Metropolitian

3 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

No 

I have nothing published that has all of the new rules that came into effect under 2 royal decrees in 2017 and 2018.

There was a big disagreement going on in Chiang Mai between the labor ministry and immigration about it. The labor ministry said they were not required and immigration insisted they  were needed to apply for a extension.

There was something like that in Bangkok too, just after the Labor ministry in Din Daeng moved to sub districts, the one I needed to go said wait a moment as she was sure that it was not needed. After a talk with their manager or it was needed or they just gave it a go.

The immigration in CW need it.

 

Went there yesterday, information what I need to do. I have to leave next month for a new visa. I am already one year in Thailand, arrived august last year.

 

 

3 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

There is no provision for volunteers to get a certificate of entry at the this time. You have be working for a company with a work permit to get one.

Serious? This is worrisome for some of us like me.

So a volunteer, without salary, but with Workpermit cant get  a COA and is not able to come back to Thailand after getting a new visa?

Only NON-B ? Or do you mean, volunteers without the WP?

DO you have a link to any sources on this?

 

I'm having an WP as it was needed for the volunteering job at an association.

 

Also, in this time, it would come in handy to use when coming from abroad to Thailand. (Either WP or Family in Thailand, let you in easy.)

Curious what I will get, have to renew my license next month for the third time.

So that would then before the 120 days after the resolution and when the regulation came in action I, and many others, would still have the old style license for no more then 5 years.

(except for the lifetime ones).

 

Or they will already have the big bike license for renewals.. ?

 

We will see.

3 hours ago, Crossy said:

As one of those annoying people who likes to see what's going on at all times I picked up a couple of these baby (128x32) OLED displays. 

 

Glad I'm not the only one 555 lost the counts of displays here

 

3 hours ago, Crossy said:

 

I've also modified the software to work with either the V4.0 relay board or the original V1.0 board and changed the manner in which one sets the dates for "no export".

 

The circuit, a handy by-product of using GPIO2 as SCL is that the on-board LED flashes at 1Hz when the display seconds field updates acting as a "heartbeat" indicator.

Is the clock right according your wife or NTP? ????

 

 

 

3 hours ago, Crossy said:

Note that the 128x64 versions have VCC and GND swapped vs the 128x32.

Seems random between displays, even for ones in the same range like the oleds..

 

 

This is a goose between the ducks ???? Although not I2C but uses serial data anyhow. Note the two GND's, only one is needed.

 

 

Still need to find out if I can use this with the ESP01

This display I ordered when I had the idea to once make a small Back To The Future time clocks.

 

 

 

 

 

In case of:

 

MEA   

 

PEA

22 hours ago, webfact said:

 

Reuang, 57, a motorcycle taxi rider in the area said he had asked someone standing by the road if they wanted a lift but they declined saying they were just about to be picked up.

What is the additional value of this in the news report?

 

100 meter from the location he could ask the same, over and over again.

It very much looks like the combination of two:  

A failing (too enthusiast) Safe-T-Cut and damp/debris in some electrical outlets outside (lamp, sockets,..)

 

Quotes.

 

Lujanit (OP) : "So with the system off I switched the resistance to 10mA, then 20mA and finally 30mA.  After every alteration the system immediately tripped.  The Safe-T-Cut will only remain on if the resistance is set to 5mA. "

Crossy: "Either way, it should not be more "enthusiastic" on the higher mA settings. Something is amiss. "

 

Lujanit (OP): " Overnight we had heavy rainfall.  Early this morning I got the WM going and it tripped the Safe T Cut (no air-con going).  Changing the resistance makes no difference as previously noted. "

         " I isolated the circuit by turning that CB off.  About 1500 we had heavy rain and the system tripped. "

 

To the OP, Lujanit, with regard to Crossy's post #37 , are there another outdoor fixtures connected to other CB's maybe ? Have you 'eliminated' them as the culprit?

