millymoopoo

19 hours ago, worgeordie said:

There must be a Government dept, where they have several civil servants just sitting there ,their job is to think things up to make life more difficult for people.

I doubt there isn't a government world wide that doesn't have that type of department.!

Aluminium ammonium hydroxide powder, commercially known as SKAT in Australia.
Quite harmless chemical but dogs, cats and birds hate it.

Just scatter some dust around the site and maybe on top of the wall you think they are coming over.

Bus from Udon traverses a treacherous mountain range, only goes to Chiang Mai (no direct), then bus to Chiang Rai, I wouldn't use it, it's a long, slow trip in a bus.

Nok air fly direct UTH to CNX 2000bht, 1 hour and your in Chiang mai, then bus to Chiang Rai, many a day, VIP also, 300bht, 3 hours and your there.

7 hours ago, canthai55 said:

Manufacturers are going down a slippery slope with adding lots of boost to a small displacement engine. Goes without saying that it works a lot harder, and longevity will suffer as a result. You can not cut displacement 33% and still increase HP without a paying a price.

Exactly right.! The comparison test was rather 'light weight', no specs, no mention of revs, the 2 litre engine is a bi turbo, instantly double the boost pressure, I'd lay dollars on the rail pressure would be higher and the ECU map would not be as conservative as the P5AT too..!

15 hours ago, OliverKlozerof said:

Well that’s interesting. But I’m pretty sure my budget and needs dictate that I’ll have to be happy with a 4cyl, 2.5L Toyota mill. 

But I’ll take your word for it that the 5cyl produces a smoother ride. 

Ford have introduced a new engine to their new Rangers, it's a higher revving 4 cylinder diesel.

Does get a few good reviews but will still be the same as any 4 cylinder desiel, lumpy.

So Ford may be doing 'run outs' of their P5AT engined rangers, could be worth a look see, may be some good deals going.!

And would still be interesting to do the comparison Ford 5 cyl to Toyota 4 cyl...!

4 hours ago, OliverKlozerof said:

Sounds like you know a lot about this...unlike myself. I kinda recall my dad saying that, for gas engines, more lead in gas could reduce knock?
Re: P5AT diesel vs. Toyota deisel milage... So yours is in a Mazda/Ford? I think the Hilux Vigos I'm looking at are 2.5L 4cyl motors? (Manual transmission.) I was told they get very good milage. Correct, or am I misinformed? (Very possibly the latter. ???? )

Been around/ran garages for 25 years.!

The P5AT is used in both Mazda BT50 and Ford Ranger, I've a Ranger.
The P5AT is a 5 cylinder engine, that's the crucial difference, at any time in the rotation (cycle) any one of the five cylinders is producing power, or in other words, there is never a time when power is not being produced.

This is not the case with a 4 cylinder engine, between about 350 degrees and 10 degrees no power is produced, it the same between 170 and 190 degrees, thus it is unbalanced or 'lumpy'.
This 'lumpiness' is exacerbated by the fact diesels run on about 20 to 1 compression ratio (not the case in petrol engines)

As a 5 cylinder engine is producing constant power it is inherently smooth, thus balanced and more efficient.
Efficiency is also related to gearing, the P5AT is doing just under 2000 revs at 100kmh, whereas most 4 cylinder diesels rev around 3000 RPM at 100km.

For this reason, and it's inherent 5 cylinder efficiency (balance) makes it entirely possible a 3.2L (P5AT) Ranger could use less fuel than a Toyota Hilux 2.5L.
My friends Hilux feels like it's working hard most of the time, whereas my Ranger feels like it's on a holiday. I have long range tanks, I get1400km, my friend has them too but he only gets 1000km.!

A good way to compare the feel is to go to the Toyota dealer and ask for a test drive of the Hilux, then cross the road to the Ford dealer and ask to test drive the Ranger with the P5AT (not the 2.2L engine as it's only a 4 cylinder). You may be surprised.!

16 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

That is almost certainly just 'diesel knock' and its attributed to the design of the combustion chamber and the timing mode employed - some of the older diesels knocked like hell. Don't know about Mitsu's but the older Isuzu's did. If I was buying an older model Isuzu 2.5 and it didn't knock, I'd be worried.

Absolutely not..! Diesel knock is just one of many noises poorly designed/maintained engines display. Tappet, cam chain, valve bounce, piston slap, even little & big end noise and others are all not good signs...!

Diesel knock is poor (too fast) and incomplete ignition, these days also a sign of poor design.

Modern multi discharge piezo injectors ensure complete combustion over the correct time period. Mazda/Ford WHEAT and P5AT engines are examples of good design, they exhibit little if any diesel knock and produce no black smoke. Black smoke is unburnt fuel, thus inefficient.

My 3.2L 5 cyl P5AT ranger gets 8 to 9L/100km, whereas my friends Toyota hilux does 11 to 12L/100km on a 3 litre 4 cyl engine. That's without remapping, with remapping (without increasing rail pressures) 15 to 20% fuel savings can be expected.

Absolutely no one has the right to take another oness life, without exception.!

In the same way no one has the right to force another to take up arms..!

Basic human rights.....!

Sure, lock them up for life if need be....!

Tip 1: -- As a good example listen to the engines in older baht buses (songkeuw), if they sound like a bucket of bolts (which most Izuzu and Mitsubishis' do) then those models would obviously not be such a good buy.

Tip 2: -- BT50 Mazda and Ford Ranger with 3.2 litre diesel engine, yes I know they are quite big engines being 5 cylinders but they are very efficient, quiet, slow revving and reliable. My 3.2L Ranger uses much less fuel than the previous Courier (Mazda BT40) 2.5L diesel, and it has much longer legs.! And being 5 cylinders it is just so much smoother than any 4 cylinder diesel.

