Ac Installations

[goodguy]

Yesterday, chakalee day, the neighborhood AC installer team arrived two hours late for our installation in our kids room. We have three phase wiring, Throughout the house we built we put Line Neutral Earth Wires as a matter of course. Anyway, Very nice guys, when advised of our color coding, they understood Sai Fai See Kao= Line White. I said Dam, he piped in Neutral, Green - Earth. I thought I could relax, which I did.

Just before they were about to tape over the pipes and wires to the compressor, I took a llook in the hole in the wall, and saw only two wires coming through. I asked him where the earth wire had gotten too. Sai Din Tee Nai? Oh Hoh, Anee mai tonk. (Here don't need). I thought, really??

I quickly double checked the installation instructions to confirm his claim, and of course, he was not aware of the need to connect earth wires to AC Equipment. Anyway, the boss diffused the situation (he has a degree in Thai Electrical Engineering) He allowed me to supply him with some earth wire which they then had to retro fit into and through the hole in the wall. Horrible to watch them twisting plastic and stretching and forcing the earth to reach back to the connection point on the internal unit. Touch wood. It worked.

Why do they always try to bypass the installation of earth wires and are so proud and happy without earth wires? Oh my gosh.

My question is. what would be the outcome of an AC installation with no earth wiring, I assume probably 95 per cent of Thailand is without any earth wires. Anyone seen an AC melt down and start fires?

Please stay on the topic, AC and earth wiring!

[david96]

Do you have a main earth from the main switchboard to the earth electrode? Do the earthwires all run to the main switchboard?

Yes there is a problem with earthing in Thailand. They do not understand it.

A Thai degree in electrical engineering and he does not understand earthing or they do not teach earthing from a practical standpoint, what earthing actually achieves in the way of protection in an electrical installation.

There are several topics on the subject in the DIY forum/ electrical.

[bcross2001]

Did you ever read the article in the Bangkok post about the two elevator technicians that parked the elevator on the 23rd floor for repairs? it fell to the bottom floor and kiiled them both.

Ground wire - hey let moma roast on the rice cooker.

This is Thailand - there is no such thing asd right.

[Crossy]

An ungrounded AC is unlikely to start a fire and will function quite happily in this state (this is not a recommendation to install without ground).

An ungrounded AC could develop a fault that allows the metal casework to become live (do you want that in your kid's room?).

If it's an inverter type then it will have a mains inlet filter (like your PC) which could allow the casework to attain bitey voltages (not likely to be lethal but do you want that in your kid's room?), a ground is also required to allow the filter to do its job.

The manufacturers fit a ground terminal for a reason, if ground wasn't required for safe operation why would they bother

[david96]

One good reason to earth electrical equipment is that it minimises the effect of small shocks from the standing leakage currents. ( you will not sense these ).

This is why one often sees an earth wire perhaps only 1.0sqmm running directly from the equipment to a short electrode in the ground, very often this wire is only burried a few cm in the soil, but it solves the problem of the leakage currents.

To disconnect the circuit in the event of an earth fault an RCD is required.

[goodguy]

Thanks for that David, Yes I have my Earth Wires connected to the main Electrode on the Switchbox/Consumer Unit, and the main ground stake underground all connected thank god.

Yes, I don't want shocks from the case in my kids room or anywhere else.

Cleaning the compressor, should I copy the locals and stand there hosing it down while the compressor is running? Or just cut the breaker, open the case and do it properly? Any hidden snags?

[offset]

On all three of my air con units the installer earth them separately with an earth stake one should be well earthed because they went through a water pipe when fitting the earthing stake