HEY HEY! I uploaded my drone footage on my other channel @mehditation if anyone cares for a smooth sailing of a relaxing trip to mexico without jump scares!!! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/n51_daZnp9nPpYU.html

Gotta love how mehdi can threaten a country just by saying he will take a vacation there 💀

All normal tourists: ah, finally vacations Medhi: ah, finally experiments in a hotel

Congratulations on finding a working gfci outlet outside of an industrial setting here in México, I have never seen that before, it is an extremely rare sighting and you should be proud of yourself.

Even as a kid I remember looking at this legendary electrical work and thinking “this can’t be safe.” My aunts house had a front door made of metal, and if you touched the door frame on a certain spot, it gave you a 120v shock 😂😂.

As a Mexican architect I assure you that codes and legislation about ground connections exist but sadly most people ignore them, I think it’s mainly because they want to reduce cost in wire, other reason is that many electricians are not well prepared and finally it is very common that owners prefer self construct in buildings or hire someone who is cheaper than an architect or a professional electrician. It is frustrating.

My brother has an electric maintenance company here on Mexico. You won't believe amount of atrocities we have had to correct. And even some construction workers look weird at us for trying to do a good and safe job. It's a bit sad.

Everytime Medhi arrives in a city: "HIDE YOUR SWITCHBOARDS, HE'S COMING!"

7:57 I love the moments when you speak Farsi and don't cut the conversation from the video, it feels very good

I’m an electrician in Mexico so this was a treat to watch! Only international brand hotels and big chain stores use ground fault protection, not even fancy homes but some do! We do love our electrical tape, those splices are the standard but new electricians are adopting wire nuts, wagos are not a thing here tho. Old buildings use the Type A plug, so no ground protection if the building is over 30 years old, new ones do require by code, the rear have grandfathered it in. Taking a cheap extension cord, which rarely have ground in them, and making an external outlet like what the hotel did is also super common. Gracias por tu video amigo Mehdi !

Watching Mehdi handle our sketchy wiring is the first time I felt genuinely worried for his safety. This is a video I've been waiting for a long time. Hope you and your family liked Mexico.

Greetings from Mexico City!! I hope you had a lovely time! What is an extension cord? What is ground fault protection? In Mexico City we know wire and we know tape. Many times we take power from light bulb sockets. Pressing a plug's terminals together so they hold onto the socket is also a tradition. The only aberration I've never seen in Mexico is the plug-plug cord, it remains an American Christmas Exclusive. Those open round boxes are for wattometers from the power provider, CFE. It's illegal to bridge them but they can take months to install them, so they won't even scold you if you're effectively stealing power.

After my first trip overseas, working as a contractor for the US Dept of State, I started packing two specialized kits. First was a "Fly-away Medical kit" containing antibiotics and various other critical medications that I might not be able to readily access overseas The second was my "Lodging Infrastructure Safety Enhancement Kit", which included: * Non-contact voltage tester * Small electrical multi-meter * Single outlet voltage/frequency converter (240v/50hz > 120v/60Hz) * Four-outlet surge protector power-strip * Electrical tape * Asst'd butt connectors * Asst'd heat-shrink tubing * Electrical tape * 20' of #10 braided copper wire (ground wire) * A couple of different sized alligator clips * A couple of receptacles and wall-switches (compatible for whatever country we were in) * Battery-powered smoke & CO detectors (Pro Tip: don't get one that has a radioactive source in it. AMHIK) * Plug-in LED power outage light / night light * Teflon thread tape * Small tube of white RTV sealant/caulk * Heavy-Duty, sticky-back Velcro * Drywall anchors and screws * Handle w/ three-jaw chuck and a couple of drill bits * Multi-tool * Foam mounting tape * 3M Command removable wall hooks * Handheld solar shower * Water purification tablets All of these items were carried based on the experiences of myself, and my co-workers. 1. My first trip, I fried the power-supply for my CPAP machine in Jordan, because I used a voltage converter that did not convert the frequency. 2. I got shocked in a shower in Iraq, after which we discovered that the grounding cable from the fuse box had simply been run through the floor of the shower trailer, and neatly coiled on the ground unconnected to any ground rod. 3. Several "hotels" in which we stayed would almost never have hot water, and a couple of times had NO running water. Not fun when you finish a dirty, dusty day on an African construction site, and just want to get a shower before you pass out on your rack. In Mali, we had two five-gallon jerry cans, as shower backup. One in the room, which stayed cool, and one on the back of our SUV that would heat up in the sun all day, if we needed hot water.

