Oscar2

....... I have heard farang smell like cheese.

Probably why my wife loves me ... she has a penchant for Camembert Her Mum gave us a white paste which my wife loves to spread liberally on my under-arms to kill bacteria. It works and is effective fairly long-term. No idea what is though.

May be a good idea to find out what the stuff is. She may be slowly poisoning you. Would not be the first time it happened in Thailand.

T.V. Dinner parties...LOL

Thank you gentlemen.

It's all terminology, different countries call them different things, RCD, RCCB, GFCI, ELCB (old term still used), Safe-T-Cut (actually a brand, and they make other things) are all the same thing.

The roof steel is usually not a bad ground, Google 'Ufer ground' but you really should have a rod too.

I'd rather have the RCD at the board, we have them in addition to the ones in the heaters. The reasoning is simple, an RCD can only protect it's downstream side so the one in the heater will protect against faults actually in the heater, with Thailand's reputation for iffy wiring adding a second unit at the board is good insurance against a taped joint coming adrift or the local fauna making a meal of your cable insulation.

EDIT OK managed to look at your picture. The unit you have although marked 'Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker' is actually an RCBO which combines a 15mA RCD (for earth leakage protection) with a 30A MCB (for overload protection). The input L and N go in the terminals marked 'Line', the terminals marked 'Load' go to the heater.

O.K. thank you very much. So, just to be clear -- the breaker I bought should be fine? I do not need to go out and search all over for one labeled GFCI??

Hi lopburi3, yes it was 225 Baht at Home Mall in Chiang Mai. I'm pretty sure it is not fake. They have all the name brand items there. Perhaps the pricing was wrong?

Here is the company http://www.thaielect...s/?ID=ID0000006

Here is the product http://www.thaielectrics.com/product/detail.asp?Product_ID=PID0000363

Mine may be a newer model as it looks a little different than the one in the photo. It looks to be good quality craftsmanship.

Thanks for the replies. I'm sure I can figure out the meter. I was used to seeing "ACV" and "DCV" on other meters but see that V~ is AC Volts - as Crossy said.

I am guessing that the only thing the electrician could have used to connect the ground wire in the attic is the metal frame of the roof. So indeed that is something to consider having properly done ASAP.

Are you saying that the breaker I bought is a redundancy of the ELCB already in the Panasonic water heater? That makes sense what you say about the GFCI. I did not see a GFCI at any of the places I went; Home Pro, Home Mall, Home Expert, etc.

I haven't seen or heard of anyone using a TV tray since the 1960's !

Was always considered a kind of low class item in my family, but I always wanted one as a kid but was never allowed to own one or to even eat from one.

Good luck in finding one.

It was a blast from the past for me too when I read it! We had them in the 1960's. But we eventually tossed them as they were kind of a low-class thing as you say.

I'll jump on this thread rather than start a new one...

Our Panasonic shower water heater recently developed problems and was leaking. We took it to the Panasonic Repair Center and it still had a year left on warranty. They replaced the entire heating element and thermostat, so it's like new and ready to be picked up today. It is a 3.5KW unit. I got to thinking as I was waiting one month for parts from BKK and for it to be repaired about the safety issues so I decided to investigate.

First, the ground wire goes somewhere up in the attic. It does not go to a proper ground rod. I have no idea where it goes.

Second, the 30 Amp safety beaker is a cheap piece of Chinese junk installed by an electrician here in Chiang Mai.

Third, I never saw the guy that installed it 4 years ago even pull out a meter and check the polarity of the line when he installed the water heater.

So, I went and bought a Hi Tek brand 30 Amp Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker with Short Circuit and Overload Protection for about 225 THB. Most of the breakers available in the shops where all in the 200-300 THB range. The only exception was a brand called Safe T Cut which was about 2800-3200 THB which was out of my budget.

I want to check the polarity and wire the heater properly as I believe the lugs are labeled L and N. Can one of you experts please advise me on this? I have a cheap VOM meter here. What scale or range do I use? There is a V- and a V~ range. I assume I set it to 300V. And what do I test for? I assume I use the black ground probe at the earth ground lug and the red probe to test which of the 2 conductors is "hot" or gives the higher reading. Correct?

As far as safety is concerned, I read in this or another thread that a unit with plastic case is safer than metal. Ours has a plastic case. How concerned should I be about the ground wire not going to a proper ground rod? I have been for the last 4 years checking the ELB once a month and it always functioned properly.

Thanks for your help.

LOL it sounds like 1/2 the Chiangmai members on thaivisa have used and abused this hussie at one time or another.

The costs of having a kid in Thailand ......... almost nothing.

Teenager about 1k/month

Baby about 1k/month

sounds like rounding them up and putting them in a compound on one of the thai islands would be a good idea. they do this with HIV+ people in cuba and it works. would clean up the streets in pattaya as well.

i hope they find the poor boy so he can get his meds... sounds like Miss Sulawang Talungpet age 24 has got herself a good catch indeed. why do so many successful men from western countries come to LOS and marry a homely, black Isaan farm girl or fishermans daughter anyway? clearly this is the case here.

probably wasn't so clever to announce the financial situation of the father! i hope in the end everything will be o.k. sounds like father isn't so clever.

Kao Mai Lanna? Out in Hangdog, it's beautiful. It was an old tobacco plantation and they converted the drying rooms into bungalows.

Excellent food as well.

nice...very nice...what's the price tag on this baby please?