TS79

Great, Thanks Mr Lite Beer.

Hi, I hope the experts can help me out.

I submitted my application and all the paperwork for the extension to stay based on marriage last month. I got a stamp in my passport saying application of stay is under consideration and that I must contact the office again in person on 14 Nov 2012.

A couple of questions :

Do I need to take any paperwork with me i addition to my passport? If so what is required? Do I need to fill in the 90-day report form for this visit?

Does my wife need to go with me this time?

Thanks in advance for your help.

TS.

My experience would advise you disregard PIR motion sensors.

My wife and myself spend a fair bit of time away from our house and the motion detectors on my system gave me quite a few false alarms due to the odd gekko, spider, cobweb etc even when the sensitivity was reduced to 2 activations in 2 secs before trigger. In the end I moved from PIR sensors to a magnetic sensor on every door and window and haven't had a false alarm since.

You can get pet friendly PIR's that are less sensitive and don't cover the bottom 1 metre of the room but I wouldn't bother.

Really well made, but again not cheap. Many different styles - Phuket Awnings on bypass road, same side as Keehin but maybe 1km further on - www.phuketawnings.com

Had mine for a couple of years and not a mark on it.

Seen a plenty on one of the Similan islands, island number 8. Never seen any in Phuket.

TS79

In my previous post when I said more 'important information' I didn't mean that as an insult to you

Poor phrasing on my part.

Apologies

Mike

No worries. Crossy is indeed a gem and always enjoy reading his practical replies. I just thought it worthwhile letting people know 3 core is becoming more available in the market.

1. Twin + earth is difficult to find here

Not so difficult anymore, just pretty expensive. Homepro stocks it. Its actually triple rather than an uninsulated earth core.

HomePro prices are (approx):

3400 baht for 100m of 2 x 2.5mm2 conductors and 1 x 1.5mm2 conductor

2700 baht for 100m of 2 x 1.5mm2 conductors and 1 x 1.0mm2 conductor

If sourced from a trade electrical shop will probably be cheaper.

Why not take a selection of original (different regions) and copy DVD's back to the shop and try them out? This way you will know for sure.

Also many players can have their region lock removed through the remote control and its worth checking the model number online to see if its possible with that particular model prior to buying.

"Actually, a serious questino, researching it there might be some issues with the mains pressure busting the hoses?"

The cheap hoses don't cope or last very long with higher pressures, I've had a couple burst before on only 3 bar of pressure (45 psi). Can make a pretty big mess in a very short time if you are not around to get the valve closed. Not sure what the average water main pressure is in Oz but the more expensive hoses work fine on 3bar so don't scrimp and choose a good quaity one.

Thomson really like to cram in the seats too. I can imagine a truely horrible 12 hour flight squashed into their seat configuration. Probably paying crazy prices for drinks too.

Not free but GoodSync is a pretty nice program.

Is there anywhere to get apple, cherry, mesquite, or hickory chips in Phuket? Or, is there a local alternative for a good smoky hardwood?

True Value has various chips and BBQ accesories from the USA. Not the cheapest place but quality. It's in the homeworks complex.

If I'm not wrong, True Value in Homeworks closed down a while ago when they started renovations on the ground floor.

Next month I will be investing in one of these. lets hope it is as good as they say it is.

http://latexinnovations.com/

Got mine from that company a couple of years ago. Got to say a great night sleep, good service delivered not to the door but to the bedroom by a courier, their pillows are very good too. Worthwhile investment considering the amount of time one spends in bed (sleeping or otherwise).

i didn't realize that link was thai. are they in phuket? does Mam come over and help you test it? is so, sign me up!

Hehe, unfortunately no they are in BKK, couriered down to Phuket. I dealt with Mam when ordering it as she was very friendly and professional.

A tip-off that someone was coming maybe?

Has anyone used the hospital or got insurance there,We did not bother renewing my wife's medical insurance because it only fully covered you to a certain extent if you stayed in the hospital not as a out patient, then the cover was useless

Couldn't you have added out-patient cover to your policy, most Insurance companies (Thai / Foreign) offer this option.

