You know what makes appliances and other electric items work, right? It’s magic smoke that is put inside by the manufacturer. Have you ever had a small appliance that you plugged into the wall outlet and a puff of smoke came out? If so, did you notice that the item didn’t work after the smoke came out? Well, you see, the manufacturer puts that smoke in, and if it escapes, the item is trash! It’s the smoke that makes it work! If the smoke escapes, you might as well trash the appliance!
Well, that’s an old joke. Of course, the smoke is not put inside by the manufacturer, the smoke is produced when there is a short circuit, or when too high of a voltage is fed to the appliance. Dave Starr has an interesting article about this on his blog from a few days ago. When I read that article that Dave wrote, it reminded me of my experience with bringing American appliances to the Philippines when we moved here.
You see, when Feyma and I moved to the Philippines in 2000, we brought almost all of our worldly goods with us from the States. A few things we left behind – either by selling it or giving it away – but most items were loaded into a container and shipped to the Philippines, to our new home. Of course, this included a lot of 110 Volt appliances from the United States. The voltage for almost everything in the States is 110V. Here in the Philippines the voltage at your house is 220V, or roughly double of the nominal voltage in the States. It’s OK, there are also step-down transformers readily available here. You simply plug the transformer into the wall outlet, and it converts the voltage to 110V, so that your American appliances can be used here. It’s that simple!
Well, let me change that…. it’s actually not simple at all. Over the course of time, you will invariably find that the item will accidently get plugged into the wrong voltage. Suddenly you plug in that toaster and a puff of magic smoke escapes, rendering your toaster useless! Believe me, no matter how hard you try, it happens. If you don’t do it, your maid will! And believe me, the maid will do it all the time!
What can you do? Well, items that get “fried” from the wrong voltage can be taken for repair – the transformer inside the item will be rewound, and the item will work again. You can even have the transformer rewound in a way that the item will work on 220V instead of 110!
Over the years, pretty much all of my electronic items around the house have been fried… some have been fried multiple times! We are almost completely converted to 220V appliances now, having had things rewound for 220V, or simply replacing them with new appliances purchased here in the Philippines over the years.
I do have one tip for you, though. If you bring 110V appliances with you when you move to the Philippines, go to the hardware store and purchase a can of red spray paint. That red spray paint will fix the problem. How? Spray the plug red on the end of the cord of every 110V item that you own. That way, it’s a reminder to the person who goes to plug the item in. Red = Danger. So, the message is: “Hey, danger. Think before you plug this cord into the wall!”
Personally, if I were moving here again, I probably would not bring any 110V appliances with me, I’d just buy new stuff here. Because eventually, your stuff will get fried!
photo credit: j / f / photos
Hi Bob, yup, the sound of something popping and then the smell of something burning gets to you. Luckily most newer appliances have built in transformers now. Dont forget the difference in Hz as well, which Dave Starr explained very well in his site. We noticed that more in smaller gizmos like the electric shaver = the motor was running very fast, loud and the shaver was actually vibrating hard. Scary thing.. 😀
Some houses here have dual plugs – one for 110v and the other 220. All 220v are round and all 110 are flat. So if you buy a 220v appliance with a flat plug, just change that to round. If it gets plugged in by mistake to the 110v plug, it doesn't really matter.
Ellen
I did the same thing on a toaster.The very last minute before the plug went in the 220 socket I knew it was wrong but I was commited to going in so too late. Kinda reminds me of my tennage days with girls LOL. I also brought transformers with me and they have been vital to my appliances health. I just write 110v on the top of all my 110v appliances and it seems to be working. I agree that NOW you can find most things you need in the Philippines but I think it is only recently. Most of what I found in SM or other places a few years ago was junk and expensive junk at that. Now youcan find good stuff in the stores. In any event compromising a little has not be so bad.
Hi Ellen – Generally the difference in frequency (hertz) is not a big concern, except on certain types of items that use the frequency as a "clock" function. Most electric shavers these days are multi-voltage, but it sounds like you have one that is not.
