bamboozled

Found 'em!

I have plugged it in and used it in the US though not for long periods of time so it does work. If I can't find the pics I already have I'll take some new ones once it gets here next month. I do remember the wiring being quite old as I had to do a little hacker work in the back to get it going. Thanks for the input.

What's the deal, older ballasts are 60HZ and newer ones 50HZ?

Yeah it is a very cool huge heavy steel construction, too. I have some pics of it somewhere but I couldn't locate them. As soon as I do, I'll post them up. Tubes in the States were easy enough to find so I don't think that part will be a problem.

So...I'lI have an old movie light from the 1930's arriving from the USA and I would like to use it in Thailand. It's a funky cool conversation piece; the light it puts out is not beautiful but the object itself is pretty rad. It consists of 8 fluorescent light fixtures (ballast, starter, and all that other good stuff). What is my best bet on using it here? I'm thinking if I plug it in all the fluorescent light stuff will fry (I did not ship it with the tubes because of breakage factor). Not sure if light tubes bought here would light at all or not. The other idea would be to run it on a step down transformer BUT would 220 fluorescent tubes light at all? Third option would be to rewire the whole thing though I fear I would not be able to fit the parts correctly into the 1930's architecture. I guess the fourth option is to secure, somehow, 110 tubes. Doesn't sound fun.Thoughts anyone?

14 hours ago, johng said:

I think you'll need an aftermarket ECU the factory one is most likely not tunable at all...have they checked the valve clearances,air filter and oxygen sensor on the exhaust..if the oxygen sensor goes bad the ecu goes into a default over rich air fuel mixture...

Where to get an aftermarket ECU?

I'm in Chiang Mai. I've had the bike "checked" but most mechanics don't even have a compression gauge so I'm sure their checks are always...turn the key, engine turns on, sounds ok, no problem.

Yes, this is exactly what I want them to do: "...have they checked the valve clearances,air filter and oxygen sensor on the exhaust..if the oxygen sensor goes bad the ecu goes into a default over rich air fuel mixture..."

But it's not easy to get them to do that. It's not easy to get them to even test drive your bike. They just don't want to take any requests from me or any instruction. Their way or the highway. It's tough out there!

Hi Matteo, I was thinking the other day how frustrating it is trying to talk to a mechanic here...due to my Thai skills. I can indeed speak a decent amount of Thai but not the kind, so it seems, to communicate well with a mechanic. I liken it to trying to pick a piece of flat paper off the floor with big ski mittens on. Would really like to express what I am experiencing and be able to back and forth with a caring mechanic. Oh well....frustrating.

I don't know, since getting the bike back from the mechanic on Monday, I have been riding it a lot harder, keeping the revs up, and it seems to be responding better. As mentioned, the power bank seems to be, for example, at 40km/h in second gear. But in the morning when I start the bike (only 2000 km on it), it shuts off as if it's cold out or an old bike. I have to start it again and baby the engine a bit until it is smooth. ...Doesn't seem right on a new bike in warm weather. And the low-end problem exists (and the high end not over 100 k/h, too). From a stop, the throttle just isn't responsive, there is a lag between my spinning the throttle and the engine responding. What I have been doing lately is getting the revs up slightly before I take off from a stop. That seems to help. I know one car mechanic who speaks good English and perhaps I can explain to him and he can relay the info to a bike mechanic. I would love to mess with the ECU but I don't want to do it without some kind of manual which I have yet to find. Probably need a computer for that which only Honda would have.

That's good news it never leaked and I hope that stays true for the rest of my connections because there are two or three more finished in the same manner on this one unit. They installed another unit in another room which surely will be the same (so far haven't seen any leaks!). However, electrical tape is not the correct way to install the drain tubes, that's for sure. They also didn't use any PVC cement at the joints (the conduit does say PVC on it and is 15mm 3/8's inch). I repaired the connection there with PVC cement and an O clamp. So far it hasn't leaked BUT there is at least 2 meters of pipe to get to the wall, including a downward L-shaped turn and the whole thing is angled slightly TOWARD the air con unit and not the wall so yes, that water was pooling right where that joint is. Man, incompetence. So, I can either raise the air con unit and inch or two (how much space do I need between it and the ceiling?) or I can angle the drain down a bit but this involves some hole cutting in the wall and work both inside and outside the house. Annoying!

