Forums > Specific Focus > Home, Garden & Construction in Mexico

jreboll

May 26, 2008, 4:36 PM

Post #1 of 4 (6045 views)

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ELECTRICAL WIRING

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As you all know house wiring is done in Mexico by embedding plastic tubing in the walls and floors and then threading individual wires through these tubes.
In my house some of these tubing spans may be up to 30-50 feet long.
I think some of these wires are burning out because the electricity to some areas of the house is gone.
The electrician who did the initial wiring is long gone and I don't have any diagrams to work with.
My question is should I try to rewire the way it was originally done or should I just install some exterior tubing outside the house and run the wires through there?

Rolly / Moderator

May 26, 2008, 8:32 PM

Post #2 of 4 (6031 views)

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Re: [jreboll] ELECTRICAL WIRING

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You can try installing new wires by using the old wires to pull in the new ones if one of the old wires is not broken. It is very difficult, often impossible, to pull new wires through the plastic conduits, so you may have to install outside the house.

Have you removed the receptacle covers to examine the connections? That is where most failures occur. It is unusual for the wires to fail inside the conduit, unless... read on:

Do you know if the wiring is below the floor slab, hence in contact with the earth? In parts of México there is a little ant-like critter that lives in the soil and likes to invade the plastic conduit and eat the insulation off the wires causing a short that burns one or both wires in two. This is a very big problem in my area. If that is your problem, I suggest you install new wiring on the outside of the house.

When you take the cover off the receptacle boxes, look for a very fine sand/dirt accumulation in the box. That is a sure sign that you are infected with the insulation eaters.

Good luck.

Rolly Pirate

jreboll

May 27, 2008, 6:07 AM

Post #3 of 4 (6018 views)

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Re: [Rolly] ELECTRICAL WIRING

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Thanks for your reply. I will be returning SOB in July and will be taking some things with me to fix the problem one way or another.

robrt8

May 27, 2008, 11:25 AM

Post #4 of 4 (5998 views)

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Re: [jreboll] ELECTRICAL WIRING

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Get a voltimeter.
Rolly's right. It's almost always the outlet or switch that's at fault. Those found in Mexico are particularly crappy.