About The 220 Volts...

[i am bob]

Well, in the US you can buy a cheap tester that senses the electricity in a single wire with a small light. I assume there is similar in Manila.

However, Mr. I-have-done-ac-work-for 25-years, Any modern digital tester which uses color coded leads (1 red 1 black) AND if hooked up into the correct plug ins (if detachable) (black into the common plug in) if you test and the wires are not on the correct ones, a NEGATIVE (-) sign appears. If you reverse the testing to the other wires, then no negative sign appears. The red lead is now touching the hot wire.

If you have the cheap non digital meter, same thing. If the red lead is on the neutral, then the meter goes to the LEFT, reverse the leads and the meter reads normally. Then you know which lead is hot. ALSO many Pinoys wire the switches to break the neutral instead of the HOT wire based on misapplied amp draw logic for the switch.

No need to thank me, as if you kill yourself by accident, that means 1 less person who reasonably tolerates me! :hystery: So I would rather you not kill yourself!

Bruce! Don't touch that wire! Nnnoooooooo!!!!

Seriously, Bruce, you were asleep when you answered this one, weren't you... Let's see... 220v ac... 220 volts... ac... ac... Alternating current... Positive... Negative... Positive... Negative... Hmmmm... Tell me again how you peg your meter with ac? Hehe! :)

[i am bob]

Ok, I wasn't sure where to put this. So this might be a good enough sub-forum?

I have done A/C work the last 25 years and am comfortable around electrical - having worked single and 3 phase, 110, 220, 460, and even frequency drives that bast---ize 460/3 AC into some Frankenstein variable DC.

I am renting a small house and will not be doing a lot of work on it. My girlfriend already said that she wants to move at the end of our 1 year lease. But I am confused about our electrical system. Her uncle is an electrician at the local school so I almost trust his work (just almost...) I asked him when we got here if the 220 was one 220 and a neutral or two 110's. He said 220 and neutral. But we have no conduit and no ground so I can never tell which is the hot or neutral.

One of the things that bothers me about the PI electrical (out here in Oton, anyway) is no ground. And there is not a single breaker in the house. The hot leg goes into the top of a knife switch and is jumped between the two lugs. (he says that gives us 2 circuits, but you notice I said knife switch and not breaker) All the hots are jumped higgledy-piggledy from those 2 hots (the same wire still). It really just looks like a bunch of extension cords to me - and they have never heard of wire nuts, it is all twisted and taped.

So is that the common practice here? If this were my house house I would rip it all out and start over. If I ever build my own house I will have to use a breaker box, a ground and a real 220 system ha ha :tiphat:

He didn't lie... Power in the Philippines is suppose to be 220v ac on one line with a neutral line replicating a return. And from some of the local Filipino construction workers here in Canada, praise the lord if you get both wires run throughout the house.

I would suggest getting yourself a nice long metal rod... One that is very conductive and drive that into the ground at least 4 feet and preferably 8 ft. Them run a wire from all the switches and outlets (neutral terminal only) and connect this securely to the pipe. Don't forget to check after for continuity and, more importantly, that you actually have a good ground! And, as you still don't have any fuses out ccb's in the circuit, head to your local computer shop and grab a couple power bars to plug everything into. Just make sure the one you get have surge protection or at least a CCB. This is probably going to save your derriere some enchanted evening - or at least let you say you are serious about not smoking.

[Bruce]

Bruce! Don't touch that wire! Nnnoooooooo!!!!

 

They do not call me Uncle Fester for nothing!

 

But Bob! Read my post again. I used (NEGATIVE sign) as in (-).  Not as a Positive / Negative as in DC voltage.

 

A HIGH END digital meter, when measuring ac or dc and the wires are reversed, the meter (digital) produces a (-) sign and the voltage if the meter's red wire is on the neutral.  

 

Or like I said with an analog meter the meter pegs to the left is the leads are reversed.

 

So I can tell if a wire, of any color is 'hot or not'.  

 

My meter tests AC/DC, Amps, temperature, microfarads, thermocouples, CFMs and ohms as well as the ovulating cycle of an otter! :hystery:  

[i am bob]

Bruce! Don't touch that wire! Nnnoooooooo!!!!

They do not call me Uncle Fester for nothing!

But Bob! Read my post again. I used (NEGATIVE sign) as in (-). Not as a Positive / Negative as in DC voltage.

A HIGH END digital meter, when measuring ac or dc and the wires are reversed, the meter (digital) produces a (-) sign and the voltage if the meter's red wire is on the neutral.

Or like I said with an analog meter the meter pegs to the left is the leads are reversed.

So I can tell if a wire, of any color is 'hot or not'.

My meter tests AC/DC, Amps, temperature, microfarads, thermocouples, CFMs and ohms as well as the ovulating cycle of an otter! :hystery:

You gotta stop using that ovulating cycle! He he!

