New here!

[harryopal1]

As I am reminded today, even with a building completed it is not if you are then fancy free. We are living in a house in Jimabaran less then 10 years old. Before signing the lease there was a range of maintenance matters to be fixed, from ant ridden doors, leaking seals on windows and fixing a number of lights. Part of the deal was we had a month in which any further maintenance would be covered by the landlord. Thereafter we are to do our own maintenance other than wear and tear. In the last few months we have had a series of fusing and extension cords exploding which I suspect is to do with faulty wiring. This evening we had two explosions. One overhead with one of the so called long life globes going bang. Impossible to remove the broken globe so will have to get an electrician in to check the overhead light fitting, the wall wiring and a bathroom light switch which has to be smacked serveral times with the butt of the hand after turning on the switch. Local news TV often features house and business fires attributed to short circuits. And when I say, electrician. it seems most of the tukang have learned on the job and do not have formal qualifications. Welcome to Indonesia. Mind you, it seems many of these problems are now found in Australia and I imagine other countries with low cost, poor quality, Chinese made materials including electrics, plumbing and most of the stuff found in hardware stores.

 

[AuroraB]

As I am reminded today, even with a building completed it is not if you are then fancy free. We are living in a house in Jimabaran less then 10 years old. Before signing the lease there was a range of maintenance matters to be fixed, from ant ridden doors, leaking seals on windows and fixing a number of lights. Part of the deal was we had a month in which any further maintenance would be covered by the landlord. Thereafter we are to do our own maintenance other than wear and tear. In the last few months we have had a series of fusing and extension cords exploding which I suspect is to do with faulty wiring. This evening we had two explosions. One overhead with one of the so called long life globes going bang. Impossible to remove the broken globe so will have to get an electrician in to check the overhead light fitting, the wall wiring and a bathroom light switch which has to be smacked serveral times with the butt of the hand after turning on the switch. Local news TV often features house and business fires attributed to short circuits. And when I say, electrician. it seems most of the tukang have learned on the job and do not have formal qualifications. Welcome to Indonesia. Mind you, it seems many of these problems are now found in Australia and I imagine other countries with low cost, poor quality, Chinese made materials including electrics, plumbing and most of the stuff found in hardware stores.
View attachment 3854

I would not recommend my "electrician" after I found out he is also moonlighting as a "plumber". A local jack of all trades master of none.

 

[Markit]

Electricians here are a disaster! The wiring is a disaster! The fixtures are a disaster too!

Tip to anyone building new here: take pictures of the wall wiring before it's plastered over because in a few years you're gonna want to know where it is to replace it.

My "electrician" put a light into the bathroom (wet floor) where the wiring went through a metal bracket at the back of the plate that cut through the cable insulation making the plate with the switch on it live. One of my 9 lives there.

I wouldn't even say it's bad quality but the pure environment isn't beneficial to electrics. Ok some of the stuff is pure garbage and shouldn't be used but the locals reckon your average house wiring is good if it's gone 10 years. Mine has, just about.

 

[Shadrach]

I am amazed how the attitude in this world is so half ass now! Is it lack of education, or love and compassion? If people put in half of the energy into building, painting, wiring, construction, basic life, as they did their ceremonies and religions, this world would be a better place! I have a wall in my hotel that faces east and is concrete. They came in and painted it without any waterproofing primer. Within six months the paint has bubbles on it and is peeling off. Do you think they fixed it? NO! Their too busy doing ceremonies and Banjar stuff! That's been two years now.
Is it just here or everywhere? The attitude of not wanting to help each other and only wanting the money going to their family, sometimes drives me crazy. Why does everything have to be made so low quality now? I remember old sinks, bathtubs, faucets, cars, furniture, all being made to last a hundred years! We have to get out of this constant bankrupt mentality, if we are ever going to have a better life! Their ain't no God going to do it for you! Be careful with that electricity Harryopal!

 

[harryopal1]

We had an "electrician" came a few moments ago. No little van with parts and cables, just a bloke on a bike. He removed the cover off a troublesome wall plug without shutting off the power so the two hot wires are sitting there as he has gone off to get a part. Still has several other items to check and I guess he will spend half the morning running backwards and forwards to get other bits and pieces. Ahh well, who's perfect.... apart from Markit?

