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A biggie is to blow out the microwave control board,
A biggie is to blow out the microwave control board,
Yep - been there done that - in the US - $138 parts - and my labor learned watching You Tube - not an easy fix on a built in unit - but where would we get parts if it happened in Mexico?
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Any idea how often you have to pound in the rebar for a ground?
Any idea how often you have to pound in the rebar for a ground?
Not very often because I can usually find some way to ground - I do have a 4 foot smooth metal rod (not rebar) that I can get in and out easily but it is probably not the best ground though better than nothing - and yes water is added - I limit power use when ground may not be adequate.
I am not a trained electrician though I did work with electricians and have studied electricity and household wiring quite a bit over the past 50 years - and also back 50 years ago I was trained as an electronics technician with very intense 6 months by the US Navy. Meaning I do have some understanding of electricity but am by no means an expert or really qualified to give a lot of advice. I always suggest further research and training to anyone who wants to mess around with electricity. The point of my post was to let people know there can be problems with electricity no matter where you go - this based on the survey or poll done on the referenced website - the guy who does that writes a lot of stuff about all of this and people can learn more by linking to a whole series of articles he has done. I only add my two cents because we have some experience with how things work for RVers in Mexico which can be different than the US experience.
http://www.briansue2.blogspot.com
http://noshockzone.org/category/rv-safety/
UPDATE: This book is now available in paperback as well as Kindle formats. Order it in paperback for $14.95 at http://www.amazon.com/No~Shock~Zone-Electrical-Safety-Michael-Sokol/dp/0990527913/ref=tmm_pap_title_0
Using an ORG website.
Fascinating.
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Mighty assuming personality to peddle a book
Mighty assuming personality to peddle a book
Much of it can be found for free on his website.
http://rvtravel.com/campground-power-pedestal-testing-part-2-with-reader-poll/
es.scribd.com/doc/3257650/normas-de-medicion-actualizado-cfe
navegator
Quote:
Comicion Federal de Electricidad and shows how they wire, this is for all of Mexico.
Comicion Federal de Electricidad and shows how they wire, this is for all of Mexico.
Fully understood that there is a code in Mexico - just as there is in the US - and Canada. There is probably another book that shows how each building should be wired with complete written specifications. The problem in each country is that not all wiring is done by professionals or up to code. I have seen far too many improperly wired RV parks. Even the wiring shown in this book can be done improperly. In one of my previous posts I mentioned they replaced an old 70 amp breaker with a 200 amp breaker. The 70 amp was the correct breaker for the size wire they used. When the put in the 200 amp they might as well have put in solid wire with no protection at all. The breaker no longer matters because it was way to large for the circuits it was supposed to be protecting. And this book shows the main entrance wiring but not each space wiring. We have seen wiring in pedestals in places where they do not use properly colored wires (sometimes we see all black wires or all white wires - no way to know which is which). Then they may have a ground wire at the entrance panel but do not run a ground wire from there to the pedestals. And improper gauge wire - too low - is common. Poor wiring in RV parks can happen just about anywhere - as the survey I posted clearly indicates.
If you read the entries on the website I posted be sure to read the comments by those who participated in the survey. You will find some written experiences posted by users.
As you can see from the diagrams, (sorry they are in PDF and I have no way of transferring them to this post) CFE's responsibility ends at the blade switch with old style fuses or today at the circuit backers of 30 amps, from then on it is the clients responsibility to wire the structure, color code is not followed at all, electric power is expensive and copper wire is also, therefore the installations are as cheap as possible, that is why you find the same color wires at the outlet boxes, they test the circuits with a light bulb a light socket and two wires, most houses have one light in the center of the room and one outlet on a wall, everything else is connected with extensions, why they do not have more fires is a mystery.
Comicion Federal de Electricidad uses white for bonded and ground, and black or green for the live one, even when they provide two wires with 120Vac each and a common the wires will be the same black color or green and white for bonded or ground, CFE does not care what the client does from the meter and disconnect/fuse box into the house or business, CFE employees are forbidden to enter a clients property!
You will not find pedestals as you do in the States, a house hold outlet along the wall is good enough.
For those of you travelling to Mexico, have voltage protector both for high and low, then have a conditioner for all of the electronic gadgets, TV, computer, printer, fax, phone chargers, ETC. and always check the outlets before you connect, just be aware that electricity will kill you, so please be careful.
Que pasen ustedes un buen dia.
navegator
http://rvtravel.com/campground-power-pedestal-testing-part-2-with-reader-poll/ . . .
You will read about how the Corp of Engineers campgrounds do not allow people to test outlets with meters. There are comments showing what people think about that. But the answer is simple and I have been posting about it for years - the Prime Products device for testing not only polarity and ground but gives a voltage readout - and is now available on Amazon.
As mentioned in the article - the COE does not want people sticking probes into outlets because bad things can happen when those who are not at least somewhat knowledgeable do this. Sparks can arc and other things happen. Arc can burn the contacts in the outlets making them unusable for others. On that there is also the long standing rule for plugging into or unplugging from a 50 amp pedestal - TURN IT OFF - the reason being the possibility of arc and burning contacts - as well as the prongs on your plug. I turn any and all pedestals off before plugging in if that option exists - it is not always an option - but arcing is the reason.
2005 Dodge Durango Hemi
2008 Funfinder 230DS
Living and Boondocking Mexico Blog