Help, I'm in the Pillipines with my washing machine.

[loughran]

Been directed over here from Homes and Gardens Forum.

My friend who lives part of the year in the Philippines has sent a request for help with his washing machine....

I know nowt about this sort of thing, perhaps someone can help.



I'm having problems with a washing machine. So far the 'repair man' - a loose term! - has replaced the circuit board in the newish (2 years old) machine and reports that it works OK in his workshop (not witnessed by me).
On re-installation at the house he reports that the voltage is only 180v and should be 220v so the machine won't work!

Now, the Philippines is not a trustworthy place and, as an interloper not speaking their language, i get the feeling that I might be being taken for a ride (not for the first time!).

The repair man is suggesting that I install an automatic voltage regulator (AVR) to achieve a steady 220v. Is this right?
I'm no electrician, but my instinct tells me you can't get a quart out of a pint pot! Or can an AVR output a steady 220v from an input of 180v?
I'm also told that the AVR should be rated at 3000W, to suit the heater element.

As a bit of background - the cable feeding the laundry area is separate from the main feed to the house and also feeds 2 adjacent huts (minimal electrical use, just lights and TV's I think) and is about 30 metres long. The cable size is 'small' (no bigger in diameter than my little finger) - could the cable size be the root of the problem?

Any help and/or guidance will be greatly appreciated

[anonymous-user]

Simple rule of thumb in SEA, 'you fix it I'll pay, no advance and no payment if not fixed'.
The quality of handy man in very variable some are great, get one and stick to him.

[King Herald]

loughran said:

Been directed over here from Homes and Gardens Forum.

My friend who lives part of the year in the Philippines has sent a request for help with his washing machine....

I know nowt about this sort of thing, perhaps someone can help.



I'm having problems with a washing machine. So far the 'repair man' - a loose term! - has replaced the circuit board in the newish (2 years old) machine and reports that it works OK in his workshop (not witnessed by me).
On re-installation at the house he reports that the voltage is only 180v and should be 220v so the machine won't work!

Now, the Philippines is not a trustworthy place and, as an interloper not speaking their language, i get the feeling that I might be being taken for a ride (not for the first time!).

The repair man is suggesting that I install an automatic voltage regulator (AVR) to achieve a steady 220v. Is this right?
I'm no electrician, but my instinct tells me you can't get a quart out of a pint pot! Or can an AVR output a steady 220v from an input of 180v?
I'm also told that the AVR should be rated at 3000W, to suit the heater element.

As a bit of background - the cable feeding the laundry area is separate from the main feed to the house and also feeds 2 adjacent huts (minimal electrical use, just lights and TV's I think) and is about 30 metres long. The cable size is 'small' (no bigger in diameter than my little finger) - could the cable size be the root of the problem?

Any help and/or guidance will be greatly appreciated

The electrical repair guy probably actually believes you can get 220 by fitting an AVR in the system.

But really, the simplest way is to get a meter and check the incoming voltage. Job done, he'll know where he stands.

You need to be armed with facts to do battle with the locals, because they are so dumb they will believe their own BS at times. They do have certain things fixed in their head that cannot be changed.

We had a nice Samsung washing machine, lasted two years then the water switch burned out, due to lime scale and a leak, which took the main board out..... They wanted almost as much to fix it as a new machine costs, so we bought new. Warranties are almost non-existent, though we do have a three year warranty on our new automatic. That took some finding!

As an aside, when we moved from the UK 6 years ago we brought everything with us in a 20 foot container, and ALL the electrical stuff worked perfectly.....apart from the washing machine. The pump motor did not want to play ball, with the difference in hertz, 60 instead of 50.