Earthing Mat And Wiring

[bangkaew]

I want to get a grounding or earthing mat which is just a connection to earth. I am in a 4 year old building in phuket and the plug sockets have the earth hole - do you think it is properly earthed?

Do i have to use an American plug and wire or can i use a british plug connected to an adapter?

this is the system i want;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Barefoot-ESP800M-Earthing-Mat/dp/B0077BP1IG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343477896&sr=8-1

many thanks in advance...

[electau]

Your earthing should comply with the PEA requirements, that is the main earth will be a minimum of 10sqmm copper to an electrode 2.4M in the ground. and the socket outlets will have 3 pin with the earth terminal connected to the protective earth. The outlets should be protected by RCDs

The electrical installation may be MEN ( earthed neutral ) or TT ( neutral not connected to earth at the consumers switchboard.

Your outlets should comply with Thai Industrial Standards (TIS).

There are many articles on installation wiring on Thai Visa.

　

[Crossy]

Everything Electau said ^^^

Pop one of the outlets off the wall (power off please) and check there are three wires, one should be green, that should confirm that the ground is connected at one end.

Remove the lid from your consumer unit (distribution panel) and check that the green wires are connected to the ground bar within and that the ground bar has a fat wire leading to the building earth. Take care, some parts inside are still live even with the main switch off.

If you want to use an adaptor make sure that you get one with three pins which connects the earth.

Despite all the above, deliberately connecting oneself to an electrical system installed by Somchai Electrics is not something I would really want to do.

I'm not convinced that these earthing mats have any health benefits, but that's up to you (the placebo effect can be very powerful), why not get a piece of aluminium foil and connect it to the earth pin (use a 1M Ohm resistor for safety), much cheaper than the earthing mat?

If you have questions or are not sure what you are seeing, take some photos and post here.

[Khun Jean]

I have a mat for when i am assembling electronics to prevent static discharge, unfortunaltely not able to use it because the earthing in my condo is wired only in the sockets.

I had a washing machine installed and they drilled a hole in the concrete and put in a "ground" that way.

Would that ground be sufficient, and how do you measure if a ground is good?

[electau]

I have a mat for when i am assembling electronics to prevent static discharge, unfortunaltely not able to use it because the earthing in my condo is wired only in the sockets.

I had a washing machine installed and they drilled a hole in the concrete and put in a "ground" that way.

Would that ground be sufficient, and how do you measure if a ground is good?

That method of earthing is common in Thailand and may be refered to as a form of direct earthing.

It will mitigate the effect of voltage differences appearing between exposed conductive parts of equipment, ie small leakage currents. It will limit the touch voltage to below 50VAC.

The impedance to earth in the event of and earth fault is too high for a protective device such as an MCB to operate within the required time of less than 0.4secs.

However an RCD/RCBO will operate within the required minimum time.

A compliant earthing system is the best option if practicable.

[bangkaew]

I have a mat for when i am assembling electronics to prevent static discharge, unfortunaltely not able to use it because the earthing in my condo is wired only in the sockets.

I had a washing machine installed and they drilled a hole in the concrete and put in a "ground" that way.

Would that ground be sufficient, and how do you measure if a ground is good?

you can check if it is earthed...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00780WFHQ/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

[bangkaew]

thanks for all the replies.

apparently when near an electrical device your static charge can go up to 10v. I saw some slides of blood flow and it was much faster when earthed. Not natural to have 10v in you i would think...