It's funny, because our house has dual voltage plugs, but they are the opposite. The round plugs are 110V, and the flat ones are 220V! Ha ha… I always wondered about that! 😆
And also, don't forget light bulbs. Probably nobody will pack light bulbs into those Balikbayan boxes … but if somebody does, we want them! We have 110v light bulbs in the boat, and cannot find any replacements here!!
Ellen
Hi Richard Wicky – Yes, it's true. Until recent years you would have a hard time getting a decent selection of appliances here. It still is not perfect, but getting much better. And, things like this are generally much more expensive than back in the States.
Hi Ellen – Wow, that's quite interesting! I didn't think about it, but since your boat is from North America, it makes sense that it would have 110V light bulbs! What a pain for you now, though! It would seem like a sailboat like that should have some provision for going multi-voltage, since the boat is quite likely to sail to countries all around the world!
Hmmm, you are making me think again. I have to go back and check my parents' house to see the set-up there. This may be off-topic but is your house grounded? I noticed that it is not here. I had to get the electrician to run a wire out to ground the fridge and stove.
Hi Ellen – Ha ha… you are already a westerner, Ellen! 😆 No, our house is not grounded, I don't think many houses in the Philippine are. This is always a topic of debate on forums about the Philippines and life here. It seems to work, though! 😆
light bulbs – you are right, we have a stepdown transformer, in fact, Fiji was the first country we've been to that we can buy the transformer.
Most of our lights are 12v, but we need the replacement bulbs for our shop lights. When we are on the hard, we set up shop outside for doing carpentry work, etc.
Grounding – scary, especially when I see a lot of thunderstorms here 😀
Hi Ellen – That's true – when you are in the tropics there is plenty of "electricity in the air" – almost every day those thunderstorms kick up! 😆
Bob
Good part of using 220v in the RP is your wires can be smaller since you use half as many amps to deliver the same watts. Your 120 watt bulb there will only draw .5 amps while the 120 watt bulb here will draw 1 amp. When I do my move to the RP the present plan to get new appliances for most things that use 120volt. Most desktop computer and monitors can be changed from 120v to 220 by changing the position of the switch in the back. Many laptops can use both 120 and 220 just make sure you check the tag on your power supply. I read that 220 to 120 transformers use electricity even when nothing is plugged into them. With the price of electricity in the RP this does not look like a good option. I know as forgettable as I am if I take all our 120v appliances to the RP I would be letting out smoke very often.
Hi Larry – Good points there! Yes, almost all desktop PC's have a switch to select the voltage, and almost all laptops now run on any voltage that you might find.
You are exactly correct too…. the transformers use electricity whether the item is being operated or not. One way to confirm this is that the transformer will always be hot. The heat is generated by the electricity being used. Unfortunately, these step down transformers are very inefficient.
Hi
Thanks Bob for the really simple tip of changing the color of the plug. So far been lucky, only have a sewing machine I bought here that needs a transformer but I keep it plugged together. Hopefully that will work.
Richard, need to explain that "last second" thing. In Science there is a Nano Second, It is a really scientific 1 Billionth of a second. In my life it is an "oh no" second. It is that last bit where you have committed yourself to doing something stupid, too late to stop, and just in time to realise you have done something dumb. Can apply to any area of your life, quite versitile like that really.Like when you make a big pot of stock and carefully strain in – over the sink… the bowl you intended to use is in plain sight… you know the type of thing; Works well with any application of super glue too.
The only thing I still have a problem with is that the plugs are "live" we have an on/off switch and here pulling a plug out of a live socket still gives me the willies. Ok and my bathroom light that "leaks" if you get up in the dark there is a small flicker of light that hovers there.
What I do really like is our light switches, they have a green and red indicator in them, and you can see where the switch is in the dark. Also know when it is switched off when you replace a globe. Never seen these before and really impresses me.
Hi Carolynn – Good luck with that sewing machine – I hope you can keep the magic smoke inside! 😆
We don't have light switches like you mention with the red or green indicators. That does sound good, though!
