thaisail

23 minutes ago, Formaleins said:

Cheers, no idea at all about the flywheel. No vibration at all at idle, it sounds really "Tight" kind of "pingy" No signs of water in the oil or oil in the water - if anything it sounds as if the compression is really good. (If you take the oil filler cap off or pull out the dipstick and give it some revs, there is barely any blow by, it is amazing compared to the older EFI) Uses not a drop of oil - maybe I am being paranoid (as my mate keeps telling me) but I hate strange noises on an unknown truck. It might just be the new tech on these trucks as I haven't really had it long enough to get to know it properly, it is a bit unnerving having no free play in the steering, brakes are vicious (non ABS Version)

 

It feels a bit like when I hired a new Ford Focus in the UK last February, overly sensitive to every input, I was used to having to grip the steering wheel to get enough leverage to apply the brakes and I was quite happy with a couple of inches of free play on the steering. These things react to the slightest input.

 

I think I will take it to my Unusual Toyota dealer here in San Patong - They actively encourage me NOT to spend money! Great guys!  (I had some ball joint / suspension issues with the old Tiger, they pointed out that there was a rubber mount on the gearbox that was knackered. this thing cost somewhere in the region of 15000 Baht!, they told me not to bother changing it as it did virtually nothing, and they were 100% correct, truck ran for 100,000 km with no issues.) I trust them 100%. unlike their parent company in the city that will fleece you for anything they can collect.

The recent switch from Diesel to B10 may be the culprit. Not sure what Toyota says about B10 but now when you by Diesel, that is what you get.

19 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

She could have the notarization done at the US embassy or the consulate in Chiang Mai.

"U.S. Consular Officers may provide specific notarial services authorized by relevant U.S. law and Department of State policy for all U.S. citizens. In addition, they can provide services for any person regardless of nationality so long as the document being notarized is required for use within the jurisdiction of the United States and is authorized by relevant U.S. law."

See: https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/notaries-public/

 

The cost is minimum $50 for this service at the US consulate and you must scedule an appointment first with the consulate. After viewing the document to notarize, the officer can refuse to notarize the document for many different reasons and there will be no refund of the $50 fee which is just for the appointment.

Adding the fuel price for an 8 hour drive for our Ford Ranger plus a two night hotel stay, the cost will be very high.

Hotel:  750 baht per night

Fuel:    1000 km, 2000 baht

Notary: 1800

Total cost: 5300 baht

Is there no cheaper way to do this in Thailand?

What about this online service with pdffiller.com that uses notary.com as a 3rd party. They do the whole thing with a webcam  and a meeting with a legal office who is a licensed notary public in the US. 

I just heard that this service has been declared illegal by the UK and the EU but what about Thailand?

The document is just to authenticate the signature of my wife as beneficiary for my pension upon my death. 

The following is copied from pdffiller.com website under Notary service. My Thai wife must sign and have her signature notarized so that I can complete my retirement documents with my union in Florida. The union will send forms and my wife's signature must be notarized. The purpose of this form is so that upon my death, she will receive 100% of my annuity until she dies. Please can anyone tell me if there is a law that prevents Thai people from using an online service like the one offered on pdffiller.com ? It seems that the EU and UK have forbidden this service with recent digital on line legislation. But I wonder about Thailand...

1. Outside the United States. If when you access the Platform or request the Services you are physically located outside the United States, you confirm to us: (i) that it is not illegal or prohibited in the jurisdiction where you are physically located to access and use the Platform or to obtain Notarizations or other Services from us; and (ii) that the Document or Transaction pertains to a matter before a court, governmental entity, public official, or other entity located in the territorial jurisdiction of the United States, or involves property located in the territorial jurisdiction of the United States, or a transaction substantially connected with the United States.

I am looking for a pedigree female yellow labrador retriever puppy of about 6-8 weeks old. Does anyone know of any puppies like this in the Loei, Petchabun or Unon Thani area?

7 hours ago, tonray said:

The US will never ease their grip on overseas citizens. A pipedream for sure. I even joked to the GF that if I ever win the Thai lottery I would have to trust her to cash the ticket as I refuse to pay tax to the IRS on Thai lottery winnings...that's how ridiculous the system is. 

My Thai wife and our 13 year old daughter and myself got our stimulus money in April so I don't mind taking money if it is coming my way! We got $2700 USD. Plus  another $700 for the child tax credit and paid no taxes for 2019. 