As the Mexican I am: "Good thing this dude didn´t check for gas installations. We love teflon tape even more.

In Mexico there is a tradition among street food vendors in our colorful open air markets of wrapping a power cord around a coat hanger, then you toss the coat hanger like a grappling hook around the power lines overhead, and plugging their equipment directly this way to power television sets, lighting, and radios for their customers. That tells you all you need to know about Mexico in one sentence.

Thank you for visiting Mexico! I hope you enjoyed your stay and that you leave with a good impresión of my beloved country

I loved this video format, Vlog and inftomative with your charismatic persona. More please!

Mexico's electrical wires are like: you could question my methods, but not my results 😂

People check out the room furniture, amenities, toiletries, free edible stuff... This guy comes and checks the electrical connections. WHAT A FRCIKING LEGEND

What an amazing video. I loved the test you did with the resistors. The outdoor taped outlets were it for me.

It's AWESOME! How you include your family. Gives you a more human aspect. Love it man.

12:05 Mehdi: "Maybe they're building it" Me (I'm Mexican): "Yeah they definitely stole it"

Worked as industrial maintenance engineer here in Mexico, and yeah, keeping things up to standard can feel like an uphill battle, several local companies prefer to pay a fine (or rather a bribe) than to upgrade to proper electrical wiring.

I lived in Oaxaca City as a child, but I haven't been back since. Thank you for reminding me of some very fond memories!

Task writeoff + content + monitization = this man is smart af😂

Im currently studying electrical engineering in Mexico, in classes we are taught to never assume that something has ground fault protection no matter who/what ur working for, “always assume that its a DIY” is a common phrase in my classes When it comes to underground cables our teachers have said to have rarely seen some of them not even connected to ground

As a Mexican, I loved this. Let me tell you something about us. Most everyone, from the very poor to the very rich, apply the same principle: If I can (sorta) do it myself, I'll do it. You'll find DIY everywhere. Cars, houses, transportation, government... There's no end. Your common house, even the new ones, have rarely any protection other than grounded outlets. Btw Mehdi... Congratulations on your pronunciation of Oaxaca, it was spot on. Most foreigners (even the ones who talk Spanish) fail it.

My house in Merida survives on electrical tape too... When I had to replace a lamp socket last month I tried to "upgrade" and use proper wire connectors to link the wires to the lamp thing, instead of using tape. But after 6 stores I gave up as nobody knows what that is, even after showing pictures. So, extra tight twistings and tape it is 🙄

nice mix of your regular hyjinx and nice camera work of mexico interspersed. enjoyed the video.

Ah yes, LatinAmerican infrastructure (including electrical)... known for being held together by the sheer power of tape and prayers

8:16 the megaphone truck buying old scraps in the background is the most authentic mexico experience

Mexico adopted a new electric code a couple of decades ago based on US code at the time, as I understand it, only mandatory on new construction or major renovations. Lots of outlets had no ground at all, and sales of those three to two prong adapters are very popular.

Thank you for your wonderful content, ElectroBOOM. I think you bring a lot of smiles and childlike joy to people. You certainly do for me. The world is a funny place these days, but your videos remind me theres always time for fun and inquisitiveness. Much love to you Mehdi. Would love for you to do one of these in Australia ✌️

My grandparents still live in Mexico. Once on a visit, I found that one of the light switches gave me small shocks every so often, so I thought it would be a good prank to shock my kid cousin. Well, he was so bad at following instructions that I had to grab his hand and push his finger on the switch. It was then and there that I shockingly discovered that humans can be conductive too

As a fellow Mexican myself, I'm glad you have investigated the outlets there. I was always concerned and annoyed to see those sockets and cables being frayed, broken, and just not in good condition a lot of times. Thank you, Mehdi.

Love your video! Yes, Mexico is crazy when it comes to "mexicanadas" as we would call all of these weird fixtures that you'll see in the electrical and even mechanical if you were to explore that area too. And I love how you went out and explored in depth the cities, historic places, great shots btw. I love to see that you enjoyed the country

Hey electroboom im gonna be working at manitoba hydro and your video's is helpful for me when learning about electricity

I live in Mexico City and only houses at least 20 years old are grounded. Neither the electric company nor the electricians care about balancing the loads and much less about having a grounded installation. In fact, in the supermarket, they sell converters for those appliances that require grounding (you know, the plug with the three connectors) to eliminate the ground and be able to connect the appliance without problems. Unfortunately, my country does not like to respect the rules and very few houses have a grounded installation. What I can tell you is that industrial installations are 100% grounded.

