Plugs often too loose for power boards etc.

[LindaLovelace]

Thailand poised to get into hi speed trains, has never been able to make a male electric plug that will fit, safely

into any female socket. They are either too loose, too tight, configured wrong so I now have 12 extensions and if one

doesn't fit, another will. Don't bother trying to bend the male prongs to fit as they did design them to break off at the first warning of improvement !

Yeah, and shall we discuss the lack of taper threads on all the plumbing parts??? Jesus. You would think that as a "developing nation" Thailand would come up to speed on some of this.

[xerostar]

I too find plugs falling out of sockets, melted and burnt plastic due to poor connections is very common and annoying.

Try reconnecting an amplifier when the plug is loose fitting - the booming static noise drives me nuts!

Not to be outdone by the importers of American & English plugs etc, I imported all-Australian power outlets, plugs and sockets

and replaced the shonky Thai equipment throughout the house.

Of course all appliances have to have the plug replaced with an Australian type and in many cases the cable needs to be replaced with a 3 core variety.

Australian plugs stay plugged in properly and never give a problem. They all have 3 pins and provide for an earth wire connection.

The connections on the back of the power outlets can take very thick wires and are fixed in place with heavy duty screws.

They also have color coding which makes it nearly impossible to make an incorrect connection (unless you're color-blind).

I use an electronic live-wire detector that immediately identifies which wire is live before shutting off the power to do the connections.

With the haphazard use of "any color will do" Thai wiring, one can never be sure which one is "live".

When checking the wiring of our instant HWS, I was astonished to find the "chang fai far" had used Green as his choice for "live".

In Australia Green wires are strictly reserved for Earth only.

The Thai gear you find at most hardware stores is such poor quality. The plastic is very thin and very brittle. I'm sure it's made by a low quality toy factory.

Below is a photo which I took of the make-shift connection which I discovered was being used by the workers to connect the cement mixer.

This, all the while children played nearby !

I went to the local hardware store but could not find a worthy replacement for the original plug. Nothing that would take heavy duty wires like this..

I think the reel had been left out in the rain and water had caused a short and the original loose plug had melted.

.

[LindaLovelace]

For those of you that have not been there, Crossy has a great website on electrical in Thailand (thank you very much!). Here's a link to the section on extention cords, power strips, etc.; it's a good read: http://www.crossy.co.uk/wiring/plugs.html

Here's what Crossy has to say about polarity (which some think is irrelevant):

Extension Cords (leads) are often neglected when it comes to safety. Many people die as a result of improperly connected Extension Cord plugs & sockets. This is primarily due to the ‘Polarity’ of the Active & Neutral conductors being connected wrongly at the socket (female) & the plug (male) ends of the cord. The connection of such plugs & sockets to an extension cord must follow suit with the Power Point to which they are connected. That is, Active must connect with Active, Neutral with Neutral & earth is self explanatory, with regard to the outlet that the extension cord is plugged into.

Thais seem to ignore this.

I also think I saw somewhere on Crossy's site that many of the power strips that have three prong plugs and receptacles, often do not have the ground connected inside. So no ground, despite outward appearances. They also often have the polarity reversed. Before I built my house, and I needed these things, I started taking my multimeter with me to check for ground continuity and polarity. One time I was at Lotus and tested 14 of them before I found one that was wired correctly! This stuff can kill you.

[thailandforumaddict]

Hard to find good plugs even at homeworks or homepro.

Often even the expensive ones are shit.

Cheap Chinese plugs sold in EU are a lot better than any expensive plug here.

[dotpoom]

I use one of these, just took the pic. now, sorry about the quality.

[PETERTHEEATER]

Ten years ago when I moved into a new build house I bought an imported dishwasher which had a Schuko 3 pin moulded plug on the power cable. I got the house electrician to install a proper Schuko socket (receptacle) in the wall and grounded.

A year later a visitor told me he had got a shock from the diswasher when he touched it. I have 20mm hardwood floors which are a good insulator so checked the dishwasher and got a 'tingle'. Pulled it out, checked the plug and found that the ground pin had been forceably removed by snapping off leaving the broken stub inside.

Called the electrician back and showed and received the classic reply 'No need Thailand' I checked the electric oven, same but the gas hob ignition input was as installed was grounded.

[bankruatsteve]

Uhm, I'm thinking Schuko plugs don't have a ground pin. (?) Maybe your "ground" is not as grounded as it should be. (?)

[LindaLovelace]

Ten years ago when I moved into a new build house I bought an imported dishwasher which had a Schuko 3 pin moulded plug on the power cable. I got the house electrician to install a proper Schuko socket (receptacle) in the wall and grounded.

