Upcountry

Hey, has anyone bought a UPS on-line, here in Thailand?

So far I can't find them via any online shopping websites. Only power strips.

UC

Mumbo Jumbo, thanks for your response and the links.

My PCM's are model number 04Y050157.

They are 1,000 watt units with five three prong outputs.

I could never get the Upsmon software to work with my XP machines. I also have a Mac, plus other things are plugged into them. So the auto-off feature hasn't been practical for me.

In all other instances, when the power is cut by outage or circuit breaker, the UPS's just start beeping. In the even of an outage, my protocol is to A) curse, "Not-a-F####-ing-gain!" and wait for a few moments, with "Please, come back on, please please!" , then c) start shutting down, finally D) turn off the UPS's. I've never witnessed the machines running out of battery power.

I still don't get the circuit breaker instance. The air conditioner maintenance people wanted me to turn off the breaker for the air con. Once that was done, no beeping, I didn't realize there was a problem until one of the workers came downstairs to get me, to say that something was burning. Not till I saw the error light did I realize the UPS was at fault. I unplugged it. Later, when I plugged it in again, of course another pop, more smell.

It's interesting that only one of the PCM's failed the other day when I was out. All other UPS's I have, including single battery ones were fine. No beeps or lights to indicate low battery.

Now I'm thinking that UPS's just wear out over time, so that they can't handle the outage or possible surge when the power comes back on. Of course, the circuit breaker should deal with a surge that is beyond what the UPS can handle, right?

Even though I live in an urban area, I assume that my power is fluctuating too, so maybe an AVR would be a good idea for me as well. Would this work for the entire house, or just certain circuits?

UC

Well, I had a rather lucky day yesterday, considering.

While I was out there apparently was a power outage of sorts. If I go away for a day, I usually shut things down (but leave the UPS's on, unless it is for two days or more). I was out longer than planned. Had a computer running. I knew there was an outage for a couple of reasons, but the obvious one was that one of my Powermatic PCM power supplies had burned up (awful smell). Luckily the one with the computer was fine, but this is the second time I've had this problem with a three/four year old PCM.

The previous time was when I turned off the circuit breaker by mistake. I called the company about it, and they thought maybe just the transformer (and fuse setup) might be bad. $1k baht to get replacement parts, plus shipping. But they didn't get my email right (of course) for a 'quote' and I think I should probably send the unit to them for diagnostics anyway.

But now I have two of the same model that have blown up, and a third that will certainly be next. I'm supposing that the cause is either that a power surge somehow overwhelmed the circuit breaker, blowing the unit - or else it may be batter/logic related somehow. The units have worked for several years with battery replacements.

Living up country, it is impossible to find equivalent replacements. I can get single battery units at the hypermarts, etc., but the local electronics stores seem to sell crap. The two-battery units don't have the capacity of the PCM's.

Basically, I'm wondering if I should just get the basic one-battery units (and use more wall plugs). Any recommendations on the best UPS's to buy here?

-UC

/ps - I do use grounded three-prong wall plugs. ;-)

Enjoy those 160+ mk runs on the straights, and thrilling mountain road curves!

Mine is 11 years older, but still fun.

But the depresser is that I have to upgrade my fuel system for ethanol or convert to LPG. The days are numbered for 100% 95 octane benzine.

I know that ethanol presents a power and fuel efficiency downgrade, but yesterday someone said that LPG would bring 15% less power too. I hope they were wrong about that, since the engine was really designed for 97 octane.

I'll always miss the tight cornering, super-tight u-turns, etc., but I really wish I could get a decent hybrid!

I just found out that another bank has a "001-800" number for overseas customers, such as in Thailand. To me, it seems like I'm just using the country code (001) and a normal 800 number which would be treated as a normal overseas call by my land line company (TOT). Any reason to believe that this would actually function as a toll-free call to the USA bank from Thailand?

Did you miss a digit there? Calling an 800 number in the States from Thailand would actually be 001.1.800.nnn.nnnn.

Nope. I deleted the last 7 digits, but there was no extra '1' there. That's what worries me. Seems like a disconnect.