 

[harryopal1]

About three hours. Fixed a few problems and set up a much better arrangement for a multi plug use powering a small, kitchen over, electric jug and rice cooker. Also a few light fittings and transformer to fridge line, Never turned off power mains but managed not to electrocute himself. $25. The hourly rate for an electrician in Melbourne is $104. So hopefully no more explosions for some time.

 

[Shadrach]

About three hours. Fixed a few problems and set up a much better arrangement for a multi plug use powering a small, kitchen over, electric jug and rice cooker. Also a few light fittings and transformer to fridge line, Never turned off power mains but managed not to electrocute himself. $25. The hourly rate for an electrician in Melbourne is $104. So hopefully no more explosions for some time.

After hearing all this, I think I want to go live in a Van down by the River!

 

[harryopal1]

I am sure all the Balipod readers are fascinated by the saga or our household electrics. No explosion but as it became a little darker I turned on one set of lounge lights and within ten minutes one of the "fixed" lights went off. I removed the globe and tested it and the globe is okay so it is the wiring. I can't see any manhole so I don't know how anyone would access the wiring. Ahh well. We still have two lights in the front part of the lounge.

 

[Markit]

One of the main (joke) problems with the household electricity here is the lack of any decent grounding. I know they make a big song and dance about banging a copper spear into the ground outside the house but if you check the plugs there isn't a ground line to be seen anywhere. I spent months getting zapped every time I opened my laptop and touched anything metal. It was impossible to ground, well, except through me. My electrician brother visited and he was shocked (joke) by the whole thing.

Shaddy you mistake shoddy workmanship for a poverty economy. Most of the locals can just about afford the shittiest and poorest piece of kit to fix anything. That's why the shops don't stock anything else - 1) they're poor too and nobody would buy it even if they did stock it.

Just wondering how long you'd last on 5 million (average wage) per month?

 

[AuroraB]

One of the main (joke) problems with the household electricity here is the lack of any decent grounding. I know they make a big song and dance about banging a copper spear into the ground outside the house but if you check the plugs there isn't a ground line to be seen anywhere. I spent months getting zapped every time I opened my laptop and touched anything metal. It was impossible to ground, well, except through me. My electrician brother visited and he was shocked (joke) by the whole thing.

Lack of grounding is a real danger.

I was the first tenant in a new villa built by a "reputed" Balinese builder here in south Denpasar. A solid villa with 600k invested into the foundation alone -- but I noticed right away slight tickling when touching the refrigerator and some of the laptops, computer monitors, tv etc.

After a full check approx. 50% of the outlets lacked connection to ground although the outlets all installed with two pin ground pins.

For the wet rooms including kitchen I insisted ground wire to be installed for all outlets in use including the refrigerator. The rest taped off.
For the bedrooms and living I just taped off the outlets not grounded as plenty each room. We only use grounded ones so all good now: No tickling or shocks.

This remind me I should check the water heaters before rainy season set in. They have ELCB but that is no guarantee. The water heaters are located below the roof eaves exposed to rain if windy.

We had a fire in the pool house recently as the cheap hobby timer gave up after two years. The owner tukang just replaced it with an identical one (!)
Another fire in the power outlets for the Bale during heavy rain. Here the tukang just turned off the electricity (switching the fuse over). Will be sorted out sometimes in the "future" I guess.

Considering all the above we are not using the pool as I do not know if the pool pump is grounded properly.

 

[Shadrach]

One of the main (joke) problems with the household electricity here is the lack of any decent grounding. I know they make a big song and dance about banging a copper spear into the ground outside the house but if you check the plugs there isn't a ground line to be seen anywhere. I spent months getting zapped every time I opened my laptop and touched anything metal. It was impossible to ground, well, except through me. My electrician brother visited and he was shocked (joke) by the whole thing.

Shaddy you mistake shoddy workmanship for a poverty economy. Most of the locals can just about afford the shittiest and poorest piece of kit to fix anything. That's why the shops don't stock anything else - 1) they're poor too and nobody would buy it even if they did stock it.

Just wondering how long you'd last on 5 million (average wage) per month?

Your right, I know this. I wish I had billions of bucks. Actually the way I feel now about life, I would help some of these folks. Wait a minute, I've been doing that already now since I got back To Bali four years ago. I realized it is a never ending money pit that can never be filled! At least not by me alone. But still, it would be nice if things were made of better quality materials!

 

[Dori]

On the subject of electrical stuff. Are all hobs there, gas? We’d rather an induction hob! Or would that be a bridge to far for the ‘electricans’?

