Electric issues in farmhouse. Service cable isolation

[surreybloke]

I visit the ladies farm from time to time. She is uk based with me.     I know some stuff about domestic installation  and testing in uk

 

I am shocked about the standards.    Service cable straight off meter in road and into house and the consumer unit.     Surely there must be better standards.    

I am travelling out  soon and tempted to take some stuff from the uk.     

I was going to start with a simple isolator  and see if I can bribe the local PEA into risking  life and limb  and connect  the service leads.   How to work out the polarity ? 

The GF mentioned something  about  lighting  with overhead cables.   So I guess some sort of  SPD  ??

Currently there is no sort of sensitive breakers any where.   time delayed  RCCB or RCD  perhaps.     Is there anywhere in Korat or Thailand where a decent range of kit is available.   

 

Next phase is to convince the family that extended radials in 2 core 1.5 is simply not enough .     Twisting wires together with tape is can easily be improved  .   instead of proper junction boxes.   so it goes on         

 

[Martyjustice]

Forgot to mention the lack of grounds(or earths if you are Brit). Had to rewire whole house. When I moved in the whole thing was under a 66 amp breaker. Bought a Square D panel and 3 wire cables. Homehub or Thaiwatsadu good for everything but wire nuts. Had to go to HomePro to get them.  Good luck. 

[degrub]

@Crossyis the resident knowledgeable person

[Crossy]

@surreybloke add a neon screwdriver to you test kit, easy check of the polarity. 

 

For an isolator I would just use a 2-pole MCB in a plastic box (get here no problem), choose the current rating to suit the meter 20A for a 5-15, 50A for a 15-45, 100A for a 30-100.

 

You should be able to find a local "sparks" who will install it for you either live or by pulling the tails at the meter (Meter seal? What meter seal?). 

 

Once you have that you can pull the breaker and completely isolate the system and work safely.

 

[Crossy]

Just now, degrub said:

@Crossyis the resident knowledgeable person

 

Evidently my SpiderSense is functioning ???? 

[surreybloke]

Crossy and others   .   Thanks for that.     

 

Wylex and Hager  do a nice little   mains isolator  for less than 20 pounds but will have a look at the MCBs  .   

 

There was a a typo  in the post.    The gf  wants some kind of lightning protection .    I was looking at surge protection devices.   

There is also no proper grounding/earth apart from the shower unit.      I guess I need to install  a rod and perhaps get it tested.   Test the Z s    .      My poor knowledge indicates  that a type 1  spd is required  as they will end up with a TT system  . 

 

TCNS   ?    HAH       Earth cable from  where to where ?      

[surreybloke]

14 hours ago, Martyjustice said:

Forgot to mention the lack of grounds(or earths if you are Brit). Had to rewire whole house. When I moved in the whole thing was under a 66 amp breaker. Bought a Square D panel and 3 wire cables. Homehub or Thaiwatsadu good for everything but wire nuts. Had to go to HomePro to get them.  Good luck. 

Excuse my ignorance what is a Square D panel  ?

[surreybloke]

14 hours ago, Martyjustice said:

Forgot to mention the lack of grounds(or earths if you are Brit). Had to rewire whole house. When I moved in the whole thing was under a 66 amp breaker. Bought a Square D panel and 3 wire cables. Homehub or Thaiwatsadu good for everything but wire nuts. Had to go to HomePro to get them.  Good luck. 

Ok found the square d  . Schneider   stuff.    Good range on Thaiwatsadu.   Which one  ?  Some of the translated language  is hard for me.         

[Martyjustice]

Both are good brands. Square D is US made and Schnider is German. They should last longer than the other stuff. A whole house surge protector can be installed like a breaker. Will have to be grounded good though. Sourcing one in Thailand may be fun. Could try Lazada, or Amazon and ship here. 

[surreybloke]

12 hours ago, Martyjustice said:

Both are good brands. Square D is US made and Schnider is German. They should last longer than the other stuff. A whole house surge protector can be installed like a breaker. Will have to be grounded good though. Sourcing one in Thailand may be fun. Could try Lazada, or Amazon and ship here. 

I live in uk   but visit many times.     I looked on thaiwatsadu.     There is a lot of stuff  but most is only stocked in a few places.   

I am trying to find  a good commercial spark.  I do not mind paying.        

[Martyjustice]

Surreybloke

Same here I’m out of Dallas, Texas. Come here yearly to Ubon (covid put a 3 year pause on it). Had a home here for 5 years. Made $$ on it, but got tired of two homes 12 time zones apart. Rewired the first house here. Stay in friends apartment when here now. 
The “ local sparks “ has no idea and spends a hour to do a ten minute job. He can’t hear breakers sizzling. Amperage and wire sizing is black magic to him. 
I would get a rough drawing of what you plan on here and get an engineer in UK to put something into a detailed drawing. Most can read English here even if they can’t speak a word. 

[surreybloke]

11 hours ago, Martyjustice said:

Surreybloke

Same here I’m out of Dallas, Texas. Come here yearly to Ubon (covid put a 3 year pause on it). Had a home here for 5 years. Made $$ on it, but got tired of two homes 12 time zones apart. Rewired the first house here. Stay in friends apartment when here now. 
The “ local sparks “ has no idea and spends a hour to do a ten minute job. He can’t hear breakers sizzling. Amperage and wire sizing is black magic to him. 
I would get a rough drawing of what you plan on here and get an engineer in UK to put something into a detailed drawing. Most can read English here even if they can’t speak a word. 

100 %   on that    .    ????      . Someone has offered here on the forum to do design,    I am looking at buying a second hand multi function tester.    Meggar brand or similar.    I might even  ship some stuff from the UK.   

At least the uk voltage is the same. 

 I wish I was in the US some of the rcbo / afdd   breakers look competitively priced on sites like LOWES. 

 

I am tempted to  run single core cable everywhere in conduit.               

Edited May 10, 2023 by surreybloke

[TimeMachine]

On 5/8/2023 at 9:48 AM, Martyjustice said:

Forgot to mention the lack of grounds(or earths

Wouldn't worry too much about earthing if you install Residual Breakers.  If someone touches a live chassis they will be saved by Residual breaker.  Ideally, good to have earthing but a hassle if house was wired without it from start. I use the non contact voltage check on my multimeter to check for live wires. AliExpress sell them cheap enough to warrant buying one right now.

[Martyjustice]

Surrey

 

Found some decent multimeters at the Global house in Warin Chamrap off the ring road.