Replaced some outlets

[manofthecoldland]

I can recall the first time, back in around 2006, while living in rented house in a up scale subdivision, when I witnesses, what seemed to be, rather dicey live work from my US perspective.

The neighbor across the street, had a habit of falling behind on her electric bill, my wife tells me, and the company truck arrived and pulled up to house's electrical entry atop one of the wall pillar posts. The guy popped out of his truck with a pliers and wearing rubber boots, quickly got atop the truck roof and untwisted the connection wires from the drop line, got back in and drove off. Job completed.

Hmmmm.... rubber boots, 4 rubber tires and insulated tools must have been safe enough for the way they do things here, I figured. But it still seemed rather strange to me coming from a high safety conscious culture.

[Tommy T.]

I am certainly not expert, but have some experience in electrical wiring... I never worked on circuits if they were live - 120 or even 12 volts...

I found that most of the wiring and outlets here to be way substandard...  I am actually considering ordering in some outlets from USA, especially some outdoor outlets... The ones they sell here are a joke....as are most outlets...

 

[hk blues]

3 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

I am certainly not expert, but have some experience in electrical wiring... I never worked on circuits if they were live - 120 or even 12 volts...

I found that most of the wiring and outlets here to be way substandard...  I am actually considering ordering in some outlets from USA, especially some outdoor outlets... The ones they sell here are a joke....as are most outlets...

 

You can buy quality outlets at Wilcon, All Home and even ACE as well as local distributors - Panasonic brand for example.  There is no need to order from the USA IMO. 

ETA - I should also add that the whole installation will be dependant on the lowest common denominator so the electrician himself, the wiring etc will potentially nullify any benefits of high-quality outlets.  

Edited January 18, 2023 by hk blues

[Tommy T.]

18 hours ago, hk blues said:

You can buy quality outlets at Wilcon, All Home and even ACE as well as local distributors - Panasonic brand for example.  There is no need to order from the USA IMO. 

ETA - I should also add that the whole installation will be dependant on the lowest common denominator so the electrician himself, the wiring etc will potentially nullify any benefits of high-quality outlets.  

I have been looking for something like these. I had these in USA and they were wonderful and waterproof. The ones I had on our house in rainy Seattle had rubber gaskets that sealed the outlets when the spring-loaded, hinged covers were closed.

I disagree somewhat with your premise that crappy wiring will mean wasting money when buying outlets. If the wiring is a bit dodgy to begin with (which ours isn't), then it makes sense to me to protect it as best as possible, especially with the outlets that are exposed to weather. Here, so far, I have only found cheapo outlets with hinged plastic covers. They do nothing to protect from heavy rain.

The other issue we have had is that many of the commercial outlets for inside the house are poorly constructed and the plugged-in utilities simply fall out of the outlets in many cases. So, we want to replace these with outlets that actually hold the plugs in place. Of course, this is a fault of the original "electrician," who did a number of things on the cheap... but we have a good one now who can do the work we need to make the connections right. I assume that you are correct that there are better quality outlets available here to address that situation... I will continue to look here before ordering from overseas... Thanks for the suggestion!

 

Edited January 19, 2023 by Tommy T.

[hk blues]

34 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

I have been looking for something like these. I had these in USA and they were wonderful and waterproof. The ones I had on our house in rainy Seattle had rubber gaskets that sealed the outlets when the spring-loaded, hinged covers were closed.

I disagree somewhat with your premise that crappy wiring will mean wasting money when buying outlets. If the wiring is a bit dodgy to begin with (which ours isn't), then it makes sense to me to protect it as best as possible, especially with the outlets that are exposed to weather. Here, so far, I have only found cheapo outlets with hinged plastic covers. They do nothing to protect from heavy rain.

The other issue we have had is that many of the commercial outlets for inside the house are poorly constructed and the plugged-in utilities simply fall out of the outlets in many cases. So, we want to replace these with outlets that actually hold the plugs in place. Of course, this is a fault of the original "electrician," who did a number of things on the cheap... but we have a good one now who can do the work we need to make the connections right. I assume that you are correct that there are better quality outlets available here to address that situation... I will continue to look here before ordering from overseas... Thanks for the suggestion!

 

I didn't say that though, Tommy, or at least didn't intend to.  My premise is that all parts of the installation can result in a fail, and the "weaker" elements more likely to. and the "stronger" less likely to.  So, money invested in good quality parts is well worthwhile to reduce likelihood of a fail BUT it won't help in the case of a failure of a separate part of the installation. End of the day, who wants the local Fire Chief to say the good news Sir Tommy is your outlets are in great condition despite the fire which raised the house to the ground - we think the wiring was to blame! 

