Job Discussion Forums

[ichiro]

Hello,

I'm going to Indonesia in a few weeks, do I need an adapter for a north american mac ibook and ipod? What stufff do I need to get?

Thanks

[guruengerish]

This must be one of the most asked and answered questions on this forum!

Mate, few countries have the same plug as the USA. In fact there seems to be an international conspiracy to ensure that every country has a unique plug.

Sadly, Indonesia still has the relics of the 19th century Dutch electrical system, where power was used for lights and nothing else. so the standard is a 2-pin plug/socket system which allows plugs to fall out of the wall just before you save something vital.

Being 2-pin, the gear is unearthed, and rarely is anything double insulated.

Also, most houses have NO earthing, and this can be dangerous if your house uses more than a TV. I have honestly seen a house wired up using two wire phone cable. Cross my heart!! Washing machines and the like have this nice green wire coiled up and hidden from sight at the rear.

So to answer your question, you definitely need some sort of adapter for anything electrical from the USA, Australia, and so on. Some newer places and institutions have the UK plug and socket set-up. (BS35)

I took a heap of Aussie power-boards, earth leakage safety cords and dozens of plugs with me and ran an earthing wire to a metal pipe outside.

Yes, you will need some kind of adapter to get you started from the Indonesian outlets, and run this to your multi-outlet power board/s.

PM me if you need more info.