If you are living in the Philippines I would buy 220 v appliances. If you plan on traveling between the Philippines and the U.S. I buy things that are multi-voltage. Some work from 90 – 240v like my Norelco shaver.
Even so I have let the Genie out of a couple of electric items! 😀
Mark C.
lol thats a good one bob i am just putting together a balikbayan box for my wife and i thought because i am sending her some sensitive electronics to be sure they are all 220 compatable many items here are now in the PC world anyway like you say … its inevitable someone will plug that in 😆
Hi Mark C. – the genies can be kind of hard to control! I think one of the least a time or two.
I agree with you, for traveling back and forth, for small appliances that you bring with you, great to buy the ones that are multi-voltage. For something like a toaster or a blender or a TV set, just get the 220 unit. I don't see many people bring a TV set on the plane with them! 😆
Hi Tommy – Yep, it happens regularly. At least it happened regularly for us until all of our 110 appliances were gone anyway. 😆
Hi Bob – One thing I looked for when purchasing a laptop a few years ago was voltage/frequency requirements for "plugging into the mains." Settled on a Sony VAIO – it uses an AC adapter with an input from 100 to 240 VAC, 50 to 60 Hz. 😉
Think more manufacturers are following suit now. The must have run out of magic smoke (or couldn't get EPA clearance to handle it!) 😆
Hi Paul – Yes, I think that magic smoke may be on the EPA hit list! I hope they eliminate it anyway! So, really "going green" may include using multi voltage equipment, as you will undoubtedly cut back on the amount of magic smoke entering the earth's environment! 😆
It's become easier in the recent years. I've found that gadgets nowadays work ok in both countries. Especially since a lot of them work within the 110-240 range.
Travel essentials like the cellphone charger & laptop are not a problem. I used them there daily.
But the less sophisticated items like my lightbox (for work) might not work. The magic smoke made an appearance but it got fixed & converted in no time.
I find that there is less of a reason to bulky appliances overseas & fall in that trap. Most of the essentials can be bought in the region.
The story with the househelp wecking the appliances is such a true story. Every OFW, expat & pinoy balikbayan has at LEAST one story like that.
By the way, I have to mention the plugs. Some foreign appliances have different prongs to plug into. For example, the US sometimes have that 3rd prong that will not fit there in many cases.
Macky, that 3rd. round prong is “ground” in US.
Hi macky – Yes, the househelp should be kept away from all electronics! There should be a law about that! Of course, Feyma will tell you that the househelp also regularly break expensive china and such, so whenever it's a special occasion, and the good dishes need to be washed, Feyma does it herself to avoid further breakage!
Hi Bob- I always felt that if I was to move to RP, that I would pretty much sell everything I owned here, and buy evrything new in RP. I think the larger furniture items are much cheaper to buy there and you would save the shipping cost, so if some things are a little more expensive there, I would still be in front, and all appliances would be correct voltage.
A case in point, I recently bought a new 6 seat dining setting which is nothing too fancy and it cost $1200AUD.
I cant imagine a similar setting in RP cost in excess of 50,000 pesos?
What is your opinion?
i paid 24,000 peso for a beautiful hand crafted mahogany table with eight chairs custom made for me by a one eyed cabinetmaker, i am also a cabinetmaker but there is no way i could bother with the fine detailed carvings and spiral legs on the table and backs of the chairs… included a glass 1/4 inch top… very nice…
I forgot to mention also that in Aus our voltage is 240v so almost all our appliances work fine in RP with just a little adjustment of the plug points with a pair of pliers 😉
Bob wy wife and i are here in Davao and are moving to Samal in a month or two,can you recomend a place to buy vitamins as the malls are priced out of the market.Thank you Jim.
hi bob,
Philippine electrical system is based on 2-wires only, the hot-wire and the neutral, the neutral is already a zero-volt and is already grounded, therefore there's no need to use an extra grounding, as a matter of fact, if you will look at your own breaker box, the neutral wire coming from the drop service wire is actually a ground wire coming from the pole, so having another "extra" ground wire will serve no purpose.
in some houses where owner wants to have an extra ground wire, it is also tapped to the same circuit where the neutral wire is, in my opinion, having an "extra" ground wire is redundant and is nothing but an extra cost of money.
again, this is an example of, "this is how things are in the philippines" ,having a ground wire in the states and some other countries are the norms because that is how they are designed for, but in the philippines, our electrical system is designed differently.
