irlguy1

Hi all
We recently bought a large Samsung fridge freezer but when we set it up we saw it came with an earth wire separately as the plug is only 2 wires no earth. It's annoying as all my kitchen sockets are earthed.
The instructions for the fridge say connect the wire to the screw at the bottom of the fridge and run the earth into the ground. Now surely they don't expect me to drill a hole in my tiles?
What am i missing here?
Is the earth needed and if so is their another way to earth it?
Thanks
 
Also on another unrelated question does anyone know why one of my kitchen bulbs stays glowing when all others are off?
All the others glow for a minute after turning off but this one stays on for ages.

 
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Australian channels on Mobdro?  I was not aware of this. Will look tomorrow.

Hello. I have recently purchased a house. Of course, the house is in my wife's name. I have read bits and pieces about usufructs - is this something I should definitely pursue? If so, how is this done, through a lawyer? Or can you do at the land department? Any thoughts or comments would be really appreciated. Cheers. C
 
 
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Indeed the MX Australia addon work well in Thailand without VPN. Agree not all channels may work at all times, but the majority works without VPN, and that's the important thing.
 
Regarding the VPN detection by Neflix or others is that you have a DNS leak, and Netflix detects your original DNS.
 
https://www.dnsleaktest.com/what-is-a-dns-leak.html
 
A decent VPN has something in place to prevent DNS leaks

Nothing works without a VPN ?

 
The neutral integrity is still a concern, but everything seems to be working reasonably well with the rod in place so I don't think it's a major fault as yet. The worry was caused by your earlier statement of just how badly the lights dimmed with the rod out.
 
Once you have your meter we can detail simple tests to determine what's going on.

If it's wired correctly then you should not be concerned about safety.  As far as surge protection that is an entirely different animal and you basically have none nor do I.  Crossy has and I'm sure that he can explain what is necessary better than I can, Basically, it requires a surge protection device on the input to your house and little surge protectors in each of the wall sockets.

Most likely you won't be able to do anything about it short of buying an expensive voltage regulator for the whole house.  
 
I live in  the sticks.  My house is almost 1 kilometer from the village transformer.  My house is wired correctly as I built it and it was wired by a licensed residential electrician, me, 18 years ago.  When I turn on my 6kw shower unit any incandescent light dims and stay dim until the shower is turned off.  I can noticeably hear a difference in the microwave when the shower is turned on.  For grins, I just checked the voltage.  It now at 211VAC, when I turn the shower on it drops to 190-193 VAC, enough to dim the incandescent lamps with no visible effect on the fluorescent or LED lamps.
 
If everything is wired correctly you'll have to most likely live with it.  If the dimming is that bothersome,  replace all of the incandescent bulbs in your house.

Ok guys thanks, I will sort a multi meter [emoji106]

Then what do I do. Is it something I can do ( I know nothing about them)

What exactly do I need to do?

As I said already their seems to be nobody around that has a clue on this. Local electrician is a self taught novice.

Could u spell it out for a total electromoron

What about the issue you said about the integrity of the proper neutral? A few posts back that seemed to be a major issue but the last few posts seem to be saying a few dims and flickers are normal?

Just to be clear the lights dim and stay dimmed until the shower or the hot water tap or pump is turned off then the lights come back normal. It's not a huge dim but enough to notice and be worrying.

[emoji13]

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That things improved when the rod was connected indicates a LOT of diverted neutral current.
 
This does not bode well for the integrity of the "proper" neutral, there's a high resistance somewhere which could be a problem soon.
 

Also... are all the showers/heaters on the same circuit or separate?  Have they ever been subjected to flooding or other type of water exposure?  Is the ground part of 3-core cable or run separate?  

Brand new install so no flooding all new units and board.

Even when just one shower was turned on the lights dimmed but now the earth rod is connected and in the dirt everyone is fine no issues.

So just don't know if all ok or not.

Turns out dad in law has no volt meter so can't do as crossy suggested [emoji24]

Things are so much easier in Ireland [emoji17]

I just want a proper supply and not have him blow himself up.

Do u mean the ground from the box to the rod? That's just a separate wire as far as I know.

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That could well be a MEN dropper.
 

Mine runs down a yellow conduit the same way.  The question is is it connected to both the "static wire" on the top of the pole and the distributed neutral, or only the static wire.

