Muhendis

Is your well a bore hole or is it a surface water well. It makes a difference how much filtering and what media to use Bore hole water from deep down is normally clear of germs and other organics because of lack of spare oxygen in the water but there could be loads of minerals like calcium carbonate (CaCo2) or iron (Fe) These minerals will give hard water and stain everything brown. Surface water on the other hand, can contain loads of organic material and possibly fertilizer and pesticides. Not difficult to deal with using the right filter eg activated carbon, resin, 5 micron and i micron PP filters and, for drinking, reverse osmosis.

It is indeed surprising until one looks at the demographics. The vast majority of people leave school and, for employment, go into shops, offices or factories and have no interest in technology beyond the on/off button or the keyboard. A very small part of a percentage go to uni. and become engineers. I applaud those non-technical folks who develop an interest in technology with or without the background which was or should have been learned at school. How many of us can remember physics and chemistry we had drummed into us all those years ago at school.

An abridged history of my installation and the reasons for it. Arrived from the UK in my new farm house here in Buriram in 2012. The only electrickery available was a temporary/construction supply at about 8 Baht/unit which was totally variable from 175v up to almost 220v. If anyone was doing welding in the village 1km away I would know about it. I wanted solar for reasons which included consistency of supply and because .... well..... I just wanted it. No thoughts about saving the world although the problems of preserving our world have always been at the back of my mind. My first installation, being as how I know about such things and don't have unlimited funds, I did myself. Batteries (VRLA valve regulated lead acid) rigged for 96v and solar panels were cheap and cheerful from China as was the 8kW inverter which ran very well. Shortcomings were noticed and so the system evolved. Batteries went first after 3 years quickly followed by the inverter. I went through several inverter manufacturers before the one I am now using which has proved very reliable after I changed the internal electronics (I am sometimes referred to as an electronics engineer in the UK, but more often I get referred to in more derogatory terms). Meanwhile the batteries. The originals were changed after 3 years, for some cheap FLA (flooded lead acid) deep cycle ones from a company in Bangkok. They were a pain in the arse what with automatic watering systems etc. so when they died I went over to Gel which was a whole world better. They died a few months ago and I am now running on lead carbon. All the dead batteries were turned into cash at the local scrap dealer which returned 10% of the original cost. I went through the a few iterations of inverters and deliberately steered clear of the all-in-one jobbies and went for separates ie. solar panels to charge controllers to batteries and no grid connection in the inverter. I can still use grid as I sometimes do, by switching over using an ATS (automatic transfer switch) but that is only for the heavy motor loads of my mini rice mill. (I get about 20 tonnes of rice to mill annually). My solar panes are the original ones and take care of all my needs including my cheap woodworking machines and occasional welding. I use air con. most nights and an electric shower daily. My wife produces the most fantastic pizza's you could imagine from the 2.5kw oven. Apart from that there are all the usual lights, TV computer, water pumps et al. To check my solar requirements, I did a spreadsheet on which I listed all my electrical devices and, more importantly, the time of day they would be running. That seemed to tell me I needed 12kw but in real life, 8kw is more than enough. My inverter is a low frequency transformer isolated output. The transformer might get a little warm above 8kw continuous but the electronics which drives it is good for at least 12kw. For me this is a fun project which seems to have provided a lot of fun, entertainment and given me bragging rites for the foreseeable future.

I looked at NiFe batteries some time ago and the only good thing about them seems to be that they will outlive me. Far too many negatives especially cost, for general household use. Also another negative not mentioned is the electrolyte. I seem to recall there is a requirement to mix up your own electrolyte. You might like to check out what to do if battery performance decreases for any reason. "Never happen if you take good care of them" I hear someone muttering but don't forget Murphy's law. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.. For the domestic home user it really needs to be fit and forget.

