Western electric appliances - plugs and voltage.

[JimmyJ]

[I was going to do a Search for this topic - where is the Search function? I've used it in the past, but don't see it now. Can a mod or anyone else point it out?]

 

I've read that Thailand has several different types of electric outlet plug types and sizes. Is this still true, and I need to find a power plug adapters with multiple outlet types and sizes?

 

What about bringing over Western appliances that work on 120v. I need power adapters to deal with 220/240v?

 

It appears my phone charger will work on either - a microtype label on it says "Input 100-240v".

 

 

[Crossy]

Thailand generally uses US style 2 and 3 pin plugs, most outlets will take these and the Euro plugs with 2 round pins. There are also "universal" outlets that take all manner of plugs.

 

US / Canada appliances that are 110/115V only will need a transformer, you should also be aware that motors designed for 60Hz may run slow or overheat on the Thai 50Hz supply even with a transformer.

 

Yes, your phone charger and probably laptop will be fine without a transformer, your interpretation of the label is correct :)

 

Moving to Electrical.

 

EDIT Search is top right under the green "Subscribe to Newsletter" button.

 

[hansnl]

Western is US?

Most countries use 220 volts.

Don't even bring US rated appliances to Thailand.

Not worth the trouble!

[KhunBENQ]

1 hour ago, hansnl said:

Western is US?

Most countries use 220 volts.

Don't even bring US rated appliances to Thailand.

Not worth the trouble!

And still expats order high tech devices like electric water kettles from Amazon US

DON'T!

 

[wayned]

10 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

And still expats order high tech devices like electric water kettles from Amazon US

DON'T!

 

Do you really think that an electric water kettle is a high tech device??

[KhunBENQ]

That happens when the emoticons/quotes are missing

So try again:

 

And still expats order "high tech" devices like electric water kettles  from Amazon US

 

[Emster23]

I brought over nice Sharp home theater setup I got for all of $69 12 years ago at least. Bought a nice decent sized transformer at Amorn, still going strong. Do be aware that often US plugs have wider spade for polarity, so may have to file that down or some other clever solution.

 When I brought over first time I was looking about for old 3 prong adaptor I had. GF said "Why don't you just plug it in?" as she plugged it in to wall socket.... phfft! Off to repair shop....

[Crossy]

Whilst the way some, many, if not all nationalities tend to automatically assume their way is right or best (we Brits are as bad as anyone else) could be an interesting subject, it's not the topic of this thread.

 

So let's stick to running 115V 60Hz appliances in sunny, but 220V 50Hz, Thailand.

[johng]

If you get an extension lead ( mostly from computer supplies shop)  with the 3 pin layout like this

you can use lots of different plugs  even the UK one went in ( very tight fit)

 

please excuse the dust and dirt

 

[masuk]

29 minutes ago, Arjen said:

I am still a bit surprised how many (but not all!!) Americans look at the world. We receive quite a lot of tourists, (so they are different from travellers) It seems to me that when an American tourist finds something different as he is used to "at home" it is wrong, and has to be changed. So for example the 220V 50Hz is wrong, PAL is wrong, Metrical is wrong.  Royal families are wrong.....

I am amazed how many folk come here to live, yet do very little reading on basic facts.   e.g.  MOST of SE Asia and South Pacific countries drive on the left;  power is 220V, 50Hz;  all these countries are metric and follow S.I.  No need to change the spelling - it's quite good enough.

 

Plugs are a problem, and a visit to any electrical store will give you a choice of five plugs for household goods.  Some are earthed (grounded) some are not.  Most houses and older apartments have no earthing.

 

If you're going to buy kitchen goods in Thailand, such as a toaster, electric kettle, go for a good international brand, as they're generally made for export.

[mike324]

You don't need plug adapters all US ones fits thai outlets / extension cords. Unless you are from the UK, then you will need plug adapters - they can be found at Lotus for around 50-60 baht each.  You just need a voltage converter for 110v to 220v.

[Brock]

The sockets in Asia are UK type plugs, not US. The different types/sizes, is for different current handlig / fusing of the circuit.

Do not use US equipment in Thailand as the voltage is 220/240 volts 50Hz. US is 110/115 Volts 60 Hz. US Phone chargers may work, but most gear will blow up. Equipment from Aus or UK will work fine (Oz gear will need an adapter plug unless its a multi socket)

[Crossy]

10 minutes ago, Brock said:

The sockets in Asia are UK type plugs, not US. The different types/sizes, is for different current handlig / fusing of the circuit.

Do not use US equipment in Thailand as the voltage is 220/240 volts 50Hz. US is 110/115 Volts 60 Hz. US Phone chargers may work, but most gear will blow up. Equipment from Aus or UK will work fine (Oz gear will need an adapter plug unless its a multi socket)

 

Hmmm, UK plugs in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. The rest of Asia are US / Chinese (very close to Aussie) / Indian (actually UK BS546 round pin) or some mixture of same.

[IAMHERE]

1 hour ago, Arjen said:

I am still a bit surprised how many (but not all!!) Americans look at the world. We receive quite a lot of tourists, (so they are different from travellers) It seems to me that when an American tourist finds something different as he is used to "at home" it is wrong, and has to be changed. So for example the 220V 50Hz is wrong, PAL is wrong, Metrical is wrong.  Royal families are wrong.....

I missed the post that said 'wrong' in it. Nobody said anybody was 'wrong' until your post.

[Crossy]

Guys, please review my post #9 above :)

 

Further off-topic post will be removed without notice.

 

[mfd101]

2 hours ago, wayned said:

Do you really think that an electric water kettle is a high tech device??

In my village it is!

