Stokkevn

I am not too sure how everyone else's power supply is but where Capelco is providing the power it seems to be a complete disaster.

Today ( excluding the 12 hour brownout ) they have managed to provide power between 133V and 165V, for a brief period it went to the giddy heights of 173V.

To the tech savvy out there, how do you protect your 20th/21st century tech equipment against 19th century supply?

In the past few months 2 x rice cookers, microwave, electric oven, 2 x kettles, TV and a fridge have fallen to the inconsistent power supply.

zarobin

I wish you could sue them.
The electric company in Leyte where I was from wasn't good either.
Companies in the Philippines need to learn how to run business in this modern times.
They get away with it coz Philippines don't have a comprehensive consumer protection law.

Gazza-d

Most big hardware stores and electonics shop sell mains conditioner. That's the only way you will solve the problem.

mikemike

When I was in cepalco land I had Voltage meter which i plugged in a breaker board to which i had all sensitive electrical items connected. Including the gen set. We had terrible problems as they never had enough transformers to ensure stable voltage. Looks like not a lot has changed in the last 5 years!!

Stokkevn

Unfortunately you are right, things may have even got worse, today they have managed to supply 59V for a period but most of the day has been around 125V. The capelco engineer was round this morning and said that the area needed a transformer installing. When I asked when this might be, he just smiled and said long time.
Does anyone know anything about using battery banks and an inverter.

Raffin

Coincidentally we have just come back from Bicol where we visited our son who is trying to operate a laundry business there. He was previously in Manila where his Whirlpool electric dryer worked fine, but where he is now it does not due to low voltage. Well, it does work for some night hours but that's not of much use. He really needs a solution before the rains return. Can you elaborate a bit on the "mains conditioner", Gazza-d? And does anybody else have any other ideas?

Gazza-d

The shelves in the hardware stores like Ace are loaded with them. I can remember what they are called and I'm out of the Philippines until the end of next week. They opperate like a computer UPS but without the internal battery. Whole house units do run very expensive and you would need a very big unit to run a dryer. When the need arises I was going to look into a gas dryer, it would still need electricity to turn the drum but the heat is supplied by gas. Gas refridgerators are another way of getting around unreliable supply.

quiltman

Unless you can justify/afford a large enough generator - certainly for it to run when you need consistent power, then a mains conditioner MAY help. Basically they are a box of tricks that takes the incoming mains power and "jiggle" it to give you a fairly steady 220v output.(jiggling is a very technical term by the way.
however, couple of potential problems;
1. Getting one large enough - most seem to be about a max of 1KW. There may be larger ones but I've not seen them in the normal hardware stores.
2.The range they work over. Could be 180/220v input but if input volts drop below the rated minimum then you'll have problems.

Can only suggest that if your son has to have his dryer working in the day that you consider buying a suitable size generator. you can get 5/7KW diesel ones for around 60K but that's a lot of drying to do before he covers the costs!!
Sorry not to be more helpful pete.

Raffin

Thank you Quiltman and Gazza-d. A generator of some sort seems to be the way to go and it would also be handy when the inevitable brown outs occur. The utility has promised him a better supply on a commercial tarriff, but he can't afford it as his business hasn't been going long. Also he and the rest of his family are living on the premises and can put up with the AC and some other domestic appliances often working below their capacity. He does also have a gas powered dryer in his laundry and he says it work well.