20 minutes ago, jackdd said:

You can do the cancelation of your extension in advance.

So let's say you would go to Phuket in January, get a letter from your employer that your job ends in February and take this to immigration there, then they would cancel your extension to February. Then you have some time to fly back to CK and apply for the extension based on marriage there.

Great idea! I will check with CK immigration to see if that will work! I think that you may have just solved the whole problem! I am still in CK now but I plan to drive down to Phuket next week and stay there until New Years. I can go see my boss and work out all the details with my boss and his lawyer while I am there. Meanwhile, my 450 K baht will sit in the bank for two months and will be planned for the date of the termination letter. I think in this case, my bosses lawyer can handle everything there and send me by passport back by EMS before the extension expires. Do you think that will work?

17 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

You did find the problem. When dealing with agents and lawyers doing thing for you have to careful.

About all you do is have your extension canceled now. If you work permit has not be cancelled the lawyer should be able to get the extension canceled by presenting a termination letter dated now.

If the date on the letter was a few days after the day they go to immigration you could then apply for the 60 day extension in CK.

You might ever be able to send your passport to him by EMS to get it done for you and back to you again the same way.

 

I did show the extension each time to my wife but she did not catch this change after two years of employment. What is odd, is that the lawyer had us take all the photos of our family at home with the house numbers each year. We also had to provide all the documentation like Koror 2 and Koror 3. So it is not clear at all why this happened. So the good news is that CK immigration saw the problem and gave us two options to deal with it.

His first option was for me to go back to Phuket and go with him to labor office to cancel the work permit which would also cancel the extension. Then the lawyer would go with me to immigration in Phuket where he has all his contacts and ask them to issue me a 2 month extension to visit my family in Chiang Khan. I guess I will loose my passport for about one week while this is done. I am OK with this option because I still have my sail boat in Phuket and I can go sailing. Then, I would go back to CK just before New Years and wait for 2 months to pass while my money sits in the bank at Kasikorn until it has been there also for two months and then go to immigration and apply for the one year marriage extension.

Option 2 was to continue with my work permit and my boss is OK with that option until the funds sit for two months in Kasikorn and then as you recommend, I can send my passport and work permit to him by EMS and he can cancel the work permit and the extension at immigration and send me the passport back by EMS. There could be an overstay unless he can find a creative way to avoid it.

I did not quite understand what your idea was about the following: 

"If the date on the letter was a few days after the day they go to immigration you could then apply for the 60 day extension in CK." 

If you could clarify this instruction, please let me know and I will discuss this my bosses lawyer. 

I am still on excellent terms with my boss and his lawyer. If this change was done in my marriage extension it was most likely caused by someone who was forcing this to be done at immigration or some other unknown reason. I am sure that my boss will take care of all this mess so that I don't get deported!

The way I understand you is that they must go to the labor office in Phuket with the work permit first to present the termination letter and return the work permit. Do they then have to go the same day to immigration to cancel the extension at immigration office in Phuket? After they cancel the extension in my passport, the lawyer would then send me my passport by EMS to CK and I would go straight to CK immigration and apply for the full marriage extension? Is this where the post dated termination letter would come into play? Could it be done this way if all the documents were prepared and approved by CK immigration in advance? This would avoid having to get a temporary extension. In the worst case, I would have to have to pay a couple of days of overstay if EMS is late. So far, in 15 years of living in Thailand I have never had an overstay and I don't like the idea of that being stamped into my passport. Again, which of these two options recommended by CK immigration officer would you recommend? I also don't mind being in Phuket when this takes place in February and then fly to Udon Thani and I can be in CK immigration the following morning. However, the airlines may not let me fly internally with an cancelled visa extension. 

8 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Your extension of stay (it is not a visa) based upon marriage is not tied to your job. The only reason a extension of stay based upon marriage can be canaled it if you get divorced. Phuket immigration will certainly not cancel it.

Canceling your work permit dose not cancel you extension.

You local immigration office is completely wrong. I have never heard of a office putting out such false info. Call the 1178 immigration help line about it.

