Somtham

If you do not have Thai fonts installed you will have problems with the form.

I think a lot of people just print them out and fill them in by hand.

Some immigration offices will not accept the form unless it is one that you get from them. Crazy but true.

I have the correct fonts loaded. Do you know who the keeper of the password is? Can they make it public or unprotect the files?

Here's an example from the tm7 file:

Immigration office: Times New Roman 12 Bold

Date field: Angsana New 14

First Name: Angsana New 14

Middle name: Times New Roman 12 Bold

rgds

You do not need any passwords to fill out and print the forms that I know of. I just double checked and TM8 form opens normally in Word and you fill in the shaded areas, either with text or select from a drop down menu - they will not show on print out.

You're right about the shading going away when printing. It shows up on the "Print Preview" screen so I never bothered printing it!! Anyway, how about the ability to change the entry field formats? The original form uses different fonts, sizes, and some cells are bold, some are not. For example the first and last name fields use one font and size while the middle name field uses another. Unfortunately, I don't think the cell formatting can be changed without the password.

Does everybody just print the blank form and fill it out by hand?

rgds

I've downloaded TM7, 8, and 47 forms from the site that are in Word format. All of the files are password protected. What are the passwords to the files? How do you turn off the shading on the entry fields before printing? How can I change the format of some of the entry fields?

Thanks

Hi Somtham,

I buy it in Chiang Mai, already slaked, B25 for 10 kg bag.

No typo, it is really only B2.50 / kg

Kiln company is right here south side of town on Samoeng Road

Google Earth placemarker attached, for anyone near Chiang Mai

the clear plastic bags are sold at a little shanty across the road

It is pure as the rock it came from,

limestone is always mixed with a little something by merit of its geologic origin

It is roasted at 900C for extended period, so it is certain that nothing biological survived.

Then the slaking reaction releases an enormous quantity of heat that the furnace just locked in.

Thanks for the added info. I already bought a supply from Vidhasom Co in Bangkok based on the info provided by Rice555.

thanks

i'm interested in buying some rice paddy land. its about 1m below road level and currently flooded. a 10 wheel truck of fill dirt costs about 700 baht in the area. i'm looking at 6 rai of land so i know that's a lot of trucks, but how many?

does anyone know how many 10 wheel trucks of dirt it takes to raise 1rai of land by 1m? the land is in a flat area on a concrete road and is easily accessed.

p.s. i can do the math, i know that's 1600m3/rai of dirt, i just don't know how much you typically get in a 10 wheel truck.

thanks, steve

Steve - It may depend on the area you live in but I just bought 33 truck loads of top soil last week and I estimated they were 8 cubes per truck. I paid B800 per load.......the Thais paid B750 per load!! We're in Kamphaeng Phet.

rgds

Is there any product (type or brandname) that is particularly good at sealing concrete to avoid water seepage.

Need to seal part of a balcony that gets wet if rain and wind. Has drainage but unless the edges are sealed can get water soaking through and staining the outer surface. Logically it should be something suitable for sealing pools and ponds - needs to be water proof and adhere to the concrete.

Jotun makes an epoxy based paint for use on concrete. It is called their "Penguard" series. It's 2 part, resin and catalyst, and comes in a bunch of colors. I paid B1200 for the clear and B1400 for blue. I got coverage of about 15 sq meters per gallon on very porous concrete well rings. On a smooth, concrete patio surface I would guess you could get 25 sq meters per gallon.

Get yourself a good face mask when you use it as the stuff is very strong. A fan also helps to 'clear' the air. Attached is a spec sheet for the Penguard.

Hope this helps.

rgds

er ........ bore is 4"! - is that lined or un-lined?

First thing you need to do is get that up to 6" at least, preferably 10" or 12" - then, as its only a few meters deep, get a large diameter tube lining pushed down.

3phase - yes, but only if you have it already - for those volumes I can't see it making much economic sense gettng 3phase installed - it costs quite a bit. Other wise stick with single phase - it'll still be cheaper over the long run than diesel.

