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I have a UK standard Thinkpad t440s; that is, it has a power cable with the UK 3 prong power plug. Since I am currently living in Japan the power plug is not compatible and using an adapter would be rather bulky. Therefore I opted to buy a Japanese standard 2 prong power cable (from the plug to the power adapter).

After I bought it I realised that of course the cable offers different Amp Voltage than the UK one; and I wanted to double check it doesn’t damage my power adapter and in turn my laptop before I use it.

The UK cable allows 250V and 2.5Amps to pass through it whilst the Japanese cable allows 125V and 7Amps to pass through it. The Lenovo AC power adapter itself says it has 100-250V ~1.5A input. (I took photos of all information I stated).

To confirm it is should be safe to use the Japanese cable right? Let me know if you need any more information. Thanks in advance!

Japanese power cable: Japanese power cable

UK power cable: UK power cable

Lenovo AC power adapter: Lenovo AC power adapter

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This cable will work just fine.

The voltage is lower so it is not going to damage the cable. The current draw of the power supply is lower then the rated current of the cable (ie it will only draw a maximum of 1.5 amp), so its fine.

Problems could arise in the following cases (which don't apply)

  • Theoretically, if you were using a cable rated at 120 volts in a 250 volt wall receptacle. It could burn through the insulation. In practice this would not be an issue because the insulation would withstand way higher voltages.
  • The current drawn by the power supply was greater then the cable was rated at. This would cause the cable to heat up and could melt insulation and/or cause a fire hazard.
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  • yeah, the 4.5 amps on your power supply is at 20 volts. That only translates to 90 watts, whereas 2.5 amps at 250 volts is 625 watts. In other words, you're only using 14% of the power that wire is capable of providing
    – Blaine
    Commented May 20, 2017 at 3:06

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