Thanks for your help Joe. I may have found the smoking gun! If you look at my second attachment it appears that on March 12, 2018 on Page 14 in my new passport, I was applying for an extension based on marriage and work and that extension expired on March 13, 2019. You can see my wife's name clearly written by hand in Thai in the upper left corner of the extension. However the next extension was on Page 20 in my passport was applied for on March 6, 2019 and that one expired on March 5, 2020. That is where my wife noticed that hand written in the top left corner of the extension, was written in Thai that the extension was based on employment and my wife's name no longer appeared and instead the name of my company. Then again on Page 24 in my passport my last extension was applied for on 5 March, 2020 and it seems that some one wrote in Thai again in the left corner of the page that the extension was based on employment and listed the name of my company instead of marriage with my wife's name again missing.

All this was done without my knowledge and consent. I could not read Thai so I did not catch this until after close examination. I don't even think my boss saw this change but the lawyer appears to have made this change on his own and each time, he returned my passport, I would ask him if the extension was based on marriage and each time he confirmed to me that the extension was based on marriage and not employment. 

Please after looking at the attached scanned photos, please let me know if this could be the thing that the immigration officer in CK picked up on when looking at my passport yesterday. I noticed during my interview, he typed in my name on his data base and my entire history appeared on his computer screen. In any case, I cannot see how they can change the reason for the extension as nothing had changed with my job or my marriage.  My boss appears willing to allow me to keep the work permit until the time runs out on March 16 which is after my extension runs out on March 5. But I do not want to renew my work permit since I now live in CK and Phuket is too far away plus I really don't want to work anymore. I will be 65 this month and it is time to let the younger ones have the jobs. 

I just want to know what I should do when I get to Phuket next week. Should I wait until March and return to Phuket to cancel the work permit and then fly back to Udon Thani and rush over to immigration to apply for the marriage visa in CK. In this case, I may have one or two days of overstay if they cancel my extension for stopping my work permit. Or should I apply for a temporary visa just get from Phuket to CK?

4 hours ago, foreverlomsak said:

I have had direct experience of that exact thing

1. From Chiang Khan office - We do not accept that your married even though you have produced both the Khor Ror 2 and Khor Ror 3 documents and your wife is with you, You need to produce a copy of the MFA approved "Affirmation of Freedom to Marry" or move to a retirement extension.

2. Phitsanulok office stated yes you have in excess of 1,600,000 Baht in a Thai bank account for the required time but you still need an Embassy letter to prove your income. If I'd gone to the Embassy, instead of sticking to my guns and asking for proof of that statement, the letter would have been blank as I was not in receipt of any pension or other income at that moment in time.

Two days before I got married, I went to the US Consulate in Bangkok and I filled out a form and signed the form to declare under oath that I was divorced from my first wife a year earlier. This form was then translated and sent to the MFA for certification. Is this the document that you describe as Affirmation of Freedom to Marry?

I have transferred $15,000 US (approx. 450.000 baht) from my US bank IRA account to my Kasikorn bank account in Loei. My extension of stay expired on March 5 so there should be time to have the money in the bank for 2 months before going to CK immigration for my next extension of stay. I have been told that the US Embassy will no longer issue a letter to prove income. I do receive 45,000 baht per month from US social security and my Thai wife receives 30,000 for our daughter as designated payee. I can prove this with our US bank statements if required. It appears that  CK will only issue marriage visa if there is 400,000 baht in the bank for two months before the extension is due and about one month after once the extension is approved. I have talked to Kasikorn Bank in CK and they have promised me that they will provide the letter proving the funds are in my savings account by 0830 am on the day of the immigration application for extension. At the same time, the bank book can be updated so both can be provided together the same day by 9am.  

1 hour ago, foreverlomsak said:

I would say that is incorrect as you can have a marriage visa (extension) without a work permit, but a marriage visa (extension) will allow you to obtain a work permit, cancelling your work permit should not cancel your marriage visa.

Which came first your work permit on a non-B and then marriage or your marriage on non-O and then a work permit.

I've had personal problems in the past with CK Immigrations interpretation of the regulations.

I had a marriage visa for the past 14 years. My last visa was issued in Savannakhet in July 2016. I went to work in Phuket in March 2017 and I told my employer and his lawyer that I wanted to stay on the marriage visa for that very reason I am now having to deal with. Every year for three years, I got my marriage visa renewed through my boss's lawyer. I tried to explain this to the people at Chiang Khan immigration but they insist that my visa is tied to my work permit. My plan is to drive to Phuket and go to the labor office next week and give up my work permit and then wait until my marriage visa comes up for renewal and then provide all the documents that are on the list that I just got from Chiang Khan immigration and bring them in two weeks before March 5 along with the letter from the bank and the bank  book with more than 400,000 baht and apply for the marriage visa. I do not plan on doing anything with Phuket immigration since I no longer live in Phuket. I just hope that things don't turn sour because of CK loosing face and try to charge me 500 baht per day for overstay from the time I turn in my work permit. Please let me know if you are all in agreement.

