thaisail

I think baseball size hail will destroy everything!

I am trying to find out how much I can get away with to mofify my TOU meter with the free MG home charger instalation. A few weeks after PEA installed the TOU meter, a private company called PRIME arrived to install the MG home charger for free in my garage. They removed my 60 Amp knife switch that had been placed temporary in the garrage while waiting for PRIME to arrive. The cables were live from the TOU meter to the knife switch. They just wrapped electrical tape around the cables and cut them with insulated cutters while they installed the MG provided electrical boxes. Then they connected the live cables carefully to my new WiFi 30 amp two pole breaker. After that there was a MOV surge suppressor and followed by a single pole 40 amp breaker with the phase wire connected through it. From there, there were three cables (Phase, Neutral and Earth) that went into the separate MG breaker box that had the Chinese breaker with earth fault protection on it. From there to the MG home charger. A few weeks after the install, we had a similanious lightning and thunder strike and the WiFi smart programable breaker was turned into a dumb 32 amp breaker. I did not like the way that PRIME installed the live cables from the TOU meter direct to my WiFi breaker but rather than complain, I decided to just let them do it the way they wanted knowing that when they were gone, I could make it the way I wanted. Unfortunately they did not want to put back the 60 amp knife switch between the WiFi breaker and they TOU meter. So now I have ordered a new WiFi breaker and I have no way to isolate the power to the damaged Wifi breaker because the cables are now live going into the terminals of the WiFi breaker. I want to install the old knife switch breaker into the circuit and mount it above the new home charger boxes so that I can de-energize the circuit and work on all the componants down stream without being energized. I also want to be able to open the knife switch during lightning storms to protect all the items downstream. We also wanted to find out how to check the "clock" on our TOU meter to be sure that the time is set properly as we hear on this forum that some people have been charged the peak rate even though the charging was done during offpeak hours. So, my wife called the PEA office to ask how we can verify the clock on the TOU meter is set properly because we have lots of blackout these days. Also, it would be nice to see how to read this digtal high tech meter to make sure that we are not being cheated. The guy at PEA took offence about us questioning the clock on the meter and did not want to continue the conversation with my wife, so I will have to try to get the manual for that meter on the internet. So, my questions are: 1. Can I have someone install the 60 Amp knife switch back into the circuit above the home charger boxes while the cables are live? I can get PEA back out here to inspect afterwards if needed. 2. Is 60 Amp the correct size fuse for the home charger? My amp meter reads 33 amps continuous at 230 Volts single phase when the battery of the MG is below 75%. However, I noticed the cooling system on the car starts up occasionally during the charging cycle. I haven't been able to get an amp reading while the cooling systems is running. I could also be that the cooling system is running on 400 volts from the batteries. In this case the amps will remain at maximum 33 amps. When charging, the voltmeter on the MG App is reading 400 Volts at 14 amps. My plan now is to fit the MOV surge suppressor after the knife switch followed by the new WiFi multi function C-63 amp protector, followed by the single pole ABB breaker on the phase cable only (MG required) followed by the second box with the 30 mA earth fault protector C-50 amp breaker that was delivered with the car from China. Further down the road, I will be working on a solar planel instation so I may need to tap in to the home charger as soon as I am able to produce power from the sun. My wife is telling me that PEA is going into the Solar power business and will not allow home Solar installations done by others. Has anyone heard about this new requirement? Today, my wife called the PEA boss in Chiang Khan and asked him how we can check the clock on the TOU meter and he got offended that we would doubt them so we may have to wait for the bill to come to see if the clock is set right. We also noticed that when the car is charging the "Active" red light is flashing on the TOU meter. We are also wondering what purpose the measure of "Reactive" power will serve for battery charging. Any advice or inputs will be appreciated.

If could be that with 3 phase power, you may get a 15 (45) meter instead of the 5 (100) meter that I got because with single phase I am running more than 32 amp continuous which may overheat the single phase circuit. Out here in the countrysize, we all have use single phase power unless you live in town.

