anybody here ever tried using one line of the 220volts house wiring and the grounded GI water pipe to get 110volts? dami kasi ko appliance galing states and that's what I usually do instead of using stepdown transformer. My question is: pareho din kaya ang konsumo ng kuryente nito compared to locally made appliances with the same power rating? Tsaka umiikot din ba kuntador kahit isang linya lang ginagamit?
Lipad Bentot! Lipppaaadddd!!!!
Re: 110v from 220
I would not rely on a GI pipe sunk in the ground. When it starts to rust, your 110 V will go higher and higher and you can guess what will happen to your U.S. apps. The high amp items will function and not burn right off, but when it is connected/used, the actual voltage drops to well below 90 VAC, and this is bad for motors in the long term. The low drain stuff like digital clock radios are the first ones to go, due to the high voltage (140 VAC or more) specially when there is a spike in the voltage line.
Meralco grounds are done with a copper rod/wire sunk almost 9 feet into the ground. My house's ground is now problematic after 40+ years !! So in the interim, I am using a step down tranny and unplugging it when not in use in order to save electricity.
Meralco used to give dual voltage 110/220 VAC for houses (mine is one) before, but stopped saying that this type of connexion, there is a way to 'steal' electricity, so they stopped.
Until, i read a thread here that new houses now are given 3 lines and one of them is a true ground which is a much safer but more expensive type of wiring.
Dunno, what's up here.
Best of luck.
🙂
Re: 110v from 220
anybody here ever tried using one line of the 220volts house wiring and the grounded GI water pipe to get 110volts? dami kasi ko appliance galing states and that's what I usually do instead of using stepdown transformer. My question is: pareho din kaya ang konsumo ng kuryente nito compared to locally made appliances with the same power rating? Tsaka umiikot din ba kuntador kahit isang linya lang ginagamit?
Consumption wise is the same. Meralco meter or kilowatt-hour meter is design to measure power (wattage) consumption...meaning the product of current and voltage. Technically speaking, current is inversely proportional to voltage, so if you devide the voltage (220v to 110v) the current will double, thus same power wattage. Tscotom is right in saying some of your appliances may get damaged due to voltage drop and unwanted current spike.
Actually you can use the grounding wire of Meralco. If your meter is connected to a meralco post, theres a bare stranded wire that goes with your two insulated wires connected to your meter. This bare wire is the ground wire...and you can connect here. One safest way is to use AVR (same AVR we used to our computers. Just note the wattage, for this will be added to your bill.
I suggest then to use AVR for all electronic appliances and stepdown transformer for appliances with motor/ compressor (i.e. ref, ACU, pumps, etc). For 110v lightings, you can still use the grounding. Remember, any loose connections you made (using water pipe as grounding) will create current loss thus results unwanted power consumption too. By the way, be careful in using metal pipes too...I know some people already electrified during washing of hand while barefooted...usually kids are the victims. Just be safe then. 🙂
Re: 110v from 220
I think it would be safe to rely on the grounding of Meralco, especially as they are now requiring all new construction to have their own grounds. The more the grounds in houses, the more reliable will be the ground.
For new construction, my recommendation is to bring the ground available at the meter base, inside the house using 10 gauge wiring, as is the requirement of Meralco for the overhead wiring to meter base to ground rod. You can use heavier wire if the wiring from the overhead wiring to the grounding rod is also heavier.
The third wire will be a convenient source for 110 volts. I think that Meralco doesn't recommend this now as there is a possibility that their system may get unbalanced. Too many people getting 110 volts from only one line side will unbalance the system.
AS I mentioned in my article, the other advantage is safety.
For old construction, I think that retrofitting a third wire will be too much expense, unless there is a compelling reason. Voltage transformers consume a lot of power. 10% or so of the power is wasted.
Re: 110v from 220
anybody here ever tried using one line of the 220volts house wiring and the grounded GI water pipe to get 110volts? dami kasi ko appliance galing states and that's what I usually do instead of using stepdown transformer. My question is: pareho din kaya ang konsumo ng kuryente nito compared to locally made appliances with the same power rating? Tsaka umiikot din ba kuntador kahit isang linya lang ginagamit?
not advisable.by doing so, you will eventually loose the appliance in the long run.using the other hot of the main will only be good if you will have a good grounding system.i think the most efficient is if the grounding is at the wet location.
Re: 110v from 220
yung nagkabit ng kuntador namin palagay ko kinontrata lang ng meralco sa tabi-tabi, puro home made yung tools eh! lol! yung grounding nya 1 meter na metal bar (d ba kulang 'yun tapos hinati pa nya) tsaka ibinaon sa lupa 0.5 n lang, yung kabila dulo ng wire nka-connect sa dpst sa tabi ng kuntador (ganun ba talaga proper grounding?)
anyway, thanks for all the replies guys! i'm pulling the plug, bili na lang ako locally made adaptors.
Lipad Bentot! Lipppaaadddd!!!!
Re: 110v from 220
Yung grounding makakabit sa isang double pole single throw switch? Bakeeet? Dapat derecho from the grounding screw sa meter base to the ground rod. Meron bang PLDT connection malapit? Pwede mong gamitin ito pang ground. In my experience, magandang klase and PLDT ground, galvanized at mahaba talaga. Half a meter of grounding grounding is not sufficient I think.
