Crossy

Assuming you already have the "normal" DIY electrical tools I would suggest: - The correct MC-4 (solar panel connectors) crimp tool. A decent cable crimp tool if you are making up "big" battery cables (my tool does up to 50mm2 cables, it wasn't terribly expensive). Cable shears (or those old secateurs). A decently watty soldering iron, say 100-150W (and resin-cored solder). Heat gun for heatshrink - Madam's hair-dryer isn't up to the job although I've used the gas stove in the past. If you are assembling DIY battery packs, I strongly recommend insulating your socket set / spanners / drivers with heatshrink. Dropping a spanner across a 200Ah lithium cell or (worse) battery can get spectacular fast! If you don't already have one, a clamp-on ammeter that does DC current. Luckily, the majority of what you need is available from local Lazada / Shopee sellers, so getting the right tools won't delay your project too much.

Yeah, that looks the business. I hate to admit it, but I actually use a pair of Madam's old pruning secateurs and a sharp knife, I just never got around to buying proper cable shears You will also need a decent cable crimper if you are going to make up your own battery cables.

Is this anything like the "we won't do reconstructions of crimes with suspects who haven't even been convicted" that they promised a couple of years back?

Surely there should be three teams, then they can go with a majority verdict I would be willing to bet: - Poor maintenance, only 1 of 3 diesels working. Poor seamanship, not buttoned up in bad weather (it wasn't even that bumpy). Both of the above. Skipper had the wrong amulet (maybe I shouldn't be giving them ideas) I had some mates in the RN who sailed a much smaller "Tupperware" (at the time the largest glassfibre ship ever built) class minehunter (HMS Ledbury, M30) down to the Falklands to clean up after the Argies ran away. Their biggest problem was that their baby Bofors gun was removed so that they could put the RAS (Replenishment at Sea) point on.

They are like the little girl who had a little curl

Yeah, when you come across an engineering problem you can pretty much guarantee someone has developed a tool to deal with it ???? Often the hardest bit is working out what the thing is called. A "de-burring tool" is pretty self-explanatory but what does a "nibbler" do?

@Pink7 I agree. When I first started buying cells from Lazada a couple of years back there was some decent stuff at sensible prices. Now there's really just junk often at premium prices, even sellers I had good results from in the past are doing it ????

Lazada Malaysia - https://www.lazada.com.my/products/pemanas-air-brand-joven-sb11p-instant-hot-water-heater-instant-heat-turbo-boost-ac-pump-white-i2386327692-s10266907472.html No idea if they will ship internationally, you will need to ask.

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/boost-220100-i4237342994-s16732815657.html

Thanks @Mickeymaus, looks like it's 6 days and then auto cancels. Yeah @BritManToo, it's most annoying when a "Local" seller actually drop-ships from overseas, naughty.

Why do you specifically need a DC pump? I've certainly seen heaters with boost pumps on sale in Malaysia but not here. Maybe check out the Malay version of Lazada? EDIT How about one of these to use with your conventional heater?? https://www.lazada.co.th/products/shamjina-dc-24v-boost-shower-i4256753832-s16853102480.html

Does anyone know how long after a parcel is set to the "Packed" status before the order is automatically cancelled and refunded? A little while back I ordered an item (located in Thailand), delivery was 2-3 days. After a couple of days, the item was still "To Pack". At this point I could have cancelled, but I needed the item. Then the status changed to "Packed", great thinks I something is actually happening. He even generated a valid Kerry tracking number. Now after another 4 days (and a day after the last expected delivery date) I receive a message from the seller "Sorry, out of stock". Grrr. But now I can't cancel the order because it's "Packed". I've asked the seller to cancel the order from his end, of course there's been no response. So, I'm assuming that if the seller never actually ships the item, it will eventually auto-cancel and refund. Anyone know just how long Lazada wait until cancelling an unshipped item?

Well, the UK is one. The UK regs don't say "do not bond", they allow the designer to do a risk assessment and determine just how to address the issue. The major point is whether you connect your equipotential zone to the TNC-S earth or have it with a local TT ground (and appropriate earth leakage protection of course). IF you build your pool and surroundings to Aussie standards then bonding back to the MET is absolutely fine. As I said, you shouldn't cherry-pick requirements, do everything to your chosen standard. Ideally, avoid having any mains powered equipment in the pool zone anyway. No amount of bonding will protect you from getting hold of a live wire or faulty electric barbie (hopefully the RCBO will).

