Please Check If Your Water heater Is Grounded, Or Earthed....

[lostinisaan]

Hello and Sawasdee khrap,

I had a faulty water heater in our house where we lived before and the Electrician who did the installation told me that it was grounded.

Okay, a 2.5 mm black/yellow cable was connected to the unit, but i couldn't see where they attached it to. Then I've heard from my wife that "smoke came out of the unit" ( holy shit), when she showered. Switched the main switch outside off and told my wife and at this time 15 year old son not to use hot water.

Then I wanted to know what went wrong and took a plate at the ceiling off and was shocked. The ground wire, or earth was connected to a screw where a plate from the roof was attached.

Then came the flood and the issue was gone with it.

When we finally found a nice place to stay,there're two water heaters installed, both grounded. One didn't work, so I just put the one we had in my old house in, connected all three wires and thought it would be okay. The other unit was connected( grounded) as well and the wire went down into the ground.

Then the wake up call. The unit stopped working and I checked on it. It turned out that the beaker was out and the ground wire was just inside the floor, not even attached to anything.

We needed some electricians anyway to get the aircons cleaned and running again. I told the guy to ground the unit, then finally asked him to check the second unit in the bathroom of our master bedroom.

I couldn't believe my eyes and I saw the same shit. The ground cable connected to a screw that's holing a part of the roof?

We paid 400 baht for each unit, they did a proper job and put a piece of steel about 50 cm into the floor outside and connected the wire.

I think that such important things are not really considered as dangerous in this country. How did you ground your water heaters?

I'll post a photo tomorrow, just found out that the camera's battery needs to be charged.

Any useful input is deeply appreciated. All I want is safety and just thinking about the horror stories what happened to people in this country, even when staying at hotels, scares me.

Thanks a lot in advance for your sincere thoughts. .

[happynthailand]

most water heaters in Thailand are not grounded,as they only use "2" wire electic cable,

when we moved into our house,paid extra to have "3" wire cable installed in the whole house,with 2 grouding rods

[moojar]

most water heaters in Thailand are not grounded,as they only use "2" wire electic cable,

when we moved into our house,paid extra to have "3" wire cable installed in the whole house,with 2 grouding rods

Friends in Bangkok did that. But when we were later getting tingles off their toaster they called in an electrician, who found that either a rod was never inserted into the ground, or it was and nothing was ever connected to it. (I forget which it was.)

Which is quite frightening to think about - anyone without the right knowledge just has to trust the Thai "tradesman". And we know you cannot do that.

[KhunBENQ]

most water heaters in Thailand are not grounded,as they only use "2" wire electic cable,

when we moved into our house,paid extra to have "3" wire cable installed in the whole house,with 2 grouding rods

You mix up something here.

Yes they only use a single phase two wire supply.

BUT they have a big ordinary screw mount at the copper heating unit and clearly labeled that this has to be grounded.

I know these installations, they are a joke if you look at them as a protective earth.

Fortunately all the heaters are equipped with additional protection.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residual-current_device

The weak "earthings" will of course not be capable to protect by carrying a current high enough to trip the line breaker, but good enough to trip these "RCCBs".

Even without earthing they should trip but give you a quite hefty shock (up to 30 ms).

These RCCB have a test button that you should use from time to time to see whether the device is still working OK.

But as the topic starter mentioned: get a proper earthing with "earth stick".

It does not cost a fortune.

Edited June 4, 2015 by KhunBENQ

[DILLIGAD]

Grounding rods should NOT be made of steel (that rusts away). Proper "grounding kits" are available in good shops with copper grounding rods.

2nd thought on the subject. Each electric shower unit should have the correct strength wire going uninterrupted straight to Consumer Unit. Many Thai houses ago, mine were wired into the lighting with "falsely" labelled RCD"s !!!!

Stay safe, as water & electricity is a dangerous cocktail

Good post Seaman L in Isaan ! 555

Edited June 4, 2015 by DILLIGAD

[F4UCorsair]

'Proper' grounding rods are steel sheathed in copper, steel so that it doesn't bend when driven into the ground, and copper for good conductivity.

[Assurancetourix]

Why you don't use a gaz water heater as we can see in the provinces of north Thailand ?

Now, I believe we can find some everywhere in Thailand;

and no need electric wire, they have a battery inside .

http://www.mazuma.co.th/product-category/lpg-water-heater/

[lostinisaan]

most water heaters in Thailand are not grounded,as they only use "2" wire electic cable,

when we moved into our house,paid extra to have "3" wire cable installed in the whole house,with 2 grouding rods

You mix up something here.

Yes they only use a single phase two wire supply.

BUT they have a big ordinary screw mount at the copper heating unit and clearly labeled that this has to be grounded.

I know these installations, they are a joke if you look at them as a protective earth.

Fortunately all the heaters are equipped with additional protection.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residual-current_device

The weak "earthings" will of course not be capable to protect by carrying a current high enough to trip the line breaker, but good enough to trip these "RCCBs".