8 hours ago, RichCor said:

With Lazada, I've found it's sometimes worth it to search the site 6 ways to Sunday (if you don't want to be caught out overpaying +700 baht on a 300 baht item).

 

Apparently Lazada also Habotest HT106T is a "Thai" version for 299 thb

current trip at 30 mA - plug plug is a US type - the product has 3 colors: blue, yellow, black - printed text available in both Thai OR English language

 

 

Yep these are the ones that were produced not long after I got in touch with the production center. Even the text in Thai , although a bit altered afterwards, I've supplied to them.

Even the 'T' in the HT105T , T from TIS. The only thing that wasn't done was turning the socket 180 degrees.

 

You can buy them online at Lazada and Shopee, and you will get them faster then the other plugs as they are on stock in Thailand. In fact they are shipped as OEM with US casing, EU internals and custom printed front. Assembled in Thailand by the suppliers.

No, I'm not one of them and has no affiliate with them????

 

Regular price from China is 175 thb.

 

8 hours ago, RichCor said:

...also found this little item, but as it's a "UK" item using plastic plug adapters (L/N pins reversed?) I don't think it's really usable for us here in Thailand:

 

Lazada,  Multifunction Socket Outlet RCD GFCI Test And BSIDE Voltage Detector  364 baht

 

That one looks very nice , even has measuring the voltage between Neutral and Earth which is something that I was 'missing' on other small socket testers.

It looks like that many of those has the "AU" Australian prongs and comes with the adapter to convert to US, EU or UK.

 

I'm going to order one soon so I can do a review ????

 

 

This one does look nice too and a bit more 'rugged'.

Found here

Pulling the train back on the rails..

On 8/13/2020 at 2:22 PM, Hal65 said:

1. Yesterday I woke up to find my wireless earphones were dead. Further charging did nothing.

 

2. Today I found my phone, charger plugged into the same outlet, has also been bricked.

 

3. I posted here last month about how my apartment electric bill surged by 1,400 last mont (average electric bill was 1,400 baht, last month 2,800 baht with no change in use).

 

I don't know if that 3rd point connects to the first two. But I wanted to include it as it might. Does anyone know what this could mean?

 

 

Can an outlet be "over-currented" and push out more power than it's supposed to? That would explain the destroyed electronics and high bill together. But again, I'm not sure if it's that simple.

 

It could be coincidental that the earphones batteries went flat out and so was the phone.

 

But I would like to know about your point 2. , do you mean that the phone doesn't open, thus bricked?   Have you tried to charge the earphones and the phone at another outlet? Maybe both were just not charged at all at that socket.

 

I have met some sockets that were 'working' but when I left the adapters in there overnight, they moved a little bit due to the weight of the bungling cables and they lost contact and I found the phones empty in the morning but I was very sure I saw the 'charge' icon in the screen when I connected them.

 

Bad contact in the socket, happens easily here in Thailand as we use both flat and round prongs.

 

 

If they are really broken, and you are not able to charge them.

Then it is possibly damaged by spikes.

Spikes can occur when there are bad/loose contacts in the outlets, or on the feed to the outlet.

 

One example that can damage devices: in a junction box between the customer unit and the outlets there is a bad connection. And there are induction (transformers, pumps, ..) devices connected to the outlets/same wiring. Sudden and repeated connection and disconnection and the field in the transformers would collapse and the feedback has nowhere to go, except for other devices on other outlets.. damaging them.

Another example: Bad contact between outlet and prongs causing resistance which will heat up the prongs and contacts and damage the internals of the adapter. Also some devices (switched) try to compensate the voltage loss by using more currents and this has adverse causes like more heating and sudden current inrush when the contacts are 'better' (arcing, expansion, ..)

 

Have you tried other outlets ?

1 hour ago, tpthai2 said:

 

Local Thai price:

 

Display Socket Detector Portable Circuit Polarity Voltage Tester Wall Plug Breaker Finder RCD Test

฿1,148.00

 

 

" Test zero Fire Ground Wire "

And led status , only the first of the three led burns = 'correct'  -and- 'open ground'

 

Yep, that is the version for the Thai market ????