Yep, 4" PVC lined. The bore is 16m deep and the water rises to 5-6m from the surface. The guy hand drilled it and 4" was the largest spade drill he had. He's actually drilled 3 bores for me and they're all about the same. 0-7m mostly sand, 7-10m beautiful bentonite (wish that was up at the surface), 10-14m more sand, and 14-16m granite(?), and then water. I don't think making the bore larger is an option at this time.

The 3 phase is already there so no issues with a 3 phase 380v pump system. It's gotta be cheaper, less maintenance, easier, and definately more quiet!!

rgds

Thanks for your time MF. The bore is only 4 inch diameter so I will be looking for a centrifugal 3 phase.

rgds

Yes - 90degree bends do significantly impact the power/fow equation - primarily by way of the turbulance they create.

Thats a fair amount of bends - there was no other way to route the tubing was there(?).

Where's the 3" tubing in this setup - is it the first section (s) of the length i.e. from the pump, and then followed by the 4" sections - or are the 4" diameter length(s) first, followed by the 3" diameter lengths?

I'll calculate the exact figure later on today (had a busy day), but off the top of my now sunburnt head(!), 25cubic meters through 3" and 4" tubing over 90meters with a 1 - 1,5bar head (roughly what I believe your pump needs to be able of for efficent flow - note: for efficent flow, not for flow to take place - their is a differance) shouldn;t require much power. The push through 3" tubing will be little, and through 4" tubing - well, 25kilo litres should run through tubing that wide with next to no power.

Well. if I had to do it all over I would certainly change the pipe layout for the ponds and remove some of the 90's. Attached is a sketch that I hope makes sense. The 3" sections are actually at the beginning and end and the 4" section is in the middle of the run.

Thanks

Looking at funding a small rice mill for family

I know the return is low but we are looking at the husk, bran for other things

and at worst it will keep my g/f brother employed

has anybody have any experience will them

are there any Thai makes etc?

Last year I bought a small mill for the uncle with the caveat that he would give me all the rice bran for our fish ponds. Well, after 11 months I have received on the average of 1 bag of bran per week!! The mill runs quite frequently and is capable of milling 180-200 kg per hour. Let's say the machine runs at the low end for 10 hours a week so he would mill 1800kg of which maybe 30% would be bran or 540kg yet we only see about 20kg per week. Frustrating for me.

The mill was locally made and I have attached a scan of the brochure for your info. The list price was B87k but is negotiable and I paid something less than that as the uncle does not have electricity and the unit was ordered without a motor. There have been no problems with the machine and it runs fine.

Good luck with your venture.

rgds

Somthan, my bore hole pump is 23 mtr down, it pumps uphill 320 mtrs on a 1 in 3 gradient, it will power 2 10mtr radi sprinklers, then the pipework goes down to the banana plantation, in total, 530mts, 2" pipe, and green hose for sprinklers, when you have pressure in the pipes, flowing bends make no difference, 90% bends are normal for water, right angles is another way to describe them.

My pump is a Franklin, it delivers about 1 litre in 3 seconds, its 230v 1 hp and 2 years ago was 12k bht,

Have a look at this site, http://www.mathews.co.uk/acatalog/Borehole_pumps.html there isnt much to compared to a 9hp kubuta delivery.

Cheers, Lickey.

Thanks Lickey. We have a Meyers/Franklin 1 HP pump probably similar to yours in the bore for the house water but I'm looking for a flow rate about 20 times higher than that pump will provide. The fittings, and even straight lengths of pipe, do make a difference by adding friction loss and require more head from the pump. Take a look at the Mathews website you posted and notice how the flow rate drops as the head increases. The pipe diameters, lengths, fittings, well depth, and height you're pumping the water to are all required to calculate the total head required of the pump.

Hopefully MF can stick those numbers in his software and pop out some specs for a pump.

Not sure I understand what you mean by this "there isnt much to compared to a 9hp kubuta delivery".

rgds

Somtham

Something to tackle this evening after dinner, as opposed to watching BBC World Service- its a relatively striaght forward one -just one thing:

" 3 - 4" 90 degree Els, 4 - 3" 90 Els "- does this mean 3 x 4inch bends, plus and additional 4 x 3" bends - or is one or the other?