Let's use 120v ac 60 hz for an example... 60 times a second, that line is going to read 120v positive and 60 times in that second, it is going to be 120 volts negative. You need to have very good reaction times to read which one is happening at any given fraction of a second... :). If you rectify that voltage to a DC power or, at minimum, an ac signal that has the negative or positive side of the sine stripped away (pulsating or pdc), then the meter will work as you suggest. I'm thinking that this was your logic? Picking up the power for an a/c unit after rectification? I will give on a digital meter reading a positive but all that really means is that power is present. If you have a short to ground, everything will show as a positive. Except maybe the smoke... That's almost always a negative sign... :). If you are running 120v ac through a filtered stator at 270 degrees, your digital meter would still show the positive yet have a negative 40v pdc on the line. Certain transformers can short out and give you the similar results. Not good if the meter says negative (open) but the short really is giving a lower value positive (hot line) - and someone touches that line.

Very easy how I learned all about this. Imagine Bob sitting in a chair with smoke coming from his ears and his boots...

[Bruce]

Very easy how I learned all about this. Imagine Bob sitting in a chair with smoke coming from his ears and his boots...

 

Yes kids, this was a rather dark period in Bob's childhood when he wondered if it was possible to 'break a 'bo*er'. :unsure:  Poor Bob spend several months in a cast. While other kids were out playing and having fun during the 5 1/2 days of Canada's summer time, Bob was busy watching Dr. Who on the TV and reading books on electromagnetic theory.

 

The result is the man you see today! :541:

 

OK, I concede the point! Your parents got every penny's worth of your edumacation. However, 'I' can still tell a hot wire from a neutral wire WITHOUT harming the family cat. :hystery:  

[i am bob]

Very easy how I learned all about this. Imagine Bob sitting in a chair with smoke coming from his ears and his boots...

Yes kids, this was a rather dark period in Bob's childhood when he wondered if it was possible to 'break a 'bo*er'. :unsure: Poor Bob spend several months in a cast. While other kids were out playing and having fun during the 5 1/2 days of Canada's summer time, Bob was busy watching Dr. Who on the TV and reading books on electromagnetic theory.

The result is the man you see today! :541:

OK, I concede the point! Your parents got every penny's worth of your edumacation. However, 'I' can still tell a hot wire from a neutral wire WITHOUT harming the family cat. :hystery:

C'mon Bruce! I want to see you with your meter playing with some of the old aircraft I had to play with... I'll bet you'd not only melt your reading glasses but have Fluffy walking around naked while the smell of burnt cat hair wafts by... Hehe!

And I have to take exception to that Doctor Who comment... The latest young lady to play on the show can grab my attention any time she wants! OK, maybe not when a certain young Special Someone walks by... :)

[Dave Hounddriver]

You should really ask your power company what they are providing to you or get out there with a meter and test it.  There are many power companies across the Philippines.  Some (like certain areas of Cebu) provide 3 phase power to get your 220.  Others have one hot wire with 220 in it and the return is to the ground.  That latter is the kind I have and it means occasional shocks as it is a far from perfect system.  Still other people get their own power pole and transformer and supply whatever power they want.  You have to buy it and the power company will set it up for you but some I know have real nice systems that they draw 110 or 220 off because they bought their own power pole transformer.

[Americano]

Since there are several things in the Philippines that greatly increases a person's chance of receiving a sever shock everyone needs an AC Volt Meter or a Multimeter and learn how to use it. Multimeters are sold in Ace Hardware which is in the SM Mall in Cebu City and in Citi Hardware which are in many cities and in other hardware stores. Multimeters are not expensive and they are easy to use. Then you can check all of your AAA, AA, C and D batteries so you will know which ones to keep and which ones to throw away. And, hopefully by using it you will receive fewer electrical shocks. I haven't heard of anyone who has lived in the Philippines a while who hasn't been shocked. Usually the shocks are not life threatening, they just remind you that you are still alive. I have received minor shocks several times but what scared me the most is when I heard a loud pop and saw a fire ball come from the shielded cable going to my TV antenna which was on the roof. The shielded cable should have been grounded but not in the Philippines where anything can happen, that's why you need to test everything yourself. Don't depend on another person for your safety.

[brock]

Our neighbor,A young girl aged 21 was Electrocuted and killed just last week, The electrics in the Philippines scares me to death, And the kids just do not realize the danger.

[Americano]

I worked in electronics most of my life so I know the dangers of electrical shock in the Philippines but I have still received a few minor shocks. Expect anything and everything that uses 220V to shock you if you touch it while being plugged in.

 

The girl's family can't sue anyone for her death. Being electrocuted is just a way of life in the Philippines. She just wasn't lucky that day is the way most will look at her death.