Muhendis

Rabbits, snakes, rats, otters. We get them all. At one stage a few years ago, we used an excavator (proper name for a backhoe) to dig out a warren. Most of the problems of unscheduled water flow through bunds between paddies are down to rats, but some of the embankment holes look suspiciously big for rats.

Don't forget to mention the concrete sides to prevent rabbits undermining the road.

Good question. I didn't put any under my layer of stones and after 10 years the road is still good enough. I guess it must depend on the density or otherwise of the soil and the wetness of the rain.

If Encid had a few tonnes of vibrating road roller he wouldn't need plastic either.

Please don't do this. Once there are enough Russians here, they will hold a referendum to become part of Russia.

Nah.... There's no such thing as corruption in Thailand 'til you get caught.

Here's an interesting bundle of water treatment knowledge which may be of interest to readers. It was useful to me when I ran into calcium problems. https://aosts.com/does-reverse-osmosis-remove-minerals-from-water/#:~:text=Reverse Osmosis and How to,minerals including cadmium and fluoride. Another problem with high mineral content in water is the electrical energy due to dissimilar metals in a system. For example: Copper in a water heater and a stainless steel water tank will erode the copper because of the electrolytical effect of the mineralized water. That is how we get pinhole leaks. So. Dissimilar metals plus mineralized water equals a battery.

This hard water problem is a pain for me too. I normally use surface well water which is quite soft and easily filtered, but sometimes in the dry season the well runs dry. I then use bore hole water which is rich in calcium dissolved solids (2000 ppm). My resin filter works to remove about 10% of this and a Reverse Osmosis filter gets the figure down low enough for drinking. I tried some electronic gadgets that pulse a coil round a water pipe. That didn't work. I had a look at this company ( https://voltea.com/technology/ ) which does ion exchange by electrolysis but the price was higher than the cost of vale/pump repairs. So I'm still in square one and living with it. There is no cheap and easy fix for this but the best seems to be whole house RO and regular filter maintenance.

If you download Google Earth, that will tell you the mean height above sea level at whatever location you zoom into. I have it on my PC. I don't know if there is an app for this for a mobile "phone.

And they can all kill under the right conditions ie by grabbing hold of the uninsulated burglar wire with one hand and a grounded bit of metal (balcony rail) with the other. Cats would be wise to wear kite marked safety approved rubber gloves.

I would encourage you to do your research a bit before comparing UK prices with prices in Thailand. Also it would be helpful to others if you could give examples of inverters that have "blown up".

Forgive me for asking slightly off topic but has anyone had anything from KVIK?

You're showing you're age. It's been 230v for years.

Batteries are supposed to be protected by the BMS (Battery Management System) which should have disconnected the charger in the event of either high temperature or over voltage/charge. It seems that was either missing or failed.

Oh bum. That's made my welder redundant I guess.

The maximum temperature is 140°F which is 60°C But specs for the blue pipe are measured at 27°C As the temperature goes up so the strength goes down.

Blue PVC pipe comes in two variations. 8 Bar and 13.5 Bar so it's good for domestic cold water You have to watch the temperature though. PPR is best if the temp. is going to be in the "hot water" range. Although I've never experienced it myself, apparently PVC joints can fail with hot water whereas PPR is a fuse welded joint and the plastic itself is much more hot water tolerant.

The heat exchanger was built and tested in UK where 15mm copper pipe is very easy to get. I have a number of parallel 15mm pipes 'T' jointed to short lengths of 22mm. Thin aluminium sheets formed round the 15mm pipes to increase heat capture. Insulated copper pipe to circulate water to stainless storage tank. Water comes from cold supply under house pump pressure via an NRV or check valve. Expansion tank is a bladder tank on the hot outlet side together with an over pressure relief valve. There is also an air relief valve at the highest point of the system. The solar panel also acts as a sun detector so if no sun then circulation pump won't run. I had to add some power start circuit to ensure that the pump would start as soon the panel output got high enough. I monitor the water temperature at the tank and the heat exchanger and Adjust the circulation pump speed for hotest tank water.

I've been using my home brew solar hot water system for the past ten years. Water can generally get just a tad too hot. Flat panel (1.2 × 1.2m) heat exchanger on the well house roof. 200 ltr insulated tank and mini circulation pump below in well house. Pump and electronic control system powered by 65w solar panel. It's pressured from the cold supply so has an expansion tank.

Many of us do who may need fast access to the toilet.

Do Indian trains ever go that fast?

I have a 12 metre post in my garden. If anyone wants it it's free (if you can get it out the hole)

We let a relative or two bring their cows and buffaloes onto our land and get loads of free compost in return.

Pain in the backside if your solar batteries are a bit low.

There's still plenty of fun to be had finding what is the angle of incidence. To do that hold a stick so that one end is touching the panel and point the other end in the direction of the sun and adjust 'til there is no shadow. Use an angle finder/protractor to measure the smallest angle 'twixt stick and panel. and away you go.