HauptmannUK

Really?

Should I know who 'Danish Tony' is?

No not a hose failure. It was the cold inlet hose that blew off. The outlet was closed off (shower valve closed), so flow stopped, but I could hear water boiling in the heater. Then a loud bang as the hose blew off its fitting and steam shooting out. Element continued to receive power and fused, knocking out the ELCB and also main circuit breaker.

Wife away right now. I'm in the condo alone (most of the time..). But I can send you some photos of me in the shower (it'll cost you though...).

It actually works pretty well with the shower mixer. Its a 6kW unit and always plenty of hot water at a high flow rate and stable temp. However I am concerned at lack of safety, e.g. no PRV . The braided inlet hose let go with a bang, the ferrule shot across the room and steam and about a cupful of very hot water came out.....

Right now I'm at my wife's condo near Jomtien. The condo has two bathrooms with a 'mixer' shower in each. Each shower mixer takes a cold water feed and a hot water feed. The water is heated by a MEX 'Cube 6000 multipoint water heater' like this.... https://www.homepro.co.th/m/p/1072870 One heater feeds one shower. So we have two of these heaters. These are installed in all the condo rooms (its about 8 years old). So the hot water heater outlet is not 'vented' - it goes to the shower mixer valve. There is no control valve on the inlet to the heater. This morning I finished my shower and shut off the mixer. It seems that the heating element was still being supplied with power because I could hear 'rumbling' in the water heater and then a bang as the inlet water hose blew off its fitting and some hot water and steam escaped. The ELCB and circuit breaker then tripped. Examining the unit, it seems the element is now short circuit. There was actually a brand new spare unit which was (inadvertantly I think) left in the condo at construction. I've simply fitted that and all working again. I'm puzzled how this failure arose since there is both a flow sensor and a thermostatic cut out switch in the heater. Yet power seems to have continued to be supplied to the element after I closed the shower valve and water was boiling in the heating vessel. Possibly the flow sensor, triac or PCB failed and kept power applied to the element. There seems to be no pressure release valve on the heating vessel. Any excess pressure can only go back into the cold water feed. Bit puzzled by all this... Doesn't seem safe. I can read Thai and there seem to be two kinds of water heater - 'warm water heater' - which needs to be vented (no valve on outlet) and 'hot water heater' - which can feed into a mixer valve. But how do the designs differ?

฿1000 ok?

Assuming this is a Thai built Gen 7 Accord then it will have the North American V6 and a version of the earlier (first gen) H5 three-shaft autobox. Frankly I think you are a difficult position. These boxes have multiple weaknesses, including the 3rd clutch drum and the TC lock up clutch. Finding a servicable used box will be almost impossible and an effective repair will require a lot of Honda-supplied hard parts and a new TC. In the UK the parts would cost £3k+.... The three shaft H5 box was only in production for two or three years before it was replaced by the more reliable four shaft H5. The transmission programming is also stupid in that in D up to 36mph the TCM duty-cycle modulates the TCLC to improve fuel efficiency - this prematurely wears the clutch. Setting the box in 'D3' up to 36mph will avoid this. Also these boxes have a small fluid capacity (about half what is typical for a box with this torque rating) and no fluid cooler. I have worked on a number of these three and four shaft Hondamatics and I'm not a fan. I appreciate they were trying to avoid BorgWarner patents with these designs but all seem to have weaknesses. Actually they are not too difficult rebuild but the parts costs is the killer.

Westlake are a brand of ZC Rubber (Chinese). They probably have a factory in Thailand. I've seen them on trailers and caravans in UK. Personally I would avoid.

I think if you effectively opt out of life in a Western country and don't pay state pension contributions then you can end up in financial difficulties. Yesterday I was talking to a late 60's German guy in Pattaya. He'd lived in Thailand for 30 years and his German pension was 500 Euros. He is really struggling to get by on that in Thailand and going back to Germany was not viable. I think the UK is relatively generous. Even without any NI record the OP can get Housing Benefit and also Pension Credit if over pension age. Pension Credit is a max of about £200/week.

I think you are wasting your time with this plan. If its a leak from a domestic PVC pipe it will generate very little acoustic energy. PVC damps the noise and moreover any sound generated will be at quite low frequencies - few hundred Hertz. One possibility might be to seal the outlet end of the leaky length of pipe and introduce compressed air. Escaping gases generate more acoustic energy and at a higher frequency.

