Crossy

Well I know what one is, but I can't for the life of me understand why a foreigner would want one

If you really want one (and are prepared to look after it properly [more demanding than owning a dog]) the shops at Tha Phra Chan and behind Wat Rachanadda usually have them, they are hot sellers.

EDIT to remove spoiler

Thread already running here http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Thailand-Iss...rd-t215606.html

Believe it when you have one in your sticky mitt

Matt, don't panic

A direct L => N short at your neighbours will cause something other than your system to fry, probably the neighbour, there is a path back to the transformer via the main neutral.

You are correct about my diagrams, they were done before the implications of L - N swaps became as vivid as they now are. I'll fix them (got the original Visio files), thanks for the offer.

DONE. Note that only the split-service CU is changed, the regular unit with a combined Incomer/ELCB must remain as is if the the ELCB is to work correctly.

The neutral and live from the meter will feed directly to the Main Circuit Breaker

The neutral on the Cold side of the Main CB will have 3 wires, 1 to the ground bar, 1 to the unprotected Mini CB, and 1 to the RCD

All my grounds would still connect to the Ground Bar (is it still called a MEN, or only a Ground Bar now?)

are there any drawbacks from putting the Ground Bar on the cold side of the Main CB? It sort of worries me that ABB didn't think of this when publishing their brochure...but i worry to the point where my brother-in-law now thinks i'm crazy

You are completely correct, the cold side of your incomer will have three wires in the neutral

With the link to the ground bar it is still MEN, this is how we would wire it in the UK. It means that opening the breaker completely isolates your installation from the incoming supply, very safe even if some bright spark swaps L & N.

Interestingly, all the wiring diagrams I've seen in LoS have it wired the way your instructions show, must be a Thai thing.

It's no problem to worry, get water wrong and you can see it, get gas wrong and you can smell it, get leccy wrong and you just die

Crossy, given the information I've presented, would you disconnect the MEN link? You told me to "think twice" but honestly I don't completely understand this enough to feel confident with my decision (I trust you more ).

If I disconnect the MEN link, I would put the neutral from the meter directly into the Main CB. The only thing connected to my local ground bar would be my (so far non existent) appliance grounds. correct?

Given the piccies I would leave it connected, but be aware if any work is done on your meter to verify that live still is live and neutral still is neutral just in case

Personally, I would take both incoming live and neutral direct to the breaker and link the neutral to the ground bar on the cold side of the breaker. This would ensure that in the (hopefully remote) event of L and N being reversed opening the breaker would disconnect your grounded equipment from the (incorrectly) live wire.

Without the MEN you should just have your ground stake and outlet grounds going to the ground bar.

How about some picces of your completed installation, for constructive comment of course.

Whether MEN is implemented or not you need your own ground, period!

The question is whether to connect ground and neutral at your consumer unit.

From what is being described on the poles (multiple grounding of the neutral) I suggest that MEN is actually implemented so you can install a MEN link and not run into hazard in the event of an open neutral (the main reason that MEN was slow to catch on in the UK).

BUT

There is a lot of conjecture on the IEE forums as to whether MEN (or PME as it's known in the UK) actually has any advantage when all circuits are protected by an ELCB (this is now required by the IEE regs 17th edition except under very specific circumstances).

There are also known issues in Thailand with accidental reversal of live and neutral at the meter (usually during work or meter changes). If this happens and you have MEN all exposed metalwork in your home will become live! or at least live enough to be uncomfortable if you touch it (the actual touch voltage will depend upon how good your local ground is). A TV member actually had this happen when the crew hooked up a supply for a wedding celebration and managed to swap the wires at the meter.

If we were in the UK I wouldn't hesitate to install the MEN link, in rural Thailand I would think very carefully before doing so.

My Missus wears one of my old shirts over shorts for gardening, not remotely sexy

Matt

Theoretically you are correct, the single breaker for the fridge should be fed with 10mm and if you have some, use it. In reality, 2" of 2.5mm will quite happily drop a 40A breaker in the (highly unlikely) event of a short inside your CU.

See this page for the correct wiring of a split-service CU http://www.crossy.co.uk/wiring/Consumer.html you won't actually have a 'protected neutral bar' with only one MCB, but you get the idea.

If you wire the CU assuming MEN is NOT available it is easy to retrofit a MEN link if you find it is. Most definately don't wire for MEN if you're not sure, this could result in a hazard.

Grounds on the poles could be an indication of MEN, get your binoculars out and see if the are connected to the neutral conductor at the top of the pole, if they are you can be pretty confident that you have MEN

Dotcom

On such a small service I don't think an additional isolator is really required, the incomer in the CU will isolate everything except the meter tails which would be unlikely to need moving once installed. There 'should' be a service fuse somewhere near the meter which can be pulled if necessary.

Matt

That is a 30mA ELCB, the line 40A I_{(delta n)}=0.03A is the spec. (delta is the triangle thing) 0.03A=30mA good for the job

Mdechgan

Yup, I hate the neutral-ground connection method, if you do the installation tests to UK or Oz regs you must disconnect the MEN link which is impossible with this arrangement.

If you have to handle hot wires rubber gloves and strong boots (both dry) will reduce the possiblility of a shock, or just get your sparks to hook it up

Matt.

Your water heater will be quite safe as it is, although you have an ELCB do check the ground is well connected.

If you follow the UK or Oz regs to the letter you should connect the heater ground to the MEN, to be honest unless it's an easy wiring run, I wouldn't bother.