I do agree with you on the outlets becoming loose over time - I think this is mostly caused by their poor quality but also the inconsistent thickness of the plug pins - have you compared them lately?  I cannot talk for the USA but UK plugs are strictly controlled in terms of dimension, unlike here.  That cannot be good for the outlets.  

Outdoor outlets - I 100% agree with you on the hinged-cover types common here - we have 2.  I didn't bother to change them as both were under roof cover although somewhat exposed to very heavy rain if windy i.e. typhoon weather which we have only very, very infrequently in our area.  And, we were already planning to completely cover both areas which we have since done so problem solved.  I'm a tad paranoid about electricity and water and have even sealed around the shower power outlet and exposed outside light fitting with silicon. In the UK, my preference was for an exterior outlet which was fully enclosed in a flexible plastic cover (to allow switching on/off)  and the plug permanently plugged in - fully waterproof but not cheap at around $20 20 years ago!  Even Lazada have suitable exterior outlets with seals to make them waterproof for around 600php - you can find similar on Amazon for a similar price but delivery in on top.  

Yep, definitely better and good quality products are available here - ACE and Wilcon do have Panasonic brands as well as some others of a better quality.  A good enough electricity materials supplier will, I'm sure, have a fair selection.  Even the cheaper local brands have different ranges for different budgets. 

[Mike J]

Crap!  When we had work done on the deck a year or so back I had them run wire where we could add an additional flood light.  So I ordered a light from lazada and was doing the install.  Made sure the switch controlling the light was in the off position.  Got bit, buzzed clear to the elbow.  WTH - get out my voltage meter and I have current between the incoming line and my aluminum ladder that I am standing on.  Try the switch in both directions, no difference.  Ended up killing the power to the house and finishing the install.  Why in the world do they not wire houses with 12/2 plus a ground.   Can someone explain to me why all wire runs, receptacles, etc. are not grounded.  It just does not seem safe to me.  What am I missing?  Any electricians in the forum that can tell me why the code here does not require grounded circuits?  I really would like to know, maybe I am doing something wrong? 

[gbmmbg]

24 minutes ago, Mike J said:

Crap!  When we had work done on the deck a year or so back I had them run wire where we could add an additional flood light.  So I ordered a light from lazada and was doing the install.  Made sure the switch controlling the light was in the off position.  Got bit, buzzed clear to the elbow.  WTH - get out my voltage meter and I have current between the incoming line and my aluminum ladder that I am standing on.  Try the switch in both directions, no difference.  Ended up killing the power to the house and finishing the install.  Why in the world do they not wire houses with 12/2 plus a ground.   Can someone explain to me why all wire runs, receptacles, etc. are not grounded.  It just does not seem safe to me.  What am I missing?  Any electricians in the forum that can tell me why the code here does not require grounded circuits?  I really would like to know, maybe I am doing something wrong? 

Without looking at your wires I'm thinking your hot and ground are switched. It happens all the time here. The light switch is ment to create an open in the circuit and remove the power to the outlet. However if you switch them the switch still does its job turning on and off the light but it's done by removing the ground not the power. That's why sometimes the led bulbs will glow when you shut them off. The power side is still hot and it has just enough ground to "glow". As for the ground' are you talking about the Case ground IE the third hole in the plug? That is something I always fix when we move into a new Place. I hate the zap from the microwave and the fridge if my hand is damp.

Edited January 20, 2023 by gbmmbg

[hk blues]

3 minutes ago, gbmmbg said:

Without looking at your wires I'm thinking your hot and ground are switched. It happens all the time here. The light switch is ment to create an open in the circuit and remove the power to the outlet. However if you switch them the switch still does its job turning on and off the light but it's done by removing the ground not the power. That's why sometimes the led bulbs will glow when you shut them off. The power side is still hot and it has just enough ground to "glow".

Yep.  Very common here - I have one that I know of where the LED still glows after switching off.  I guess the fact they often use the same colour of wire for the run it's no surprise.  

[gbmmbg]

2 minutes ago, hk blues said:

Yep.  Very common here - I have one that I know of where the LED still glows after switching off.  I guess the fact they often use the same colour of wire for the run it's no surprise.  

Yes unfortunately using the same colour wire makes it that much harder to ensure the circuit is correct, but the glowing bulbs drive me nuts. Also be careful when you are changing out the bulb, if it's the screw in type and you touch the metal part your going to get zapped. The power comes in the bottom of the bulb and grounds out through the metal. However if the line is switched. Zap.

[Mike J]

28 minutes ago, gbmmbg said:

Without looking at your wires I'm thinking your hot and ground are switched. It happens all the time here.

Thanks, I will see if I can change to position of the wires in the light switch.   This is a multiple LED flood light so no bulbs to change.

Edited January 20, 2023 by Mike J