[Crossy]

Everything you need to know is here http://www.worldstandards.eu/electricity/plugs-and-sockets/

 

[johng]

Thanks for the link Crossy

I have only ever seen the type O plug thats supposedly exclusively used in Thailand once on a washing machine, some one had cut the earth pin off and the plug would hardly even stay in the wall socket and I've never seen the plug or socket for sale stand alone in the builders merchants
is it a failed standard ?

[Crossy]

@johng nope, never seen re-wireable versions of the Type-O plugs, they fit in the outlets which take both flat and round L/N pins.

 

Specific outlets never happened.

 

An increasing number of appliances are now being supplied with this plug, so it may happen, one day.

 

[Brock]

I have seen rewirable plugs of type O (could be type K) in Homepro and Global House, I have bought a couple. I have sockets in my house for the O plug, as I wanted to be able to use earthed appliances when possible. I also fitted Australian outlets (Also available in Global House)

Edited February 22, 2017 by Brock

[English Engineer]

The official voltage in Thailand is 220V but the tolerance can be greater than Europe. I have seen villages when the voltage at the transformer was as high as 260V and in my village the voltage was measured as 165V. I have the impression that electrical equipment bought in Thailand is designed to operate with these voltages.

 

The other more significant point is the extension leads which have a 3 pin socket but the plug is only 2 pin i.e. no earth. If you plug in an appliance which needs an earth the appliance is not grounded. 

[johng]

isnt 165v a brown out ?

The UPS sat on the table next to my compter has a voltage readout on front and the highest I ever saw it read was 238 volts.
Not sure that Thai equipment is designed to operate over a wider range of voltage.

[AgMech Cowboy]

6 hours ago, Arjen said:

I am still a bit surprised how many (but not all!!) Americans look at the world. We receive quite a lot of tourists, (so they are different from travellers) It seems to me that when an American tourist finds something different as he is used to "at home" it is wrong, and has to be changed. So for example the 220V 50Hz is wrong, PAL is wrong, Metrical is wrong.  Royal families are wrong.....

Speaking from experience there are so many things that the Americans are wrong about. They reverse their day and month, don't know what a 24 hr clock is and don't know the difference between Thailand and Taiwan.  The only thing they get right, IMO, is the 60hz cycle of electricity. The clock ticks 60 seconds and when the electricity is 60hz, the clocks keep better time.  No?

[AgMech Cowboy]

4 hours ago, Crossy said:

Guys, please review my post #9 above :)

 

Further off-topic post will be removed without notice.

 

Good point. I should have read this first.

[crazygreg44]

8 hours ago, mike324 said:

You don't need plug adapters all US ones fits thai outlets / extension cords. Unless you are from the UK, then you will need plug adapters - they can be found at Lotus for around 50-60 baht each.  You just need a voltage converter for 110v to 220v.

WRONG

 

It's the other way around - you need a "voltage converter" for "from 220 to 110".  It is called "transformer" and they are, while they are plugged in, some nasty extra energy consuming devices.

 

And these transformers often work under 300 - 600 Watts per hour during operation.

 

It is recomended to NOT bring any 110 Volts devices into a  220 volts country unless you want to pay for the extra electricity consumption of transformers operating under high wattage

Edited February 22, 2017 by crazygreg44

[Crossy]

6 hours ago, AgMech Cowboy said:

The clock ticks 60 seconds and when the electricity is 60hz, the clocks keep better time.  No?

 

No, mains locked clocks are as accurate as the mains frequency, the actual frequency makes no odds. The UK actually maintain the number of cycles in 24 hours very accurately, compensating any periods of under-frequency with periods of over frequency, the variations are actually very small. Modern clocks, even mains powered ones, use a quartz crystal operating at 32,768Hz for much more accurate timekeeping.

 

2 hours ago, crazygreg44 said:

And these transformers often work under 300 - 600 Watts per hour during operation.

 

It is recomended to NOT bring any 110 Volts devices into a  220 volts country unless you want to pay for the extra electricity consumption of transformers operating under high wattage

 

I agree that one should avoid bringing 115V 60Hz appliances unless they are very specialist or unobtainable here. But if you have a transformer that's vampireing 300-600 Watts it's either a very big one or it's faulty. They do consume power (that's why they get warm) and they do consume more when working hard but it should be very small amounts compared to their load, most transformers are in the upper 90%s efficiency wise. Always recommended to unplug when not in use of course.

[maxcorrigan]

16 hours ago, mike324 said:

You don't need plug adapters all US ones fits thai outlets / extension cords. Unless you are from the UK, then you will need plug adapters - they can be found at Lotus for around 50-60 baht each.  You just need a voltage converter for 110v to 220v.

Not quite true many US plugs have one wider spade, In Thai electrics both spades are the same width, some outlets in my house will except the US type plug, and some don't

[johng]

I had a plug on an extension lead with the 1 wider spade and it was so difficult to get it into the (Thai) socket that I broke the socket trying to get it out again ,after some expletives and closer inspection of the plug noticed the bulge on 1 pin and thought what a stupid idea and filed the bulge off now it fits nicely
yes I know the switch could be switching negative and as such its dangerous but so are all the other 2 pin pluged appliances that are easily reversed.

[MyFriend You]

You can buy anything you want here, ready to plug in and start working, why wste your money shipping anything here.............the only thing I would ship is a authentic Lazy Boy Recliner Chair!!

 

[wayned]

45 minutes ago, TunnelRat69 said:

You can buy anything you want here, ready to plug in and start working, why wste your money shipping anything here.............the only thing I would ship is a authentic Lazy Boy Recliner Chair!!

 

Actually you can buy Lazy-bot Recliners in Thailand but expensive.  Check here: http://www.la-z-boy-thailand.com/