Power Pedestal Connections
We read an online RV newsletter that comes out each Saturday. Electricity is often a topic of discussion. Today there was a survey to try to tell what percent of readers have experienced some sort of ...
Forum Discussion
For crying out loud, is this RV.net or "Hogares y Jardines Mejores" (Better Homes & Gardens)?
Yes, Mexico is changing. And it's rapid in a few areas. Three weeks ago I toured a federally funded 250+ home housing tract south of Playas de Tijuana. It had none of the code improvements that would have brought it up to USA specifications. Now quick - run outside and look at your service drop. Is it's origin from a dedicated pole mounted transformer or does it tie into a wide service area WYE wound transformer that can be as much as a half mile distant?
Regardless. I know of few RV'ers who rush across the border to a new housing development slam on the brakes and plug into a code approved receptacle.
Mexico RV parks and 99% of houses OUGHT TO BE as nice as those new constructed subdivisions.
But! They IS, what they are. And this is what RV'ers have to deal with. My close to the border for medical HIDEOUT is typical. I rented it in June. One duplex receptacle in the bedroom, one in the kitchen, one on the bathroom. The bedroom has a 2-wire receptacle. The nearest "ground" circuit is 80' distant at the service drop. Not in the sticks - this is dead-center in the middle of a city of 400,000. A friend (Mexicano) just finished building a $200,000 5 bedroom 4 bath home about three miles from here. Eduardo knows about ground circuits from 3 years of my nagging. Every receptacle in the home is wired with a green 14 AWG earth wire. Was the home "inspected" by CFE or anyone else? No. The inspector from CFE showed up, noted the L1 and L2 6 AWG cables, the white 6 AWG neutral and grunted. The 6 AWG ground from meter INlet to the 6' ground spike with approved clamp was all he was interested in. Cables run to the 150-amp breaker box via buried gray electrical tubing. The only problem is L2 is overloaded with 4 wire circuit grid usage. it's 129 vac versus 116 vac (UNLOADED) from 4PM until midnight. He has a SOLA voltage adjuster on this line for computer and electronics.
But I digress. How many decades will pass until RV parks in downtown San Miguel de Allende, Patzcuaro, or Cancun are forced to meet "code". We'll all be dead by then.
So, I much prefer to keep my feet stuck in reality rather than ought-to-be's. I am not even going to ask if YOUR home meets USA code including grounding circuits, and GCFI outlets in the kitchen and bathroom.
Because
It
Does
Not
Matter
To an RV'er bent on spending time south of the border.
I only wish I could read an issue of Car & Driver which would proceed to fix all that ails my 23 year old car.
Yes, Mexico is changing. And it's rapid in a few areas. Three weeks ago I toured a federally funded 250+ home housing tract south of Playas de Tijuana. It had none of the code improvements that would have brought it up to USA specifications. Now quick - run outside and look at your service drop. Is it's origin from a dedicated pole mounted transformer or does it tie into a wide service area WYE wound transformer that can be as much as a half mile distant?
Regardless. I know of few RV'ers who rush across the border to a new housing development slam on the brakes and plug into a code approved receptacle.
Mexico RV parks and 99% of houses OUGHT TO BE as nice as those new constructed subdivisions.
But! They IS, what they are. And this is what RV'ers have to deal with. My close to the border for medical HIDEOUT is typical. I rented it in June. One duplex receptacle in the bedroom, one in the kitchen, one on the bathroom. The bedroom has a 2-wire receptacle. The nearest "ground" circuit is 80' distant at the service drop. Not in the sticks - this is dead-center in the middle of a city of 400,000. A friend (Mexicano) just finished building a $200,000 5 bedroom 4 bath home about three miles from here. Eduardo knows about ground circuits from 3 years of my nagging. Every receptacle in the home is wired with a green 14 AWG earth wire. Was the home "inspected" by CFE or anyone else? No. The inspector from CFE showed up, noted the L1 and L2 6 AWG cables, the white 6 AWG neutral and grunted. The 6 AWG ground from meter INlet to the 6' ground spike with approved clamp was all he was interested in. Cables run to the 150-amp breaker box via buried gray electrical tubing. The only problem is L2 is overloaded with 4 wire circuit grid usage. it's 129 vac versus 116 vac (UNLOADED) from 4PM until midnight. He has a SOLA voltage adjuster on this line for computer and electronics.
But I digress. How many decades will pass until RV parks in downtown San Miguel de Allende, Patzcuaro, or Cancun are forced to meet "code". We'll all be dead by then.
So, I much prefer to keep my feet stuck in reality rather than ought-to-be's. I am not even going to ask if YOUR home meets USA code including grounding circuits, and GCFI outlets in the kitchen and bathroom.
Because
It
Does
Not
Matter
To an RV'er bent on spending time south of the border.
I only wish I could read an issue of Car & Driver which would proceed to fix all that ails my 23 year old car.