Mine runs down a yellow conduit the same way.  The question is is it connected to both the "static wire" on the top of the pole and the distributed neutral, or only the static wire.

Disconnect the rod from the CU (power off first).
 
Off load measure the voltage between the disconnected rod and the neutral and the voltage live - neutral.
Turn on the shower.
Measure again.
Report results here.
 

Short answer: no.  You should re-check the shower's connection - both at the shower and the CU.

All connections are good.

Anything else to check ?

All lights and everything else works fine since rod went in ?

Also as I mentioned it wasn't just the shower it was all showers and hot water heater in kitchen so unlikely they all had loose connections ?

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So an update, too many issues with the original board and couldn't get fuses or parts for it even from the shop that supplied it so now got a new board with RCD built in.
Everything was installed yesterday but when they turned on the shower all the lights dimmed. They realised today that they hadn't put the copper rod back in the ground and connected it so they did that and it seems ok now.
My question is this,
Should that have happened without the rod and was that the only reason it happened?
Should it all be safe and ok now?
Thanks


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I don't understand why they make the print so small on meters.

 
They'll likely change the meter when you go permanent anyway.
 
Assuming you've applied for a 15/45, to get past the inspection you will need:-

• A 50A incoming breaker (our PEA man insisted that I remove the 63A I had installed).
• A whole house RCD.
• MEN implemented in the Thai manner (yes, even if you don't see multiple grounds), but talk to PEA.
• A 2.4m ground rod.
• Grounded outlets installed.

 
What is the meter marked as?
 
Are you on a permanent supply (will you need a PEA inspection)?
 
If you are on a 15/45 and don't need an inspection leave it as 63A.

Apparently the local villagers chipped in and bought a transformer further up but he doesn't want to buy one himself and have every bugger connecting to it as you know they will.

Any idea what a transformer would cost ?
Is it normal for them to stick in a big pole and expect the locals to be able to pay for the transformer?

Is their a way for him not to have to put a transformer on the public pole?

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Other posters have already commented, but do have someone look at the physical meter to verify what capacity it's showing. It should have printing on it that indicates either 5(15) or 15(45).
 
@Crossy has previously posted about the meter sizes that you might find helpful:
 

5(15)

The first number is the calibration current, the second (in the parenthesis) is the maximum rated current. 

Your 5/15 has a maximum current of 15A (about 3300 Watts). 

Your 15/45 has a maximum current of 45A (about 9900 Watts).

and the meters are very robust, but long term overloads above about 150% of rated current may affect accuracy (and you can bet it won't read low).

I have seen friends who were very happy with their builder proceed to recommend him and have him do a horrible job for the next guy... I am also in an out of the way location and it is not easy to get someone to come and deal with things, even to clean an a/c unit... a guy known to be reasonable doing work in town, wanted 5x the usual price to come 40kms... that's just how it is... 

 

We did get lucky with a builder, but that was many years ago - since then, a mixed bag as mentioned above, competent craftsman and plumbers and electricians can make more in other areas... 

I have seen 3 of his other builds personally and he is now building a 3 bedroom with a pool in Udon for a guy I know. I think they know that they are onto a good thing. He plans on being the stand out contractor in Thailand and so far so good. If he can get access to a site he will build on it. No matter where you are.

One thing I found funny and tragic at the same time was that because his name is Alan people keep thinking he is Alan the builder which is a company that some of you may have seen here and on other sites but that company has been getting very bad reviews since the original Alan sold the company name and all its reviews. The new Alan the builder company is NOT a good company and fool people into false security by using old reviews and testimonials. So beware and don't hire them.

The Alan that I hired has nothing to do with them and his company is Together Construction Thailand.

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Update

Found an awesome builder and the house is almost finished. I cant recommend them highly enough. 

Completely professional, no delays and they build to European standards.

They build all over mainland Thailand and do swimming pools too which will be my next project :)

https://www.togetherconstructionthailand.com/

https://www.facebook.com/tconstruct/

I saw this companies website today while browsing for pool builders. I read a lot of great reviews and testimonials so I might give them a shot.
Some great pools and houses on the facebook page and they have live updates of current projects too.

https://www.togetherconstructionthailand.com/

https://www.facebook.com/tconstruct/