I just went to Chiang Khan immigration office and I was told that I must return to Phuket and go to the labor office with my employer's lawyer and stop my work permit before Chiang Khan immigration will give me an extension on marriage visa which is due on March 5 for renewal. In fact he told me that I must cancel my marriage visa in Phuket and obtain a 2 month marriage visa to visit my wife in Chiang Khan and once the money has been in the bank, for two months, I can apply all over again for a new marriage visa. I just transferred 15,000 USD from my US IRA account to my Thai Kasikorn bank account in Loei in preparation for the transition from work permit based to normal marriage visa renewal. CK immigration told me that as soon as I stop my work permit at the labor office, that my marriage visa will end that day and that I would be charged 500 baht per day for overstay. Much of this conversation was in Thai with my wife so I may not have gotten the story correct but I really need some help from some one who can explain how I can make this transition once I give up my work permit. 

I just received a form that my Thai wife must sign in order for me (us) to receive my pension from my union in Florida. The only thing holding us up is that the union in Florida needs my wife's signature to be notarized. I know that notarized signature is normally done by my bank in the US for free. But in Thailand I have seen fees as high as 10,000 baht per signature in Thailand from a Thai law office. I was hoping that there might be some retired American who is still a notary with the stamp who might do this service for a price cheaper than a plane ticket to the US where it can be done for free!

5 hours ago, MajorTom said:

Yeah, i would leave the control box as it is and control the existing mains with the contactor. Leave the internal switch on.

There is not a lot of space there, you would have drill and pull a couple of more cables into that purple box and force double wires into the screw terminals.

I assume you have an external box for the contactor. Just buy a simple switch and put it there for manual bypass of the float switch.

Crossy agrees with you on this one! I will run the line and neutral from the CU to new contactor box. Then run the wires to the pump control box and leave the switch on the pump control box on all the time when I am connected to the float switch. When I want to fill the pond I will bypass the float switch control wire with a manual/auto switch. 

7 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

 

Having a heating element that kicks in at night or on cloudy days is not the same as having an electric shower. That is like saying tying your solar powered home to the grid in the event your panels do not generate enough electricity is the same as a home that gets all of it's electricity from the grid. 

I agree! I do not think I will need the electric heating element but it is a nice option and only 1500 watt instead of 3500 watt. But my garage bathroom has one 3500 watt shower already. We are all showering in the garage for the moment!

But we have the main bathroom with a bathtub and a shower and no hot water yet. We also have the bungalow by the pond with no hot water yet. We did put a hot water PP-R pipe under the concrete driveway so when we get our solar water heater, we will be able to connect hot water to the bungalow also.

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I am not sure if I understand everything you write. But my initial idea is: Why don't you use i.e. 12V on that switch and switch with that a 220V relay. The voltage and current through that switch is minimal and not critical as long as it's good enough to activate the relay.

 

Something like this:

https://th.aliexpress.com/item/33055432389.html

 

Thanks for your idea. But I already bought the contactor with the 220 volt coil. I think there is very little risk to use 220 volts for the contactor coil which will be easy to run through the level control switch. But my real concern is about the best way to wire the pump control box to the contacts in the contactor. 

I want to instal an automatic level control switch to a new 1000 liter water tank so that I can fill the tank using a 1.5 HP submersible well pump in a 40 meter deep well. The pump control box is in my garage which is about 10 meters from the float switch on the 1000 liter storage tank. The on/off switch for the pump is a two pole switch on the side of the control box that will open and close the line and the neutral at the same time when turning off and on the manual switch.

