Power cuts in Maprachan area?

[monsieurhappy]

Last night, at about 10.30 pm. we had 2 or 3 short ( few seconds ) power cuts then a power outage lasting several hours. I don't know how long exactly because I went to bed. It had started raining at the time but didn't seem too bad.

What I'm getting at is these cuts seem to be always in this area, I don't suppose anywhere in town was affected!

Does anyone have any idea ( please! no posts about paying bills etc. ) why the area around the lake seems more prone to cuts than anywhere else?

It wasn't just last night, we seem to be getting short cutoffs more often now than anytime in the last 10 years, perhaps on average 1 or 2 per day.

[Pattaya Pat]

A power cut in the evening is a living nightmare for those that can't sleep without air-con, like me.

I am in SSCC not far from the market but all ok here.

[KittenKong]

Back in Europe I noticed that power cuts during storms etc are much more likely in the country than in towns. I think it's to do with lightning being less likely to strike power cables in town as surrounding buildings are usually higher than the power cables. In the country of course the power cables are often the highest thing around. Or maybe it's the length of the unprotected cables that does it.

Anyway, I would imagine that the same applies in Maprachan.

I've also noticed that that area just seems to get a lot more rain/storms than other parts of town. Many times I have driven from Jomtien where it was cloudy to the lake to find it raining/thundering, yet on my return to Jomtien it hadnt rained there at all. So maybe that has something to do with it also.

[petercool]

It could very well be a question of "ranking" of areas which dictate priorities for funding of maintenance etc. City centres getting more money for better infrastructure, up-grades and maintenance. I live opposite the Lake and every day there is a few second cut of electricity seemingly from some switching system. But when longer power cuts occur, they do seem to fix it within an hour or two in any weather and at any time so hats off to the crews who do that.

[fakename]

I really dont think we have more power cuts around the lake. The ones we have, seem to be just a few minutes at the most, or they occur during the day, when it isnt so bothersome. Last night was the longest that I remember, but only because it was the time I usually sleep, so without air or fan, it was too hot for me to sleep, so covered myself in mossy repellent and sat outside most of the time.

Of course in the city, they are a bit more in a hurry to repair the damage, and thats the way it should be. With the shoddy looking electrical systems here, I would think that there should be more power outages, so at least, someone is doing their job.

[juliusk]

Lately there are some small powercuts in the Mabrachan area, from about 1 till 10 seconds and then everything switches on again.

What are the best solutions for this, what kind of special back-up devices can i buy for this powercuts?

[petercool]

For computers, routers, modems, a UPS (Unlnterupted Power Supply) unit is cheaply available - around 1k.

I am uncertain if larger total household units are available or even practical.

[Gone]

I could see from my condo that it was from Sukhumvit all the way to the lake and south of SSCC and North of soi Khaonoi.

[Mobi]

Many of the power cuts are the results of storms - trees or other stuff blowing against power lines and causing damage.

The longer cuts always coincide with storms somewhere in the area.

There's not much can be done except for have the EGAT engineers to make a thorough survey of the area and remove/chop down of any potential 'culprits' before the storms do their worst, but I very much doubt whether anything like this will ever be undertaken.

The cuts lasting a few seconds are another matter and I have no idea what causes them. They do seem to have increased over the past 6 months or so. I sometimes wonder whether it is caused by contractors on the countless building sites doing something with the power lines which causes the power to trip out for a few seconds.

I have my lap top, TV and internet protected by UPS and they carry on without interruption in all but very long power cuts. (Cable internet will go off during a 2 second power cut and take several minutes to re-boot but 3BB continues unaffected, provided you have your modem on a UPS)

We are also armed with solar powered lights, candles, and most important of all - rechargeable, battery powered fans so that we can keep cool when the A/c's go off.

Last night I slept like a baby right through the cut

[bluebellpepper]

Yesterday afternoon another powercut near Mabrachan area and after 3 hours my laptop had to be closed because the battery was empty. Coming back out of town in the evening with a new UPS under my arm I saw that all the electricity was up again... except in our house! We have automatic payment and yes, the meter was still there but after close inspection the electric meter was changed into an aquarium. No fish though but definitely out of service. My dear wife called the electric company and to my surprise they showed up at 9 PM where they took out the electric meter and taped the wires together. So now we have free electricity, my ADSL is working again after 6 weeks (!!!), my cable Internet is working (backup) and my mobile phone Internet is working (backup of the backup). Life is great!

[OMGImInPattaya]

It's all a part of living in the countryside of a developing country...gotta take the good with the not so good.

[Mobi]

Yesterday afternoon another powercut near Mabrachan area and after 3 hours my laptop had to be closed because the battery was empty. Coming back out of town in the evening with a new UPS under my arm I saw that all the electricity was up again... except in our house! We have automatic payment and yes, the meter was still there but after close inspection the electric meter was changed into an aquarium. No fish though but definitely out of service. My dear wife called the electric company and to my surprise they showed up at 9 PM where they took out the electric meter and taped the wires together. So now we have free electricity, my ADSL is working again after 6 weeks (!!!), my cable Internet is working (backup) and my mobile phone Internet is working (backup of the backup). Life is great!

The first thing I always do whenever there is a power cut is to check to make sure my neighbours are out as well.

Sometimes I even check with my friends around the lake to ascertain how widespread the cut is. If it is only in my 'estate' I would be more concerned than if it covered a wider area.

If the cut continues for a long period, I re-check to see if the neighbours are still out.

I've been caught out a couple of times, once when for some reason my house fuse box had tripped off after the general power cut, and I was still off hours after everyone else was back on.

That's life in around Mabprachan - enjoy it....

[bluebellpepper]

Yesterday afternoon another powercut near Mabrachan area and after 3 hours my laptop had to be closed because the battery was empty. Coming back out of town in the evening with a new UPS under my arm I saw that all the electricity was up again... except in our house! We have automatic payment and yes, the meter was still there but after close inspection the electric meter was changed into an aquarium. No fish though but definitely out of service. My dear wife called the electric company and to my surprise they showed up at 9 PM where they took out the electric meter and taped the wires together. So now we have free electricity, my ADSL is working again after 6 weeks (!!!), my cable Internet is working (backup) and my mobile phone Internet is working (backup of the backup). Life is great!

The first thing I always do whenever there is a power cut is to check to make sure my neighbours are out as well.

Sometimes I even check with my friends around the lake to ascertain how widespread the cut is. If it is only in my 'estate' I would be more concerned than if it covered a wider area.

If the cut continues for a long period, I re-check to see if the neighbours are still out.

I've been caught out a couple of times, once when for some reason my house fuse box had tripped off after the general power cut, and I was still off hours after everyone else was back on.

That's life in around Mabprachan - enjoy it....

That's what I usually do with my Internet but yes, next time I will check with the neighbors!

[bluebellpepper]

Guess what, a bit of rain and lightning and power down for 2 hours. Now back to mobile Internet. Both ADSL (on UPS!) and Banglamung cable are down.