jim234

Any recommendations for drywall ceiling skimmers/plasterers and interior painters in the bkk area? English is not required Thank you!

Any recommendations for a quality electrician in or around bkk would be highly appreciated. Need complete house wiring, according to architectual plans, of a new build. (possibly more) English is not required Thank you!

Ok a 50A breaker it will be!

I do understand the benefits of using RCBOs and have looked into it. As far as I have found a RCBO set up will cost me about 4x as much though. I will have about 30 circuits in total, so I am far from a black out in the event of a faillure where 4 circuits will be cut off. Also, I will divide my light circuits among several RCDs, so there will always be light close by. So for me it basically comes down to the costs for choosing RCDs instead of RCBOs.

Haha, I might be Dutch but have no plans in doing so (yet) The load is been divided quite equally among the 3 phases. I assume the Earth bar from CU2 can be connected to CU1? No extra rod is needed, right?

Thank you, that does make more sense! My plan now is as follows; -secure 1 phase in the main CU with a 40A MCB -use a 10mm2 cable (L-N-E) to go upstairs to connect my 2nd CU My 2nd CU will have; -40A main switch -40A,30mA RCDs (total of 3) -MCD not exeeding 20A (total of 12) Does this seem like a good set up? No ´selectivity´ issues here, right?

because of the size of the CU (3 boxes) I was thinking to go from one RCD to the next, so most RCDs will have 2 N´s and 2 L´s connected on the top of the RCD (is that called parallel?) I could make a main N-bar and a L-bar for each phase, but because the size of the CU I thought that might get a bit messy that sounds like a good idea! I have no experience with both of them, I will look in to that. Yes, I do plan on adding a solar system. Not sure yet on the details. Once I have my CU sorted out I will read the solar forum on here! We are in Bangkok, so I reckon a generator won´t be necessary. Actually, that´s what I wanted to do, but reading through some forums discussing ¨selectivity¨ kind of put me off. Again, I´m probably overthinking things. Please advise me on this; If I want to place a second CU upstairs (approx. 15m from the main CU) I assume I need to bring all 3 phases? What size of cable do I need? How to secure the 2nd CU in the main CU? With a MCB? Or can I just bring 3L+N straight after the main switch? Does my 2nd CU need a main switch rated lower than the main switch in the 1rst CU? Can the RCDs in the 2nd CU have the same rating as the RCDs in the main CU? How many sub CUs can a system have? When does ´selectivity´ comes in? It will indeed safe me quite a lot on cables and will make the overall installation easier!

Thanks for that! Expensive indeed. I still have some lying around here which I plan to use, but it is good to know that they are available there.

I am not very skillful with Paint but I hope the following sketch makes sense The heaviest loads I have are two 32A´s, they are for ceiling cassette aircons. Two 20A loads are for the garden circuits, the other two for my workshop. Everything else is for inside the house. I am aware of the MEN link, main neutral bar after main switch, and the appropriate size for wiring. Am I good to go like this?

You are probably right on that one! Will do, thank you!

The MCBs behind the RCD will be less than 40A. I calculate that by taking the highest MCB plus 40% of the value of the others. I believe that is the right way to do it, right? If I do get a 45A supply on each phase, won´t that be an issue with the 40A RCDs? Thought that they won´t be able to handle that..... or... the amp going through will never extend the amp of the demand? So even if the supply is 45A, that doesn´t necessary mean that 45A will pass the RCD, correct? ok clear, thank you!

No worries, you have been very helpful already! Does this mean if I have 50A or 63A main breaker, 40A RCDs are not safe to use? Do I need 63A RCDs instead? I have noticed that there are 63A MCBs being used in front of the RCDs. Although we use 40A RCDs here, we never place a MCB in front of a RCD. Is this done because of the higher Amp?

Thanks so far for all the help! Yet another question; How much Amp is a typical 3 Phase supply in Thailand? Where I a from a standard 3 Phase supply is 3x25A. Therefore the main breaker and all RCDs are rated 40A. (Which also leaves room for a EV system per phase.) I still have quite a few new 40A RCDs and a main switch lying around here which I was planning to bring to Thailand. But reading through this forum makes me wonder if a 40A set up is suitable for Thailand. Many on here seem to use 63A (or even higher) as a main breaker. Why is that? Am I safe to use a 40A set up in Thailand as shown in the diagram here below? main breaker 40A, 400V -------> RCD 40A, 30mA ------> MCBs not exceeding 40A (highest circuit + 40% of others) I´ll be having 9 RCD groups in total

Thanks for that, I really appreciate it! Yes, I agree with doing it like the inspector expects it to be done. The main reason why I opted for using 2P MCBs is that I could only find C-curve MCBs in Thailand. 1P breakers are not available here in Holland, so I thought to bring 2P breakers instead. Anyways, I now understand that using C-curve is not a big issue, so I will buy my MCBs in Thailand. I probably will bring RCDs Type-A (and 1 Type-B for EV) to Thailand as I can´t seem to find them there.

