bottom of the unit.  If it runs a little slower though, the pressure of the water may not be sufficient to do the job.  I may just give it away (after sterilizing the attachments!) and get a new one in the UK.

It does say a.c. on the bottom of the unit. 

That doesn't necessarily mean that the motor is A.C., just that the supply needed is A.C.   It could convert down to D.C. inside.   Without taking the cover off and having a look, I couldn't say for sure.   What does the tag on the bottom say about frequency?   Is it just 120V 60Hz or does it say something like 50/60Hz? 

This is what it says on the bottom of the unit:

120V  a.c. ONLY
60Hz  39W

If you think it will run slower in the UK, I won't bother because, like I said--slower=less water pressure=not effective enough for my needs.

Thanks for the specs.    Unfortunately there's nothing there to suggest the motor type, so it may well be a synchronous motor which would run slow on 50Hz.

I've just sent a quick e-mail inquiry to Waterpik tech support asking the type of motor in the WP-40W.  I'll let you know when I get a reply.

get a new one in the UK.

i don't think we have them here, do we?
I've never seen one... 

I'm surprised to see those coming out again.  I was pretty sure that it was proven quite clearly in the 80s that while they sound like a good idea, they actually end up driving stuff further into the gums and creating higher risk of infection rather than cleaning.  I don't remember all the specifics, but I do remember that they fell quickly out of favor when I was young b/c they were found to be bad for teeth and gums.

Paul--thank you!

Q-G--yeah, I have never seen them in the UK either...

Cadenza--Ahhh, I didn't want to hear that!  My dentist reccommended I use it he says he "is in love" with his. 

I usually floss, then brush, then waterpik.  I put grapefruit seed extract (a natural anti-bacterial) in the water, though my hygienist said to use bleach  !!