Beside the gizmo listed in a previous post is there any way to tell if your house is grounded effectively. Why is it that when you touch electronic equipment here barefoot , you get schocked? I thought if your equipment was grounded properly this would not happen? So i guess my question is - is this proof of poor grounding? Also I have one of the 220 to 110 transformers that I paid $15,000 pesos to contruct about 3 years ago as I was told that my 10k blaze inverter would only charge on pure 220. Since then the low voltage problem seems to have been solved in my area nigua/haina and this 100 lb monster is now unused. As was asked in an above post would it be wise to go back to running the power to the house through this and/or would this jack up the electricity bill? benefit vs cost? Another anectdote that I would like to add is that once I changed electricians, after about 2 years of constant problems with about everything electrical in the house, all of these problems suddenly dissappeared. Be suspicious of electricians who come to fix one problem and soon after problems seem to occur with more frequency, many of theses "tigres" now how to insure a constant income stream for themselves. You could say only use people you or your spouse if familiar with but these guys grew up with my wife
- Thread starter beeza
- Start date
Why electronic items do not last in this country
This is an excellent idea. I would suggest to those experiencing electronic equipment failure to spend the money to buy a few (1 per room where electronic appliances will be used) refurbished UPS systems and use this barrel method. A 2KVA or better UPS will protect your equipment from the surges and sags in line voltage and the battery size you need will depend on the frequency and duration of blackouts in your area.
All this talk of inverters, voltage reducers, etc. is making my head hurt. An uninterruptible power supply contains a rectifier which converts the incoming AC voltage into DC voltage which is used to charge the battery bank, a static switch which switches between rectifier output and battery power as the presence or lack of incoming line voltage is detected and an inverter which converts DC from the static switch supply source back into smoothed AC. The AC sine wave on the inverter output is much cleaner than that of the incoming power source.
I had to buy my Dad a UPS (2.2 KVA) when he was in Mexico just to keep from needing a new refrigerator condenser every couple of months as he suffered similar power interruptions and it paid for itself in the first year. UPS are much more efficient now as they employ MOSFET technology rather than the SCR's which were used back then (80's). The 2.2 KVA UPS will handle roughly the equivalent load of a single 20A service.
I would ship the battery pack (sealed, maint free) separate as that accounts for most of the weight of the thing in spite of the heavy duty coils used in construction.
Air conditioning is (as previously mentioned) a must if you're anywhere near the shore. The OP mentioned the "can" (electrolytic) capacitors being damaged but that was caused by the power surges. It's actually the (wafer) capacitors which appear round and flat which are devastated by sea air. You can actually see mold on some of them. An air conditioner or at the very least a dehumidifier in the room will take care of that.
The reason I suggest a refurbished UPS is to limit your loss if your 55 gal drum is the one that gets chosen for the "spot check". Most of the refurbished systems had problems during the infant mortality stage of initial use and were repair to "better than new" condition.
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Yes. You thought correctly. The best way to analyze the effectiveness of your household electrical ground is check between a driven ground stake of at least 6' depth and the "ground" (bare copper wire) in your electrical junction box with a microohmeter (with the main open, of course). If you have a metal cold water input pipe then that will do as the test ground. If you have plastic water in/ sewage out pipes then you'll need find another source for your household ground to connect to.
Fundamentals of Electricity
The next step is to make sure that the ground wire (green) for each circuit is connected at bothe ends and at every series outlet. A visual inspection should determine this and if there's bo break in the wall then there should be no break in the wire.
Seriously, do they have any licensed and bonded electricians there?
Ran black and white for all circuits in a house in esperanza for a friend of mine had to buy out 2 hardware stores. this was to run 3 circuits. No green to be found! pulled about 6 different colors.
Im still laughing about the licensed electrician, let alone BONDED