Ensure both earth rods are driven into permanently damp ground, like beside a well or septic leach drain.

An earth rod driven into dry ground is as useless as tits on a bull.

Better still is to drive them into the ground water table.

Eg: if the water table starts at 3m then use 4m rods.!

1 hour ago, elgenon said:

The bag appears to say "Made in Chi...". Where could that be?

Certainly looks like it, not a big surprise is it.?
So much for sealed borders.!
Fertiliser bags, maybe Nh Po Ammonium Phosphate.?

Baking soda and honey (or gom - sugar water), works a treat and costs next to nothing, same effect, exploding cockroaches.

Try using the LED filament globes, these produce the least amount of heat, and the small ballast is in the screw base part of the globe, in contact with the socket, thus allowing greater dissipation of what little heat they do generate. The LED filament (string) runs on 70v whereas single LED arrays run on 4.5v therefore not as great a regulation of voltage is required for the filament LEDs. Increasing efficiency and further reducing heat.
May be worth a go.!
 

There are two at San Kamphaeng Hot Springs, we've only been to San Kamphaeng Hot Springs, there is also Sippa hot springs, can't comment on them but San Kamphaeng Hot Springs was reasonable, a swimming pool,  private rooms available, nice gardens, locals seem to like cooking eggs in the hot water as it comes out of the ground,.
There's also hot springs somewhere around Pia, north of Chang mai.

And to the north east on the road to Chiang Rai.

Can't comment on either.

11 hours ago, kuma said:

We are building a raised floor, one metre above grade, so in this instance that solution would not work. Thanks for sharing that thou, might be of interest to others building on grade.

Cheers

Well there'd be nothing stopping you from using 1M concrete posts included within the slab to build the house on.!

There's another advantage of the slab design, it brings the floor to ground temperature, which is usually way cooler than outside air temperature, thus a naturally cool house.

It's why most Thais with old traditional teak houses built on stilts, live underneath during the day and upstairs at night.

Stupidly our Thai builder put little 40cm high foundations all under the house, then placed concrete tiles on them to form a base and poured a 60mm slab over to create the floor, thus raising the floor 40cm above the ground, loosing any cooling effect, we now have air conditioners..!

Yep, been through this one before with Thai builders, 2016 Chiang Mai (San Patong).

I wanted a slab, but oh no, 'can't do'...!

Builder wanted 1.2m piles, the other half (who's never built a house before) wanted 2m, straight down into the clay and into the water layer, how smart was that..?

Now the house is cracking up annually as the clay swells and contracts with the seasons.

Thai builders just can't understand that an 'umbrella' slab (150mm slab with 400mm footings around the extremities) floats intact on the clay thus keeping the walls/roof stable, avoiding cracking..!

So easy and cheaper..!

Another solution may be solar hot water, almost nil to run (nil if you don't use electric booster) but expensive to buy.

Go Pro has a small problem with synchronisation, sound tends to lag behind vision.

Some of the smaller better brands like Kapture are of good enough quality and small enough to mount to helmet, a small power pack in the pocket with a micro USB lead can power them for more then 3 or 4 hours, good enough for most rides.

But the interesting thing with visible helmet mounted cameras is how allergic Thai cops are to them.
Almost guarantees you'll get waved through any road block.

Totally sick of these 'economic' idiots putting money before life...!

An economy in recession can be recovered from, death cannot.....!

And just in time for Europes' second wave....pockets before brains..!

23 hours ago, TVBKK2020 said:

How likely is it that on completion of the conversion from 2-pin to 3-pin sockets, which is for only one unit in the condo, that the unit in question will actually be properly earthed?

 In Thailand, with Thai electricians/handymen I would say 1% chance likely..!

Instruct them to install all earth wires to an earth spike next to a permanently wet area, like a well or soak and also install an ELCB (earth safety switch).
Then go check your switchboard to see the safety switch is indeed installed, then take a piece of wire bared at both ends, insert one end first into the earth pin position on the new socket and the other into one of the the two normal pin positions, switch the power point on, if nothing happens, switch off, insert wire into the other normal pin position, switch on, again if nothing happens there is no earth.
If there is an earth the aforementioned action will trigger the safety switch.

We've two, I'm sure they are last centuries models, they are that old.
All we've done is tyres, batteries and a few globes, not even changed the chains.
Strangely the older one with the more miles (kms) has the stronger engine.

Both have been regularly serviced (oil, filters, spark plugs), which probably helps as most Thais don't seem to service them much.

Sounds like others like them too, by the offers you've received.

IMO for a condo (apartment) keeping the sun off the walls is helpful, if you're the top floor condo, roof insulation is also very helpful, but after than, other than A/C there's not much else you can do.

Keep in mind ceiling fans do not cool, they just move air, it's the contact of this moving air onto skin that has a cooling effect via evaporation of sweet. The roof watering (evaporative) cooling system works in a similiar way.

For a house I'm not in favour of the elevated style, houses built directly on the ground benefit from the ambient temperature of the ground, if it's 43c outside in the sun and the ground temp is 26c then the floor indoors will be 26c. Thick roof insulation, and full shading of the walls will help to keep the house close to the ground temp.

Further to that a matrix/s of 100mm pipe work in the ground under the slab, prior to building the house may have a small fan connected to the start/s with the end/s being outlet/s into the house, thus helping to keep the house at ground temp.

Of course in tropical humid climates refrigerated A/C is the only effective way to reduce humidity.

If everything on the front checks out OK including correct level of oil in the front forks, time to check the back.

Swing arm bushes, wheel spokes, wheel bearings, shocks, cush drive..!

Sloppiness of most kinds in the rear (don't go there) are much more noticeable cornering than riding straight..!