Pogust

Tilapia eat algae. If you grow tilapia you want a green water pond with plenty of algae in it. Maybe Carlyai is using a different fish? Shrimps also eat algae. Maybe mix in some shrimps that clean the water and produce food too?

Permaculture thinking, the problem is the solution ;-). Don't buy expensive stuff to kill algae, grow some food that eat it instead....

6 hours ago, notrub said:

Is it that 1.2mm steel just melts?  Is it that 'protecting gas' is stick welding?

It's too difficult to have a puddle of melted steel in the arc without it just falling away with thin steel and stick. Might work if you have a way to adjust the setting with a pedal during welding like on a TIG. But this is obviously above what you are looking for. You need too much amps to start the stick welder on 1,2 mm, and then it's too much after a few seconds so it burns through... Stay away from thin material, use 1,5 or 1,8.

Stick use no gas. That is TIG and MIG welder that use shielding gas. Argon and a mix of CO2 and argon. Plain CO2 works OK too  on MIG. I done stainless with MIG and CO2 when I can't get a small gas bottle with the mix.

One thing to remember using welders with protecting gas. It doesn't work if there is any wind. It must be dead calm or you work indoor.

I built 3 houses with steel roof trusses and used almost always the stick welder. 1,5 mm material works OK with stick, 1,2 doesn't... Then only MIG works. But it takes some time to learn.

When welding thin material you only use the lowest setting on the welder, it would probably work with a small generator. The new inverters don't use much amps on low setting. Worth a try if you need the genny there anyway in future.

I never managed to get a good weld with rutile electrodes, can's see the puddle through the slag. Found Kobe LB-52 works good for me.

1 hour ago, carlyai said:

If the efficiency of the pump drops off and more water is pumped into the first tank than the second tank then my thinking is that without the P-traps the first tank will overflow, but with the P-traps the first tank will drain faster and not overflow.

May I suggest you have a valve/restriction on the water feed line from pump to tank (at each tank) so you have an over pressure there. If pump allows it. That way you will have the same flow to both tanks even if the pump slow down a bit. It looks to me you do it unnecessary complicated for yourself. On the other hand you probably have much fun doing it... ????

If you let the air go trough the mesh that prevent fish and other things being sucked out you will avoid the problem. Combine the air nozzle with drain mesh and let air keep it clean. If you want the same level in both tanks, why not just put a T at each drain pipe and combine them? That will always keep the same level in tanks until you block one drain. That you can't with air cleaning it....

Smartboard is a mixture of cement and wood fibers. It act a little as wood, will shrink and expand with moisture difference. You will see cracks between them in dry season. If you paint white it will be clearly seen.

My workshop sealing after a few years. 120 x 240 cm 4 mm smartboard. They move so much it cracks around edges where the screws are. With smaller boards 60 cm it becomes less of a problem but still visible.

Tools Pro, ring road in Udon is a place to look. They use to have some things you don't find elsewhere. I always end up there when in Udon for a check on things I didn't know I need....

8 hours ago, EricTh said:

 

Which fruit tree do you recommend that don't need regular watering? I don't have time to water them often.

 

 

 

Depends on your local climate, where in Thailand you are. Best check with locals what is working there with little watering. Go for trees with a deep tap root, they will reach water easier in the dry season.

Search for allelopathic trees and plants. They are not so many. Mango, jackfruit, banana seem to grow everywhere. Banana likes company of other bananas. They create their own micro environment and are happier that way. Alone out in the wind and sun makes them unhappy.

Guava and mulberry are easy growing small trees to plant between the bigger. Young trees need some shade from sun the first year. If you have the time plant some fast growing legumes first and let them provide shade and fertility. Pigeon peas, sesbania are fast growing and will give you good shade for the fruit trees. They provide carbon and nutrition to the ground when shopped down after a year or two when they done their job.

Don't use cement board. It contains ground wood that expands and contracts with air humidity. You will get a tiny crack at the joint. Plasterboard don't do this. Best is usually the same as the rest of the wall.

12 hours ago, Arjen said:

I am looking already quite a long time to make (or buy) bee hives.

 

Arjen, if you are going to make hives for apis cerana, the smaller Asian bee you need to make them smaller than Langstroth hives. There is also a different comb distance. Info available on the net, but you might already know this.

I'm thinking of the same when I get some time to do it.

I used both in load bearing constructions. My take is that Qcon G2 holds size better, within 1mm. While Diamond G4 blocks can differ 3 mm and that makes it harder to use glue as I sometimes had to sand them down between layers to keep it straight.