I inherited my grandfather’s house during the pandemic. You would not believe it until you saw it, but this man had the same color cable for each polarity. Now I understand why we couldn’t turn on a specific fan… it caused a fire last time. I miss that old man 🥲

Watching from Mexico!! I love your channel and follow your content since years ago!!

I was just in Mazatlan for the eclipse and saw so many exposed meter/fuse panels like you saw in Oaxaca - I was very tempted to test voltage by touch, but am glad I used caution after seeing this video!

"Don't shove your hands in the holes it doesn't belong." Words to live by.

Mexican sub here. The lack of breakers and other safety measures is the lack of ground. If you put protections w/out ground they pop each time you use an electrodomestic, so people find it ""better"" to avoid the hassle altogether, or bolt the breakers so they can't phisically switch off. Save pennies and spend dollars once the problem causes a fire or shocks someone

If you think Mexico's electrical is bad, wait until you check the plumbing...

dude is like a welder, he goes around looking at welds he comes by to rate them and sometimes tests them

hey, fellow mexican here, I believe that the reason we usually have makeshift extention chords, is because is faster and cheaper using spare wires and extra outlets we have around the house, I remember that my old fridge outlet was cut and connected directly to an extention chord, generally wild stuff, but if it works it works.

Ever since he said "I'm going to test your electric system" I thought, ese wey ahora sí se va a morir

I just noticed mini brows aint so mini anymore. It's actually amazing cuz i remember when you'd make content with her and have her do the brow dance. Seeing her all grown up reminds me how I've grown up around your videos and i appreciate you and everything you do Mehdi

THANK YOU for vindicating my OCD inspection of every new room while traveling! Seen so much bad stuff in the USA that it’s fun (?) to find the “faults” elsewhere! 😅

The real ground fault protection is the friends we made along the way ❤ Glad you liked Mexico 🥳🥳🥳

I'm Mexican, and i thought the wiring in our hotels would be at least up to standard , the wiring in the first hotel was worse that the one made on my house and we don't even have ground , i knew our wiring was bad but not that bad. And about electrical tape, yes it is standard just because it is the cheapest option, and the thing with the made up extension cords is because sometimes is more convenient and sometimes cheaper, but dangerous af, i almost died sometime because the electrical tape fell of from one. Also, you may think that this is just a problem in the houses or in the poor people part of the country, however i have seen big industrial warehouses with the same or even worse problems, and people are put at risk every day in there because the owner doesn't want to "waste" money in a proper wiring. Love your videos Mehdi, i have been watching them since i was on university, and some of them helped me to pass my tests, glad you enjoyed your visit!

It’s great seeing you in my home city! I hope you enjoyed your stay mehdi

Why don't we get a teacher like him in schools??? Apart from funny shocks he goes through intentionally. His knowledge about circuits is really really good. You are the most worthy deserving entertainer and knowledgeable one of a kind person on this planet and on this KZfaq. Love and respect. You put a smile on our faces even when we are having a bad day. A seat in heaven is booked for you. Just don't die

Keep in mind that old-looking buildings in downtowns are actually 300+ years old, hence the cord extensions everywhere, as you are not allowed to drill through historical walls (not that that kept people from doing it sometimes). Also, hanging cables are electricity stealing cables: they are so badly wired with tape in case somebody hears inspectors are coming you just pull them hard and they come off and you are off the hook. Also, in Mexico you don't need heating, nor AC, nor dryers, nor electrical stoves, etc. So you usually end up dealing with one fridge, one microwave, 2 TVs and one washing machine and almost never 2 of these devices are on at the same time. So, all that can easily pass through a 12-caliber cable. Also, only new buildings MUST be up to standards and there are no inspections for individual homes. Glad you liked my country.

In Oaxaca the reason the cables are so thin, is that they are something called "diablitos", they connect very legally to the power cable to power the house without paying for electricity service, in a diy way, glad you love México

This man makes videos of other countries with unparallel respect. Thanks.