Even without earthing they should trip but give you a quite hefty shock (up to 30 ms).

These RCCB have a test button that you should use from time to time to see whether the device is still working OK.

But as the topic starter mentioned: get a proper earthing with "earth stick".

It does not cost a fortune.

Thanks for the information. We paid only 400 baht per unit, including material and labor. Even 30 ms would BBQ my artificial knee joint....

It's so damn easy to do that at a house we're living in, but how can you do that when living in fourth floor, or so? I mean does the length of the wire have something to do with the functionality?\

I think the guy took a 2.5 mm wire, the "earth stick" ( what a funny word) is about twenty five cm in the ground. Does that make sense to you?

Thanks a lot for your time and consideration.

[lostinisaan]

Grounding rods should NOT be made of steel (that rusts away). Proper "grounding kits" are available in good shops with copper grounding rods.

2nd thought on the subject. Each electric shower unit should have the correct strength wire going uninterrupted straight to Consumer Unit. Many Thai houses ago, mine were wired into the lighting with "falsely" labelled RCD"s !!!!

Stay safe, as water & electricity is a dangerous cocktail

Good post Seaman L in Isaan ! 555

Does a 2.5 mm wire do the trick? Theoretically, could I just add our washing machine to one point, Mr Electrician?

BTW, we decided to sell our yellow submarine, are you interested? In the land where i was born, lived a man, who sailed the sea...

Glad that you finally figured out that it's not spelled insane.....

Next flood coming soon, when you think about these damn dam guys from Phoosing and Khun haan and their non existing IQ. ( Not measurable)

[ubonjoe]

If you can get your hands on a hammer (impact) drill just get the ground rod started a bit and then chuck up the rod into the the drill then let the drill do the work. Works great.

[lostinisaan]

Chum,

The wall switch can be easily replaced by a trip switch, has the same dimensions etc. You can fit one that detects earth but does not have an earth fitted to it. Bash a 2 mitre rod into the ground and fit a stout wire to it and the unit for earth...I did it at my place...

Thanks mate. I told the guy to drill at least one meter, but it seems it's only 30 to 40 cm deep now.

Will try to get the right tool and do it by my own, then I know it's done. Can't trust these guys.... thanks a lot and regards to the Misses.

P.S> Should I find oil, I'll need a little loan to buy the house, okay? Lol.-

Edited June 4, 2015 by lostinisaan

[puchooay]

The best solution would be to stop worrying about hot water showers, especially in this heat. I have never had a water heater an don't miss it.

[DILLIGAD]

Grounding rods should NOT be made of steel (that rusts away). Proper "grounding kits" are available in good shops with copper grounding rods.

2nd thought on the subject. Each electric shower unit should have the correct strength wire going uninterrupted straight to Consumer Unit. Many Thai houses ago, mine were wired into the lighting with "falsely" labelled RCD"s !!!!

Stay safe, as water & electricity is a dangerous cocktail

Good post Seaman L in Isaan ! 555

Does a 2.5 mm wire do the trick? Theoretically, could I just add our washing machine to one point, Mr Electrician?

BTW, we decided to sell our yellow submarine, are you interested? In the land where i was born, lived a man, who sailed the sea...

Glad that you finally figured out that it's not spelled insane.....

Next flood coming soon, when you think about these damn dam guys from Phoosing and Khun haan and their non existing IQ. ( Not measurable)

Never been an electrician, only a heating& plumbing engineer.

Can I pay you in Leo for the sub? Is it I an Octopuses Garden?

[Issanman]

Picture copied from a previous posting on TV about grounding:

[tom21]

good picture

[luxoretired]

one point i have not seen is that the ground rod needs to "ground " as when its dry it will not work .putting a rod in the middle of a concrete slab is fatal as its not grounding when dry .normal good practice is to put it where the aircon condensation pipe emptys therefore the ground will always be moist.in the normal world this earth rod is measured with a resistace set "megger" to ensure your safety.

[lostinisaan]

Picture copied from a previous posting on TV about grounding:

Holy Shit!!!!!!!!!!!! Please excuse my language. Just looking at the water cooler on the left seems to be made by the same company, with the same proper grounding.

The ground one of the water cooler at my school isn't even connected to a can.....

I've seen this photo now at least twice, but never thought about the dangerous thing at my school for grade one kids.

Good to find such things out just by looking at some photos here. makes perfect sense to me. There's up to 245 volts and the right amount of Ampere usually does the trick. Will be grounded on Monday.

[Neeranam]

I've been electrocuted a few times in Thailand and although got a 'shock' was not as serious as back in the UK.

Probably as the current is lower.

Now I have a 1.5m grounding rod.

[lostinisaan]

I've been electrocuted a few times in Thailand and although got a 'shock' was not as serious as back in the UK.

Probably as the current is lower.

Now I have a 1.5m grounding rod.

I'm glad that nothing happened to my wife and son, when smoke came out of he unit and it wasn't grounded.

Life's too short......