I bought a magnetic contactor with a 220 volt coil so that I don't have to have 7 amps of current running through the wires to the tank and back. I also see that the control box is opening the circuit to the line and the neutral when turned off which will prevent the wire to the run capacitor from being energized. Since my tank level control switch will be operating the magnetic contactor and the contactor is for 3 phase, I was thinking of connecting the line and the neutral going into the pump switch through two of the three sets of contacts on the contactor and when the coil is energized, the line and the neutral will bypass the switch and connect to the opposite side of the switch and start the pump by having the contactor run in parallel with the manual switch. When the contactor coil is energized the pump will start and stop with the contactor but if I want to manually turn on the pump, I can just turn on the manual switch and the pump will start if I want to fill up our pond. In this case I would shut the valve for the supply pipe to the 1000 liter tank and open the valve to fill up the pond. Don't know if this will make sense to anyone but photos of all the componants are attached.

5 hours ago, brianthainess said:

A 100 mtr coiled length of 32mm black poly water pipe would be the way to go for me 1,200 baht. and obviously  mixer taps. lived on a farm in OZ once they just ran the pipe around inside the gutter, ''she'll be right mate'' and it was.

The average shower uses 60 liters of water. By my calculations our black hose will contain 80 liters of water. If this water reaches 80° C, you will have mix about another 80 liters of cold 20° water to get the temperature down to around 50°C. That will give you roughly 160 liters of hot water. Not bad if you take your showers at 3 PM. But by 5 PM, the water in your black hose will start cooling down and one hour after sunset the water will be almost at ambient temperature. This means no hot water for showers from 8 PM until around 10 AM the following day. Of course if the afternoon is cloudy or rainy, there will be very little hot water for use after dark. 

The system I propose will drop less than 5° C during the night if no water is used. But remember the solar tank has a threaded hole that can fit a 1500 watt immersion heater. This may not be needed depending on how much hot water is consumed at night. 

1 hour ago, KhaoYai said:

Use PPR - the green stuff available at many DIY outlets. The 'welder' is bit of a pain in tight spaces and you need 3 hands - I burned my arms to hell in the suspended ceilings ????.  I think using PPR on a new build would be much easier but if I was doing the job again, I'd probably import a quality pushfit system and a few spare joints.

I know what you mean about 3 hands to operate the welding machine. My 600 baht Chinese heater from Lazada had an explosion in the wire going to the plug and the cable caught fire. The liquid burning metal from the burning wire burned a hole on my shorts and left we with a tiny burn scar on my leg! I recommend everyone to spend a bit more money on the heater and the PP-R pipe cutting tool. I agree with you about PP-R being the best option for constructing a new house but the Thai workers here in Chiang Khan don't want to work with the welding and I had to make all the welds.

7 hours ago, xtrnuno41 said:

The system is used to heat with solar heat by natural circulation. Cold water leaves to the pipes and warm water goes up again, all in same tank. On top of the tank you have the outlet for hot water and on bottom cold in.

You need solar time for heating, you cant go too fast by pumps and force a bigger flow.

As there is also an electrical  heater present, you need a pressure relieve valve for the pressure built up, on inlet water pressure, normally the  cold water from city, but in this case your pump from cold water tank?

Which is also with general electrical heaters, they have a pressure relieve valve  in the inlet.

Ok was reading again, but it doesnt say where the water, inlet solar heater is coming from.

 

 

I dont know now where you get the water from to feed the solar panel. You want to drain the water tank on the solar system by a pump and then mix it with cold water for 50 degree water instantly? 

You say pumps are 750 W, though that doesnt say capacity, how much flow, m3/h or ltr/h. Though i already think they are big.

How much is the flow? You only have a tank of 150 liters or 300 depending on which you buy.

When you are draining warm water, cold water will come in at the inlet and mix some with the warm water as wel.

If you have a pump doing  60 l/m, it is gone in minutes, of course restricted by piping.

Which again can cause oscillating of the pumps if they have pressure switches on them?

Be aware, what you take out , you must put in. Otherwise you can have vacuum in system and all implode.

System is not built for vacuum

  

 

You have hailstorms, well ask seller if it can take it. About thermal shocks, you can have hot day and then it starts to rain hard, then you have thermal shock as wel. The "glastubes" are not in contact with the water to heat, but  around the pipes to heat. 

Another thing is Ph of the water. In Thailand Ph can be low, acid. The plastic pipes can stand it, but metal cant in longer or shorter time, especially with higher temperatures. It gets more aggressive. Your pipes will solve and finally leaks by holes made by the acid substances in the water. Good to know if heater can stand the Ph.

7 is neutral, no problem, some higher no problem then it is base, but lower then acid which can corrode your metal pipes. Also your pumps.

