Help needed with circuit board

[Crossy]

We have an analogue meter on our incoming supply, minor dips all over the place at any time of day.

[wayned]

Good thing I don't try and use the microwave while I'm welding. I'm almost a kilometer from the "village" transformer. 

 

Thanks for fixing the picture, I've been having a lot of problems lately copying them from the net. 

[carlyai]

Could shared neutrals on some circuits, (while other circuits like the aircon, that has a dedicated active and neutral) cause the problem?

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[Crossy]

@carlyai possibly, what we really need is some actual measurements of supply voltage on various loads.

 

Hopefully our OP will go shopping for a simple multimeter.

[wayned]

Buying a cheap multi meter is as simple as logging on to Lazada, using the mouse and hitting a few keys.

http://www.lazada.co.th/mf-110a-acdc-8370910.html?ff=1

http://www.lazada.co.th/digital-multimeter-xl830-12467190.html?ff=1

http://www.lazada.co.th/buyincoins-mt87-lcd-voltmet-1568116.html?ff=1

 

Most come from China so it will take a couple of weeks but they are available locally.

[irlguy1]

Ok guys thanks, I will sort a multi meter [emoji106]

Then what do I do. Is it something I can do ( I know nothing about them)

What exactly do I need to do?

As I said already their seems to be nobody around that has a clue on this. Local electrician is a self taught novice.

 

Could u spell it out for a total electromoron

 

What about the issue you said about the integrity of the proper neutral? A few posts back that seemed to be a major issue but the last few posts seem to be saying a few dims and flickers are normal?

 

Just to be clear the lights dim and stay dimmed until the shower or the hot water tap or pump is turned off then the lights come back normal. It's not a huge dim but enough to notice and be worrying.

 

 

[emoji13]

 

 

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[wayned]

Most likely you won't be able to do anything about it short of buying an expensive voltage regulator for the whole house.  

 

I live in  the sticks.  My house is almost 1 kilometer from the village transformer.  My house is wired correctly as I built it and it was wired by a licensed residential electrician, me, 18 years ago.  When I turn on my 6kw shower unit any incandescent light dims and stay dim until the shower is turned off.  I can noticeably hear a difference in the microwave when the shower is turned on.  For grins, I just checked the voltage.  It now at 211VAC, when I turn the shower on it drops to 190-193 VAC, enough to dim the incandescent lamps with no visible effect on the fluorescent or LED lamps.

 

If everything is wired correctly you'll have to most likely live with it.  If the dimming is that bothersome,  replace all of the incandescent bulbs in your house.

[irlguy1]

Most likely you won't be able to do anything about it short of buying an expensive voltage regulator for the whole house.  
 
I live in  the sticks.  My house is almost 1 kilometer from the village transformer.  My house is wired correctly as I built it and it was wired by a licensed residential electrician, me, 18 years ago.  When I turn on my 6kw shower unit any incandescent light dims and stay dim until the shower is turned off.  I can noticeably hear a difference in the microwave when the shower is turned on.  For grins, I just checked the voltage.  It now at 211VAC, when I turn the shower on it drops to 190-193 VAC, enough to dim the incandescent lamps with no visible effect on the fluorescent or LED lamps.
 
If everything is wired correctly you'll have to most likely live with it.  If the dimming is that bothersome,  replace all of the incandescent bulbs in your house.

Not bothered about the visuals just concerned about safety.
Everything is wired correctly and the only issue is the dimming.
You think there is no safety issues or surge possibility that could damage things like tv or something?



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[Crossy]

1 hour ago, irlguy1 said:

What about the issue you said about the integrity of the proper neutral? A few posts back that seemed to be a major issue but the last few posts seem to be saying a few dims and flickers are normal?

 

Just to be clear the lights dim and stay dimmed until the shower or the hot water tap or pump is turned off then the lights come back normal. It's not a huge dim but enough to notice and be worrying.

 

The neutral integrity is still a concern, but everything seems to be working reasonably well with the rod in place so I don't think it's a major fault as yet. The worry was caused by your earlier statement of just how badly the lights dimmed with the rod out.

 

Once you have your meter we can detail simple tests to determine what's going on.

[wayned]

If it's wired correctly then you should not be concerned about safety.  As far as surge protection that is an entirely different animal and you basically have none nor do I.  Crossy has and I'm sure that he can explain what is necessary better than I can, Basically, it requires a surge protection device on the input to your house and little surge protectors in each of the wall sockets.

[Crossy]

Indeed @wayned but I think we should keep surge suppression in another topic. This one is already confusing enough

 

[irlguy1]

If it's wired correctly then you should not be concerned about safety.  As far as surge protection that is an entirely different animal and you basically have none nor do I.  Crossy has and I'm sure that he can explain what is necessary better than I can, Basically, it requires a surge protection device on the input to your house and little surge protectors in each of the wall sockets.

I have a few extension leads with inbuilt surge protection (allegedly, as they are thai made)
I might use them for tv, computer etc for now.




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[irlguy1]

 
The neutral integrity is still a concern, but everything seems to be working reasonably well with the rod in place so I don't think it's a major fault as yet. The worry was caused by your earlier statement of just how badly the lights dimmed with the rod out.
 
Once you have your meter we can detail simple tests to determine what's going on.

Ok so we took out the rod to see visually how different the drop is and it is basically the same. With the rod not attached it's slightly dimmer but not much than when the rod is in and connected.

I am still going to order the meter but does the fact that it's not a huge difference a good thing?

I think as I hadn't seen the dim before when we first did the test it seemed very bad but in hindsight it's a slight dim which is only slightly more when the rod is disconnected.



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[Crossy]

1 hour ago, irlguy1 said:

I am still going to order the meter but does the fact that it's not a huge difference a good thing?

I think as I hadn't seen the dim before when we first did the test it seemed very bad but in hindsight it's a slight dim which is only slightly more when the rod is disconnected.

 

 

 

It was your initial statement that there was serious dimming without the rod, but that it was OK with, that fired off the alarm bells.

 

The meter will be useful to determine if there really is a problem.

 

[wayned]

2 hours ago, irlguy1 said:

I have a few extension leads with inbuilt surge protection (allegedly, as they are thai made)
I might use them for tv, computer etc for now.

As Crossy said, surge protection needs to be discussed in a separate thread, but that statement also applies to extension cords which have been discussed ad nauseam in past years.

 

[carlyai]

Can I suggest when irlguy1 gets the meter that he play around with it first before using it on 220V A.C.?
Get some torch batteries and measure their voltage on the meter DC range. Get a long length of cable and measure it's resistance in Ohms.
I think it will help with confidence if he can understand how the meter works.
Also when he does get to measuring the A.C., have on some good solid rubber soled shoes.
I am not an electrician, but learning to use the meter and be safe could be a good idea.

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