I would just cut the present hose away with a hacksaw and fit a std hose with hose-clamp. No need to go buy expensive hose with pressed on fittings at the low pressure. Cut diagonally and split the pressed on fitting.

This often happen with worn thai outlets. The quality of the parts are so bad that the flexible parts inside gets loose and don't have enough contact area to the plug you put in. You get a light-arc that melts the plastic contacts. Try taking the cover off the outlet and adjust the metal parts, or better change the whole thing.

15 hours ago, bankruatsteve said:

 and a cap or two of bleach once in a while effectively controls algae.

Well green algae is actually cleaning the water for you. It eats the bad organic stuff you don't want and leave a perfectly clean water. If there is some light coming into the tank the algae will grow and feed on anything it can get out of the water. This is the old way of cleaning water in tanks, and how rainwater is collected for drinking. Just keep a mesh over the top so unwanted bigger things don't get in. Usually you also divert the first rainwater away from the tank as it cleans the roof before collection.

In a well there might be minerals you don't want and that's another story.

I have many times wondered about those footings. My take is it's a leftover from the times when Thai houses were built above ground on poles to allow for a cool area under the house to spend time during the hot days. This of course before the days of A/C.

Then a footing deeper than what water would get during rain period would be essential. Now when most houses has a whole foundation I see no reason to continue old traditions that no longer is meaningful. Why all this extra work when using the same amount of steel and concrete in a foundation at ground level in most cases would be stronger? And a lot faster and cheaper to do. I have built two houses recently this way as we are doing it in the west.

Anyone that has a logic explanation to this? I'm well aware thinking and logics are not things Thai workers are especially interested in...

I found Kobe LB-52 in Global, however do remember they are more difficult to use. I have seen them in other shops too but not in small shops as Thai handyman can't weld with them.

Best if you can find thinner rods than 2,6 for the 2mm material as they are burning much better on low amps and easier to use.

I'm welding 1,2 and 1,8mm steel profiles with between 38 and 45 amp setting. Use 1,6 and 2mm ESAB OK48 (E7018) that I took here myself. For 1,8 materiel it also works well with 2,6 electrodes in most cases.

I can't see the weld puddle through the slag with Kobe 30 (E6013)electrodes, the most common thai electrode that seem to work best with thai style dab and melt at high amps. That mean I have no control over the result.

Some welds are almost impossible to get right with 2,6mm rods on thin material. There is a rod I found useful, Kobe LB-52 (E7016). They are more difficult to start but I see the weld puddle as I go and that is the main thing. I made most of my roof trusses with that.

Try reducing amp setting as low as possible to allow you to run a continuous weld without burning through material. And still being able to start electrode. Focus on the molten material and keep an even weld puddle as you go. It takes time but you will get experience if you keep on trying. Good eyesight and a bright enough welding helmet is necessary to allow you see what you are doing.

Done plenty welding on the roofs.....

I have used IKEA mattresses for many years, there is no compare if you look at quality to price.

Would Kerry delivery service or similar pick up at the store and transport up to you? It's a small roll 20-30 cm dia that should be easy to transport.

This is how I am building my latest house. A floating "raft" foundation on filled land.

House built with lightweight load-bearing AAC blocks and no heavy roof material.

According to an engineer I asked this would work even in Bangkok area. House is 8 by 13 meters.

Normal cleaners don't etch the surface like lye do, they leave the surface shiny. For maximum adherence of the new paint you need a product that matt down the old paint and create a good grip for the new. That's why caustic soda is used.

If you can get honey that has not been heated, filtered by the large packers it does have pollen grains and enzymes left in it. You can see how runny it is, it's a measure of water content. Should be under 20% to avoid it from fermenting.

Even if there has been 10% sugar added I would still prefer honey from as close to the beehive as possible. Honey is sugars, mainly fructose and glucose anyway... Buy what you like to eat, don't worry too much about adulteration. Stay away from honey you suspect has Chinese origin, they have been treating hives with antibiotics sometimes there.

11 hours ago, kitjohnson said:

@Pogust That screw looks like magic. Did I understand it right: self-tapping into wood, and self-anchoring into AAC? How expensive are they?

That is right, but you would have to pre-drill the wood here as it is too hard to force a 8mm screw through it. 8 x 120mm is 30 baht each. They hold 100-150kg pulling force each. I use them for door frames and hanging cupboard on walls.

Special screws available but doubt that you can find it here. I bought in Sweden and took with me. Works very well and holds a heavy weight.