 

 

I would go for the 'china price' version if I was you

 

This is the one I am using here,

I went for the HT106B which has the US plug with that but originally the RCD/RCBO test (on this version: GFCI test, 5mA) button won't work here.

52 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

Be aware that L and N are transposed between the Thai and UK plug so one of the simple adaptors will show incorrect polarity and may not trip the RCD.

Absolutely right!

 

An error on my side *facepalming*

I'm used to have the earth prong on top here instead of bottom as the 'US standard'.

Which is more convenient to use the TIS plugs here , like the washing machine is. And so are the UPS'ses.

With that, earth prong on top, the live is left. and UK live is on the right side.

I used to jam some BS standard sockets in The Gambia and got some from Malaysia to use here.

 

Thanks for the correction, it's an important one. ????

 

52 minutes ago, Crossy said:

If you can find one of the Schuko / Thai adaptors you can get the EU plug tester and put it in the right way round to show correctly.

Good suggestion. Haven't seen them much, Schuko to US plug with the earth prong.

 

 

A solution is by using an DPDT switch which flips around the L and N wire and label it " UK mode / US(with cheap adapter) mode " ????

The one settings for in Malaysia/UK/Gambia/ BS sockets in your home in Thailand and the other setting when using the tester with the UK-US adapter found everywhere so you can test.. everywhere.

 

-------------

 

The same thing, as the UK, the Australian plug is not par with the US / Thai plug.

So someone thinking to get the Australian version to use with a simple adapter; a brief warning, it's 'UK'. ????

Earth prong down, and live on the left.

 

US / Thai : Earth prong down, live on the right. Or earth prong up, live on the left.

 

Standard the Habotest device, as member RichCor suggested, the US plug version comes with the earth prong down.

It's not easy to have it turned around, even by flipping the cover as the PCB with led and display only fits in one way.

 

A while ago, two years I think, I contacted the Habo factory, or their clones, in China to suggest they put the European hardware in the US plug casing. They thanked me for the suggestion and passed it on and even got a reply;They said, Thai customer ordering the US plug version or the UK and they never heard any complains..

A few months later saw new 'Thai versions' on the market, with the cover in Thai language and US plug. Yes even RCD test on 30mA.

Only for sale from Thai suppliers.

 

5 minutes ago, Metropolitian said:

Get the UK version if you also want to check earthing and RCBO functions , with an DIY-d adapter (or real 3 wired world adapter) or extension sockets that accepts UK plug and is wired with 3 wires to an UK US/Thai plug.

  This one, NO.

 

  It has no earth-prong

 

  This outlet is ok, but not all extension cords/sockets actually has all three prongs connected.

Make sure your does and has all 3 holes connected with the corresponding prongs on the plug.

 

 

23 minutes ago, RichCor said:

While someone who's knowledgeable in the ways of using a digital multimeter can manually perform the tests, sticking metal probs into sockets isn't everyone's cup of tea. A more consumer-friendly set of devices might help.

 

200-300 thb AC Socket Tester:  Lazada Digital Display Socket Detector

 

 

  

 

* Please check the product description carefully to verify the socket tester voltage range (220-250v) and a 3-pin plug type is recommended for full earth-ground test usability

 

 

 

Yes, mild shocks or tingles are a good indication your PC or other electrical appliance's 3-pin electrical socket isn't properly grounded. 

Also keep in mind that those with the US plugs are made for 110V and GFCI's with leak current >5mA

I have one here, they works fine as indicator.

 

But the test button do not work for the RCBO's with 30mA fixed settings.

The test leak current is too low. (around 3mA here on 230V)

 

Use the US plug verison just for the voltage / L-N-E wiring check.