Next month I will be investing in one of these. lets hope it is as good as they say it is.

http://latexinnovations.com/

Got mine from that company a couple of years ago. Got to say a great night sleep, good service delivered not to the door but to the bedroom by a courier, their pillows are very good too. Worthwhile investment considering the amount of time one spends in bed (sleeping or otherwise).

What cable are you using to connect between laptop and TV? VGA / HDMI ....?

Right after the late 2011 flood I bought a Zinsano Andaman 120bar pressure washer. Got it on sale at Big C in Nakhon Pathom for around 7K baht if I remember the price right...it was like 50% off regular price if I remember right. Here's a picture/link of the Andaman model.

Zinsano's are sold in many Thai stores like HomePro, Global, Makro, Big C, etc. I used the crap out of this pressure washer for a couple months after the flood to include stripping paint on concrete walls around my Bangkok home....and for a few days it was used almost continuously during the daylight hours in cleaning walls, tiles, rocks, road brick, etc. And using the adjustable lance set to the pencil stream setting you can literally carve your name on a concrete wall....like taking a metal object and scrapping into the concrete....I used this stream setting to completely remove paint off concrete wall but not holding it close enough to crave my name...takes the paint right off right down to the concrete very quickly. It's got a master power switch which turns the washer on and off...and after turning on this master switch the washer takes about two seconds to build up initial pressure and then turns off....then, when you squeeze the lance water valve it starts running...release the valve and it stops. It's lite, stands a little above knee hight, and seems/feels strudy.

Knock on wood....it been used a lot and been problem free...and I'm so glad I bought it as it makes outdoor cleaning jobs fast and easy....and almost fun in using the washer. Use it for about an hour this weekend to clean some aglae off some walls and walkways.

I would not, repeat, would not buy a washer that is much below 120bar as several people on my soi also bought pressure washers but bought these models that were around 70-90bar and they just don't have enough pressure to do any serious cleaning....OK for washing a car I guess, but not very good for quickly cleaning concrete floors, tiles, walls, rocks, etc--just not enough pressure.

I have a Zinsano also and agree with PIB's evaluation, pretty good solid device. Mine has not been used that frequently of late, with periods of non-use between 6 - 12 months and (touch wood) has fired up every time I've turned it on. It must be 3-years old and one of the reasons I opted for Zinsano over Karcher is that there are more local service centres should something need repairing / replacing.

When I do use it, it gets a good hammering cleaning the sandwash floor around the pool after rainy season has accumulated dirt and algae in it, also outside the front of the house when the pavements get all black, it carves right into it no problem.

Ideally, even though the house is only 5 years old and 4 years lived in, I would like to rewire the house to a higher compliant standard as I don't like the single core twisted and taped connections at every light / socket and instead go in favour of the triple core insulated cable (similar to the UK twin and earth but all three conductors are insulated individually and overall). In the roof there are wires lying on top of the ceiling boards and would like to put some kind of traywork up running the length of either side of the house to carry the cables on. I'm from an industrial controls background and tray / conduit installations are what I'm most familiar with.

I think it may be wise to have the wife check with the PEA to see if they can tell us whether this moobaan had MEN implemented or not. We are not out in the sticks (Phuket) and the area is relatively new.

Another question, the meter I'm on is a 15/45. The feeder cables to the CU are 16mm2, with these feeders is it possible to upgrade the supply and meter to 30/100 or do the cables need changing out for 35mm2 (cable run is approx 15m)? Reason I ask is I have 4 AC's now, an electric oven and an electric water heater, although not all running at the same time.

Ok, so with this infrastructure it is not possible to put a MEN link in? What is the difference in infrastructure supplied by PEA that makes the system TT or MEN?

I am with you on the sparse number of earth wires but every outlet has been checked with the Martindale and all are earthed. When testing them the outlets I did find a couple of sockets that needed the Live / Neutral wire swapping over but apart from this all was good and a worthwhile exercise. I imagine that the earthing must be done in the roof space and only a couple of wires back to the CU. I've been in the roof a couple of times but its not as easy as being in the loft of a UK home where there are plenty of trusses to grab hold of so I try to keep visits in there to a minimum over here.