We got our MG ZS EV in December and ordered our TOU meter in January. We thought we were getting a single phase 15/45 digital TOU meter based on what the PEA manager told us but the one we got a few weeks ago was as per the attached photo. We put in our 2 x 25 mm square aluminum core cables 80 meters from the place where the TOU meter was to be fitted on the main road to our garage next to the consumer unit for the house. The TOU meter arrived around Songkran and cost around 4000 baht with 700 baht for PEA to install it. Then, we contacted MG who had a wait list since they have sold a lot of EVs this year. Since we live in Isaan, a company with the name of PRIME was contacted and they set up the appointment to fit the MG home charger. They arrived about 3 weeks later from Ubon Ratchathani. We live in Chiang Khan, Loei about 10 hours drive from there but these guys are going from town to town all over Isaan and they are really good electricians and sometimes they will do jobs outside of their contract for a price. Of course the MG wall box is the olny thing they will do for free. We bought from them that excelet larger box to fit the WiFi breaker and the MOV surge protector. I wanted to put in a low and high voltage cut out switch with high current protection but there was no room in the box. I will modify this later when I start my solar instalation. The guys from PRIME did an excelent job wiring in the gear I bought from Lazada. But a word of advice for someone who wants to copy what I did, please make sure that you have a normal breaker from the TOU meter to the home charger so that you can shut off power to all the things downstream. I made a mistake of running the cables from the TOU meter direct to the WiFi breaker and tonight we got hit by lighting and my WiFi breaker is now a normal breaker with no automation. It worked well for the last few weeks until tonight when we got hit by lightning. Luckily, that was the only thing that got damaged. If I had to do it over, I would run the cables from the TOU meter to normal 64 amp breaker, followed by the MOV surgeprotector and then the high and low voltage cut out along with high currect cut out. This also includes a digital voltmeter and amp meter with all the parameters programable. Not shown in these photos but I have one fitted going into my consumer unit for the house. My Thai wife was told by PEA when we received the new TOU meter, that it was forbidden to connect anything other than the EV charger to the TOU meter. This does make sense because it would easy to buy the units at the off peak rate and then feed it back through the analog meter spinning it backwards during the night and make a profit. The people from "PRIME" will take a lot of photos of their MG installation and if there is any warantee issue with the MG, you may have to allow MG to return to inspect the installation if there is a claim. The manager also claimed that with the digital meters it was possible for them to see if you are using anything other than charging the EV. For example running your AC at night. I did not really think this was possible, but I noticed that the new TOU meter also measure the "Reactive" power which is used in factories that are running a lot of motors. This may show up when they read the meter if I start using my inverter AC units or fridges or water pumps that have motors on them. The water heater however has no reactive power to speak of so I might get away with that one. My plan was to install solar panels as soon as the MG home charger was operational and I am starting to do research to buy the equipment so that I can charge my MG in the daytime when there is lots of sun and maybe use the batteries of the MG to power my AC units at night using the V2L cable that supplies 2.2 kW of power all night to my consumer unit from the MG batteries. But any modification that involves solar will get you in trouble with MG if they find out about it. Just make sure that what ever you do, you can put things back to the way they were if there is ever an inspection by PEA or MG warantee claim. I know someone who fought a battle with MG because his house was offgrid capable from solar panels, inverters and huge batteries. When PRIME showed up they refused to give him the waranty but he had them put in his wall box anyway. His solar power is a thousand times cleaner and more stable than any PEA power. Keep in mind that the price of the units from the TOU meter is going to be a little bit higher than the cost of buying your electricity from PEA and PTT superchargers at the EV stations. This is because the superchargers are feeding DC current at around 50-60 kW rate for about an hour while the home charger will give you only 7 kW AC current which has to be converted to DC inside of the MG EV for 4-8 hours while the cooling systmem is running. There is also a loss of efficiency by having to convert the AC power to DC inside the MG EV. The cost at home will be close to 4 baht per unit when you include FT and VAT, but with those other losses described above, you may end up paying more than the 4.50 + VAT per unit price at the super chargers off peak rate from 2200 to 0600. But for us it is still more convenient to be able to charge at night at home while we sleep than to have to drive 15 km to the closest EV Station. Plus we can charge at home until 9 am instead of 6 am!

Does anyone have any experience traveling accross the border from Mukdahan to Savahanakept, Laos with a dog? We hate leaving our labrador at home in Thailand while we are traveling in Laos. Anyone with any knowlege of how to get a passport and health documents for a dog who will be with us in our Ford Ranger when we drive into Laos, please let me know what I am up against.