I was thinking...I'm all for inexpensive labor. When you don't have a lot of money and need to get a job done (more or less!) it can be a life saver. What is really irksome is that it seems there is only one level of service in Thailand. If one had the option of calling the cheap, so-so service OR the expensive, dependable service, that would be a nice option to have.

It's always mind boggling and I tremble any time work has to be done. And apart from questionable planning (too big a unit in too small a space) they NEVER EVER have the correct equipment. Anytime anyone at all has come to do some work on my rented house (houses), any type of work, they have helped themselves to my tools or equipment, without which I don't know how they could have done the job. Always hoping for divine inspiration and intervention, I guess. God love 'em.

Plus one on the PVC pipe drains! That stuff is much sturdier than the white plastic I got and that "glue" basically solders the PVC together. Good stuff when used in the correct way.

So it sounds like the consensus on the white pipe is that it's fine, good. But the connection, def not. All those connections are hidden under a plastic cover so unless you're looking over the back of the installation guys while they're working, you wouldn't know how they connected the pipes. Even in Thailand (up to now), I would have assumed they were NOT using electrical tape.

Thanks guys. I'll check the pipe in the morning for sizing. It looks like piping I have seen used as electrical conduit. But perhaps THAT installation was not correct! At any rate, electrical tape should NOT be part of this drainage equation in any way, shape, or form. The black fitting is tight on the air con end (coming out of the sheathing material) but it just sits loosely in the white pipe. They do not appear to be compatible. And it appears the electrical tape was the only thing holding them together.

It also appears that from the air con to the wall there isn't really any slope to the drain so I'll have to have a look at that tomorrow. It's probably 2 meters from the air con to the wall. From the amount of water that came out, it really wasn't draining well at all.

Luckily not too hot tonight.

So the air con which I've had a few months started leaking in the house tonight, right above the bed where it hangs on the wall. Lo and behold, look what the experts from Power Buy on the corner of the moat used to connect the drain pipes!!! Truly defies don't-give-an-uck....

Excuse my ignorance, apart from the electrical tape, what type of conduit is that? Isn't it cheap-ass electrical conduit and NOT proper drain pipe? What should it be, PVC? So I'm sure all the other joints in this drain system are attached in the same way....ditto the other air con they installed. Unbelievable. I've seen some good ones here and this one is high up on the list.

I

2 minutes ago, MatteoBassini said:

Simple answer is the 11 year old Dream barely had any catalytic converter.

 

The new Wave 125 is Euro 4.

Isn't that about what kind of fuel you use, Euro 4? So is there a catalytic converter somewhere incorporated into the new Wave exhaust? That would explain something. I just took it for another spin and it just doesn't move until you get the revs really up there. It's good in 2nd gear at 40 k/h. There's the power band. But from a standstill, just seems like it's lacking gas.... Can't I change the injectors or something?

1 hour ago, KC 71 said:

Happy it al worked out well


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

haha yeah right...

Well I finally got the bike back to where I bought it. The former mechanic is no longer working there. Anyhow, I explained that it was slow, would hardly go up Doi Suthep with two people on it, and wouldn't do more than 100 k/h with one person on it. They said they'd take a look and we left it there for a few hours. Little to my surprise the verdict was that nothing is wrong or out of the ordinary. Of course, how do they go about their work? Since they don't have a compression gauge, how could they ever test the valves? I'm sure they turned the key, revved the engine, and that was about it. One young mechanic there told me I could modify the bike by changing the exhaust, that the stock exhaust is robbing a lot of power (for 1500 baht or so). They did seem to have tuned up the brakes a bit...

Driving it home alone, I really ran out the gears and it seems the power band is pretty high up on the revs. That doesn't explain my slow top speed (I don't think!) but does play into the really poor low end...such as taking off from a stop. So maybe changing that back gear to give me more grunt might be in order. But first....I'm going to find a rental and give it a whirl.