Hi Bob,My wife and i are in Davao and will be moving to Samal in a month or two.Can you recomend a place to buy vitamins besides the malls.Thank you Jim
Coming from the UK every electrical item I have is 220v and so far I have never had a probem
Thanks Dan for clarifying how it is done here. Actually in my case, whenever I touch my fridge and/or electric stove, I feel some electric current on my finger tips. So I had them both wired to the outside and connected it to a metal tube spiked into the soil. That took care of the electrical current. I don't know what caused it – faulty wiring? Whatever it is , it is gone now and I am safe again. 😀
ps I almost got electrocuted once when I was cooking – touching the stainless steel pot with wet hands. So, I am quite paranoid already.
Hi Dans,
the purpose of the extra ground wire is safety. Since electricity always takes the shortest path to ground, it makes sense to ground your house. This prevents having to use the long distance ground provided by the power provider. Also the cost is minimal, esp. compared to the potential damage that could occur to yourself and electrical equipment.
Hi anthony – Personally, I would bring my stuff with me. In your case, even the electrical items should work, because your voltage is the same, or close enough to the voltage here. On other items like furniture and such, you may find it difficult to find items of the quality you desire here. I know that for Feyma and I, we are really happy to have our US furniture here.
Hi dans – I am not an electrician, so I don't know for sure on this, but what you describe is not the same as I have been told. AC, being alternating current, to me would mean that each wire would have voltage on it at one time or another, and it will alternate. However, as I said, I am not trained in this area, so I don't know. I will say that, as Ellen described, I have been shocked by things like computer cases here, so that would not seem like a good thing.
Hi john – You Brits are always a little bit of problem, though John! 😆 just joking!
Hi Ellen – Like you, I have experienced some minor shocks when touching things like the fridge and such, so I personally believe that a ground would be beneficial here.
Hi Hudson – Good point!
hi bob,
if your electrical wiring in your house is properly done, you should not have a current coming from the neutral wires, the problem is, a lot of houses in the philippines has a bad installation of electrical wiirings.
hi hudson,
i know what a ground is, i am into digital/analog electronic and electrical field, what i am trying to clarify is, the neutral wire in the philippine is the ground itself, i.e. there should be no current flowing through it IF your house is properly wired. if your neutral wire has a current flowing, you might need to consult a certified electrician to have it checked.
the electrical system in the philippines is based on 2-wires system and the need of grounding is not necessary, the only thing you might need the grounding for is for lightning stirkes or if the house is suffering from bad wirings. but generally, the neutral wire should not have any current.
one thing that i want to add, if you are experiencing a current from the neutral wires, you might have an appliance that is creating it particularly those with a grounding probe, it basically creates a ground loop within your house, instead of dissipating it outside via the neutral wires it only loops back inside your house.
Hi dans – Thanks for that info, dans.
Hi jim – there are two places that I was going to recommend, but they are both in SM City, and you said you didn't want to include the malls. Those are GNC and Healthy Options in SM. Sorry, I don't know of any non-mall places to buy vitamins.
here's a good read from an american electrician living in the philippines, he explained it in more detail than i could. (i just don't have time to explain it well)
http://retireinthephilippines.com/2008/03/02/elec…
Hi Bob:
Thant's an easy one for me & Jo. We will not be relocating there, but rather winter in the RP and in late spring, summer & fall here. So we will buy what we need when we are there and not bring things over. The RP does not have changing fall foliage and good hunting is nonexistent. Unless of course you want to go after those raucous roosters, pugnacious piglets and squealing swine!!! However you neighbors might not appreciate that. Oh well they can't have everything,,,,,,,,,,, and neither can you.
