Thai earthing system

[Kenny202]

Just moved into a new rental home. Was getting a little tingle off some of our appliances. Walked outside the other day and noticed an earth stake and a black wire broken / not connected next to it. I assumed it was only an earth for the shower hot water as I think our last home didn't have an earth.

I've reconnected the earth wire back to the stake after cleaning all the connections etc and the tingle seems to have gone away.

Do they normally earth homes here? Some outlets have an earth pin and others don't as do appliances. Even have a steel cased oven which doesn't have an earth pin. I don't get it?

[cooked]

Some apparatus 'don't need' earthing. The other thing of course, 'we don't do in Thailand'.

Edited December 11, 2015 by cooked

[Crossy]

Yes, a ground is required on new installations along with a front-end RCBO and MEN link.

Many (even new) homes still have 2-pin outlets with no earth which can lead to hazard / danger when Class-1 appliances are in use.

What sort of plug does the oven have, something like this?

Which is an earthed plug (Schuko or Euro plug) and should be used with an adaptor or the correct outlet see here http://crossy.co.uk/wiring/plugs.html

[Kenny202]

Some apparatus 'don't need' earthing. The other thing of course, 'we don't do in Thailand'.

Some items don't need earthing but a steel cased oven does

[keeniau96]

Easy enough to provide grounding for your house. Run a copper wire (single strand, 10 or 12 gage), firmly secure that to the grounding rod outside. The rod should be long enough to get into the moist ground, 1-2 m will do. Ideally the rod should be copper but galvanized iron would be ok; plain iron such as typical rebar likely to rust which reduces electrical conductivity. Check in the dry season that the ground by the rod is moist, pour some water around may ensure good contact.

[farang62]

Thanks

[masuk]

Isn't there an electrical standard for Thailand? Surely houses built this century should have been wired throughout with earthing.

I'm in an old condo which has no earthing, and often getting tingles from electrical gear.

[Kenny202]

Yes, a ground is required on new installations along with a front-end RCBO and MEN link.

Many (even new) homes still have 2-pin outlets with no earth which can lead to hazard / danger when Class-1 appliances are in use.

What sort of plug does the oven have, something like this?

Which is an earthed plug (Schuko or Euro plug) and should be used with an adaptor or the correct outlet see here http://crossy.co.uk/wiring/plugs.html

I have some appliances with a plug like that Crossy. How does the earth make contact like that without a male pin?

[Kenny202]

Cop a look at where this outlet is! This is actually installed in the house I've just rented. The condition of the unearthed shower heater is as bad as the positioning of the power outlet. Amazing Thailand!

[Crossy]

Yes, a ground is required on new installations along with a front-end RCBO and MEN link.

Many (even new) homes still have 2-pin outlets with no earth which can lead to hazard / danger when Class-1 appliances are in use.

What sort of plug does the oven have, something like this?

Which is an earthed plug (Schuko or Euro plug) and should be used with an adaptor or the correct outlet see here http://crossy.co.uk/wiring/plugs.html

I have some appliances with a plug like that Crossy. How does the earth make contact like that without a male pin?

It doesn't when plugged in to a normal Thai outlet.

The correct outlet looks like this:-

The earth is carried by the clips at the sides. Unfortunately the hole in the plug (which allows it to mate with a French outlet which has a male pin in the socket) doesn't line up with the Thai earth hole, so a simple pin can't be inserted to give a ground.

You can get the correct Schuko outlets here, or an adaptor like this:-

Which fits like this:-

If your kit is out of warranty, or you don't care, cut off the plug and put a local 3-pin one on.

Haco do some nice looking 3-pin plugs which you can fit in place of the Schuko P002 on this page http://www.hacothailand.com/product-engshow.php?setype=10&setype2=1238

Some interesting information here http://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Schuko1.html

[Crossy]

Cop a look at where this outlet is! This is actually installed in the house I've just rented. The condition of the unearthed shower heater is as bad as the positioning of the power outlet. Amazing Thailand!

At least it looks like the 3-pin outlet has a ground (assuming that wire exiting the bottom is green and goes to a rod).