I would like to put individual RCBO's on the circuits that need them rather than one on the incomer. Which brand / device would you recommend? Do you have any link to a catalog page?

Thanks guys.

Thanks for your replies so far.

Firstly I apologise as I thought it was possible to identify MEN from the power distribution outside (from the earthed N conductors). I am sure, however, that all circuit earths are connected to the earth terminal rail and all neutrals to neutral rail without any link between them. Is the difference between TT & MEN only whether or not a link is installed or is there a difference in the PEA infrastructure?

Attached are the requested pics of the CU, little bit messy I know.

On the neutral bar you can see see one small grey wire in hole 11, this wire joins to a red wire (with orange screw cap) but it isn't the red wire that is in the earth bar, it goes up to the roof space. I guess the sparkies must have ran out of white wire.

Pic 11 shows a label inside the CU that says it complies with IEC60439, so hopefully this might allow another brand of RBCO's to be fitted?

Thanks again for your time.

You have a 'Panic Room' ...

If it really is a security room, you have the electricity feed on the same feed as the rest of the house?

Haha, nah its just my workshop / junk room but its entrance is through a bedroom and as it was being built it just took the name Panic Room (after the movie). You've got good eyes !!

Thought I'd throw in another electrical thread. Can the electrical gurus offer some advice to some questions.

I live in a moo baan approx 5 years old.

Pic 1 - There are high level wires (i assume MV?) feeding a transformer about 50 metres from my house.

Pic 2 - This transformer feeds a lower level set of wires (3 phase?) along the moo baan, the top wire is bare. I think the fifth wire from the top is the one which supplies the street lights from its own meter at one end of the street.

Pic 3 - Close up of pic 2, you can see 4 connections to these lower level wires. Top wire and second top goes to my meter, top and third top goes to neighbours meter.

Pic 4 - Approx every 3rd pole in the moo baan has a bare wire connected from the top lower level wire than goes down the pole into the ground.

Pic 5 - Electric Tester

Pic 6 - Consumer Unit

Is this system MEN?

If it is MEN, my CU doesn't have a MEN link installed (no connection between the neutral terminal bar and earth terminal bar), does a link need fitting?

The 'Electricians' who wired the houses in the soi when asked had no idea about what MEN was (maybe lost in translation). They did tell me that there was a earth rod fitted into the ground below the CU but I cannot confirm as the wires are hidden.

When I plug in my electric tester to the supply it indicates that wiring is OK, voltage is OK and that the loop test (resistance to earth?) is between 10 and 100 ohms which I assume is too high as the indicator LED is red, I guess it could be close to 10 ohms though which wouldn't be too bad but could also be close to 100 ohms which would not be so good. Should I install another earth rod and connect to the earth terminal bar in the CU to try and reduce the resistance? All sockets in the house produce the same results from the tester.

Currently all the breakers in my CU are MCB's (pic 5), the CU is Bticino. For safety reasons I would like to install the ThaiVisa recommended RCBOs but after trawling the bticino websites I cannot seem to find any from this manufacturer. Is it possible that other manufacturers RCBO will fit a bticino CU or will this be not possible? I guess I could install another CU and use the existing one for circuits that don't require RCD's and a new one for circuits that should be on RCBO's? Square D seems highly recommended and then I could move the circuits over.

Sorry for the long message but tried to get all my questions into it.

Thanks in advance,

T.

16.0.1 is on offer but I am holding off pending more info.

Me too.

<snip> I then occasionally spray around the house with a quality pesticide for ants, bugs, etc. But when you are living in the tropics keeping ants/bugs beat down is hard to do unless you are spraying like once a week....and of course during rainy season, any ant/bug spraying is quickly diluted/washed away by the rain. I pretty much just spot spray now when needed for ants/bugs/etc.

PIB, can you tell me what brand (and where you can find) a quality pesticide for ants / bugs. I use a company to spray once a month with a pesticide called Bifenthrin 10% W/V and it is very good but due to its potency it is not available to local consumers, apparently available only if you are a licenced pest control company.