Hi Wayne A. Derby – We all have to make our choices. Congratulations on making yours!
Universal use of electrical and electronic equipment has been somewhat of on going thing for many years. In addition to the difference in voltage the mains frequency also comes into play especially when dealing with frequency sensitive motors ( synchronous motors ). Electric clocks were not worth bothering with but more sophisticated items like older style Tape Recorders, Record playing equipment such as turntable and record changers had " adapter Kits " for use with different mains frequencies, the most popular are 50 Hz and 60 hz. The easiest and most common conversion was a different size pulley on the output of the motor that would make the equipment run properly at the desired mains frequency.
Using nearly any inductive load ( such as a transformer or motor ) at a frequency other than what it is designed for will often make it run hotter. Transformers designed for 50 Hz use have more laminations in them ( metal plaes ) than those designed for 60 Hz or higher frequencise such as 400 Hz.
A few years ago I brought home to New York a couple of Turntables that were designed for the UK market. I was able to get 60Hz Pulleys so they would play the correct speed here on 60 Hz,
Many people do not realize that most USA homes have both 120 And 240 volts. This is a " Differential " 240 V where one side of the line at an instant in time is at -120 V and the other is +120 V, with the difference between the two at 240 V. This is primarily used in the USA for large loads such as electric hot water heaters, large air conditioning units and central air units etc. Also Electric Clothes driers, Electric stoves etc. I like the hot water kettles I have seen in the UK and usually bring a couple home with me. I use the " Differential 240 V " in my house to run my UK Kettles and a few other things I have brought back from there. In the UK and as in the Philippines the 240 volts is on one prong of the plug and Neutral on the other so it is a different form of 240 V than found in American Homes.
Another consideration as to where to buy your equipment, appliances etc. if you read the manufacturers fine print in the warranty the warranty is ONLY valid in the country where the item was originally purchased.
Fortunately advancements in voltage conversion in lower power applications such as small battery chargers, electric shavers etc. now we have solid state devices that can instntly recognise most world voltages and frequencies and instantly adapt to them so your cam corder, laptop, shaver etc can be " smoke Free ". I used to lug a 100 w stepdown with me when I went to the UK. I dont have to do that any more.
When I found out what kind of mains plugs are commonly used in the Philippines I was a bit surprised myself that they were nearly identical to a 2 prong outlet here.
From an electrical theory and technical viewpoint, the Philippines has the best possible combination of voltage and frequency for their mains supply, 240 V @ 60 Hz is a great combination !
I was fascinated in looking at what are to me, " Foriegn " electrical goods and appliances when I recently visited Iligan City and Cagayan De Oro. I enjoy the same when I have been in the UK. As I have mentioned many times I do not consider myself the typical tourist.
One piece of advice I would pass along to anyone in the market for buying a stepdown transformer, buy a Larger capacity than what you require at the time you buy it. Need only a 100 watter ? then buy at least one with 150 or more capacity. Know the difference in an " autotransformer " and an Isoltion Transformer although they will both do the stepdown job, an isolation transformer may offer more safety from electrical shock.
If I were to move to the Philippines, I would buy all new things there as far as major appliances go and only bring with me things that had a Universal power supply or something that I could not possibly buy there.
Hi Bob New York – Wow, you have a lot of information there. Thanks for sharing.
Bob,
First about Dans comment. Here a lot of homes have 2 wire system. I even discussed this with an Electrical Engineer I know.They both are 110V with no Ground. You get 2 wires from the Tranformer on the pole. The 2 wires are out of phase so you get 220V. Both wires are hot.
Here is another caution!! When I was moving here I bought a few 220V to 100V converters. I thought I was safe to use my 110V items. WRONG. All they did was bring the 220V, 110V each leg to 60. Since both were hot and no netural I blew a charger for my wirelss drill and my electric toothbrush charger.