Mexico mentioned - subscribed (about standards yeah we have them, but depends on the zone you are, where I live wires to house are underground, ground is to spec for the CFE requirements, and all power outlets have ground, outlets in the bathroom or washroom have special outlets due to closeness to water).

In Mexico many of this “homemade” cables you see are because we have people that “se cuelgan” from the light cables. This means they steal the light and don’t pay for it. Thats why you so many of those cables are on the street markets

I was born in Mexico now living in Toronto and oh man you cannot live without electrical tape back home, I remember helping my dad around the house and him taping the sh*t of things 😂. Yes most electrical installations there are super cheap and don't follow any code, I took standards and safety for granted until I graduated from electronics, now I can't imagine living without CEC or NEC. I'm glad you liked Mexico, hope you ate some chapulines 😁

My beloved México, where DIY things are the rule because we can't or dont want to pay for an expert, we prefer doing extension cords with old spare cables and tape to not spend money (or do it cheaper), but at the end it's just about mentality. Is hilarious to see al the resulting stuff of all of it. Saludos desde México.

This is just such a great video. Lovely drone footage of a beautiful country, interspersed with educational comedy. It looks like your family had a lovely time (and are very patient with you sabotaging the hotel electrical systems while they enjoy their benefits.

12:25 "Daaad! We're on vacation. We're supposed to have fun." "But I am having fun..."

16:22 The best lesson ever :- "Don't shove your hand in the holes that doesn't belong"👍

I'm glad you enjoyed Mexico. Nice to see you having fun with the Unexisting Ground Protection. Yes that is the regular standard in Mexico at least as a standard. Ground does exist but mainly on the modern areas and since you went to the old part of the city ... well. Also for server rooms or other stuff that is imperative to have but for a regular plug .... nah too much work. Sometimes as a luxury we do have small resistance in bathroom plugs you know so that we don't throw the microwave in the bath. Anyhow I can tell you trying to install a smart ladder switch here is a nightmare. Due to the nuances of that unimportant thing called ground we don't use. As Mexicans we should probably do something about it XD but where would be the fun in that?

First time seeing your content & i was fully entertained with your humor & educational content! Got yourself a new fan & look forward to your other videos!

At 8:16 "Se compran... colchones... refrigeradores... estufas... lavadoras... microondas... o algo de fierro viejo que vendaaan" Glad to hear Mexico's real national hymn was partly captured in this video 👌

As a mexican it is very common that in houses and buildings in general there is not a ground cable going through all the outlets. They do it to reduce costs, people here easily prefer spending less money than being safer

Your momentary curiosity and compulsion to touch uncovered circuits (aka shoving hands in holes) is hysterical.

I’m glad you made it there & back

From my cousin, who is an electrician in Mexico, said ground fault protection isn't needed because you can wire ground to the metal plate and that magically resolves everything. 🙃🙃

14:06 not "maybe" we don't believe in the ground protection, we REALLY don't believe in ground protection, saludos electroboom

Many countries do not have ground terminal in the outlets. If the equipment connected to the outlet is not grounded and shell insulated and plumbing is not within reach, there is no danger unless equipment is damaged.

Hey mehdi I just wanted to say that you brought me through my depression and from harming myself so thank you

I remember this "extension cord" at a cousin's place that we used to play Super Nintendo, it didn't even had an outlet, you just twisted the bare wires around the power supply plug and hope no one tripped over it. Ah the magic of the Mexican Electrical system

Im from Mexico, and studied a technician carreer in electricity. The reason why we use so much electric tape is because is handy, cheap, and eashnto use. Its not a standard, but its a common practice due to inefficient construction supervision.

Proud of your success! Been a fan since our time on liveleak!

that outlet spitting out chargers is why i always bring a 1ft extension cord with me lol

En México no existe la tierra fisica, son los papás

And the amount of wires hanging dangerously close to from the post in public streets is crazy

As someone living in Mexico City, yeah, some electrical works here are just surreal to see. The infamous "diablitos" (makeshift electric connections that are illegally linked to powerlines) have been an endemic problem that has caused some accidents in the past. Thanks for visiting tho!

As a french drone Pilot , I'm amaze how Mexico is chill on drone regulation. Every time I saw a drone shot I was : Did he has the right to do this ?