A year later a visitor told me he had got a shock from the diswasher when he touched it. I have 20mm hardwood floors which are a good insulator so checked the dishwasher and got a 'tingle'. Pulled it out, checked the plug and found that the ground pin had been forceably removed by snapping off leaving the broken stub inside.

Called the electrician back and showed and received the classic reply 'No need Thailand' I checked the electric oven, same but the gas hob ignition input was as installed was grounded.

This is precisely why I do ALL my own wiring and installations. I don't trust any of these so called Thai "electricians," none of them. The fact is, compared to where most of us come from, there are no electricians in Thailand. If some guy from your home country who knew nothing about electricity woke up one morning and decided to be an electrician, would you trust him to wire your house? How about if he had 6 months "training" from some other guy that knew how to twist wires together, but had no basic understanding of electricity? Would you trust him then?

Also, in theory that dishwasher should have been properly insulated so that you could not be shocked by touching the housing. But it should be a lesson for anyone who thinks polarity is unimportant just because he has AC electricity. Will the AC appliance run fine with polarity reversed? Sure it will. Might you get shocked by touching the housing when the polarity is reversed. Yes you may, as happened here. I can almost guarantee that in addition to no ground, Petertheeater's dishwasher also had the polarity reversed.

[LindaLovelace]

Uhm, I'm thinking Schuko plugs don't have a ground pin. (?) Maybe your "ground" is not as grounded as it should be. (?)

He probably had one of those new bastardized "Schuko" plugs with the ground pin (from Crossy's site, link above).

When the Thai "Electrician" said no need in Thailand," Petertheeater should have given him a good hard slap across the face and kicked his ass out of the house with no pay.

[IMHO]

Uhm, I'm thinking Schuko plugs don't have a ground pin. (?) Maybe your "ground" is not as grounded as it should be. (?)

He probably had one of those new bastardized "Schuko" plugs with the ground pin (from Crossy's site, link above).

When the Thai "Electrician" said no need in Thailand," Petertheeater should have given him a good hard slap across the face and kicked his ass out of the house with no pay.

Those aren't "new bastardized schuko sockets" - they're French sockets - have you people never travelled? (j/k)

The plug you posted a photo of is a Thai standards 3 pin - very rare to find indeed I've only seen Hitachi appliances with them.

[KhunBENQ]

Those aren't "new bastardized schuko sockets" - they're French sockets - have you people never travelled? (j/k)

The plug you posted a photo of is a Thai standards 3 pin - very rare to find indeed I've only seen Hitachi appliances with them.

And on our Samsung washing machine

BTW: is Thailand world leader in the number of different electrical sockets/plugs?

I really have problems to think about all the stuff that I have seen here.

A complete mess if you ask me.

[KhunBENQ]

Whenever you think you have seen all:

Round pins, half metalized with constant diameter!
Where do I find these???

Here:

http://www.muangfaifa.com/product/100/%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%B1%E0%B9%8A%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%9C%E0%B8%B9%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%82%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%A1-vena

25 Baht a piece.

[Bcgardener]

Ten years ago when I moved into a new build house I bought an imported dishwasher which had a Schuko 3 pin moulded plug on the power cable. I got the house electrician to install a proper Schuko socket (receptacle) in the wall and grounded.

A year later a visitor told me he had got a shock from the diswasher when he touched it. I have 20mm hardwood floors which are a good insulator so checked the dishwasher and got a 'tingle'. Pulled it out, checked the plug and found that the ground pin had been forceably removed by snapping off leaving the broken stub inside.

Called the electrician back and showed and received the classic reply 'No need Thailand' I checked the electric oven, same but the gas hob ignition input was as installed was grounded.

This is precisely why I do ALL my own wiring and installations. I don't trust any of these so called Thai "electricians," none of them. The fact is, compared to where most of us come from, there are no electricians in Thailand. If some guy from your home country who knew nothing about electricity woke up one morning and decided to be an electrician, would you trust him to wire your house? How about if he had 6 months "training" from some other guy that knew how to twist wires together, but had no basic understanding of electricity? Would you trust him then?

Also, in theory that dishwasher should have been properly insulated so that you could not be shocked by touching the housing. But it should be a lesson for anyone who thinks polarity is unimportant just because he has AC electricity. Will the AC appliance run fine with polarity reversed? Sure it will. Might you get shocked by touching the housing when the polarity is reversed. Yes you may, as happened here. I can almost guarantee that in addition to no ground, Petertheeater's dishwasher also had the polarity reversed.