Anyone have any thoughts on changing the exhaust?

15 hours ago, featography said:

Americans can own up to and including 100% of a business if they register under the Thai-American Treaty of Amity. Still cant own the land, but can own the business. 

 

 

I was told by someone somewhere that this is for quite a large investment. I mean, a BIG company. It's not something that that I can take advantage of due to the size of the business we are likely to have, as far as I know.

More useful info, thank you. Seems like a bit of a minefield out there, not surprisingly. Anyone have any real-time experience on, for example, wife opening sole-proprietorship business and hiring husband/getting work permit?

There is also her opening a sole propietorship, from what I have read (was it on this thread perhaps?). That is even simpler. Though can she hire me and get work permit? We'll have to find out at the gov. office.

Khunper, that's pretty much what I have understood, too. So nice to hear it again. I did not know about the health benefit part, however. Why do you say 50,000 is best? If not, it seems suspicious I am working for so little? Is this info from personal experience? Also, do you know if accounting is required, VAT, and all the paper stuff?

Thank you.

Thanks folks. This is some real useful information and perfect coming from the folks that did it real time.

Elcaro, what was the company that you signed on to? The costs to add you are certainly very reasonable and sounds like it was a breeze (at least from your end). The part that gives me pause is what the company is already paying to be set up...accountants, taxes, etc...etc...

Krabi King, are you having to pay an accountant and have a VAT number and all that jazz? Is your wife one of the two employees?

Thanks so much.

From what I have read, if married, it is only two employees. ...Her business, that's fine with me. I read somewhere that the work permit itself is expensive.

Yes, the idea would be for the wife to start the company and to hire me. Being married, it changes certain things, as far as I know, such as the amount of required capital and the number of employees (As I understand it, 1,000,000 baht capital and only 2 Thai employees and not 4 (and 1 would be my wife). I have also read, on the Thai gov. website, that exporting Thai products is looked upon favorably.

But I have also read some crazy numbers and the taxes and necessity of an accountant worries me.

...This has been asked a million times and I apologize for repeating it but the goalposts seem to be constantly in motion and to boot, requirements differ for each situation. Thus please bear with me. I am a US citizen, married to a Thai citizen, on a Non-O visa, living in Chiang Mai. My wife and I would like to start a company and sell things online, shipping 100% out of country. I would like a work permit to design some of the items as I have design skills and presumably know the tastes and desires of the foreign customers (just as a Thai would better know Thai style) and perhaps as manager as that has been stated as something a foreigner can do legally. We plan on going to the labor office to ask directly from the horse but thought I would ask here, first. I have read about 1,000,000 registered capital and X number of employees, minimum salaries, requisite accounting and tax paying, etc... All a bit murky. Can anyone clear the waters a bit? Some posts make it seem easy and some posts make it seem like rocket science.

Let me add, for what it's worth, that years ago I had a registered Thai company LTD with two Thai partners. I did not have a work permit as I didn't need one and in fact the company never made any money (it's a long story!). But I did pay an accountant/lawyer a lot of money for doing nothing. After years of dormancy but still paying some accounting fees, I went about closing it. The accountant/lawyer (who I never really trusted) wanted something like 40,000 baht to close it saying I had to do this and that, etc... In the end, we went to the Labor Dept. and closed it ourselves for 120 baht, if I remember correctly. My point is, there are folks out there who will take advantage of your ignorance....duh! I don't want to hire any of these folks.

Anyone have any trustworthy advice or people to talk to in Chiang Mai?

Thank you!

From what I have read, you need proof of residency. This you get either at the US embassy (I think by appointment, used to be $50) or I believe at immigration using your rental contract. Supposed to be free if you can wait 30 days for it. They might ask you for 500 baht for next day service. I think I saw someone say it was now 1000 baht. Not sure if any of that money is actually required but it makes things move quicker. I did not pay a few years ago.

Wow that's a looker with a good price, thanks! Def seems like the better bargains are to be had around Bkk. More inventory, I guess. Weren't you thinking of buying a Jazz, too? Is the black color torturous for the heat, I wonder? Damn, I really wanna give it a test drive but I'm in CM.