 

Get the UK version if you also want to check earthing and RCBO functions , with an DIY-d adapter (or real 3 wired world adapter) or extension sockets that accepts UK plug and is wired with 3 wires to an UK/Thai plug.

 

Only for the advanced:

Although one who is handy and has the know-how, can open the (US plug version) device and replace the resistors inside like I did.

Mine with US plug has now earth leak current around 40mA when button pressed which is good to trip the RCBO.

 

 

 

17 minutes ago, Crossy said:

Not just Thailand.

 

Sadly the photo is long gone but a mate in Malaysia sent me a picture of a computer power lead he had bought "cheap".

 

It had a moulded Schuko plug, since Malaysia uses UK BS1363 plugs he cut off the Schuko intending to install a UK plug.

 

However, the cable was revealed to have six rather thin cores, very much akin to an RS-232 data cable!

 

It went in the bin. 

UK BS1363 the plug is fused.

Guess with the Schuko plug, they use the cord as fuse ????

 

Met some of those cables for the computer, I bin them and replace them for a UK or Australian power leads, which has the right core sizing.

(Have cut'd some of those to check)

You can find these for 10thb only at Zeer, as Thais have 'no use' of them..

I keep using them complete, some of the outlets here (extension cords) accept UK plugs or I cut off the plugs and use the cable itself.

 

A few months ago I posted  about an phone charger (usb adapter) that has failed.

I will, at times, post such topic to (dis)amuse you my fellow readers. ????

 

This time: An 'switching power brick'.

 

An electronic store with a service center clears their stock with returns and no-claim products every couple of years along with an clearance sale.

A few years ago I've bought a carton filled with 'disqualified' products.

Inside the carton that I filled with a few small audio amplifiers and inverters which I got for their aluminum casing for some of the DIY projects. (Bought cheaper then when buying the case alone.)

Even found some led strips with adapter and remote, sometime the adapter was missing and sometime the remote. I went for the led strips.

 

Now I opened one of them, the one with the adapter.

Switching Power Supply.  12 V, 2 Amp. It reads on the label.

 

 

I was amazed with the weight of this 'brick' as it felt like was filled with feathers and helium, compared with other power bricks which are quite modern but not as heavy as the original Commodore bricks. ????

 

I connected this to one of my projects which needed 1 amp at least.

The device barely turned on before collapsing. I measured and it was 12 volt. Connected.. the voltage dropped.

Tried another 'good' adapter, the device turned on fine.

 

Hmm.. something suspicious with this thing.

 

I opened it. And what I found inside.. no feathers but..

 

Jawdropping... It's an re-purposed phone charger ! (Note the USB Plug an the cut off red wiring)

 

The main wiring is soldered on the solder side as well as the DC wires.

Instead of using the trough holes where still two short pieces of red wires are.

 

In phone chargers the board is connected with either wiring to the prongs or with a flat spring, like this one:

Picture: good working board from a phone charger. 5v, 500mA.

 

What they did with the modified board was cutting out the zener diode which normally clamps the rectified output of the transformer to 5 / 5.2 volt.

By their 'luck' the output of that without the zener was 12 volt, but once a significant current was used the voltage would drop.

With the zener in place and 5 volt output, the current would never been 4 or near the 2 Amp.

5 Volt and 500mA is common for that setup without having the voltage dropping.

 

The adapter works fine with a small string from the led strip, but when using all colors as it is an RGB strip with remote control the string brightness dropping and sometime the controller turned off.  I understand why that product was returned to the store.

 

Some things amaze me. This was one of them.

On 6/19/2020 at 3:17 AM, daveAustin said:

On 6/18/2020 at 6:39 PM, owenm said:

 

Young lady on post seems to be magically balancing in mid air. Very impressive!

 

4 hours ago, Crossy said:

 

From his photos he has 5(could be 6), 10, 20, 30 mA, this unit does not appear to have a "direct" setting (it was removed from the later production).

He has the Safe-T-Cut Gold , type S from CS International (Currently NANO - S series, so he has the older version).