Also important how much calcium is there in the water? If the water is hard, you can have scaling in your pipes, which will effect efficiency. Also other, solid, particles can cause scaling. Maybe a filter in inlet water?   

The tank is vented so it is impossible to build up pressure. The pumps are automatic pumps that cut in at 1.3 bar and cut out at 2 bar. They will only run when you open a faucet. The newer design tank is full of copper coils and the same water that feeds the tank to fill it through an automatic filling system will also run water into the copper coil inside the tank. It will enter the coil cold and pick up heat from the tank water and come out of the coil with a temperature about 2° colder than the hot water in the tank. This water will be at the same pressure as the cold water system. The second pump shown in the photo will not be used in this case but can be kept as a spare. 

My cold water is first supplied by a submersible well pump that is inside a 40 meter deep well. That water is pumped into a 1000 liter tank using a mechanical float switch that will stop the pump when the tank is full and when the tank level drops to 200 liters, the submersible pump will turn on again and fill the tank. I imagine that pump will only run once or twice a day for about 5-10 minutes each time.

Cold water will feed into the copper coil in the solar tank only when you open a hot water tap in the house. As the cold water passes through the copper coil surrounded by water heated by the sun, it will absorb the heat from the 150 liter tank and the water will cool down a bit. But remember that there is a thermostatic controlled mixing valve that will add cold water after the water leaves the solar heater and should cool the water that could be as hot as 90° down to 50°. So on a hot sunny day I should be able to get more than 200 liters of 50° water which will be enough to fill my bathtub in the evening. I don't plan to buy the electrical immersion heater as I don't think I will need it but if I do buy from this Chinese solar factory the cost is only $12 US for 1500 watt with built in thermostat. At the latitude of Chiang Khan this heater may not be needed except for about 10 days out of the year and in this case I have one bathroom fitted with a 3.5 Kw single use water heater for those days without sunshine or during maintenance of the solar water heater.

The vacuum tubes are strong enough to handle hail up to a certain diameter. In the event of hail storms, I will try to cover the tubes with a sheet of hard plastic or ply wood to protect the glass. This 15 tube unit comes with 5 spare tubes as a precaution. As for heat transfer, since these double wall glass tubes are in a vacuum, there is almost no heat transfer when there is no sun, rain or at night. The water is heated in a way that allows heat to be absorbed but cannot pass through outward through the vacuum to escape the heater through the glass.

As for the water quality, since the water in the well can be either acid or basic, I can treat the portion of water that surrounds the copper coil with chemicals as needed. The water under pressure through the copper pipe will not be treated but if scaling occurs, I can take the heating coils out of sevice and circulate de-scaler through the copper pipe as needed. That water circulating through the glass vacuum tubes will be stagnant water and will only need to be replaced in the event of steam when it will boil in the 45° summer in March and April. Since my heater will be mounted only 2 meters above the ground, all of the service and maintenance will be easy to perform.

As for metal pipes getting corroded, the system I put in has only copper pipe and stainless steel tank. There will be a maganisium anode to protect the tank against electrolysis from dissimilar metals. There is normally a 15-20 year service life if the anodes are maintained. The only thing fragile on this system are the glass tubes and they are not expensive and normally last for 15 years minimum unless there is a horrific hail storm.

I have already bought a 30 micron water filter to clean the well water as it fills the 1000 liter water storage tank and the solar heater comes with a small secondary filter at the water inlet. If the water turns out to be too hard, I will have to fit an ion exchange water softener but I am told that the water in my area is good quality and my wife is happy with the laundry!

16 hours ago, worgeordie said:

I cannot remember how much it was ,either 25K or 50K*, at the time it did seem

expensive, but turned out to be well worth it ,hot water throughout the house,

no risk of electric shock,we have rental properties and over the years have had

to change quite a few hot water shower units.Solahart only came once,only

thing they changed was a pressure valve.

*lot more expensive now obviously, but with returns in the banks,better to invest

your money in a solar water heater,if you are here for the long term.

regards Worgeordie

After spending what we did to build this house in Chiang Khan, we just don't have enough funds left over for that much of an investment. How ever, there are some newer technologies coming out along with some much lower prices from China. I am still researching to find an affordable solution. Right now the best option I have found as been this one.