 

[Markit]

On the subject of electrical stuff. Are all hobs there, gas? We’d rather an induction hob! Or would that be a bridge to far for the ‘electricans’?

You think you can just wander in here and plonk down your 1200 to 3000 Watt induction cooker using the most expensive pots and pans in existence?

You can but you'll pay a huge premium for the pleasure and gas being cheap as chips the calculation doesn't work out well for induction.

Electricity pricing here is based on levels of usage with the cheapest going up to 900 Watts which is enough for most of the locals and is subsidized up the wazzo (tech term). The next level is (I believe) up to 2200 Watts which is what I have in my house with 3 a/c (never used) a pool, lights, air fryer, oven, etc. The level of wattage used is what you add together - for instance 1 a/c 300W, 1 air fryer 600W = 900 if both are on.

Most expats tend to immediately plum for the the next level which, I think , is 4400 or 5500. Way above what you'll need after you've lived here for a few months - you'll decide you really don't want to close everything off and live all day in the dry a/c air.

You will be stuck with what your predecessor went for as you can never go down but you can go up. 900 is cheap as chips, 2200 mildly more so, 4400 stupid expensive as they assume all those rich expats will be using it...

PS if you build yourself you can ask for special tourism rates if you are going to rent out (will need a Pondok Wisata first).

 

[AuroraB]

On the subject of electrical stuff. Are all hobs there, gas? We’d rather an induction hob! Or would that be a bridge to far for the ‘electricans’?

I have inspected many villas for long term rent in Sanur. I remember seen electrical hob in only one villa.

Induction hobs are for sale with brands like Bosch and Electrolux here in Bali. As long as the villa is set up with sufficient total capacity it is possible. Due to heavy electricity load (especially if combined with electric oven) it should be on a suitable capacity circuit breaker and have sufficient cross section grounded wire. Sizing should be done by a qualified electrician or electrical engineer. A random 'electrician' (tukang) may fail to do proper sizing. There are companies around with electrical engineers that can advice I guess.

I have stayed in villas with capacity between 7.7 and 12 kW and current price is flat rate around Rp 1650 per kWh.

We have gas hob but are using an electric oven. For safety reason the gas cylinder is located outdoor via pipe and the gas hob has a simple safety valve to shut off gas in the event of flame out. I'm thinking about installing a timer as well as wife forgot the gas hob on when going outside one day.

 

[Markit]

the facts

 

[Dori]

Thanks folks

 

[YachtRock]

I have no idea how you will be able to find an honest partner in Bali. All I know is that you will not be short of helpful "friends" here if you let people know you have 1/4 million USD burning in your pockets ready for "immediate" spending.

If you are new to Bali and Indonesia then you will need long time on the ground to figure out how things work here. Two things may happen 1) You get to know trustworthy people and is able to figure out all the dos and don'ts', or 2) You will realize it is a cesspool of untrusty and corrupt people all around trying to offload your cash.

The Russians seems to thrive here so maybe it is just me asking for a high bar.

Do the Russians thrive here though? I feel like a lot of them get deported and if they are successful, they are doing it illegally and that only lasts so long until they wind up either dead, in jail or deported.

 

[Balifrog]

Do the Russians thrive here though? I feel like a lot of them get deported and if they are successful, they are doing it illegally and that only lasts so long until they wind up either dead, in jail or deported.

A few dozen deported, probably represents 0,0001 % of Russian visitors.
Had a few living in the ressort I stay, couples with kids, all "normal" people and nice.

 

[YachtRock]

A few dozen deported, probably represents 0,0001 % of Russian visitors.
Had a few living in the ressort I stay, couples with kids, all "normal" people and nice.

Yeah that's true. It's a classic case of "a few bad apples spoil the bunch." I know many nice Russians here too but the bad ones are really bad. Some people are not able to see past those bad ones and immediately label them all as the same.

 

[gtrken]

Yeah that's true. It's a classic case of "a few bad apples spoil the bunch." I know many nice Russians here too but the bad ones are really bad. Some people are not able to see past those bad ones and immediately label them all as the same.

I think its good that the russians are getting blamed for everything.
A few years ago it was the Bogan Aussies causing all the trouble...

BTW , I actually like Russians , and Aussies too. Hell I even tolerate the French...

Cheers
Not Rushin to be a bogan
Ken