Model PR20

 

I-Delta-n : 6 , 10 , 20 and 30 mA.

 

Safe T Cut is not one brand in Thailand, I know there are two (at least). The one being STC Smart and the other STC Gold.

 

STC Golds never had the 'direct' setting as far as I know, never seen them.

 

Both 'brands' do have their own history and production plants.

 

'Registered Trademark' is like ice here, it melts in front of you.

 

Quote

 

Either way, it should not be more "enthusiastic" on the higher mA settings. Something is amiss.

Absolutely agree with this.

 

 

EDIT:

OP, Lujanit. I do see another 'safe t cut' in your picture. Was it replaced? What was the issue?

7 minutes ago, Metropolitian said:

Bonding of N-G is bad practice

Years ago when I visited the USA, I had a few looks in the consumer units used here as well reading their codes. Learned about wiring in home and the split phase system.

There actually -is- an bonding cable between N and G in some of their CU's, called bonding jumper, as the neutral bar is one long bus and the ground rod was directly connected to this.

Between the bonding block and the outdoor meter was also a bonding cable.

 

Somewhat different then used here in Thailand which mostly follows the European model.

 

 

 

3 hours ago, RichCor said:

I just noticed that the installation doesn't seem to be following the recommendation of bonding N-G prior to the Safe-T-Cut input.

Bonding of N-G is bad practice and only left to the earth busbar by grounding the neutral with the earth.

This is called MEN, and I called it in the Netherlands ''PEN = Earth is Nulled; Neutral and Earth connected''

 

It's the terminology used, bonding means a link between two conductors that doesn't carry any current to eliminate  potentials difference between conductors, which can be copper pipes and metal frames.

Earthing is also using an ground rod to earth a device, for example an outdoor pump.

In electricity Ground is the zero, the difference between ground and live is the voltage that you get, but doesn't mean that it is zero with respect to earth.  With AC we get from the utility we call ground the Neutral.

 

There are some difference with use of the words grounding and earthing, especially between the USA's IEEE and Europe IEC. I'm IEC (NEN). ???? 

 

About your comment regarding the recommendation from the Safe-T-Cut, you are right according the manual.

And the Safe-T-Cut is indeed placed between the main incoming wires and the CU.

If only we know what the heated discussion between the installer of that extra breaker for the air con and the other fellow was all about..

 

With the OP consumer unit there are more things playing.

* i dont see a MEN situation. The Live and Neutral from the STC goes directly to the MEM  Main breaker and the Neutral out from the main breaker goes to the Neutral Bar.

 

The neutral wire to the CU should go directly to this point and from there to the main breaker.. Nothing to see.

 

 

The breaker is directly connected to the incoming mains, I can see a subject of the heated discussion between the guys.

Also, that is something that should be checked if the connection is still good and not loose, but the OP can't do that as it is LIVE parts there.

(There was a thread before about a  failing STC due to an loose screw/connection.)

 

 

 

To the OP, Lujanit. This situation of your CU would only ''''acceptable''' like that IF the CU is a sub panel and feed from another bigger panel (where eventually the neutral and earth are linked). 

Are you getting your mains as private with your own meter and wired directly to this CU or from a shared connection with a non-utility-company(PEA/MEA..) meter?

 

 

 

2 hours ago, bankruatsteve said:

You say you also have a 6mA setting?  Seems strange.  Are you sure the setting that does not trip is 5mA?  Does it have a "Direct" setting?

There are a few different versions of the dial settings. His is indeed 6mA and not 5mA.

 

 

 

 

 

Art, from the beginning to the end.

 

 

* Quick 'checkup' of the internals.

* Restoring the potted thing, which was a kind of an transformer.

* The making of a diy horn.

Hall Sensor:  This type of sensor need a magnetic field , with the small water flow sensor there is an free-spinning disc/fan inside with a small piece magnet. The hall sensor sense each pass of that tiny magnet.  This also works, at high sensitivity setting, with iron/copper fins.

