has anyone else had so much bad luck with electrical items

[westom]

hmmmm .... so long as it's only my power that stinks.

Even dirty power is made irrelevant by protection routinely found inside all appliances. If power is so dirty as to also overwhelm that protection, well, the problem must be defined long before discussing a solution.

For example, do incandescent bulbs change intensity when other appliances power cycle? If yes, then how? Such facts are essential to first define the problem.

Ideal power for any electronics is even bulbs dimming to 50% intensity or brightening by as much as double. That would be a major wiring problem that is probably also a human safety issue. An example of how to provide your help with information so that replies are useful.

Best evidence is a dead body. You are strongly enouraged to have those dead items autospied by someone who is electrically informed. Often repairmen or utility linemen have insufficient knowledge to do such analysis.

With that many failures, I would firstmost be concerned for a potential human safety issue that has not yet reared its ugly head.

[xen]

Any appliance with OTTO written on it .

[Crossy]

check the label for power input, many items do not work well on the 220 to 240 v thai system

Unless you're talking about what happens when you plug a 110V appliance into a Thai outlet you're going to have to qualify that statement. The vast majority of the 50Hz world is 220-240V so appliances are designed to operate correctly between around 200 and 260V.

There are of course exceptions, parts of Japan are 200V and the Philippines is 220V 60Hz.

Over the years we've not had much kit that's failed electrically, it's invariably plastic mouldings that break or water containers that don't. If something stops, I take the lid off, if I can't fix it in 30 mins it goes in the recycle pile and a new one is purchased.

Even TVs go that way (although they go via the repair chap), we had a TCL (cheap Chinese) set go pop (gekko in the power supply), the repair was going to cost 75% of a new TV. Bought a Sharp and the repair man has spares for a 32" TCL (except the power supply).

[IMHO]

I cannot compete - the only thing I do is replace a lightbulb every year or so.

I do notice that the vast majority of the OP's list is lacking a brand name though - nothing in my house does

I'd like to suggest the OP has mains power issues, but given that most of the products mentioned are likely old (ref: floppy disk), cheap, generic junk, they become the prime suspects

[attrayant]

I do notice that the vast majority of the OP's list is lacking a brand name though - nothing in my house does

Yes there's a reason gray market electronics are so inexpensive.

Whenever I go to Big C looking for something simnple as a mouse or keyboard, I am instantly put off by the cheapness of the no-names and end up buying the brand name (Logitech, Kingston or Microsoft).

[ignis]

Not at all sure Brand names has anything to do with anything failing....

I have had very good Brand names fail very fast, others classed as bad Brand names last forever..

In UK I bought a cheap Chinese washing machine in 1991, it is still in everyday use in the UK... my 2001 Sony Laptop still works, OK the screen went a few years ago, but use it connected to a TV to watch IPTV, so say a bad Brand Acer, the 2nd Laptop is from 2007, used most days nothing wrong with it, never been repaired [of course very slow compared to my up-to-date 16 MB Ram, 8 core PC AMD]

So LG good or bad name ? TV 2004 the 42" lasted 2 years, present TV's have 2 Panasonic Plasma's from 2006 never a problem, the 32" Philips used as my Monitor is some years old but fine, LG Washing machine nothing but problems and constant repairs, bought a Electrolux what a load of rubbish totally failed at 13 months.. Use often my Kenwood electric hand mixer is over 22 years old, the big Kenwood mixer machine is 11 years old. the no name cheap Juicer used often still fine 11 years on. as already said before what a load of junk Bosch is..

OK this is about electrical items, but have bought other things costing over 100 baht or more, that have broken within weeks/months yet same sort of things from the 20 baht shop that last years

and so the list can go on, just appear to be pot luck if something lasts or not.

[LindaLovelace]

I installed seven expensive Compass East ceiling fans with remotes.

Three of the seven remotes failed during the first year. Compass East says only six month warranty on remotes, so too bad for me. With that failure rate, I figure it is only a matter of time until the other four go out. Compass East offered to replace them for 1,000 baht each. I told them to feckoff.

Yeh, this is typical here. It is the reason I import a lot. Importing costs more, but the stuff is reliable and I don't want the headache of dealing with all the junk.

No consumer protection here, for one thing.

Edit: With all the blame on dirty power, I'll add this. It is a new house. I don't even live in it yet. Those Compass East fans have master switches on the wall and are switched off when not in use, which is just about always -- so no surge or dirty power issues when off, which is just about all the time. Is there an echo in here?

I have a Schneider whole house surge protector that should offer some protection for electronic devices when switched on.

All I can say is that in the US I had ceiling fans with remotes that were still running strong after 20 years with no repairs. This Compass East shit had almost zero useage on it when it went out. Garbage; just garbage. They are big on pushing their ten year motor warranty, but who will get to use that if everything else falls apart first? They do not stand behind their products, and their warranties are illusory.