There are good electricians in Thailand with formal training in electrical theory. I have two working for me. You just won't find any of them wiring houses for a living.

[Crossy]

There are good electricians in Thailand with formal training in electrical theory. I have two working for me. You just won't find any of them wiring houses for a living.

Yup, they are out there, earning (relative) pots on the mega-projects and O&G.

[wpcoe]

Uhm, I'm thinking Schuko plugs don't have a ground pin. (?) Maybe your "ground" is not as grounded as it should be. (?)

He probably had one of those new bastardized "Schuko" plugs with the ground pin (from Crossy's site, link above).

When the Thai "Electrician" said no need in Thailand," Petertheeater should have given him a good hard slap across the face and kicked his ass out of the house with no pay.

Those aren't "new bastardized schuko sockets" - they're French sockets - have you people never travelled? (j/k)

The plug you posted a photo of is a Thai standards 3 pin - very rare to find indeed I've only seen Hitachi appliances with them.

Indeed, I've read these are the new Thai standard 3-pin plugs. The pins are close enough to being equidistant that it is possible to accidentally get two of the wrong prongs in the live/neutral receptacle holes to blow out a brand new microwave oven. Guess how I know.

[LindaLovelace]

There are good electricians in Thailand with formal training in electrical theory. I have two working for me. You just won't find any of them wiring houses for a living.

Yup, they are out there, earning (relative) pots on the mega-projects and O&G.

My Thai brother-in-law (the nicest and most good-hearted guy you could meet) earned a BS degree in physics at Chiangmai University, then earned a masters in electrical engineering at some university in Bangkok. He decided that his mom's and dad's house (where I now live until my house is finished, but did not back then) needed a Safe-T-Cut, and installed it for them. But there was not a single ground wire in the hose.

Then I moved in and installed a ground rod and some grounded circuits. At one point when he was visiting, I was [stupidly] replacing a light switch with the circuit hot. I zapped myself and let out a whoop. I had created a direct short through my body. he could not understand why the Safe-T-Cut failed and he turned down the sensitivity. I tried to explain that there was no "ground fault" involved. He just didn't get it. This guy is intelligent. too.

It leaves me just not knowing what to think. Here he is with a masters degree in electrical engineering and doesn't seem to understand a simple device like a Safe-T-Cut. Even though I put in a grounded circuit for an air conditioner he wanted to install for his mom and dad, he never bothered to connect the ground.

Well lucky for me I am a lawyer. We know everything.

[sandyf]

After lots of problems with Thai electrical connectors, I ended up bringing extension strips from the UK and lots of plugs. Then I get one of the good quality (but extremely ugly) DIY Thai plugs (actually a USA type) and leave them plugged into the wall permanently. Then I changed the plugs on most things in the house to the UK type.

The English style are the best IMHO : never come loose or fall out and always make a reliable contact. The plugs themselves look nice, are cheap, are earthed and are individually fused.

The Schukos are second best - but you need a bulky and ugly socket if you want it to connect ground. They look like they are designed to accept a ground pin (screwed in) but I can't find any anywhere.

I like the English style plugs (like them a lot), but I had to cut them off all the power tools I imported from the UK, because they don't fit the wall receptacles here. Can't say for sure, but do not think I have ever seen the receptacles sold here. And if you did wire your house with them, nothing else would fit.

The so called "American style" plugs y (two blades, or two blades and pin) sold here are totally junk. You would never find that kind of trash in the States as it would never pass inspection. And ALL two blade US plugs are polarized (one small and one wider), so polarity is always correct (assuming you wired your own receptacles, which I did).

I brought my washing machine from the UK so I changed the wall socket to this type which will accept the UK plug. Readily available in the Thai stores.

[Crossy]

Everything and more that you could ever want to know about plugs and sockets http://fam-oud.nl/~plugsocket/Overview.html

The TIS-166 2549 plug shouldn't go in offset unless the socket is really cheap or worn (evidently it is possible).

[Crossy]

I brought my washing machine from the UK so I changed the wall socket to this type which will accept the UK plug. Readily available in the Thai stores.

How is the outlet holding up with the load from the washer? Many of these 'universal' outlets have minuscule contact areas and can run hot when heavily loaded.

If you really want to use UK BS-1363 plugs and sockets get proper ones next time you're in Malaysia, Singapore or Hong Kong where they are standard.

[wpcoe]

The TIS-166 2549 plug shouldn't go in offset unless the socket is really cheap or worn (evidently it is possible).

I was fumbling with the plug, inserting it into the outlet behind the microwave oven. Enough of the tips of two prongs (one of which was the ground prong) made contact with live/neutral contacts in the outlet to make trouble. The outlet was only a couple years old, and not a particularly cheap one.