Youtube video . Arduino Tutorial.

 

Ultrasonic Sensor: This type measures the time of the signal that travels from one to another sensor. The time changes with the waterflow.

Youtube video . Arduino Tutorial.

In this era, many technology has evolved in a high slope.

Years and years ago when garage door openers became an option for additional 'luxurious' households and not much later for everyone.

Remote controlling the lights was for theaters (wired DMX) and then you had DIY hobbyists, making transmitters that operated on a wide bandwidth and a few channels .. Which only works fine when without disturbing RF inference from their surrounding.

I remember done a thing like that, it was too strong and in the analog tv era with the main channel transmitting on the same frequency.. I've well seen the neighbors tapping on their TV as the signal was distorted.

Another thing I did was boosting the IR lights from the TV remote control, so I was able to change channel by aiming on the wall or ceiling instead pointing to the TV. And again seen the neighbor men across the street hitting their TV's.. our houses had big windows.

 

Then came the digital era, many channels were possible in a smaller bandwidth on the 'free' frequency spectrum. And there came the remotes for the lights, and newer versions of garage openers that only opens yours and not in the whole street (lol) .

 

Of course time didn't stood still with the advent of the WiFi which brought us much much more possibilities.

Controlling the coffee machine from your bed in the morning and checking the arrival of the daily morning paper from the ipcam in the front.

This is where I stopped, nothing better then making your own coffee in the morning, with the 'newspaper' in your hand, digital that is. ????

 

But.. The house I grant a full entry into the digital world. A portion of the lights, climate sensors, radars (1090Mhz) processing, electricity, movement, and so on..

 

Now: only the water system is still 'analog' ????

 

What I would like to see the house intelligence center is collecting the flow and usage of the water.

For that there is a 'crude' water flow sensor for around 100B.

Crude as it measures between 1-30L/min. So the little flow it wouldn't notice.

 

Our water meter is Thai styled in the front and the pipes are buried in concrete.

Like this:

 

Putting that flow sensor in series with the main meter isn't a easy job.

From the meter to the house, the area is concrete -and- tiled..

 

SO... Now I was thinking about something else, using the actual water meter without tampering with it.. in a way that the top stays visible and the lid can be opened/closed.

I tried looking online for the datasheets / internal pictures. But nothing.

I would like sticking an hall meter on it, near one of the dials.

 

Has anyone knowledge about this meter and especially it internals?

 

nb. While I was searching for the water meter online I stumble across this one, with built in WiFi, something like that would be nice to hook up in series with the official meter.

Check this: Wifi Water Meter

17 hours ago, cardinalblue said:

but more importantly, who ran the red light - the cyclists or driver?

 

There is no red or green, no traffic lights but orange flashing, on that intersection..

 

13 hours ago, teacherclaire said:

Sakon Wutthichai, 48, the truck driver, reportedly told officials that he was driving the truck from Ang Thong to Ayutthaya, while towing the bus that was carrying employees of a factory, as it had run out of gas.

 

What? Three people had to die because of the stupidity of some people. Out of gas and towing a bus?

 

 Why didn't they buy Diesel and get the <deleted>_y bus running?

And the silliest point is that unless the hospital was the 'factory' they had passed a gas station coming that road and there are 3 more on the main road nearby, they should have had turned left and not ...

 

It only makes sense if the bus was on natural gas, but even then, doesn't those also use benzine as spare fuel?

 

If there was a red handkerchief on the towing rope.. maybe..

 

Poor souls.

 

There are no traffic lights on that intersection next to the hospital. Only flashing orange.

The bikes were riding on a main road, the bus had to give way if it was not being towed.

 

The iron tow cable is very long, and very hard to see.

It blends easy away in the background, the road has the same color.

Long and 'invisible' , a receipt for a accident to happen.

 

RIP young boys, your friends gang 'BY' will miss you.