Edited June 5, 2015 by LindaLovelace

[ignis]

I do notice that the vast majority of the OP's list is lacking a brand name though - nothing in my house does

Yes there's a reason gray market electronics are so inexpensive.

Whenever I go to Big C looking for something simnple as a mouse or keyboard, I am instantly put off by the cheapness of the no-names and end up buying the brand name (Logitech, Kingston or Microsoft).

You call those good name Brands ?? dear me, you maybe paying extra just for the name, to me they last no longer than the cheap ones...

Both $soft and Logitech mouse and keyboards have failed very fast.

Maybe next keyboard and Mouse for me will be what other have said [in other topics] are the best 'Razor' maybe paying 2 - 8,000 baht for a keyboard will be worth it ? [my present keyboard has lasted well was 6xx baht 'Anitech'] and 3 - 5,000 for a mouse, will it last my life time ?

The question is the same, pay say 600 baht every year for a new one, so in 6 years you have yet another brand new one, or pay the extra and have a very old one in 6 years time ?

[LindaLovelace]

I cannot compete - the only thing I do is replace a lightbulb every year or so.

I do notice that the vast majority of the OP's list is lacking a brand name though - nothing in my house does

I'd like to suggest the OP has mains power issues, but given that most of the products mentioned are likely old (ref: floppy disk), cheap, generic junk, they become the prime suspects

Other than my bad experience with the shysters at Compass East, I agree with the above. It seems that everytime I try to save a baht by buying a cheap no name appliance, it goes south in a couple of months.

I bought a cheap no name pump pot (for hot water) about six months ago. It had a one year warranty, but when it died two months after I bought it, I couldn't find the receipt. Then I paid 200 baht more for a Sharp and haven't had any problems. Ditto for table fans, etc.

But with the ceiling fans, I really did attempt to buy the best money could buy. Boy, what a jackass I turned out to be.

And by the way, I have been using the Logitech mouse that is in my hand right now for well over a year. It replaced two successive cheap no name mouses (mice?) that lasted 2-3 months each, then croaked. Which was more expensive in the end? Yeah, the cheap ones.

Edited June 5, 2015 by LindaLovelace

[attrayant]

Whenever I go to Big C looking for something simnple as a mouse or keyboard, I am instantly put off by the cheapness of the no-names and end up buying the brand name (Logitech, Kingston or Microsoft).

You call those good name Brands ??

Did I say they are good brands? No, I didn't. But that's what Big C has availabe.

Mind you I'm talking asbout mice and keyboards, not motherboards. If you're paying 2000-5000 baht for a mouse or keyboard just because it says "Razer" on it, well that's a topic for a different thread. Logitech and MS are perfectly serviceable and reliable brands of simple peripheral devices like mice and keyboards.

I serviced consumer electronics for more than a decade back in the 90s. Pop the covers on these brands and you can see they're reasonably well made for their price points. The cheap brands being complained about in the OP are the ones held together mainly with hot glue and vinyl tape.

Edited June 5, 2015 by attrayant

[villagefarang]

Don't know why but I have never had any problems.

[attrayant]

Don't know why but I have never had any problems.

Because no brand, regardless of how shabbily made, has a 100% failure rate. Imagine if a poorly made, low cost brand had an absolutely abismal 50% failure rate, that means half of the people who buy it are pleased that they got something that works (most of the time) for a rock-bottom price. It doesn't mean the brand isn't still crap.

There's also a lot of selection bias influencing the posts in this thread. When I used to service consumer electronics, people would ask me which brand I see come in for repairs the most often. It was always Sony, Pioneer, Kenwood (car audio), Sharp and a few others. This always left people scratching their heads. "I thought those were supposed to be the good brands!" But the reason I saw more Sony than Brand X is because Sony sells a thousand times more product than does Brand X. Even with a much lower MTBF, the brand that sells more is going to be the same brand that comes in for service more often (similar to the myth that Windows is a poorly-made o/s because it's vulnerable to more viruses than o/s x). Popularity goes hand-in-hand with perceived problems.

[joeyg]

I have spent more than my far share of time in the malls, initially out of boredom. Once I settled in to the area

I'm in I walk almost every day a good 40 minutes each way mainly for fresh produce. There is a large market just below the last stop on the BTS Bearing Station.

There is a shopping center here geared mainly for the local factory workers. The produce market outstanding. Inside the Big C

has everything from "soup to nuts" with prices competitive with Macro. However many of the electronics/appliances seem a little "chinsey" as well as some of the other "hard goods."

Overall I have found it a great place to shop. There is a limited selection of higher end electronics that look and feel more solid. I've been to the high end malls and seen some very expensive European or American products but it's only the label they are all made some where in Asia as well. Go figure...

Pound for pound dollar for dollar Big C is hard to beat...

