大咖福利影院

charmavietnam wrote:

Just buy an UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) which has 2 mode- 110-220V as suggested by Fred. You can buy UPS from any computer hardware shop. If you are near Q.1, has some kind of voltage stabilizers which provides various volts adjustment. Also聽 You can find many other computer shop on the Bui Thi Xuan street, Q.1, if you need a UPS.

I heartily endorse this idea even if your equipment is dual voltage.聽 My iMac from the US used to give me fits and fail to boot up properly about 50% of the time.聽 I took it down to Q1 by taxi maybe three times where it was declared just fine.聽 I finally hit on the idea of using a UPS not only for blackouts but to even out the cycles and small voltage fluctuations.聽 I had no problems after that.聽 My UPS was 220V only but if you have one with 110V output, so much the better.

Uminchu wrote:

For future reference...

You can purchase step down transformers at a shop at 124 Yersin Street in Ho Chi Minh City. This is near the Dan Sinh Market, which is a handyman's toy shop!

Most electronic systems efficiently convert AC to DC using full-wave rectifiers (as in the case of gaming systems) so the frequency difference between 50 Hz and 60 Hz is a non-issue.

Very true. The only time that I had an issue with 50hz/60hz was with some specific medical equipment for my wife that we brought with us from America. For that we got a car battery, a battery charger and a car battery to 110v 60 hz electricity transformer. That works pretty good.

70 years old wrote:

In any case, grounded(earthed) wiring can save a huge number of lives and is relatively rare in Viet Nam. Grounded extension cords are very hard to find

This is absolutely true.聽 My iMac has so much stray voltage that I couldn't even touch it.聽 I had to clamp a wire to the frame and run it through the living room to a grounded point to take the voltage away.聽 (You won't experience this with laptops because the power supply is an AC/DC transformer which isolates the computer from the AC source.)聽 Washing machines are another big one.聽 Be sure you have a wire from the frame to a clamp on the water pipe (of course not plastic pipe.)

70 years old wrote:

Note, 220 volt is a bit less expensive as it can use smaller wires for the same volt/amps. 110 volt is less likely to kill you as the voltage is less for the same volt/amps.

Not an expert but I'm not sure about this one.聽 Do you know the adage "Volts hurt, amps kill?"聽 Livestock fencing works because it delivers thousands of volts and milliamps.聽 220V delivers half the amps of a 110V system.聽 Also 220V may be "a bit less expensive" for one house but think how much savings there are on a national basis; or even all of Asia, Europe and Africa.聽 That's a lot of copper.

Fred wrote:

Isolation transformers mean there is no potential to earth after the transformer, the upshot being you can grab live wires and feel no more than a tingle.
Been there, done that, lived to tell the tale without so much as a minor burn.

Right, grab one of those terminals with wet bare feet on a tile floor. In reality, unless the shoes had rubber soles, it would be a bad idea.

70 years old wrote:

Fred wrote:

Isolation transformers mean there is no potential to earth after the transformer, the upshot being you can grab live wires and feel no more than a tingle.
Been there, done that, lived to tell the tale without so much as a minor burn.

Right, grab one of those terminals with wet bare feet on a tile floor.

No problem as the isolation transformer means there is no potential to earth.
You could make sure it's nice salt water with metal rods into the ground and it wouldn't make the slightest difference.

I last did it accidentally whilst repairing a TV - hand touching live but nothing felt past a tingle.
That's why isolation transformers used in repair shops; it's almost impossible to get a shock.

Are double wound with an earth screen between windings.