Crossy

7 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Solar Generation is the wave of the future.

Have you heard?

Just ask Elon.

Solar generators are most efficient if deployed above the Earth's atmosphere.

Elon says: We need wait only about three more years to see the first of billions of them up there, circling above our heads.

I just hope I live long enough to see his dream materialize into full fruition.

Orbiting solar was the next thing when I was an apprentice in the mid 70s, like fusion was going to be commercial within 30 years ...

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19770010746/downloads/19770010746.pdf

The worship of diesel generators (Onanism) can never end well!

FactoryPure

5kg of Italian sausages, ground mixed, stuffed and linked.

Being a lazy person I got ready made seasoning mix off Lazada.

https://www.lazada.co.th/shop/k7bim60u

Came out pretty well, from the testing I think I'd use a little more than the suggested 25g per kg of meat, but it's a matter of taste (and the flavour should mature as they dry in the fridge before freezing).

This was my first try with collagen casings and I'm a convert, they don't stretch and link like natural casings (so out came the twine) but they're so much easier to use and fill.

The casings I got say no need to soak, they just worked.

@kwak250 How many watts of panels do you have at present? How much room do you have for more panels?

Which inverter do you have?

You certainly need more panels before you need more battery, and panels are much more affordable.

But you may need another charge controller or even inverter to get the best out of them.

25,000 BTU is going to use about 2.5kW when the compressor is running (is yours an inverter type?).

The cheapest option would be that you could add 2-3kW (4-6 500W panels) of grid-tie solar to offset your daytime usage but it would need it's own 20A circuit back to your distribution board and should be the type that throttles so that you don't export to the grid.

Once you start adding energy storage (batteries) things can get rather more costly.

In engineering it's a well known principle that if you make something foolproof a better fool will be along tomorrow

15 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

You might be thinking of it as a load, hence not on high power circuits, but it’s the reverse, does that make a difference?

The wires get hot no matter which way the amps are flowing

The risk is when you get several high power loads AND a couple of fairly high-power solar things plugged in to the same branch.

There's the possibility of overloading the wiring with the associated risk of conflagration but there's no over-current protection actually in the current path.

People can (and will) keep plugging stuff in coz the breaker doesn't open!

I'll try to do an illustative drawing.

There are literally dozens of small grid-tie micro-inverters on Lazada etc.

Add a suitable panel or two and a bit of DIY and you're good to go.

There are limits to using an outlet to feed into your house wiring. I wouldn't go over about 1500Watts and use a circuit that doesn't have any high-power appliances, so no plugging into the kitchen.

It might be worth looking up the UK regs. regarding plug-in solar and sticking to something similar.

Update from the Pathum Thani area.

Needed to top off the Ranger, two PTT stations had no diesel, the third limited to 500 Baht which actually took the tank as full as makes no odds.

Got to get family from the airport this afternoon, so I suspect I'll be doing the rounds again to top off.

CCTV can be a legal minefield due to the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) B.E. 2562 (2019) if it's covering anything other than your own property.

You can install CCTV on your own property for security (protecting your home, family, assets).
This is usually treated as a “personal/domestic activity” exemption under the PDPA.
So a camera covering your gate, driveway, or front yard is normally fine.

If your camera faces the street, these principles apply:

Legitimate purpose

Must have a clear, reasonable purpose (e.g. security)

Not for spying, harassment, or unnecessary surveillance

Proportionality / minimisation

You should avoid capturing more than necessary

e.g. Angle the camera to focus on your gate, not the whole street

Outward facing doorbell cameras are generally acceptable

No unreasonable intrusion into privacy

Thailand recognizes a general principle that filming others can infringe their personal space and rights

Businesses must post CCTV notices under PDPA!

For private homes:

If purely domestic → usually no notice required

If capturing public/others → posting a notice is recommended (and sometimes expected for compliance).

Our cameras came with CCTV "Warning" notices, they are still in my desk draw.

Meanwhile, I just got back from our local PTT, Pathum Thani.

Signs up on diesel pumps "waiting for delivery", they were only running one pump per island but no restriction on quantity.

I do admit that the cynic in me was wondering if this was a ploy to get us to complain so they could install an electronic meter, "sorry meter very old, you should have new".

It does look like my fears were unfounded.

That said, when (not if) they do install an electronic meter our usage will go from 3-4kWh per month to exactly zero!

Not that I intend messing with them of course

Poll created, so if you have an opinion please voice it.

My daughter, grandson and daughter's BF arrive on Saturday.

Direct flight with Eva Air, bought the tickets in December (christmas prezzie) so no issues with increased fuel prices.

My biggest worry will be lack of fuel inside Thailand for trips out, young Harry would be happy just staying in the pool!

24 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Hey, was it you that got the robo-vac a while back? If so, how do you like it?

Yeah, it works pretty well, the maid isn't too fussed mind!

Actually, I bought the beast after we lost our regular maid and Madam really couldn't cope. It keeps the lounge and bedroom vacuumed and mopped so she doesn't have to, it even cleans up my toenail clippings!

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/i5386646044-s22875956321.html

We got the X20 pro. I just let it get on with it. As with all these beasties one does have to be a bit careful, trailing USB leads are definitely its nemesis, and the remains of a dead bird left by the cat did give it indigestion!

I'll bet you have a Neutral - Earth (the actual earth since you're not wired for grounds) fault somewhere, they can be an absolute dog to locate even with the correct test gear, you stand no chance with a regular multimeter.

One thing, have you verified the polarity of your incoming supply (live really is live)? It wouldn't be the first time that odd problems have been traced to swapped incoming supply.

Our packs rarely get much above ambient and they are in a non-A/C space.

We do treat them very gently mind, rarely going over 0.1C maybe 0.2C charging on a really sunny day.

Currently everything is about 31C with 30C on the weather station.

You should probably sort out a ground for your Class-1 appliances, but that's unlikely to be your issue.

Is the Safe-T-Cut one of the adjustable ones? What is it set to?

Do you have any test gear, a multimeter, neon driver etc?

Start by popping off your outlets and switches and check for wildlife and/or dampness inside.

Yeah, the PEA rules are a little more nuanced than simply "no export from systems with batteries".

Generally it boils down to not being permitted to export energy from batteries to grid, provided any export is coming from the solar directly then batteries do not enter the equation.

I asked my favourite AI system (which it admits can be wrong), here is our conversation as a .pdf. we can't upload .pdf files so this is a link to my OneDrive.

https://1drv.ms/b/c/22162f5b8872d05b/IQD4li_YzurzRIgRAD3WVMtkAbjXtJ059g4cO29QsgEpFhk?e=1wHdGI

It should be viewable by anyone, please let me know if it won't open for you.

We are finally builder-free ☺️

Although Madam "won" some of the bamboo, not sure exactly what it will get used for.

And I'm re-varnishing the patio table (still needs another coat).

We have UK family arriving on the 21st!

6 hours ago, still kicking said:

I've actually been there when we were building the Hong Kong airport and railway, even then the name was circulating as a meme, so on a boring Saturday we went looking for it.

Sadly now permananetly closed the Wong Fook Hing Bookstore (黃福興書) was located at 180 Ma Tau Wai Road in the To Kwa Wan area of Kowloon.