hey! Colonelboris' sister here.he really needs to know now which is the live wire out of black and yellow to rewire a plug for his mobile - using it as an alarm clock.desperate need now.

nothing is coming up on the internet for these colours.

hey! Colonelboris' sister here.he really needs to know which colour out of black and yellow is the live wire on his plug.he needs to rewire it ASAP.it's his alarm clock for his new job, it's all he has at the moment.

please,please can somebody help really soon as i need to call him back before his phone battery dies.

If it is only two wires and you are talking about on a normal 110/220 system, it doesn't really matter. Normally they use any old color around here, but for simple plugs without a ground (3rd wire - green sometimes here), the other two do not really matter since it is alternating current.
Cars or DC systems do, so be cautious and be sure to turn off the power!

Generally Black, brown or red is live and Blue is neutral but if there are only two wires see PC Designs post.

Hey Richard,
If you want to somthing scarey, you should check out the wiring in my place. One bedroom had three blues in the ceiling light... only 3 blues no other colors!!!
They must have had a sale on blue wire that day at Jumbo... (glad I had a meter)

I know the story. In my garage I was presented with 8 reds for one panel and 8 blacks for another. None were labeled and I was meant to be able to just know which wire belonged to which connection...

We will be moving to Switzerland from the US and have been trying to find an answer to some voltage/appliance questions. I am a bit confused because we have been getting several conflicting answers. I will be very grateful for any help in this area.

Will we be able to bring any electrical appliances (Coffee Maker, blender, tv, stereo, power tools, battery chargers, etc...) with us, if we use a plug adapter, voltage converter, or votage transformer? Almost all of our appliances are 110v-120v 50-60hz.

I have also heard that voltage transformers are not reliable and are noisy? Fact or fiction?

I have been to several appliance store in the US and have had no luck in getting clear answers? We're hoping not to have to buy all new appliances upon arrival.

Thanks for any help.

mick

Have you looked at any of these threads? All of which would have been more appropriate to post your question in and are obtainable by entering the term "voltage converter" into the search function of this forum:
Importing electrical equipment - ins and outs
Swiss voltage converter - where to buy?
US electrical conversion; advice requested
Wanted: 110/120 - 220/240 transformer

I did a search on voltage and was directed to this thread.

Thank you very much for the direction. New to the site.

Have a great week !

mick c.

You can bring your appliances, but don't expect them to last the normal life they should on 110. Transformers only transform the voltage and not the frequency (Hz). Some appliances are happy running on 50-60 Hz, others hate it and will shorten their lives. Simple items like coffee makers do not "surge" like drills do under load, and this is what causes drills to die faster or anything with a motor.
not very reliable all the time. For low draw items "battery chargers", they will be happier. TV's and electronics do not like the variation of voltage and frequency and need GOOD transformers to keep ripples out of the power cycle. Yes some are noisy and buzz often.
Don't listen to everyone's opinion unless they studied electronics. Kids who work in stores sometimes have no clue about what is reality.
My professional opinion, if it makes sense to ship it (cost) try it out, but the price of transformers and filters may change your mind. You can buy a coffee machine here for CHF40, a TX (transformer) will be CHF50.
Look at the appliances max. wattage, add 10-20% then buy the tx rated at that amount.

Hey Mick

I have 2 transformers for sale. 50 francs for the pair if you are interested.

http://en.noratel.ezpublish.no/content/view/full/2790

Thanks PC Designs

Very informative answers. Based on everything I have seen/heard, we will probably bring some small appliances and buy some of the larger ones when we arrive.

Thanks for the offer SwissMs2000, but I will probably end up buying a larger step down transformer (1000 watt) that can power a variety of items.

Thanks Again to both of you. Have a great week!

mick

Given the cost of a transformer and by the time you are finished buying extension cables, adapters and not to mention how unsightly so many wires might look...if you decide to bring electrical items, be very careful that the moving company that you are using to ship your contents does not exclude electrical items in their insurance policy. Some of these items can be easily damaged in the container during transport and this damage is not always covered by the basic insurance.

My personal opinion is that it is not worth the trouble to ship them, and if they break down and need service, you won't be able to find that here. There are some great deals on items when expats are leaving and not taking these items with them. There are websites, like this, where ads are posted for moving sales.

Many expats are given a relocation allowance that takes into account buying electrical items. That is extremely helpful. If you opt to buy new appliances, you will find that there is a lot of choice and prices vary. The warranty on new items varies as well.

Right now we are working on a leasing program for appliances for our expat clients. We have a company that leases furniture to expats but not appliances. Does anyone know of a company that leases appliances?

If you are speaking of large appliances, any fust, etc, would do it easily.
Leasing small appliances? Don't think there are any.

I have a ceiling light outlet with 2 yellow and 1 brown wires, one of the yellow wire is longer than the other. Is it right assumtion to say the brown is live and the long yellow is the ground and short yellow is the neutral???

Absolutely NOT!

Get an electrician, it's not worth electrocuting yourself over a light-fitting.

Papa Goose I think will do light fittings - off the forum - I think he has a meter to check the voltages...

Make *absolutely* sure you remove the fuses completely before playing around with the wires...obviously you need to do this during daylight so you can see what you are doing

ok, so what is the right combination?

You cannot tell by looking at the wires. It is not safe to make assumption based on the length of wires etc.

As mentioned, the only safe way is to get an electrician to check the wires.

For all you know someone switched the wires and now the colors are all wrong, this is why licensed electricians use voltage meters to check which wire is which..!