Need Electrician in Mae Rim area

[T_Dog]

Please PM me or post here if you know of a good electrician in the Mae Rim area that is capable of reading a voltmeter. (In other words, more than just a wire puller.)

Just determined this morning that the Line and Neutral coming into the rental house are reversed which is a dangerous situation to have. (230 volts AC from neutral to a ground probe.) Earth line in the house is also not connected to a ground rod anywhere so it just floats at whatever voltage based on appliances plugged in. I would correct it all myself but the wires from the meter are in a position difficult to manage and it's a rental.

[Dante99]

PM sent.

[worgeordie]

Sent you message

regards Worgeordie

[T_Dog]

Bit more information for those interested. Got a good fellow from Dante's recommendation coming tomorrow so hoping this will be resolved soon. Some more background:

The incoming lines from the meter, as referenced to ground should be 230 VAC (LINE) and zero VAC (NEUTRAL) . I have verified this is the case at our place with the incoming cable from the meter. The NEUTRAL is tied to ground back at the transformer, and also at neighboring houses that have a N-Ground tie in the box used with an effective ground rod which is the preferred method.

The Incoming LINE at our house is wrongly connected through the main breaker to the house neutral bar in the main breaker box. The incoming NEUTRAL line is connected to the main breaker LINE connection which then goes to all the individual circuit breakers. Our house also has 3 terminal receptacles, but the ground line terminates in the main breaker box with no connection to an earth rod. In other words, the INCOMING WIRES from the meter are reversed at the main double pole breaker. Luckily, there is no NEUTRAL-to-ground tie in the consumer unit box.

This reversal of those incoming connections is dangerous because:

-If you turn off all the individual circuit breakers, the house "neutral" wiring is still connected to the Incoming LINE 230 VAC as referenced to the earth. Only switching off the main breaker removes dangerous potential from the house which could be lethal to anyone working on the wiring.

-Every outlet in the house has the LINE and NEUTRAL connections reversed.

-All lighting circuits and bulbs with switches turned off sit at LINE voltage, not zero volts AC. (This will cause fluorescent lights to glow slightly in some cases as in our bedroom.)

-If you expect the NEUTRAL bar in the breaker box to be zero volts AC, you will be in for a surprise.

Simple solution is to just switch the incoming lines to make them correct, and to install an effective and connected ground rod. We have already had one electrician look at it and said Mai Pen Rai, all is fine. Got another recommendation from here on TV coming tomorrow. As I said earlier, I would do this myself but being a rental, and seeing how poorly routed the incoming cable is at this point, I would rather leave it up to someone else. The wiring in the consumer breaker box is an ugly mess, with telephone lines spiced in there as well.

Edited June 2, 2015 by T_Dog

[cloudhopper]

"Every outlet in the house has the LINE and NEUTRAL connections reversed. "

Very common here in Thailand I'm afraid.

[MartinBKK]

Looking for an electrician in the Sansai area. I have about 5 things that need doing possibly a days work.

[mcm991]

Speaking of getting wires mixed ......

does anyone know where to buy one of those testers that plug into the power socket and let you know with 3 led lights what is wrong with the wires?

I had one but someone borrowed it and I never got it back.

[cooper2111]

I have a good guy if you want to pm me ... speaks only thai though - happy to help

[T_Dog]

Thanks all and things are good now. The guys didn't want to tackle the tight routes at the main breaker either so they swapped the NYT wires at the meter. Not much of a color code (grey and light grey) on that cable so no issues there. They also put in an earth rod and I've checked things out and all looks good. Nice to not see the bedroom light glowing and flickering all night long!

[jj79]

Hi T_Dog I am due to be renovating a condo soon and want a reputable electrician to oversee the electrical installation. I want to ensure that the unit is properly earthed. Do you think the guys you used would be up to the task. IF so could you please PM me some info jamesjacobs79 at gmail.com