I really like the simplicity and the idea of passing pressurized cold water through the coil of copper piping inside the tank so that the cold water pressure and the hot water pressure will be identical. I think the cost of this system landed in Bangkok could be less than 10,000 baht and this will give me a good project to keep my engineering skills sharpened to assemble and do the installation. 

58 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

We have had a SolaHart system installed on our roof for the last

30 years, I am sure it has paid for itself, and just having hot water

to all the sinks,showers and bath it's well worth it.

 

It does not have any pump supplying water to it,just fills by water pressure

or auxiliary heating ,the water reaches scalding in summer,there is usually

about 3-5 days not consecutive,in the winter where it does not get hot.

 

Anyone building a new house i would advise installing a system.

regards worgeordie

 

I checked out the Solahart website and if the ones shown on that site are the same as the 30 year old model, it looks really good. But I fear the price of a system like that for me would be prohibitive. Please can you give me some idea of your cost to buy the system 30 years ago and how much maintenance and cleaning was required since then? 

21 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

Not here but in Turkey most houses have a large solar panel and 200 litre tank on the roof from memory it's a simple setup without pumps gravity fed with a ballcock in the tank I remember it also had a blow off valve when the tank reached boiling and often went off in summer something you wish to consider in your system as it's even hotter here also in the tank was an immersion element for winter use though temps never get low enough for that here good luck ????  

My original design was similar to what you describe in Turkey. My plan was to install the solar heater with the 150 liter tank on the roof above the bathroom. I would have filled the solar heater with a modern version of a ball cock from the cold water pressurized well pump. But the same small tank with the ball cock would also supply cold water by gravity to mixing valve at the shower. This way the hot water head pressure would be identical to the cold water pressure making it very easy to mix the hot and cold water to create an steady comfortable water temperature.  However, my building contractor informed me that there was too much weight in the solar heater system and the roof he built would not support the weight of the solar heater when full of water. So. I decided to go with plan B and mount the water heater about 2 meters above the ground and use two identical automatic pressure pumps that kick in at 1. 3 bar and dropout at 2 bar. I am hoping that the two pumps will not fight each other and create an alternating hot and cold water shower. Everything will depend on how quick acting the thermostatic mixing valve will function. I hope it will regulate the  hot water water at a stable temperature, otherwise it is back to the drawing board! As for the steam situation, I am still working on a design that will put shade on the water heater before the water in the tank starts to boil. 

7 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

The solar unit, if it is well made with good QC, is designed for countries with generally lower temperatures than usual in the majority of Thailand, it’s likely to function well enough.

So your biggest problems will be getting your water too hot, so as long as you have engineered your system to allow for that and can flow sufficient water through to avoid boiling the water and so getting a pressure explosion as the water to steam  expansion ratio is 1,700 X so unless your expansion strategy can cope with that you have to be certain you are  never ever going to boil the water.

The tank is vented so there is no risk of steam pressure building up. There are some of these units installed in Phuket and in the late afternoon steam can be seen coming from the vents. The big issue for me is the 1" PP-R pipe that supplies that hot water around 10 meters from the heater to the pressure pump. This pipe is rated for maximum 95 degrees C. I hope the pipe manufacturer has built in a factor of safety but it will be better to find a safety system that will release a spring loaded cover in the event of too high temperature to block the sun from reaching the tubes. The pump is rated for maximum 90 degrees but I feel confident that the water will cool in the underground pipe enough to protect the pump. I am still working on the design for the spring loaded safety cover so if there are any other steam engineers out their with ideas, I am ready to listen!

I am planning to put a solar water heater behind my house in a sunny area about two meters above the ground and away from any shade from the roof of the house. The model I am looking at has a 150 liter tank and has 15 glass vacuum thermo-syphon tubes. The system is all stainless steel and is non pressurized, has a non electric automatic filling valve that keeps the tank full without overflowing the tank. The system comes with a 15 year guarantee. I haven't bought it yet but I would really like to know how many others there are out there in Thailand that are interested in this option for heating water. Anyone with experience good or bad, I would love to hear your comments. This heater comes with an option to add an electric heating resistance with a built in thermostat which can be used on cloudy or rainy days. I think is it only 1500 watt but it only has to heat a 150 liter tank. This unit is built in China and I am not to sure about the quality. My biggest concern is having a hail storm break the glass tubes or cold water entering the system when it is empty and in bright sunlight which could break the glass with thermal shock. The high cost of this type of heater is mainly tied up in the vacuum tubes that are using the vacuum to create a perfect insulator around the heating pipes surrounded by the glass tube. This way the insulated tank plus the insulated by vacuum glass tubes will keep the water hot on a very cold night.