Ah yes, Mexico got that "it's 1920 in NYC and nobody knows how to run electrical lines" vibes 🤣

If it makes you feel any better, the motel I work at in the US was built in 1973, and not one single conduit has a ground wire in it lol, and they don’t use the conduit for ground or bond the metal boxes with outlets, switches, and fixtures 😂.

You'll love our wiring here in Mexico Mehdi. Only the finest 2 wire (no ground) copper clad aluminum . Sometimes when you touch your metal microwave you feel a slight shock. The wires on the induction kettle get close to melting status. Enjoy!

As a Mechanical- Electrical engineer here at my beautiful Mexico City, i cas assure you everything in this city works with faith... literally, i install industrial level printers and all of them comes with an especific set of rules for electrical supply, but we, as creative as we are, we try to adapt the sites were we go to install the best we can, some places are pristine and with everything in rule, some others are... well, a dusty factory with everything messed up, so yeah, we try for the best, always with 🌠faith🌈

I love the contrast between the Mexico City shots with his family smiling and having fun and the inside the hotel shots, testing every outlet and searching for every wire like the madman he is

Man i just found this channel and ive been watching your old videos mostly and man its so cute how your wife looks the same after all these years but your kid has grown up so much 😂😢 sucks i found this channel so late i love your content

Had to fly out to Mexico in December to fix a train. Went to wash my hands at the train depot like the days before. But this time the water felt a bit prickly. I of course had a multimeter with me and jup, the water was live. There were even showers in there! A shower in there must be a great way to get yourself awake in the morning.

That "smoke detector" in Cancun is probably a buzzer. There probably was a switch with a little string attached in the shower or in the bathroom. The idea is that if a person needs medical help while in the bathroom they can pull the string and warn the other people in the room. It's pretty common here in Italy too

I wanted to be offended but then i remembered that my grandpa house almost burned down once and turns out the house didn't had electric ground protection, and then i realized that i have a socket like the one in the hotel that spits out everything you connect to it. 10/10 i was left spechless.

15:01 You can tell he was so tempted XD

Mexico electrical systems are pretty similar to brazil ones! I think that both follow the "latin america standards". Electrical components and good installation standard are expensive here. Any pair o copper cables that bring energy to solve the problem is enough for most of the people. And yes, a pair of 2.5 cables can power a entire house. Probably that house has basically a fridge and a bunch of low-power things (lamp, charger, router...) My apartment, which is a relatively good(middle class) and modern (90") building, has only 2x4mm for lives and 2x4mm for neutral and ground arriving at the main breaker box. I've rented/lived in apartments that didn't have any ground installation.

6:47 "The Sine waves looks pretty SInEWaVy" lmao

This is perhaps the most unhinged channel on all of KZfaq

such a beautiful country. I spent a week and a half in Juarez last year and had such a great time.

I'm not Mexican, but my wife and kids are. After living there for a total of about five years, I more than share your frustration with the comm cable madness, diablitos (what they call the sketchy extension cords), and total lack of GFCI 😂 ground fault doesn't exist in Mexico. Edit: Next time you come you should visit the north, like Monterrey, Torreón, Durango, Chihuahua, and so on

I'm from Mexico and my family have a very old house down town (around 1600) in which I grew up, the elertrical wires on those houses had to be installed on top of the wall, it typically can not be inside the wall because of the construction method of that century. Here in Mexico the houses are made off stone, and houses that old are actually made off a combination of mud and stone with very thick walls (2 to 3 foots wide) The wires on some of those houses have never been changed since the first install, on a time where plastics were not the norm (or not even existed, I don't know) the wires are covered with a thick paper like material instead of plastic as insulation in a spiral shape so they stick together. Of course most of that old installation have been changed over time, but on some houses it has not, including some parts of my parents's house actually, that you would never get see on public places like museums or hotels.

@ElectroBOOM Just a friendly FYI - outside North America basically no one uses GFCI's - everything has auto tripping breakers and RCD's on the switchbox, everything metal has to be grounded (incl. appliances), all prongs on plugs have to have shielding on them in case the plug isn't fully in and with the exception of Europe and Russia, every outlet has a switch. Heck most powerboards have individually switched sockets and all powerboards have a resetable breaker on them.

Rip your drone 17:03 lol

Gotta say tho. His filming skills, especially with the drone, and his editing skills of him hanging on to the plane... He is improving every friggin time! I love your content man. You work hard for it, and every video is a pearl. Thanks for all the laughs and education!