Wand speed controller - adapter by XR LLC - review by Sammi

Owners of the Hitachi Wand either love it or hate it. Those that love it rave over the strong vibrations, while those that hate it do so because the vibrations are too strong on either of its two settings. These Hitachis either end up at the bottom of the toy drawer while their owners either look for a variable speed wand or end up being used as a powerful back massager.

The Multi-Function Wand Controller can bring new life to your Hitachi Wand. This controller allows the Hitachi to produce steady vibrations in a wide range of strengths, from low to the mind-bendingly high that the Hitachi is known for.

The Controller comes in a simple cardboard box with some product information on the outside. No separate instructions are included, and the box can be used to store the Controller when it's not in use. The Controller is black on the sides and silver on the top and bottom. It consists of the control box attached on its bottom to a 6 foot grounded plug. On this side is also a grounded outlet to plug the Hitachi into. A nice bonus this gives you is an additional 6 feet of play from the outlet you’re plugged into.

On the top of the Controller is a knob labeled Fuse, which can be unscrewed if the fuse blows and needs to be replaced. The back of the unit has a silver clip that could be used as a hook to attach the Controller to a thin surface. A warning on the side notes not to use this with brushless type motors or soft/slow start routers.

Make sure the Controller’s switch is set to “Off”, and then simply plug the Hitachi into the Controller and the Controller into the wall.

The front of the Controller features a switch and a dial. The switch can be turned to Multifunction Off, Off, and Multifunction On. The Off setting, in the middle, turns the power off. Choosing Multifunction Off by pressing the button to the right and then turning the Hitachi on will allow the Hitachi to operate as it did without the Controller with its low and high settings only.

Pressing the button to the left activates Multifunction On. When this is pressed, the Hitachi can be turned on to either Low or High. Selecting each of these changes the vibration range that the Hitachi will run through. The dial can be turned about 3/4 of a circle through low, medium, and high ranges indicated by shades of purple around the dial. The lightest shade is for the low vibration area and the color darkens through the other two areas.

When the Hitachi is turned to Low and the Multifunction On is used, the vibrations at the low end of the dial start out significantly weaker than the Hitachi itself on low. The vibrations are rumbly and fairly gentle. When the dial is turned up to high, the vibrations gradually increase until they are about as strong as the Hitachi is on its low speed without the controller.

When the Hitachi is turned to High and Multifunction On is used, the vibrations are quite different. With the dial set to low, the vibrations are extremely low and quiet, much lower than with the Hitachi starting in the low setting. As the dial is turned to high, the vibrations increase until they are almost, but not quite, as strong as the Hitachi on full high by itself. The difference can is noticeable both in the strength of the vibrations and the pitch of the sound they make. It’s not a huge difference, but it is there.

The noise level, regardless of which speed you start your Hitachi on, is quite quiet when the Controller's dial is in the low range, and increases in volume until at the top of the high range it is no different than the Hitachi's normal, loud, volume.

This Controller box adds a great variety and range to the Hitachi’s vibrations and makes the Hitachi more versatile. Those who dislike the Hitachi because it is too intense will find that this device will give the Hitachi lower and less strong vibrations that can then be dialed up to (almost) the Hitachi’s immense power.

This Controller box truly is a wonder. I’d seen it before, and I honestly didn’t think it would work. It really does! Although I love my Hitachi, I’ve become more enamored of other wand massagers with their variable speed dials. With the Controller, now my somewhat neglected but still-loved Hitachi is getting more use. I like how this controller gives me a really low vibration level to start out with and lets me build up to the Hitachi’s standard speeds. It doesn’t take the Hitachi quite up to its full low and high speeds, but it’s close.

What I did find interesting was the difference in the lowest vibrations when turning the Hitachi on Low or High. Before using this, I didn’t expect a difference at all in the vibrations. I was surprised to find that with the Hitachi on High, the Low vibration offered through the Controller was so much lower than the Low when the Hitachi was set to Low itself. What the Controller is doing is adding a range from below the Hitachi level up to the Hitachi level. So, when it’s on Low, the range isn’t so much from the Controller’s Low to High, but when the Hitachi is on High, the range is much greater.

I haven’t blown the fuse in the Controller yet, but it looks like a standard sized fuse that is easy to replace. I imagine that other motored items, provided they don’t have the motor types listed in the warning, could be used with this, but I couldn’t think of anything else to try and plug in.