[steven100]

Interesting comments so far ..... as for the brands, computer is Vzio , kettle was kando, DVD is xtreme, VCD I forget ... but all local brands made either in thailand or china.

The dirty power issue mentioned by posters may contribute somewhat as it goes off when there's a storm or the construction site next door caused a power failure, but I notice the fan speed is sometimes slower and the next day it will be ok ...

So I would think it's fair to say that the fact is that items made in Thailand are slapped together with cheap electronics inside as well as tacky soldering and wiring. This would affect the life time of any product. Also the power being irregular would cause some items to fail over a period of time.

[kkerry]

I've had few problems over more than 10 years here. All our televisions have survived to be handed down to others who can make use of them, currently have three LEDs going strong, various computers and laptops, monitors, fans, air-conditioners etc. etc. If going out for an extended time and it looks like there will a storm then I do what most Thais do and unplug from the wall any major items. Still using energy efficient light bulbs that are over five years old. Only lights that needed replacing so far have been two circular fluro tubes just last month and a couple of small bulbs in the range hood. Same electric jug we've used for years. Many of these items are made in Thailand.

With computers, heat has much to do with failure. I clean out the dust in my laptop every couple of months and use one of those fan stands to cool it down a little when using it. In the main desktop there is a 140mm fan blowing over the hard disks with a big dust filter that I clean weekly. Have yet to have a hard disk fail on me. Gave away my last laptop which is still going strong after about six years. I remount the CPU every couple of years with fresh thermal paste as the old stuff does lose it efficiency over time. If building your own computer avoid cheap power supplies and buy something from a reputable brand.

I don't know if it makes a difference but we have one of those safety cut switches which gets tripped every so often. My wife bought a hot pot and plugged it into a powerboard and blew it up. Turned out the power draw was more than the powerboard was rated for so couldn't really blame the appliance.

[thaibeachlovers]

check the label for power input, many items do not work well on the 220 to 240 v thai system

Unless you're talking about what happens when you plug a 110V appliance into a Thai outlet you're going to have to qualify that statement. The vast majority of the 50Hz world is 220-240V so appliances are designed to operate correctly between around 200 and 260V.

There are of course exceptions, parts of Japan are 200V and the Philippines is 220V 60Hz.

Over the years we've not had much kit that's failed electrically, it's invariably plastic mouldings that break or water containers that don't. If something stops, I take the lid off, if I can't fix it in 30 mins it goes in the recycle pile and a new one is purchased.

Even TVs go that way (although they go via the repair chap), we had a TCL (cheap Chinese) set go pop (gekko in the power supply), the repair was going to cost 75% of a new TV. Bought a Sharp and the repair man has spares for a 32" TCL (except the power supply).

In the Saudi hospital I worked in they had both 110 v and 240v ( in the same rooms ). We had to lug around transformers as the equipment was all 240v.

[EmptyHead]

Yes, sounds like the OP has bad electricity problems. I would recommend having the grounding checked in his home, and all the outlets and breaker box checked.

I can't imagine that being the problem. What would checking the breakers and earthing do?

It just sounds like poor quality crap. I have had the same problems with laptops, phones, socket outlets fans, lamps, remote controls for TV and A/C, cars, clothes, water pipes, water tanks, water taps (faucets), bum-guns (the bum cleaner things), roof tiles etc etc.

There is no quality control in Thailand - that's the problem.

[bankruatsteve]

Worked for a large international mfg company for 36 years (retired since 03) and they changed "Quality Control" to "Quality Assurance" over 40 years ago. IE: quality is not controlled - it needs to be part of the mfg process and QA should make sure that happens using statistical methods. Unfortunately, that concept has not been adapted in many SE Asia startups just greedy to make a profit. The "name" brands should have it and warranties will be honored. I have had appliances fixed/replace even outside warranted period (Electrolux and Sharp to wit). Just to say, there are many excellent products from Thailand and China as well as no QA crap. As a consumer, it's not often easy to know which brand is good but sticking to known brands is usually best.

[surangw]

check the label for power input, many items do not work well on the 220 to 240 v thai system

Unless you're talking about what happens when you plug a 110V appliance into a Thai outlet you're going to have to qualify that statement. The vast majority of the 50Hz world is 220-240V so appliances are designed to operate correctly between around 200 and 260V.

There are of course exceptions, parts of Japan are 200V and the Philippines is 220V 60Hz.

Over the years we've not had much kit that's failed electrically, it's invariably plastic mouldings that break or water containers that don't. If something stops, I take the lid off, if I can't fix it in 30 mins it goes in the recycle pile and a new one is purchased.

Even TVs go that way (although they go via the repair chap), we had a TCL (cheap Chinese) set go pop (gekko in the power supply), the repair was going to cost 75% of a new TV. Bought a Sharp and the repair man has spares for a 32" TCL (except the power supply).

some radio equipment I got from japan ( ICom r-9000 for instrance) came with the transformer tapped for 100v operation