Thank you! This is all clear now, except for the actual MEN link. Can I just connect the Neutral CU bus bar link with the Earth bar as a MEN link? The PEA diagram shows the N going through the main breaker after the MEN link hence my confussion. So how is N going the the main breaker if it is not actually being switched?

Thank you all for the replies so far! Here is a diagram of a typical 3F set up that I´m use to, only the MEN link which I added is new to me. I still have a new 4P main breaker lying around here, thought of using that one. This complies with Dutch regulations. If I use a 3P breaker, where does the N go? To a N-bar? The diagram you shared (which is very helpful!) shows the N going through the main breaker too, right? Or what am I misunderstanding here? Yes this is my main concern indeed. the only RCCBs/RCCBOs I seem to find are Type-AC with C-curve. Type-AC is prohibited where I am from (safety issue) and C-curve is hardly being used in a domestic set up. I can find some Type-A´s on Lazada but they are all Chinese brands. Not sure if I feel comfortable with them. yes I thought of linking the N bar with E bar, but when I see Thai regulation (also the diagram Crossy shared) I notice that the N goes through the main breaker first before a N bar is created. That might be better then. So bring N through the RCD to create a seperate N-bar. That means I will end up with 6 (or later more) N bars, no issues with that right?

To my understanding, PEA will check the following; Earth Rod MEN link Minimal use of 1 RCCB/RCBO (at front end) After contemplating for a few days and searching on internet, I have decided on the following set up. Please comment if this will work in Thailand. Any suggestions are highly appreciated! -> MEN link (incoming N goes to E bar before main switch) -> 40A main switch, 400v (4P) -> Six RCCBs 40A 30mA type A (2P) -> Each RCCB feeds 4 MCBs 10A/16A/20A Curve B (1P+N) This will give me 24 circuits divided in 6 RCCB protected groups in a plastic (allowed?) DIN rail CU. A 3F set up that I am used to in Europe. So no N bar is being used! (is this ok for PEA?) I'm currently in Europe, so I plan to buy all materials here. Any thoughts on this? Thank you!

Thank you! So no need to worry about C-curves being used, that´s good to know. I will search further for schneider Type-A RCBOs. So far only found the Type-AC ones on lazada.

So where do the N tails of your RCBOs go to? How to make it a close circuit? Back home we don´t use N bars, so that still confuses me a bit that box looks quite impressive!

I understand your point. Just want to know what the safety hazards are by using RCBOs Type-AC with C-curve opposed to using RCBOs Type-A with B-curve. Or am I overthinking things by questioning the use of RCBOs type-AC with C-curve?

Does this mean that you have 3 seperate N bars? One for each RCCB and a third one for your RCBO´s?

seems like the commonly used RCBO´s here are type AC with C-curve. Type AC is prohibited in my home country, curve-C is only used for specific machinery with a high start-up surge. So it does confuse me why they seem to be the standard here.

All RCBO´s that I can find here in Thailand are type C. Are there no type B´s available here? I thought type B is standard for residential use, type C for (big) machinery use. What is the reason why type C is commonly used here? When using type C, do I need to cut the max cable lenght into half? For example: 20A, type B max cable lenght approx. 90 meters 20A, type C max cable lenght approx. 45 meters Any suggestions where to order RCBO´s, cables, etc.? or is lazada the way to go?

thx for that! I´m actually used to wiring 2p breakers, 1p with a Neutral bar is prohibited where I am from. (the Netherlands)

thx for the replies! My plan was to have 7 RCCB´s with each 4 MCB´s, which will give me 28 circuits. Using RCBO´s for each individual circuit does add up. I do understand the advantage of only one circuit being cut off instead of 4, but are there more benefits? It doesn´t make the system more safe than what I am propossing, does it? Using RCBO´s for a few special circuits does sound like a good idea.