Yes, this is exactly what I would do too. It's also how the UK regs treat pools, hot tubs and EV charge points. The risk involved with bonding exposed metalwork to the main earth in a Thai TNC-S system is just too great. It's not just open neutrals, we had a poster a little while back who was complaining his kitchen floor was getting hot, coincidentally just where his ground rod was buried! Turned out that the PEA had managed to swap L&N at the meter so his rod was actually connected to the hot side of the supply (we never did find out how much his power bill decreased by when it was fixed). Of course, turning off the main switch doesn't break that connection so if you happen to be holding on to that fence you still die! As has been noted, electrical regulations vary around the world, some are highly prescriptive "do it like this and it is to code" (the US NEC is like this), others are more proscriptive "this is what you have to achieve, it's up to the designer how they achieve it" (the UK BS7671 IEE Regs follows this route), and many are somewhere in between. There is a real risk in cherry-picking regs from one country and applying them randomly to another. One could actually introduce a hazard where there wasn't one before. For example, a country may have very strict requirements for pool construction meaning that all the re-bar is interconnected, there are ground mats under the pool perimeter and any metallic fencing is also bonded to this, making an equipotential zone where there is no risk of getting between two "grounded" items that are actually at different potentials. There is no issue at all in connecting this zone to the main TNC-S earth. Do the same here where your fence may not be bonded to the re-bar and the re-bar may not be solidly interconnected and a world of hurt can open up ???? Generally, don't earth it just because it's metal. A stainless-steel sink in a granite worktop with plastic plumbing is probably not earthed at all, touch it and your faulty electric kettle and you probably won't die. If that sink was solidly bonded to deck ... let's hope your RCBO is up to scratch! EDIT The "hot rod" thread https://aseannow.com/topic/1250930-earth-rod-is-hot/

Meanwhile. Line Pay needs my fingerprint TWICE (and seemingly endless confirmations) to transfer 16 Baht to a work colleague to pay for the Coke she got me from the Seven.

I bet she starts on the first turn of the key! ???? Not a 2CV but from a similar era.

Thanks for the update. I hope your lady gets what she needs. Sadly, I'm no use. I'm boring old O+, lived in the UK during the BSE years and I'm too old anyway ????

Not a strange question at all. A reputable installer will probably use a branded pack (same as the inverter). Of course, you will pay for the brand name but you'll also get some kind of warranty.

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/vct-2x05-2x1-2x15-2x25-3x15-3x25-pks-i4101713175-s16031798046.html? Order 3 x 1.5 by the metre.

You do need to compare like with like. The "$40" batteries are single 3.2V cells, you need 4 of them for a 12V pack ($160) plus a BMS to protect them ($50- >$200), so we're looking at $210 for the equivalent of a 200Ah 12V lead-acid. Of course, we are talking about DIYing packs here, as soon as you put a fancy box around it the $$$ goes wheeee! For example, Seplos do a 48V, 280Ah DIY kit box (with BMS but no cells) for $600, cells will add another couple of grand US.

Nothing awry with your understanding, Bangkok Cable 0.75mm2 flex is indeed rated at 6A (in free air - coil it and all bets are off). But do note that our 1,800W (about 8A at 220V) kettle has 0.75mm2 flex, it definitely gets warm but no real hazard unless you have a million Brits needing a brew. The extension manufacturers definitely play fast-n-loose with their cable specs, but in reality, you're not going to be hooking your portable heater or welder up to it. Are you? If you want a "proper" 16A extension cord it's easy enough to get the requisite 1.5mm2 3-core along with 3-pin plugs and traily outlets in order to make up your own.

It would be really interesting to hear the experiences of anyone who has bought these cells from Lazada. Of course, they are Li-ion and so need appropriate safety arrangements (a quality BMS for starters and I wouldn't have them in the actual house).

Yeah ^^^. I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that pretty well all the LiFePO4 cells on Lazada are junk, even those which appear to be at "premium" prices. For the next upgrade I will head to a known-good supplier on Alibaba (which is another minefield to navigate with even more junk). Shenzen Luyuan Technology https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Luyuan-8pcs-280AH-LiFePO4-LFP-3_1600066769898.html are well regarded on other solar fora for actually supplying genuine, new cells (with real QR codes). Their prices reflect this, although, for example, the "same" Eve 105Ah cells that I got from Lazada are $39 (1,400 Baht) a pop (plus shipping) so in reality they are actually better value. But in the end, you pays your money ...