Who Let the Smoke Out?

The other day I bought two twin airbeds for our guests who arrive tomorrow. Brandon and I decided to blow one up to see how they look.

These airbeds have a built in inflation fan that runs on a rechargeable battery. Unfortunately, they will not work until they are charged. We had hoped they while charging...no!

We were anxious to get the first one inflated, so we decided on plan B, Katrina's hair dryer. Good plan. I've used it to inflate air mattresses before. Her hair dryer has an air setting, so it won't get hot. No worries.

Unfortunately, there was a bad part to the plan. Brandon ran into the bathroom to get the hair dryer. He didn't grab Katrina's normal hair dryer or her travel hair dryer, both of which are kept conveniently in a drawer. No, that would be too easy. He grabbed her American hair dryer, found an adapter plug for it and brought it to me. I didn't realize this.

He plugged it in, turned it on and poof....a small cloud of black smoke and a loud and deep pop...say goodbye to American hair dryer.

When you plug a 110v appliance into a 220v outlet, you let the smoke out of the appliance. Everyone who has worked with electronics knows that smoke is the magic ingredient that makes all electrical items work. And, if you let the smoke out, they no longer work!!

I guess we owe Katrina a new hair dryer when we return to the US.