Image of water heater from Google:   https://images.app.goo.gl/UR7XJAhTzTPqDgzJ7

My plan is to pump the water from the solar heater with a dedicated pressure pump rated at 90 degrees C. Another identical pump will draw water from the 1000 liter cold water storage tank and the water under pump pressure will mix with a thermostatic mixing valve to reduce the temperature from hopefully 85 degrees to 50 degrees C. I have already bought the pumps, thermostat and the fittings so I am pretty committed to the solar idea. I have used PP-R piping for the whole hot water piping system. I am using a special grade of 1" PP-R pipe rated at maximum 95 degrees going through it from the solar heater to the pump inlet. Then on the discharge side galvanized steel to the mixing valve. After the mixing valve the pipe reduces to 3/4" rated at 60 degrees C. and feeds the kitchen, the two showers, the bathtub and under the concrete driveway to the small bungalow by the pond for a hot shower there. I am hoping to get the water in the tank up to about 85 degrees by the end of the afternoon and my guess is that I will be able to add another 100 liters of cold water through the mixing valve to get the temperature down to 50 degrees.  This should give me enough hot water to fill the bath tub on a sunny day. The main reason I went with solar is because I have only a 15 (45) amp single phase meter and I have 3 x 12,000 btu double inverter aircons in the house, 1x 10,000 btu standard aircon in the garage and a 9000 btu double inverter aircon in the bungalow. There is a 3 Kw submersible deep well pump and the two 750 watt water pumps as shown in the photo. I think there is not enough reserve amps to power a 10 Kw water heater as required in the Chiang Khan winters. I have a 3.5 Kw single use water heater in one shower now and can get only a trickle of hot water out of it now that the well water is getting cold and it is only the first day of December! So solar water heater it is out of necessity! Please comment good or bad, I will listen and heed the good advice given. 

I have been doing a marriage visa and work permit together for 3 years in Phuket. For 12 years before that, I was doing a marriage visa outside of Thailand and getting multi-entry but had to leave Thailand every 90 days. But the last 3 years, I had a work permit and my boss had his lawyer/accountant take care of all the paperwork. Now I have retired and built a house in Chiang Khan and I will have to do my first marriage visa on my own and I know that the paperwork that my boss's lawyer did was a stack about 3" think! I had writers cramp from signing about 500 signatures while he flipped through the pages. I think one of the documents included every page of my passport. 

So if there is anyone out there that has a list of the required documents, please can you post a copy. I plan to have 400,000 baht wired from my US bank account and put it in my Kasekorn savings account more than 2 months before my due date which is March 5. I know about the letter from the bank and updating the bank savings book on the day of the immigration visit. In the past, I had to supply photos of us standing in front of our rental house in Phuket showing the house number and another set of photos in the living room with all the family sitting on the sofa. At the time there was a TM30 and id card of the land lord which I hear is no longer in use? Or is this only for Phuket? I think a copy of the house book (tambien baan). My wife is now the landlord!

Does anyone know of any special request for documents for Chiang Khan immigration?

I have been warned about a case of another American who had done all the banking and other documents and every thing was perfect and somehow he was denied the visa and never really found out why. He now has to report every two weeks for a temporary extension. I was told by a witness that he should have stayed quiet during the interview and I was advised to speak as little as possible. My Thai wife is from this area and she has the chanote for the rice farm in her name. Our 13 year old daughter is attending the CK government school in the English section. I just want to be prepared as much as possible well in advance. 

Do I need a new marriage certificate from the Ampur where we were married? I think we got one of those documents in Phuket at one of the government offices. 

When is the best day to schedule the I/O visit? About one week before the visa expires? 

I have been asked by a Thai friend if I would be interested to volunteer teaching some courses after school on how to build robots as a way to give the kids something interesting to do after school. But after reading some of the posts, I fear that by volunteering, I may have problems for working without a work permit! If anyone is 100% sure about this, please let me know. 

We own a small rice farm with 4 rai being cultivated. I also worry about being seen loading rice bags in my pick up. Any advice or warnings about what I can do and what I can't do, without a work permit, would be great to know.