I wish I had more time to maintain the website, unfortunately earning a crust takes priority

If you are using the same cable as your incoming, this is double insulated to protect it from the rigours of an outdoor installation. You can get single insulated 10mm which has much thinner insulation (buy it by the metre).

If you use the less bulky wire then it will be easier to butt the insulation up against the MCBs etc. Avoid leaving any copper visible.

You may be able to run the wire from the incoming breaker to the ELCB underneath the DIN mounting rail rather than round the end, making a neater installation. You should also use the correct wire colours, Black for live, White or Grey for neutral, Green or Green/Yellow for ground.

Using 6mm to your ground rod will do no harm, the updated UK regs say 6mm, Oz says 4mm take your pick

Personally I don't like the Thai method of feeding the neutral via the ground bar and would much rather link the neutral to the ground bar with a separate removable MEN link on the cold side of the incoming breaker (not the ELCB) and feed both incoming live and neutral direct to the hot side of the breaker.

As you have a separate incomer/ELCB you may want to add an unprotected breaker to run your freezer, avoids problems should your ELCB trip whilst you're away. Put it between the incomer and ELCB so it's obvious it's unprotected, link to the live on the cold end of the incomer with a short length of 2.5mm.

You may want to tape up the unused portion of the live bus-bar.

It may be more productive to ask her fathers name.

My Missus didn't understand 'maiden name' and the dictionary didn't help, she thought I was asking when she lost her virginity (wrong definition of 'maiden')

The lovely creature changed to her maiden name when she married me, wanted to get rid of the married name but not take mine

There is a 7500 Baht 'installation' charge (which they want even if you have your own receiver and do your own wiring)

For that you could buy a cheapo digital receiver and a card sharer, no extra fees, hook up to half a dozen receivers to a single card

All channels are on the same polarity, so a simple power-pass splitter will let you run two receivers from one dish (we're running three).

QTTabBar a nifty little application for those who like Tabbed Browsing, an add on to give you a Tabbed Explorer.

Can also give you back the "Up-One-Level" button that vanished between XP and Vista.

Download it here http://qttabbar.wikidot.com/

Installation Instructions here http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vis...-up-button-too/

Our office manager in Bangalore, when informed of the lack of bog paper in the mens loo today (wednesday), says he'll get some installed by monday

I went to the vet 15 years ago, local jab and a surgeon who gave a running commentary (which I really did not need) assisted by a theatre tech who wheeled in a trolley topped by an enormous leg-saw

Apart from a minor infection a few days after the job which caused one of my nuts to swell like a grapefuit (fixed with antibiotics from the quack) I've had no problems. Things still work just like they used to, the Missus (at the time) also said she noticed no change in taste

The first bath after the job was bliss, everything floats .......

1. You apply for your extension within 30 days of the end of any permission to stay (not the visa expiry date).

If you do a border run just before the 'use by' date of your visa you can get another 12 month stamp and put off extending for another year If you do this you must obtain a re-entry permit if you wish to travel overseas once your visa has passed the use by date.

2. Any time. The financial requirements for a retirement extension are well documented on this forum.

Ah, yes. No Thai menus .. great way to learn English though

It's also a good way to learn Thai, I installed it for the Missus and then couldn't get it back to Engrish (coz I couldn't read the menus) so I could install other stuff for her

Even fly to the UK and go to Hull !

Good option, Hull will issue a visa same day if you make an appointment

Or it would have been if he'd not posted on the 11th (Saturday) that he flies on the 12th (sunday)

Control Panel -> Regional and Language options -> Languages Tab -> Select Install files for East Asian Languages.

I reckon that most CDs (illegal or legal) sold in Thailand have the East Asian Language option.

Doesn't this only enable display and entry in said language?

The MUI actually changes the interface language too so you get menu options, help etc. in said language just like a localised version

Download the MUI pack includes Thai.

There are many copies on the web on various torrent sites or start here http://beqiraj.com/windows/2002/lip/index.asp

This pack allows each user to specify their interface language, you get Ingrish, your lady gets Thai.

EDITED to remove rule bending link to torrent site.

Type

dvd to avi convert

I use the Imtoo converter which works well but is not a freebie.

Forget trying to convert the frequency.

Your juicer may run slow but since they tend to be used in bursts overheating should not be an issue (unless you live on juice).

The radio should be fine, only issue may be the transformer getting hot, try it. If it should cook your local radio man should be able to replace the transformer with a local 220V 50Hz unit for a nominal fee.

Pretty well any electrical appliance shop will have small ones, you'll need to hunt a bit for bigger units but still readily available in BKK (Chinatown is a good option if you local outlet can't help)

What appliances do you have? There can be issues with the 50Hz frequency (as opposed to 60Hz used in the US) particularly, timers may run slow, motors may run slow and/or overheat, transformers may overheat.

As noted in another thread, girlfriends may plug directly into the 220V outlet

I've got no argument with whats been said, but if you get a new passport you still keep your old one and can show that on exit then show the exit stamp in old passport on entry but ask for entry stamp in new passport.

If the OP treats his second passport like a replacement for the old full one the same should work.

I'm not sure this will work, I think you can only use a visa if it is in a cancelled passport. You need to transfer the current stay to your new PP at immigration. OP should get a replacement PP and transfer his extension to it, retains the usefulness of having two PPs as well

It's pretty well impossible to exchange passports at land crossings as immigration want to see the exit stamp from the other country, but if arriving by air no problem. If the OP is going to Camb. by air simply get his Camb. visa in the less full PP and swap whilst in the air (and swap back on the return journey).

Don't forget the (half page ) re-entry permit if on an extension rather than a visa.