[LindaLovelace]

You just can't go wrong with these! Solid! Correct polarity! Grounded! Only one way to plug it in -- the right way.

[Crossy]

The TIS-166 2549 plug shouldn't go in offset unless the socket is really cheap or worn (evidently it is possible).

I was fumbling with the plug, inserting it into the outlet behind the microwave oven. Enough of the tips of two prongs (one of which was the ground prong) made contact with live/neutral contacts in the outlet to make trouble. The outlet was only a couple years old, and not a particularly cheap one.

Yeah, I can see how that happened, the contacts are not particularly deeply recessed and most outlets are not fitted with shutters.

[sandyf]

I brought my washing machine from the UK so I changed the wall socket to this type which will accept the UK plug. Readily available in the Thai stores.

How is the outlet holding up with the load from the washer? Many of these 'universal' outlets have minuscule contact areas and can run hot when heavily loaded.

If you really want to use UK BS-1363 plugs and sockets get proper ones next time you're in Malaysia, Singapore or Hong Kong where they are standard.

It is not a problem. With a UK plug inserted the contact area is as good if not better than a normal UK socket. Where the universals fall down is with 2 pin plugs, particularly the flats. The other problem is the quality of the contact material so if the plug is pushed in and out a lot they can deteriorate quite rapidly. I doubt if I have pulled the washing machine plug more than 3 times in the last 5 years.

I do have some UK sockets I brought over but they do not fit the Thai boxes very well. I have a couple of UK plug in timer sockets and have fitted one to the waste water pump and had to do a surface mounting arrangement.

[xerostar]

Another example of the brilliant logic demonstrated my a "chang fai far".

I had purchased a split system air conditioning unit. I installed it myself and wired it up with a slighty heavier duty cable to the compressor unit. I told my TW to call the air con guy to do the final gas connection and top up refrigerant as required. When he turned up, he became agitated and said the heavy duty wire should go to the evaporator unit and proceeded to replace the wiring I had done, with a lighter guage wire to the compressor. No amount of argument could convince him that he was wrong. In hindsight I think he didn't like me doing an excellent installation and wanted somehow to belittle my efforts in front of my wife. When he switched it on of course it worked fine as I had anticipated. He seemed so proud, as if to say "see - Thai know better than Falang!" He was a big bully macho type. In the end I just walked away and ignored him and let him have his little victory.

[LindaLovelace]

Another example of the brilliant logic demonstrated my a "chang fai far".

I had purchased a split system air conditioning unit. I installed it myself and wired it up with a slighty heavier duty cable to the compressor unit. I told my TW to call the air con guy to do the final gas connection and top up refrigerant as required. When he turned up, he became agitated and said the heavy duty wire should go to the evaporator unit and proceeded to replace the wiring I had done, with a lighter guage wire to the compressor. No amount of argument could convince him that he was wrong. In hindsight I think he didn't like me doing an excellent installation and wanted somehow to belittle my efforts in front of my wife. When he switched it on of course it worked fine as I had anticipated. He seemed so proud, as if to say "see - Thai know better than Falang!" He was a big bully macho type. In the end I just walked away and ignored him and let him have his little victory.

I hate stories like this. Why didn't you tell him to go f@%$#k himself, and get out of your house. You should have found somebody else. Who's the boss, anyway?

[xerostar]

Well when you don't speak Thai ...it's a bit difficult. My main concern was to get cool.

Most people advise not to continue arguing with a Thai as it can lead to more trouble.

In this case I thought "discretion is the better part of valour"

[Anon999]

If there's something I really need that only has a 2 pin plug and has a 3 core cable, usually an import, then I cut the plug off and fit a 3 pin UK plug. My Siemens washing machine. and dishwasher both had vandalised plugs on delivery. International sockets that cater for most types of 2 and 3 pin plugs are readily available in major DIY and electrical stores.

[LindaLovelace]

Well when you don't speak Thai ...it's a bit difficult. My main concern was to get cool.

Most people advise not to continue arguing with a Thai as it can lead to more trouble.

In this case I thought "discretion is the better part of valour"

Oh nevermind. You are probably right.

[manarak]

what a funny discussion, three pages already.

how about just replacing any female or male plugs with the type you want?

[Crossy]

what a funny discussion, three pages already.

how about just replacing any female or male plugs with the type you want?

Good innit?

Many of the 'thin' plugs are on power blocks (wall warts) which cannot be replaced.

The whole issue with the plethora of plugs being supplied with equipment is a major problem which nobody is really trying to address.