Jurghh

My local proper electrics store didn't have them in stock when I checked last week. That's not surprising now I see that the Lazada options are all from China. I've ordered some which should arrive around the same time I'm back in Thailand. Updates to follow. Thanks again.

OK here is the information you seek. It's easy to find a parking space at one of the BKK short term car parks, much easier than Don Mueang. My preference is to enter the short term car parks at BKK (I think there are two opposite the terminal) from the 1st floor then immediately head to the second or third floor where there are more spaces. The other option is to enter the car parks from the 5th floor but if you do this you have to drive all through the 5th floor past many double parked cars (it can be tight) just to get to the ramp where you can down to the lower floors. I've never had a problem finding a space on floors 2,3,4. I usually go for floor 3. Floors 1 & 5 have the convenience of a walkway to the terminal. For the other floors you need to use the steps or lift to floor 1 or 5. You can park as long as you want but it's around 250THB a day. Long term parking... I think as others have said it's around 140THB a day. There's a shuttle bus to and from the main terminal. When I used this option I took a Grab taxi from the car park to arrivals. It's about a 6 or 7 minute journey. On the way back I took the shuttle bus from just past where the taxis pick up passengers. There's a bus stop there. I had to wait at least 20 minutes maybe longer for the bus. The bus is free but you need to make sure you get the correct bus. The information is on the Airport website. Each parking space has a cover which offers some shade. There's plenty of space between cars so it's unlikely someone will 'door you'. After almost two weeks my car had a thick layer of dust all over it but you clean your windows and you're away. You just turn up and take a ticket. There's a person in the little kiosk. When you leave you can pay by QR or cash. Long term car park location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/DAp6L77QzREasKmM6

This could be the answer! Thanks again. I will check if they have them at the local electrics store tomorrow. I'm not sure if i'll be able to fit one at the top but i'll have at least one slot free on the bottom right side and that's obviously the support end.

I will have a look if loosening the two screws on the rail allow me to move it outwards a mm or too. The rail isn't a DIN rail though so even the existing MCBs don't clip on (see photo). They do sit against the a little better than the RCBOs. Both MCBs and RCBOs clip on to the DIN rail running horizontally at the bottom.

All of the existing circuits except the lighting (no ground wire) and the aircons are now RCBO protected. I just need to add in the four new RCBO circuits. As you can see from the photos the rcbos on the right side are slanted. This is because they don't clip onto the rail. Could I put a support underneath to help keep them straight?

Great. Thanks

It seems like the best way to route the blue neutral pigtails is to go along the case just below the main breaker but I will need to secure them to the back of the case. What's the best way to do this? Should I drill holes in the case to thread cables ties through or are there specific parts available to hold the cables?

I imagine most folks don't use a torque screwdriver for this. I will admit that 2 or 3nm feels tighter than I thought it would with a screwdriver. I tighten the existing neutral screws to 1.5nm so they were less than that previously and have been fine for a decade. 1.5nm it is.

I swapped a sockets circuit MCB with a 16A RCBO and it worked fine. I tested the RCD function with a socket tester and the circuit tripped like it's supposed to. I guess the next main thing to consider is balancing the load on the three different lines when adding the 4 new circuits. I've got the torque specs for the RCBO but I don't have anything for the neutral bar. The screws are quite soft and don't seem to like much more than 1.5nm. Is that sufficient?

Thanks

Thanks again for the reply. Have to admit I feel a bit silly now. I had the idea to remove them because I intend to replace the aircons in the nearish future and the new units might be a bit smaller. Taking the covers off will do the job. Phew.

Hi, I need to remove 4 indoor units for new wallpaper to be laid. I take it the refrigerant line needs to be closed off somewhere first. Is it pretty straightforward?

That's a good point, thanks. The wiring looks pretty decent so far so i'm hoping they haven't connected any borrowed neutrals.