Returning stuff is often a headache even for Thai people. I recall last year my wife asked me to get her a 'wholesale size' box of the earwig brand cough-drops from the big 7/11 on Jomtien Beach Rd for her to take back to UK. I think a box holds about 30 packets. It wasn't cheap (I think about ฿400). When I got back to our condo she spotted that it was past the marked 'use by' date. I still had the receipt so went back to the 7/11. I speak adequate Thai and politely explained the situation. I also pointed out that the other boxes on the shelves were also expired. The response was basically, 'You chose to buy it. Bad luck'. No refund. My wife went down later in the day with a similar outcome. The out of date boxes were still on the shelf....

I don't think these are actual melatonin tablets....they are 'sleep aids'

A few British villains have certainly done a runner to Thailand over the years. Probably second placed after Spain.

My wife and I travel frequently between homes in UK and Thailand. We've previously used Puritan's Pride 3mg Melatonin tablets to help with time zone adjustment. I've just been looking to buy more on Lazada or Shoppee and no melatonin products are coming up in search. Is melatonin now outlawed in Thailand?

Passport with visa. Also wise to hang on to your boarding pass. Theoretically you could be asked to show funds in cash. ฿20k equiv. I believe. Only happened to me once and very bizarrely I had arrived Business Class and used the BC express immigration....

Very unwise to use it in Thailand. Thailand uses 230V AC. Things have voltage ratings for a reason. The separation distances and insulation in that power strip are rated for 125V. Moreover the surge protection devices will blow at 230V. Why not just buy a 230V outlet panel?

First of all don't panic and assume you have a 'faulty engine'. If the engine seems to run ok, does not make undue noises and consumes no/minimal oil and water then the likelihood is that the major mechanical parts of the engine are fine. There are literally hundreds of things that can cause the MIL to illuminate. Something as minor as a poor seal on the filler cap or a weak battery. The fact that the light periodically resets makes me think its likely to be a minor fault. The best option would be to take it to a Toyota dealer or Toyota specialist who will use Toyota's own 'Techstream' software which can read not only generic OBDII codes but also Toyota's proprietary codes - historic, current and pending, as well as accessing live data. I have Techstream in the UK and normally what I find is a lot of random and irrelevant historic codes. Unless the fault is very obvious then I would clear down all stored codes and ask the customer to come back when the MIL comes back on again and then get back into the diagnosis proper.

If he's routinely using a Toyota dealership they would be fitting branded Toyota filters. A mouse/rat has been very active scampering about in there, urinating and damaging the filter material. I've seen this many times over the years. There is something about cabin filters that attracts rodents - its quite common to see rodent droppings even in city-based cars in the UK, although not usually the amount of droppings as in that filter..

My family has a long established car dealership/servicing/MoT station in the UK. I am mostly retired from it now, however I have seen thousands of cabin filters over the years. Trust me, your filter is not 'degraded', in fact the filter material is still fairly clean. However the pleats are chock full of rodent droppings and the rodent has chewed part of the filter. Be thankful you don't have a BMW or Mercedes, the latest BMs and MBs use biodegradable plastic insulation on the wires - its basically mouse food!

I have an AIS SIM in my dual SIM phone. Data is turned off but obviously the SIM must be enabled. I receive SMS messages from Bangkok Bank all over the world including places like Nigeria, Ghana, India, UK, Spain etc. No charge.

The only time I ever got asked was on arriving Business Class on an Emirates flight and going through the express immigration. I'd been in and out of Thailand a lot, just staying for a few days each time and I think the officer was suspicious. He asked to see how much money I had on me - it was GBP9000 in 20's. He stamped me through.

Siemens EQ900 bought over from the UK. Good mid-range machine. Cost me around GBP1500 in UK, no idea of the price in Thailand.

Bangkok is not suitable for the elderly or infirm..

The Al-Jazeera report was shoddy journalism. They had an agenda and were not going to let facts get in the way. For example the shots (from behind) of a tall Westerner with a very short Thai lady were inviting the viewer to draw false conclusions. The owner of the featured bar is not British. In many years of visiting and living in Pattaya I have not personally observed underage prostitution but I've no doubt it does sometimes go on. However its probably proportionately less common in Pattaya than in many others areas of Thailand simply because of the number of agencies looking for it in the city. Conversely, up in my wife's province (Udon) it seems commonplace. The old Pu Ya Baan would often leave the village late in the afternoon to take an underage girl to one of the local resorts. Everyone seemed to be aware of this and even joke about it. Its worth noting that there is a serious problem with underage 'grooming gangs' in several British cities - victims numbering into the thousands. Court case are still ongoing. Religiously sanctioned temporary marriages to underage girls (Muta'a marriage) are also common in some communities in UK/Europe, but I suspect we won't see an Al-Jazeera report....