Those sort of prices are scary. If you are a bit handy you could make your own battery. That's what I have done and it's worked out quite nicely over the past ten years or so. Mind you, I don't use these new fangled lithium things. I am now into my third set of lead acid. The type I am now using is lead carbon. They have a similar performance to lithium but are considerably heavier. I could wax lyrical about them but at this time of night I am in lazy mode but you can get a good idea of how they work from this: https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-202-new-lead-acid-systems In a nutshell they have better charge acceptance (they charge quicker). Can go to a greater depth of discharge. Don't have sulfation problems. Can live longer in a wider temperature range and have an extended life. This in comparison with "normal" lead acid. I have a bank of them which amounts to 36kWh at 48V. Their anticipated life span is about 11½ years at30% dod. Price was about 140k Baht and so far they do what they are specified to do.

I thought DUI meant "Driving Under the Influence" so was curious to see what products will now face stricter controls.

Would that be a single malt?

The main job of this computer power supply filter is to prevent spikey bits of high frequency switching, which are generated by the computer power supply, from getting into the mains wiring. If that happens too much then there could be interference problems in other gadgets plugged in to the same supply. This means that the shocking feeling is more likely to be high frequency rather than mains voltage although both are likely to be present.

The small electric shocks will be from the computer power supply. These normally require earth connection too an electronic filter. If there is no grounded case then the filter will discharge into anything which touches the case ie you. Fixing this depends on if there is a local ground anywhere near the computer. If there is, then a wire connected between computer case and ground will stop the "tickle" you get from the case.

For any non-electrical persons watching this, Please do not do this at home. I think it may be a joke................

It's that pink Barby look. I like it but might be a bit impractical especially in an emergency.

Not afraid of death just so long as it can let me finish all my projects first

Home is where the taxman says you live. 😒

I got myself one of these "smart" watches quite some time ago. It does all the things it says but to try changing from BP to calculator for example, became nigh on impossible. Tap the screen? Nope. Drag finger across the screen in any direction? Nope. Nothing seemed to behave according to the manual and when in simple time mode battery only lasted two days. It is now consigned to a dark and dingy corner of a seldom used draw in a room rarely entered.

Good thinking The oven is an HA-820

For various reasons I am normally quite skeptical of You Tube videos, but this one caught my eye. There is no new technology involved but the amalgamation of wind and solar into one (very big) bolt-on unit looks useful. I have never seen the combination of the two Savonius and Darrieus Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) before. There is some quite interesting stuff on this video but the solar/wind harvesting bit is between 03:22 and 04.23 minutes https://youtu.be/vRSfmqjcb_0?si=nOPeM-bABD0F9sRJ Hope you enjoy.

Sequel to this thread: Reply from Teka was to the effect. "Your ovens old so no spares available. Suggest you buy a new oven" I'm not surprised since it was installed over ten years ago.

Tourism down from China? China has record unemployment at the moment and looks to be heading into a recession. So no money for holidays in Thailand. Never mind. Get some police to ride around on elephants. That should fix it.

In an orthopaedic operating room it would most likely be bones. He was in there for 5 hours. Big operation? Something must have gone wrong to need intensive care afterwards.

Your into the frontiers of science and technology with polarized films. Maybe there's a You Tube which does it. Alternatively buy some polarized film and experiment. Then post on here.

Minor correction: "With friends like these, who needs enemas"

Yeah. I thought so too but nothing close. I'm coming to the conclusion that management would really benefit from a replacement oven just as soon as the next pizza is ready for cooking. Thanks for the Teka service contact info.

I have a Teka oven and the upper heater element has inconveniently decided to connect itself to the metalwork of the cabinet. That's not a problem with regards to safety as there is plenty of human protection in the house electrics. The problem for me is finding a replacement part. I have looked everywhere on line and can only find the one I want priced in € from a spares company in the EU. Does anyone know of a company in Thailand that sells oven spares?

That surface is or was the polarized film. It's possible that the "glue" is/was the polarized film but not to worry. When you reassemble the screen it will still work but maybe a bit fainter than the original. If you feel you need to get a new polarized film, a quick search on Shopee will do the trick. The magic search words are "polarized film" would you believe. They are very cheap.

I've done this quite a few times and it works but sometimes a new polarized filter is needed. That's the film which goes between the glass and the reflective backing.