I think I know what might have happened. Looking at the photo the green wires look quite thin (similar to the thickest green wires in my CU). I should measure the diameter of one of those wires in the control room to see if it matches the thickest wire connected to my earth bar. There are 11 white cables connected to the neutral bar for the 11 circuits installed plus the thick black cable at the top of the bar. There are also 11 green cables connected to the earth bar. The lighting circuit (all lights on one circuit) doesn't have an earth cable. So if the green cable diameters match (as explained above) then the earth bar likely is connected to the building's main earthing. 10 green cables for the circuits plus 1 out to the control room. What do you think?

One of the senior technicians from my building came to have a look today. There was a language barrier but we managed to clear a few things up. They invited me into the main electrics room for the floor and showed me the main ground cables. There were 10 cables for the ten apartments (so I had one). He said it was not normal that the main ground cable from that room did not connect directly to the earth bar in my CU. I explained that I was confused because i've owned the place since new and the installation is original. Somewhere between that control room about 10 metres away and my CU the main earth cable is doing something mysterious. Nonetheless it would appear that the circuits are grounded. I tested 231V L to E and 0.45v N to E. They also said I should be fine to swap the MCBs for single width RCBOs. I'm going to order one RCBO first and see if it works. I've uploaded a photo from the control room. There are 10 green earth wires connected.

After some more research I think i've found that all the MCBs can be changed to single width RCBOs. They fixed neutral wire attached to the RCBO is 60cm. That wire goes into the neutral bar and the neutrals from the load side (currently in the neutral bar) go into the top of the RCBOs. Those neutral wires will most likely need to be extended with inline Wagos. Regarding the earth bar, i'm still confused by what's going on there. Could it be that the earth and neutral are connected somewhere before my consumer unit?

Thanks for the detailed reply. The ground bar goes into the wall with more heavy duty fixings than say the neutral bar. I loosened off the nut to see what kind of bolt's been used but the whole thing just kept spinning. That was the case for both nuts on the earth bar. There is continuity between the neutral and CPC wires at every receptacle that i've played around with and tested. There's also continuity between the ground bar and the neutral bar in the CU. You're right about the MCBs. They don't clip on to the rail like the RCBO below clips onto its rail. If the screw isn't tightened they won't hold on the rail. I've also noticed that the MCBs appear to fit a bit better the opposite way round (see new photo). There are no load or line markings on the MCBs so I think they can be used either way. Lazada link for the Siemens RCBO 5SU9. https://tinyurl.com/4ehvb246. These have line and load markings. I'm pretty sure they'll fit on the rail where the MCBs are. The bit that's confusing me is the blue neutral wire that they come with. Does that need to be attached at the CU? The MCBs only have a single cable (hot) going to each circuit. Regarding the circuits to add RCD protection to, I've uploaded the CU wiring diagram. The fridge freezer is already on the circuit with the RCBO fitted.

Hi All. I've been a lurker for a while, though never in this forum, but this is my first post. I hope to be able to contribute and help others in the future. So here goes... I'm redoing the kitchen in my BKK condo and I want to add 4 new circuits (sockets & microwave, dishwasher, oven, water heater). The CU is located in the kitchen. I've already chased the walls and installed conduit & back boxes etc. Initially I planned just to add standard MCBs like the ones currently installed but now as I've learnt a little bit more about electrics I think it's better if more or all circuits are RCD protected. Currently only circuit 6 (three down from the right, blue wire) is protected by an RCD. This is the circuit for the existing sockets in the kitchen. So i've got a few questions i'd be very grateful if anyone could help answer: 1. What would be the best way to add RCD protection given the layout of the 3 phase CU? To all circuits or is it less important for others? 2. Could for example all of the existing MCBs be swapped out for 1P RCBOs? The Siemens ones have functional earth wires that need connecting. RCCBs an option? 3. Why did the installers use a 2P RCBO linked to an MCB to add RCD protection to the existing kitchen sockets instead of a single 1P RCBO? 4. Why did the installers break the colour pattern and use black wire instead of red for the bottom left L2 circuit? All of the companies I've had round to do a survey and quotation haven't actually offered a solution in any detail.