All too typical. Even happens between towns and services I've seen. I remember a gap in pavement between towns because there was no agreement on responsibility!

Maybe you've already done this, but make sure you are searching more generally on the web for an answer to this. Oftentimes, you will find hints out there. Sounds like your problem is not due to Thailand specifically.

Maybe it's worth getting "second opinions" from local doctors, or asking friends back home to take the question to their doctor.

UC

Thanks, ovenman,

I went ahead and tried the ATT number that SBK provided. I did get through, though I had to quickly hit 0 for operator right way (on the 2nd try), because the recorded menu overlapped the recording from the destination number. It's a banking issue, collect calls accepted.

I just found out that another bank has a "001-800" number for overseas customers, such as in Thailand. To me, it seems like I'm just using the country code (001) and a normal 800 number which would be treated as a normal overseas call by my land line company (TOT). Any reason to believe that this would actually function as a toll-free call to the USA bank from Thailand?

'twould be great!

UC

Thanks for your replies.

mrt273nva, both Skype Out and ViopStunt worked for SH$T yesterday because of an internet outage somewhere overseas. That's why I decided to explore making a collect call for my purposes.

sbk, is there any charge to reach that number?

Thanks again,

UC

Can't seem to find the answer on this forum (though I'm sure it's here somewhere) or on the net.

I need to make a collect call to a US phone number.

How can I do this from a TOT land line?

Thanks!

Hopefully when it's fixed we'll also get meaningful email subject headings so we know what's what. It gets really annoying, sometimes, having to open every new and reply notification to see if it is of interest.

Strange thing, for me, is that I only have trouble now with sending email (smtp) via Eudora. Receiving email. web browsing, and so on, no problem. Even file sharing has been fine (except for Gnutella 1, which may be blocked by TTT (Gnutella 2/eDonkey via Shareaza no problem).

I called TTT about my email problem but despite spending a large amount of time on the phone with me to no avail, and no explanation (denying blockage of port 25 by the way, tests confirm it), the problem has not been solved.

When are they going to admit that it's Al Aqua-Qaeda?

Ok, now I can send email via port 25 to one of my email services with Eudora...

Interesting

A couple of years ago I had to call TTT about my HiNet account now and then when smtp stopped working. They would tell me to use their smtp server and I would politely tell them that that wasn't acceptable. The would put me in touch with CAT and my smtp would be unblocked. Maxnet doesn't use CAT I guess, so I hope that they can deal with this themselves.

UC

I've got maxnet, and starting on Friday night I couldn't send mail via Eudora to one of my email services, but the others were fine.

Today, they're all toast. I tried port 587 but so far that hasn't helped.

It's kind of a head scratcher. So, is maxnet blocking 587 now too?

But when I try the suggested "telnet [your mail server name] 25" I get a sense that I can reach the smtp host via that port (getting errors with 587).

So it's all bollixed up for me!

I guess I'll try calling TTT tomorrow.

UC

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss....

I have a UPS that I just found out was plugged into a supposedly grounded three-prong outlet which is on the same circuit as my air conditioner. I has some work done on the a/c yesterday (maintenance on office and bedroom a/c's). The team manager asked me to switch off the circuit breaker which I did. As I did so outside the room I do remember hearing a subtle pop and also sensing a burning odor.

It was hard to connect this to a problem in my office because I had just turned off another circuit by mistake (which has been done before) and the other UPSs (same model) just beeped as they normally would when power is interrupted. Because we have food vendors around outside I at first assumed it was coming trough an open door. But a little while later the manager alerted me to the odor.

I did test all my UPS's and noticed that the problematic one appeared to be messed up (diagnostic beep, lights, etc.). I unplugged everything on it and the power cord too. When the circuit was back on I plugged it back in .... POP, odor again!

I opened it up at a service center and verified that the transformer looked burned out, and the internal circuit breaker switch had popped out. I'm getting it fixed now, but I'm really concerned about the electrical outlet. Someone said that it might not be properly grounded - this may be so, despite the yellow wire going up the wall! I had this outlet and others installed and made sure we had a good ground spike outside.