Ha, still waiting for my dinner...thom ka gai!!

I have a combination of 3" and 4" diameter pipes going to the ponds from the pump. In the longest run there are three 90 degree fittings with 4" pipe and another four 90 degree fittings with 3" pipe. These will add to the total head due to friction loss when the water needs to turn. Hope this helps with the calcs.

PS - don't like to drink (Chang) and post, but somethimes ya just gotta do it!!

rgds

.......Ac motors (always the best choice where possible, irrespective of whether its a set or moveable system - as it costs around 30% less to pump with 3phase ac versus diesel), used pick-up/truck diesel engines (only option if its not s set system).

... and lastly: irrigation layout/planning for 300rai is a major project - I have layout software for the job, which calculates everything from radis's to pressure differentials over landgradients, spacings, flwo rates blah blah, blah blah .... get back to me if you get that far down the path and will be happy to help. Flow dynamics & Irrigation was my main Ag Engineering subject - would love to get stuck into a 300rai project (hint hint....)

Get back if I can help

Hey MF - how would you like to use that software to size a pump for me?

Water in bore hole is down 6m and I need to lift it another 2m. 40m of 4" pipe, 15m of 3" pipe, 3 - 4" 90 degree Els, 4 - 3" 90 Els, and 1 each 3" and 4" 45 degree fittings. What's the total head required by the pump and how many HP to deliver 25 cubic meters per hour?

Right now I'm using a 9 HP Kubota but want to switch to a 3 phase electric motor and pump combo.

thanks

Thanks for the suggestions folks. Seacon Square is a bit out of the way but I'll check out Eyelab and Optic Square at Central Chitlom.

Thanks

Can anybody recommend an optical shop in Bangkok that sells glass lenses? I've never liked plastic lenses and unfortunately that's all I can find in the Province. Thanks.

Can one of the mods please move this to the "Bangkok" forum? Maybe somebody overthere wears glasses and can recommend a shop.

TRhanks

Is the engine a twin cylinder or ?.

If a twin he may have lined up the marks 180 degrees out, engine will still run but like a bag of hammers. I don't know what purpose the hose from the crankcase to the carb do's other than a breather. Normally you have a hose to the manifold to advance retart ignition on earlier engines. I cannot envisage how it effects a magneto ignition.

Let us know how you solve the problem.

Cheers

Ok, so grabbed a cup of coffee and decided to dig in this morning. Pulled the plug and removed the valve cover to see what was going on with the timing. OMFG. Valve clearance on the intake was about 0.075" and on the exhaust well over 0.125". Reset the intake to 0.006" and the exhaust to 0.008". Don't have a repair manual so am not sure if those are right. Put the valve cover back on and spark plug in. Turned the key and it started right up. No backfiring, back to normal dB level, no covering the carb intake, and no "winding up" the flywheel.

Now, are these "mechanics" that stupid? Or was this a plot to destroy the engine so they could rebuild it at a later date. Unreal.

Denboy - thanks for your replies and suggestions. The engine is a single cylinder and I guess the vacuum off the crankcase is an emmission thing to burn off crankcase vapors. The mower was purchased in California and they have very strict emmission standards.

Thanks again.

rgds

Perhaps your starter motor was weak in the coils or past it's best.

However you have a new starter motor so you need to look futher.

I am not familar with that particulat engine but I would suspect you have a ignition timing problem, I might even go further and suggest valve timing as I have no idea of the camshaft drive method. Did the mechanic check that side of it out?.

You did mention that it was running rough previously so there is more to it than a dodgy starter motor.

try a different mechanic or insist the same one check the basic timing by the book.

Good luck.

Denboy - You may be right about the timing as when I started it up yesterday there was constant backfiring through the carb. That may also explain why the thing is running so darn loud. After I picked the mower up from the mechanic the first time he was very proud to tell me how they disassembled the entire engine. I asked how he set the timing and he told me there was a mark on the crank to align. I downloaded a parts diagram and it actually shows a timing gear between the crank and cam. Did he really line everything up? Guess I'll have to take it apart to find out for sure. By the way, the ignition spark is from a magneto with the magnet in the flywheel.

