Thank you for all the info. I have never used google groups before so I hope I am replying to everyone. The outlets here in northern Peru receive rectangular blades, my camera charger from the US fits into them. I will try to take some photos and send them along tomorrow. All of the wire in the school is exposed. It just runs around the tops of the walls. No use of wire nuts here, just electrical tape...and sometimes just scotch tape. no use of grounds anywhere.
mike
If you've got the time, inclination, tools, and parts... rip it all out and do it right. Your work might serve as an inspiration to others (or snickers about the crazy Gringo).
Two voltage testers I would recommend are a no contact voltage tester, and a combination voltage/continuity tester.
This is a good all around tester and IMO the best kind for home use. It will test with a single probe, voltages from 120V - 600V without the need for ground or neutral. 60 bucks It will also tell you if you have a complete or open circuit.
I am not sure I would boldly go where you are going.
Good luck
On 2/3/2009 3:35 PM HeyBub spake thus:
I wouldn't.
Look at it this way: what you found there is probably typical of the way wiring is done in a good part of the country. So who are you to try to buck all that?
What would be reasonable to do would be to do the wiring that's needed and make it safer than the existing wiring: use wire nuts instead of just tape (and use tape too, but real electrical tape). Forget grounding. Check your work before powering on, make sure it's secured to the walls properly, and you'll have done a good job.
No need to try to impose gringo values on them.
By the way: you may think you're accessing this newsgroup through Google Groups, but you're actually posting to something called Usenet that predates Google by decades, going back almost to the original ARPANET. And keep in mind that Google has messed things up with their s***ty implementation, not to mention all the spam here that's posted through their "portal".
"That is true. Old wiring can last a long time. Disturbing it causes lots of problems. The less you have to mess with it, the better off you are.
The "american" style parallel rectangular blade plugs should NEVER be used on 220. Those are SPECIFICALLY 110/117 plugs.
By the way: you may think you're correct, but you're not. Either you think you're responding to the original poster (you're not) or you don't know how to read headers. From my post (to which you are responding)
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You'll note that my post was composed and sent via "Microsoft Outlook Express," which cannot access Google Groups. You'll also notice that the insertion point was
On another matter, that of "imposing Gringo values on them," that is what we are supposed to do. It is humanity's imperative to advance and it is America's role to lead. Whether it's Polio vaccine or Martha Stewart, they need to emulate us, they want to emulate us, they want to BE us.
On 2/4/2009 8:41 PM HeyBub spake thus:
I know how to read headers; somehow that was 'spozed to be a reply to the OP, not you, so I don't blame you for getting a mite tetchy there. Was trying to tell *him* ... nevermind.
On 2/2/2009 4:43 PM rmpodmore spake thus:
So, any news to report on your project?
That's not so -- in SE Asia (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia + ?) 220v electric outlets accept the same style (unpolarized) prongs as in the U.S., as I recall. In Hong Kong, especially in older buildings, outlets usually have adapters that allow many different plug configurations, including the U.S. style.
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