Philippine electronics and power converters for USA expats

Is the power in the Philippines  the same as the us

are the plugs the same or do i need a adaptor

will dvd player from the us play dvds from the Philippines

Philippines is 220v. I highly suggest looking at Amazon for the FOVAL brand 220 step down to 110v converters.

I bought two of them and love them. I tried the cheap ones at Best Buy and they are junk. These are about $35 each and come with a few different style plugs and a carry pouch.

I have 110V & 220V outlets in my home. A simple wire rerouting, no need for transformers. Since most of the appliances I shipped to the Philippines were kitchen appliances, that's where most of the outlets are.

Youtube has videos on this, if you are confident you can do it yourself or hire a handyman to do it for you, my outlets are marked.

My TV and other things will run on 110V or 220 without transformers or rewiring.

@Enzyte Bob. when you wired the 110 did you use a separate electrical box?  We are extending my wife's home in the province and might add a 110 outlet.   

@Larry Fisher I found a 230W step down 220V to 110 FOVAL converter on Amazon but no pouch in the picture.  Is this the item?

"FOVAL 230W Step Down Power Converter 240v-110v International Travel Adapter with [Upgraded 18w PD USB-C] 3 USB Ports 2 AC Outlets US to Europe Italy UK AU Plug Adapter (White)"

Thank you for your response. 

Robert

    @Larry Fisher I found a 230W step down 220V to 110 FOVAL converter on Amazon but no pouch in the picture.  Is this the item?

"FOVAL 230W Step Down Power Converter 240v-110v International Travel Adapter with [Upgraded 18w PD USB-C] 3 USB Ports 2 AC Outlets US to Europe Italy UK AU Plug Adapter (White)"

Thank you for your response. 

Robert
   

    -@Robertee

Yup yup, that's it. It'll come with a pouch. Mine didn't say it had one either.

Larry

@Robertee

I found the step down 220 - 110 at our local China China electronics store for the t.v.(s) that i brought with me from Washington... They work great...  and they are built like a tank!

  A couple years ago, I had purchased one off of amazon... I forget the model number... but it was a light weight piece of crap... only lasted a couple months before it broke... anyways... good luck!

@Wellsfry

I bought a couple of those cheap ones at Best Buy and Wal-Mart before coming and they lasted less than a week. The Foval units I have charge my phones at night and power my laptop all day. I've used them in a couple different hotels and countries now and totally happy with them. And they have four USB 2.4a ports included.

Thank you

@Larry Fisher  Thank you

@Enzyte Bob I'm curious how you did this without voltage divider or transformer. Is the 220V 3 phase?

@Larry Fisher. I bought the Best Buy one also... it literally started melting when i plugged it in here... not to mention it was like 50 bucks compared to the China China ones I bought here for avout 7 dollars ... Cheers 🍻

    @Enzyte Bob I'm curious how you did this without voltage divider or transformer. Is the 220V 3 phase?
   

    -@Filamretire

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This was arranged with the contractor when the house was built. After I moved in I needed another outlet converted and hired a handyman for P500. The way I understand it, each side of center is 110V volts to get the 220V. So only one 110V side is used by a simple rewire of the outlet connections with the proper configuration.

I'm a ham radio operator and some years ago I converted my 110V line to 220V running a cable from the fuse box to my amplifier, a reverse procedure from the paragraph above.

@Enzyte Bob Thanks Bob, I find that Meralco has two 110V sides and a ground, so you probably use one live side and ground for return. It would have to have a separate ground from your 220V outlets I would think because any short would not trip the breaker. Anyone know if Batelec does this?

To my knowledge all the provinces have single pole 220 so you can't do 110 without a step down converter. I've read that double pole 220 is available in some parts of Manila so it's easy to take 110 off either bus bar. I'm in the province and I use as few 110 appliances as possible. I only have a 110 Dewalt battery charger and a HVAC vacuum pump and each are seldom used.

Like others have mentioned I brought an Amazon and a couple Walmart step down converters and they all blew up. The Amazon converter caused and loud pop and a lot of smoke in my Dewalt charger but for some reason the charger still works.

I do have a small orbital 110 buffer that somehow got packed. I  plugged it into the converter and was using it to polish my multicab headlights but next time I used it I plugged it into the wall without thinking. It was working fine, for a while, but before long it shut down with a puff of smoke. I took it apart and shoe shined the commutator with some 600 and it's working again.

@Larry Fisher

I'm new to the Philippines and am in Davao.  One week under my belt. 

I brought a new "BESTEK" 220 to 110 converter from Amazon with me. It's worked perfectly so far.   My HP laptop simply would not charge on 220v (despite the power cord transformer saying it would). I used the BESTEK in between and it charges like it should. The USB ports (4) are also handy.

Best regards to all.

Chris

@Chris6301 Welcome to the forum and congratulations on finding one that works. I use the old tried and true transformer type I buy here. They are such a simple design what could go wrong? No moving parts! The problem is they get hot so I'm not sure if the extra power consumption is worth bringing 110 volt items to the Philippines.

@kbustin

If you need an adapter, or not. depends on the outlet. There are many designs here. All my extension cords are 3 prong but the outlets installed by the contractor are mostly 2 prong. I've changed most of them to 3 prong by now. Some of the electric devices you buy on Lazada or Shopee have the round Eurpean style plugs and some outlets will accept round prong plugs. My favorite are the outlets that have 3 holes and accept round plugs. You can plug anything into that type. Adapters are dirt cheap but they seem to disappear and don't last long if you put a load on them.

I'm repeating myself. . . .

With my experience of bringing or sending 110V appliances to the Philippines. On small or inexpensive appliances, leave them at home.

The 110V appliances I brought over were not new. They were somewhere in their lifecycle and will and have broken down. Some already have been replaced.

We have three Kitchenaid mixers, two of them NIB for five years. Kitchenaid makes products that last, the one that my wife seldom uses is 40 years old (bought at a garage sale for $15). Lifting them could give you a hernia or could be used for a boat anchor.

The new NIB mixers were purchase using gas rebates (5%) at Sam's Club when they went on sale.

One non appliance I might suggest purchasing is Corelle Dinnerware at Walmart starting at $30. We have several sets and when priced in the Philippines they were very expensive.

@Moon Dog It's good to hear from you.  I only brought it for an emergency and the laptop not charging was one   : -   )

I'm on week 2 here.  There sure are a LOT of changes to absorb..... I'm sure it takes a while to get acclimated. I'm looking around the area (Davao del Sur) for potential places to rent.   Huge city...Huge selection.

Regards,

Chris

PS.  The BELTEK is stone cold