Now this happened just before and after the current a/c service, but maybe the last time the a/c was serviced the technician screwed up the grounding? The UPS has handled power outages well during this interim, so I'm really scratching my head as to why anything about the house wiring would cause the unit to blow up. Maybe the UPS is just defective?

UC

Agree, BMW's are a lot of fun to drive on curvy mountain roads, and handle excellently in the City. I've never seen a car with a tighter turning radius.

But just the other week I took my 318i to the non-BM garage and got the a/c recharged, filter changed. I parked for a few days. When I next drove it the a/c was useless again. I went back to have it looked at and ended up with a 8kB bill to replace whatever the radiator like thing is and a related part. Total cost for a/c this month was almost 10k. My brother-in-law has a friend with a similar car, and has learned that the a/c in my model year is prone to failure.

I bought my car used a few years ago (it's a 93) and ended up spending a lot to fix up the front end, etc. So careful with the attractive prices. Maybe be high mileage (mine was pretty low, but hard miles apparently) or other problems. Expect to spend money fixing it up, especially if it has a lot of years on it. I have the feeling that Thai people like to make the car look really nice on the outside but let the innards go (unless they are car enthusiasts).

The other thing to watch out for is that 95 octane is going away. I found out that I only have to upgrade the fuel pump and a rubber hose to be E10 compatible, but BMW also told me that the current ethanol 95 mixture has additives for the short term to keep people happy. Later they'll remove that and we'll be looking at sh$ty performance. Right now, I enjoy like how the engine runs. I'll miss that.

It is possible to convert to LPG, but you lose trunk space - I keep hoping they'll come up with customized LPG tanks!

UC

Congratulations, Garro, good going!

I'm sure the music volume at Wow is unbearable, but is is worth pointing out that some health clubs in the US are bad too. Instead of bringing an MP3 player with me to the gym I used to to, I brought ear plugs instead!

But everything I've heard about Wow sounds bad. I think I would avoid it even if it was the only alternative.

UC

Mix them in with the boiled cabbage...

Actually, I bet you can find a very cheap electric paper shredder at a store near you (Big C or Home Pro, etc.). Unfortunately, you probably can't recycle the shreds here.

UC

Allergies, diet? Is there something you're eating here (less elsewhere) that could be aggravating your sinus problem? Some people have trouble with air conditioners. Not trying to be a know-it-all, just posing some ideas about what could aggravate or alleviate your condition.

Are there any specialists (allergy, ear-nose-throat) in Bangkok that could help?

Sounds like time for drastic action.

I sympathize with you, wouldn't want my sinus issue to be any worse than it is.

UC

Do they handle better (i.e. a 'BM pickup?), or are they likely to tip over?

I got a laugh once when an idiot passer on blind curves ended up rear-ending someone in his brand new pickup. Felt sorry for the victim.

Any such thing as a good 'ol fashioned headstone maker's yard, in Thailand, on the side of the highway, like we can see in New Hampshire, or read about in 'Prayer of Owen Meany'?

I'm a little late replying here, but I wonder if cars that don't have heaters (assembled here, obviously) can have a heater added. Maybe the parts can be ordered from the dealer. I imagine they just put in a "tube" that sends the hot water that would go to a heater back into the radiator, so plugging in a heater would be pretty simple.

I was surprised to find that most cars don't have heaters in Thailand. They can useful even in hot climates since they can help keep the windows clear, as mentioned above, and to keep air dryer in the cabin. They can also come in handy if the radiator starts overheating, but obviously you'd want to head straight to the radiator man if that was necessary.

There are enough provinces in the North that get cold enough for cabin heaters, even if most people don't have heaters in their homes - or do they use space heaters in CM, etc.? Hey, most places get cool enough in the morning that is would be nice to turn on the cabin heater in the car on the way to work, or whatever.

Question - is your avatar a picture of your actual vehicle?

Maybe if you pedaled faster you wouldn't get overtaken!