OMG... no earthing

[tmaker]

wow..

this is only what i can say.

checked the house that i am going to move in...

NO EARTHING... welcome to Thailand.

now, what am i gonna do ? dang....

[2fishin2]

Easy, pound a long copper rod into the earth. Attach wiring and run it into your place

[tmaker]

yea...but all the outlet points have no 'green' wires !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

awwww...

[JohnnyJazz]

Same in my house. Beside the kitchen and the laundry room, no earthing. Part of the renovation will be to add earth everywhere else.

[gerry123]

sorry whilst a copper rod will provide earthing to individual items i think its a bit more complicated to earth a complete home system yes still by copper rod but other components required

i am sure one of the two experts that i know of on T.V. will answer your question soon

Edited January 19, 2015 by gerry123

[tmaker]

how good is Sate T Cut device on sale here in thailand ?

any feedback ?

[lopburi3]

Safe T Cut has been on sale here for more than 35 years and I still have an original unit working fine. Absolutely have such a system installed, be it Safe-t-cut or another maker, if there is no ground. But I would work with owner to install ground also - it is really not that expensive to run 3rd wire and replace outlets - perhaps a joint venture if you can not workout his doing himself. The ground will provide faster tripping for overloads and add protection (the breaker trips before you touch the 'hot' refrigerator door). Always best to have both systems in place.

[bankruatsteve]

how good is Sate T Cut device on sale here in thailand ?

any feedback ?

It provides "good" ground fault protection. Post a photo of your CU (breaker box) with the cover off if you would like some recommendations.

[billphillips]

Safe t cut .... is the name of the manufacturer, don't be misled into thinking there is anything extra safe about the product other than being plain old circuit breakers and line trips that are available anywhere by other manufacturers in Thailand.

For a home with no earth system and using appliances that only have 2 pin plugs. ...... most of S/E Asia ..... fit an RCCB between the main switch and the trips. Or if it's a modern distribution board / consumer unit, and that can't be done, fit a new external main switch and position the RCCB between the new switch and consumer unit.

An RCCB is a; residual current circuit breaker. There are many names, variants, manufacturers, different abbreviations etc. etc. but basically they all work like this ..... The live current passing through the device is compared to the neutral current returning. If the current varies by certain milliamps (most devices have a user adjustable sensitivity range) then the breaker cuts the supply. Very, very safe for use on a 2 wire system. Cost around ฿4000, if the device is working and fitted properly it's not possible to get any more than a tickle of a shock before it breaks the current. Likewise if the home has a ground fault, the power will break before a fire starts. The only setback can be that it's too sensitive, even an incandescent lightbulb blowing can trip the switch. I think that's ok. I don't need any more electric shocks in my life.

[KhunBENQ]

Critical devices like waterheaters in the shower should and will probably be grounded separately.

You should check the quality of these groundings.

These devices have their own line breakers.

I replaced them with RCCBs even though the waterheaters have that built in.

A standard RCCB with 30A line protection and 30 mA, 30 ms safety cut costs about 300 to 400 Baht.

Well known "Safe T-Cut" brand is more expensive.

Survival without grounding is possible, don't panic

Nowadays many devices come without grounding as they have no metallic parts that can be touched (also in the first world).

Edited January 19, 2015 by KhunBENQ

[IMHO]

Safe t cut .... is the name of the manufacturer, don't be misled into thinking there is anything extra safe about the product other than being plain old circuit breakers and line trips that are available anywhere by other manufacturers in Thailand.

For a home with no earth system and using appliances that only have 2 pin plugs. ...... most of S/E Asia ..... fit an RCCB between the main switch and the trips. Or if it's a modern distribution board / consumer unit, and that can't be done, fit a new external main switch and position the RCCB between the new switch and consumer unit.

An RCCB is a; residual current circuit breaker. There are many names, variants, manufacturers, different abbreviations etc. etc. but basically they all work like this ..... The live current passing through the device is compared to the neutral current returning. If the current varies by certain milliamps (most devices have a user adjustable sensitivity range) then the breaker cuts the supply. Very, very safe for use on a 2 wire system. Cost around ฿4000, if the device is working and fitted properly it's not possible to get any more than a tickle of a shock before it breaks the current. Likewise if the home has a ground fault, the power will break before a fire starts. The only setback can be that it's too sensitive, even an incandescent lightbulb blowing can trip the switch. I think that's ok. I don't need any more electric shocks in my life.

Yep, RCD's (as they're most commonly known as here) do not require an earth/ground in order to provide protection. The only thing I will say is that most trip at 30mA of current difference, and that is hardly a 'tickle' ... I have permanent shoulder damage from exactly that... 30mA still freaking hurts

[KhunBENQ]

This is a typical "miniature RCCB" that can be used as replacement for the usual simple linebreakers (that provide line protection only).

Replace these simple devices:

Edited January 19, 2015 by KhunBENQ

[bankruatsteve]

FWI: An incandescent light or any other properly functioning device will not trip RCD not matter what the setting. Only ground faults with N and/or L

[KhunBENQ]

Yep, RCD's (as they're most commonly known as here) do not require an earth/ground in order to provide protection. The only thing I will say is that most trip at 30mA of current difference, and that is hardly a 'tickle' ... I have permanent shoulder damage from exactly that... 30mA still freaking hurts

Unfortunately most home stores only offer 30 mA devices.

There are 15 mA miniature RCCBs (for dedicated lines), but harder to find.

Adjustable devices for the main circuitry are quite common in the home stores.

Edited January 19, 2015 by KhunBENQ

[KhunBENQ]

Always best to have both systems in place.

Exactly worth the few hundred Baht.

The grounding of the critical devices is often very poor (far from following norms).

Likely the normal line breaker would not be tripped in case of fault (needs 30 A e.g.).

With an RCCB even a poor grounding could trip in case of fault (contact with housing etc.).

[billphillips]

My consumer unit at home. Built in circuit breaker, RCCB and line trips. The green wires at the top are for the two electric showers and then on to the 2m Earth rod. The rod was driven into ground that is normally wet or moist, in this case between the waste water and the crap tank!

Earth rods are not efficient in dry soil.

The RCCB is adjustable from 5 to 30 mA. Incandescent bulbs DO trip the RCCB when they blow, for sure, no doubt, no lies or anything else. Perhaps it's because it's set on 10 mA. My wife also received a shock that caused her to drop the aged extension lead and grumble about having to walk 40m to go and reset the trip.

Edited January 19, 2015 by billphillips

[IMHO]

My consumer unit at home. Built in circuit breaker, RCCB and line trips. The green wires at the top are for the two electric showers and then on to the 2m Earth rod. The rod was driven into ground that is normally wet or moist, in this case between the waste water and the crap tank!

Earth rods are not efficient in dry soil.

The RCCB is adjustable from 5 to 30 mA. Incandescent bulbs DO trip the RCCB when they blow, for sure, no doubt, no lies or anything else. Perhaps it's because it's set on 10 mA. My wife also received a shock that caused her to drop the aged extension lead and grumble about having to walk 40m to go and reset the trip.

ImageUploadedByThaivisa Connect Thailand1421644235.687120.jpg

Yep, all mine have been replaced with 10mA units now. Outdoor lighting circuits do trip from time to time as a result though, so they now have their own RCD breakers, so we don't lose power the whole consumer unit.

[tmaker]

asked my Electrical Dept head ( not a Local , so , not gonna worry about " no problem " !! ...lol ) and he's gonna make time to look into my house.

some problems solved.

later will what needs to be done.

Edited January 20, 2015 by tmaker