Timi - There are 2 hoses to the carb. One is the fuel line and the other is a vacuum line coming from the crankcase. No noticeable effect when disconnecting and plugging one end of the vacuum line.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Sometime last year the mower started acting up and was difficult to start in the mornings. The starter would turn the flywheel but once it hit TDC on the compression stroke it would no longer crank. At that time I could start it using jumper cables from the truck. That eventually would not work so I recently took it to a mechanic shop in town.

The diagnosis from them was a bad starter so they sent it off to Bangkok to have rewound. After 2 weeks of waiting when I picked the mower up from the shop the guy said I had to wind the flywheel past TDC before starting. Uhgg. He started the mower up by doing this. OK, so I take the mower home and first try nothing but smoke and the smell of wires frying from the starter.

Back to the shop. The engine is a 18.5 Hp Briggs-Stratton from the US. The guy looks at it and yep the starters fried so he asks me if he can put a car starter on it and I said go ahead but I don't want to have to hand crank the flywheel everytime I need to start the mower. No pwoblem.

I go back 2 days later and the guy tells me no car starters will fit but his dad found an old Briggs starter in the back room so he put it on. Now, to start the mower I have to first crank the flywhell just past the compression stroke, remove the air filter and cover the carb with my hand and then turn the key. The starter cranks fine and the engine starts if I remove my hand form the carb at the right time. One other thing is that when I got the mower back this time the engines runs much much louder than it ever has.

So, does anybody have a clue what's really wrong with this thing and why it runs so loud?

Thanks for any advice offered.

rgds

Can anybody recommend an optical shop in Bangkok that sells glass lenses? I've never liked plastic lenses and unfortunately that's all I can find in the Province. Thanks.

is this girl thrustworthy or not?

Sounds like she is very THRUSTworthy.

OK here's one view I put some more up at http://www.flickr.com/photos/banjopicker/

Because I won't pay the silly prices they want for custom kitchens and because the custom home built wood kitchen builders kitchens are rubbish I used STARMARK modules from Homeworks. buy the modules you want, fix them how you want then rip off the tops and have the local granite people cut tops for you.

Get the builder to cut and fit kick boards at the bottom to finish off the front, they are nail gunned straight onto the Starmark units.

The wall on the deck is just that A wall tiled up then the units back onto it. Not finished yet has to have a granite top along it to make a counter top. Total cost around indoor and outdoor kitchen around 60k

Thanks for posting those. The place looks spotless. Does it ever get used for pak boong fai daeng? Any smoke/grease issues with not having an exhaust hood over the stove area?

Thanks again.

Makes no sense to cook in the house in Thailand, we have twin fitted kitchens, one inside the house and one outside the house on the deck area. Both have stainless cooking tops, sinks, fridges, granite tops etc. But the indoor one only ever gets used for coffee and toast. My Gf prefers to cook outside and I prefer not to smell what ever is being cooked inside the house.

Rimmer - would you mind posting a few pictures of your outside kitchen? We're getting ready to build one and am looking for ideas. I have this feeling yours is first class.

thanks

These are hilarious Peter. Thanks for sharing them.

nearest I can tell... we haven't had anything from AA for over a week!

I'm just trying to work-out if I think that is good or bad?

It's very good. Maybe she ran off with Jamesieboy.

Crossy - sorry if you've answered this question already but....when you refer to wire size are you referring to copper or aluminum? And if copper is there a coefficient that can be used to calculate the aluminum size?

All sizes are copper. Unless cost is a serious consideration I'd avoid aluminium as the connections can become unreliable if not made correctly (i.e. by Somchai electrics inc.), certainly only consider aluminium for the incoming cables.

I'll dig out the adjustment factor for Ali, but generally you use one size bigger, so your 16mm² copper meter tails become 25mm² in Ali.

Thanks Crossy. Most of the houses around us use aluminum for the feed from the meter to the house with interior wiring being copper.

rgds