Bonaire electrical question

[ldevore]

Has anyone ever had any problems charging lap tops, can lights, cameras, etc... in Bonaire? As I understand it, their electricity is 112-127V/50Hz with spikes happening often. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Lauri

[lizard0924]

In four trips, we've never had a problem with any of our electronics (laptops, camera battery chargers, iPhones....and my flat iron...ha ha ha) being plugged directly into the wall sockets. While we don't leave stuff plugged in unnecessarily, we both left our iPhones plugged in overnight, every night to charge with no adverse results.

Have a great trip!

[HydroGirl]

All our toys (laptops, cameras etc) are DC, the plugs are AC to DC converters.
Worse case your charger will be damaged, but I would still follow the advice of not leaving things plugged in if you don’t need it.
Spikes are most likely to happen during the day, when the demand on the grid is greater. In most of these places the grid is a diesel generator.

Sandra

[Grateful Diver]

Bonaire's power is quite modern, and completely compatible with our chargers. In four trips I've never had a problem ... and our room typically looks like a small Radio Shack with lights, laptops, and batteries for cameras and strobes all on chargers whenever we're not diving ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[John Rawlings]

I agree with Bob....I've never had a problem on Bonaire with charging anything at all.

It's a great place and you're going to have a great time!

[fmerkel]

I'd say it depends on where you stay. Many/(most?) of the larger resorts have converters they've put on their systems to deal with it. If you go independent and stay in a private condo or a small resort there may be issues. This is the route I've always done and burned up a couple of UK wall warts.
Take a look at your wall wart. If it says 50/60Hz you should be OK. If it specifies 60Hz only I wouldn't use it unless willing to lose it if you aren't at a big resort. The management should be able to tell you.

[Tom Nic]

Jumping on Bob's comment about his room looking like a radio shack:

I'd strongly recommend bringing a good surge protector to plug into your wall outlet and to give you mutiple plug in places for your chargers, laptop, etc. That way you have some protection from voltage spikes and you don't have to go around hunting for outlets either.

[airsix]

In four trips, we've never had a problem with any of our electronics (laptops, camera battery chargers, iPhones....and my flat iron...ha ha ha)

You brought an iron to Bonaire?
Whatever your husband said about it tell him I said he was right.

[psundquist]

I don't worry about it. It's a question about your risk tolerance.

The only electrical problem I experienced in Bonaire was the power going out for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Didn't affect the traffic lights since they don't have any and I didn't need any power underwater.

I have heard of similiar issues in U.S. marinas with the power, and never had a problem in the many different slips I have been in either.

[lizard0924]

In four trips, we've never had a problem with any of our electronics (laptops, camera battery chargers, iPhones....and my flat iron...ha ha ha)

You brought an iron to Bonaire?
Whatever your husband said about it tell him I said he was right.

For the record, it was a hair styling appliance. I would NEVER both to iron clothes in Bonaire, but styling my hair...well, that's another story altogether. I can't believe that my husband posted right after you did and failed to take the opportunity to give me a hard time about it (again).

Apologies to Lauri for derailing the thread.

[ldevore]

In four trips, we've never had a problem with any of our electronics (laptops, camera battery chargers, iPhones....and my flat iron...ha ha ha)

You brought an iron to Bonaire?
Whatever your husband said about it tell him I said he was right.

For the record, it was a hair styling appliance. I would NEVER both to iron clothes in Bonaire, but styling my hair...well, that's another story altogether. I can't believe that my husband posted right after you did and failed to take the opportunity to give me a hard time about it (again).

Apologies to Lauri for derailing the thread.

Hey - I have to admit, I'm with airsix on this one! If your hair is dry enough to style, then you clearly weren't diving enough! :geek:

Lauri

[psundquist]

In four trips, we've never had a problem with any of our electronics (laptops, camera battery chargers, iPhones....and my flat iron...ha ha ha)

You brought an iron to Bonaire?
Whatever your husband said about it tell him I said he was right.

For the record, it was a hair styling appliance. I would NEVER both to iron clothes in Bonaire, but styling my hair...well, that's another story altogether. I can't believe that my husband posted right after you did and failed to take the opportunity to give me a hard time about it (again).

Apologies to Lauri for derailing the thread.

Hey - I have to admit, I'm with airsix on this one! If your hair is dry enough to style, then you clearly weren't diving enough! :geek:

Lauri

I just felt bad for Liz that it took her an additional day to unplug from her daily life in Seattle to begin relaxing in Bonaire and dive like crazy which she quickly figured out.

[BASSMAN]

In a post about Bonaire..

If your hair is dry enough to style, then you clearly weren't diving enough!

[Tom Nic]

In a post about Bonaire..

If your hair is dry enough to style, then you clearly weren't diving enough!

I'm thinking my fingers are going to be wrinkled for two weeks.

[coachrenz]

I'm thinking my fingers are going to be wrinkled for two weeks.

My hands are finally pretty much back to normal, but, my feet are still peeling from my trip there over a month ago. 40 dives in 7 days will do that to you. I can't imagine what 2 weeks of diving would do.

Have a great time!

[ArcticDiver]

I'm thinking my fingers are going to be wrinkled for two weeks.

My hands are finally pretty much back to normal, but, my feet are still peeling from my trip there over a month ago. 40 dives in 7 days will do that to you. I can't imagine what 2 weeks of diving would do.

Have a great time!

Good Grief! Did you sleep on the bottom? How many millenia did that convert too?

[Tom Nic]

I'm thinking my fingers are going to be wrinkled for two weeks.

My hands are finally pretty much back to normal, but, my feet are still peeling from my trip there over a month ago. 40 dives in 7 days will do that to you. I can't imagine what 2 weeks of diving would do.

Have a great time!

40 dives is a crazy amount for a one week trip. Doable, but hard if you're doing 1 hour dives. We've found 4 dives a day to be a good pace that allows us to enjoy relaxing evenings and still feel somewhat human. I'll probably push it a bit more when Keith gets here next week, him being the night diving fiend that he is.

[coachrenz]

I'm thinking my fingers are going to be wrinkled for two weeks.

My hands are finally pretty much back to normal, but, my feet are still peeling from my trip there over a month ago. 40 dives in 7 days will do that to you. I can't imagine what 2 weeks of diving would do.

Have a great time!

40 dives is a crazy amount for a one week trip. Doable, but hard if you're doing 1 hour dives. We've found 4 dives a day to be a good pace that allows us to enjoy relaxing evenings and still feel somewhat human. I'll probably push it a bit more when Keith gets here next week, him being the night diving fiend that he is.

I only averaged 44 minutes per dive. But, for most of the time, I was diving with my favorite one legged diver who uses a lot more air than the regular diver.