Later I bought a few Regulators. They develope a ground and 110V. They also regulate the votage incase it varies.
Hi Bruce, as I was reading thru these comments, I thought to myself there is no possible way that they are feeding one leg with 220v and the other wire was just a ground. The size of the wire would not be big enough to feed the bigger appliances. I came to your comment and coming from an electrical background of 15 years, I decided to go the simple route and open the door on the electrical panel box and look at the breakers. What do you know they are all 2 pole breakers. This means that they all feed from both legs simultaneously,hence 220v or 110v each leg. Both legs are hot and there is no ground. It really is that simple. Now one thing I cannot understand is that we bought a 110v stepdown regulator for our son’s PS3 purchased in the States. It is 110v only, not like most of all our newer appliances that are 110v – 240v. Anyway the regulator has two outlets on the front, one is 110v and you guessed it the other is 220v. The other day after the uncle had finished playing the PS3 I had noticed it had been plugged into the 220v outlet the whole time, probably 6 to 8 hours. So I decided to get out my electrical meter and test the outlet. Tested 220v. The PS3 still works to this day. I cannot figure out how this did not burn up the PS3.
They are not out of phase.
They are of different voltages.
You only get a bang if they are of opposite poles.
Hi Bruce – Thanks for sharing that info.
Bob,
For you and your readers and my connections with the building engineering and architecture disiplines. Feel free to call on me to get any answers needed. I will do my best to get them answered as accurate as possible.
Hi Bruce – Thanks for your helpfulness.
Hi denny – Actually, we do have dual receptacles here in our house! It doesn’t stop the maid from plugging into the wrong one, though! 😆
You can buy transformers here. Or, the power company will set up up with a dual voltage service if you are willing to pay for it.
I am surprised that no one has advised to have dual (well marked) voltage plugs of both 220 and 110 volt receptacles.
I just came back from the RP and saw that major electronics like flat screen tvs and washers/dryer systems were 40 to 70 percent more expensive then buying in the usa. For instance I bought a Samsung 46 inch lcd television in the states and priced the exact same model in Manila and its almost double the price in rp.
I would like to learn how to switch some receptors to the 110 volt so I could bring some equipment with me when I move. Can I assume that there are electricians there that can do this?
Is there anyone that would advise against this?
thanks Bob for all I have read on your site, it has been a help..6 months new here to the Phils but have learned lots from the locals and the expats I manage to meet when I am in any of the bigger cities.
About me: American by birth born in state of Iowa in 1949, movd to the Phils in March 2011 and have since married the woman I shared time with for 1/2 years on the net. Now I cal Davila, Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte my home.
thanks again for posting this site……………[email protected]
that needs to read 1 1/2 years of talking to her on the net…lol
Hi Davila – Thank you, I’m glad to know that the site has been helpful to you! I hope you will keep visiting, and commenting too! 🙂
Another option would be for manufacturers just to stop producing 110v items. This would solve the problem altogether, I believe.
:O
Given the fact that there are more 110v items sold in the world than all of the 220v combined, I would say that this is not a realistic option.
Hi. I am going to be going to the Philippines soon for school (I’m in the US now) and I’m have to bring my laptop, tablet, and phone. My laptop is from hp, tablet is from Microsoft and phone from Apple. I was wondering if their charges would be ok to plug in there or would I have to get a transformer. I really don’t want to get my electronics’ charges fried. Thanks!
Check the plug in/brick. If it says something like “100v-240v” then it will work anywhere in the world.
Where can I get the stuff fixed? I don’t know where to go!
Hi Ched – Depends on what you want to get fixed, and where you are. For example, here in Davao where I live there is a certain district in town where there are lots of repair shops. Look for a place like that in your location and start asking around.
So much talk about such a little problem.
Plug it in.
If smoke, then problem solved.
Buy new appliance.
See simple.
Marine electronic tech for the past 45 years.
Worked with all the voltages and frequencies.
Check Check Check.
Don’t guess…
Jade