Crossy

Guaranteed to scare of the tourist who was going to come!

Our roof steel actually measures rather better than our rod! It wasn't intended to be that way but the steel is contiguous from the roof right down to our 16m driven piles (we are on Bangkok clay) and the ground is never dry being right next to a ruddy great river. We had a direct lightning hit to the roof not long after we moved in, structural damage limited to two ridge tiles! It did kill a bit of electronics but that was before we installed surge protection. Got SPDs up to the eyeballs now.

Surge protection is one of those things that you don't need until you do, and even then it might not completely protect you. Nothing is going to save you from a direct hit to the LV supply, but fortunately these are rare. But like the covid vaccine it can significantly reduce your exposure and risk. The Schneider units being proposed are, IMHO, well over-priced for what they are. We are dosed up to the gills with SPDs all of the relatively low-cost Chinese variety. My theory being that having many units will at least provide some protection even if some are "not quite as good as they should be".

Our man actually looked at the top of the rod, complained that the inter-pole drops on the incoming supply weren't equal (installed by his men moonlighting - they were fixed the next day) and then spent 30 minutes gassing with Madam. He also asked us to change the 63A incomer for a 50A but never inspected it, 63A is now re-installed ????

I'm not sure that an UFER (or concrete encased electrode) will pass a Thai inspection, adding a regular rod as well would be good insurance.

If you extend the tube and remove the reservoir you can pee at will Great Escape / Wooden Horse style. Your mates might think it's raining so best not to let on Seriously, I'm not sure I can pee and drive at the same time (not something I've tried), and if one has to stop one might as well use a convenient phone pole/tree (power poles are too risky). That said, the "codpiece" might be a welcome addition ???? Continuing the WW2 theme. The Lancaster bomber didn't have "facilities" so a funnel and rubber tube was often installed. One crew member always had to check that some joker in the ground crew (probably of a different aircraft) hadn't tied a knot in the tube before take-off on a multi-hour mission.

Much of our village is still flooded although the level is well down on previously. Watching closely.

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/tones-liquid-smoke-118ml-i1988960527-s6378808621.html? Since it's a Villa Market store you might be able to find it in the bricks and mortar outlet too.

Look for "liquid smoke", I'm not a great lover of smoked but there are others posting on this thread that know the sources and method. Try "Pauline's Ham in a Bag" as a first shot, pretty mildly flavoured, you can experiment with stronger flavourings of course.

Not "my" recipe, I just pointed at it as a ruddy good and simple route to delicious bacon ???? Must start another lot and some more ham.

I don't think it's any worse.

If there's a really good price on the configured unit then spare MCBs of a more appropriate size are not expensive.

Yeah, I made the mistake of reading the text description

OK, it definitely says RCBO in the description but as Steve notes it doesn't look like one in the image.

It might be but it's not obvious from the image and I don't see RCBO mentioned. Do you have an actual link to the item?

Yes! Looking at his image in the OP I don't actually see and RCBO/RCD included, which would be a fail on his MEA/PEA inspection!

Limit your shower heaters to <4.5kW and you'll be good to go. You should replace the heater breakers with 20A.

To expand on @bankruatsteve excellent notes. 20A on 2.5mm2 cable will do all your small power including the aircons (which should each have their own breaker). The 16A breakers on the lights will be OK on 1.5mm2 cable. Run 4mm2 on the 32A breakers for your water heaters. Keep any outside lighting and outlets on their own breakers so you can isolate when the wet gets in (it will) so your RCBO will at least stay on and keep the rest of the house working.

That's a shame ???? Are you permitted to retain your cancelled old passport? Next best bet is going to be as suggested by @Chomper Higgot EDIT Is it possible to renew at your home city by mail from Thailand??

Knowing the way Thailand operates I'd fear the worst. You really don't want to get stuck when returning from a holiday. Assuming you have PP validity (it's just full) personally I'd wait to renew until you return to Thailand despite it being more hassle. I'm assuming that Belgium, being a civlilised country, will allow you to renew whilst in Thailand of course.

Not all branches of Makro have them and stock can be patchy (we top up our freezer when they have them) so you may have to hunt around.

I assume you found this thread EDIT If you missed it in the thread , the site with the recipes and calculators has moved, it's all now at https://www.localfoodheroes.com/cured-meat/cured-meat-calculators/

Now bacon and ham are a different matter altogether. You can make very, very acceptable dry-cured bacon using a ziploc bag and a fridge (and the necessary ingredients of course), not much more hassle to make some of the best ham you've ever tasted.

To be honest it was the "faff-factor" mostly around sorting out the natural casings and cleaning up afterwards. The Makro ones are good enough for us. We did make them for a number of years before discovering the Makro offerings.