We are finally charging our MG ZS EV at home with our new 7 kW wall charger. PEA installed the TOU meter as shown in the attached photos. We have been told that we can get the off peak rate from 2200-0900 during weekdays and all day and all night on weekends and holidays. Please let me know if this is correct as we have not got our first bill yet. The MG iSmart computer inside the car, allows us to program the charging hours but I have installed a WiFi breaker which is connected from the TOU meter, followed by a MOV surge protector. MG (PRIME) installed the wall box free and they agreed to sell me the larger box to fit the custom items that I bought on Lazada. They insisted that they must install the ABB breaker to meet their requirements from MG. The Chinese breaker on the right, in a separate box, was supplied in the box with the wall charger which was shipped from China in the boot of the MG. The black earth wire was installed to my existing earth rod of 2.6 meters. We have configured the wall box to operate with out the smart card so that when you turn on the WiFi breaker, the power will reach the MG charging plug. However the car computer can either be set to charge on a schedule that can be programed or can be charged instantly depending on the settings. We measured about 32 amps on the 230 volt single phase AC wire going to the WiFi breaker before the 7 kW home charger and around 16 amps at 400 volts DC when car is charging. I have been told by a Thai electrical engineer who had the same MG ZS EV that it is still cheaper to charge the car at EV Station using the 120 kW DC super charger or the 50 kW DC superchargers from PEA at 4.81 baht per kW, off peak including VAT. The home wall box charger electicity price is higher because of the losses to covert AC to DC using the rectifier inside the MG plus the cooling system has to be running while charging which for a supercharger is only one hour whereas with a home wall box charger it will run for about 4 to 6 hours. But the hours of off peak at EV Station and PEA are 2200-0600 which makes it more difficult to manage than with the 3 hours extra during the 2200-0900 off peak hours at home. Plus you have to count the distance to travel to the EV Station from your house which is another loss. My guess is that off peak including service charge, VAT and FT is about 2.6369 + 0.9343 (FT) = 3.5712 + 7% (VAT) = 3.8212. Plus you have to add the service charge to read the meter each month. The single phase 100 amp TOU meter cost about 4000 baht and the installation was around 700 baht. The main thing about the home charger is the convenience because you have plenty of time to charge while you are sleeping at home. This way you wake up to the full 100% charge without putting in 100 amps frin a superchager through your batteries all the time which cannot be too healthy for them in the long run.

About 15 years ago, a lady got bitten by a cobra at the big Super Cheap in Phuket! Then a few years later, it burned down. But now it is rebuilt out of steel instead of bamboo so it can't burn down any mores but there are still rats running around inside the store. Birds also! Maybe a cobra or two! This is part of Thai living!

Is there any way we can set up some sort price alert system for everyone looking for a promotion on solar panels? I have heard that lately, Global has had the best prices but I am also willing to order panels online if I can beat the Global cost when adding in transport cost.

Is there a tiny motor that can rotate the panel so that it will turn with the arc of the sun so that the panel will always be perpendicular to the sun?

Our PEA boss in Chiang Khan, Loei inspected our new 25 mm² aluminum cables running on the same concrete pole for 85 meters from the main road where the old analog house meter is mounted on the utility pole with the disk spinning and supplying power to our house. He did this inspection just after New Years. We gave him the special form that we got from MG for our MG ZS EV that we bought in mid December. He told us he would order our meter along with two others for installation in Chiang Khan for two other new EV owners. He promised that he would receive the three new meters by the end of March. So tomorrow the wife will drive over to PEA and see if our new meter arrived or not.

I bought 3 Samsung inverter split aircons in 2020, and now the second one has had the same failure as the first one! These pcb's cost about 1000 baht on Lazada. But somehow I think that Samsung needs to be contacted and a way must be found to avoid this kind failure in the future. is anyone else having the same issue?

I did not bring my dog!

Bus left Loei Bus Station at 1350. 108 baht! Arrived Erawan at 1500. Arrived Nong Bua Lam Phu at 1600. Bus driver said there are no more tuk tuks at the airport crossroads. I will walk! Only 1 km!

We live in Chiang Khan but my wife borrowed a truck from her sister who lives between Na Ding Dam and Na Duang. So from her sister's house to Erawan is about 30 minutes so she is offering to take me to Erawan to join the bus there. It looks like the bus is running every half hour. Do you think that change in route could cause a problem? What time would you recommend arriving at the airport for a 1925 flight from Udon? My wife is telling me get off the bus at the intersection where the road goes to the airport and to take a tuk tuk at the Sala where the bus stops at that intersection. This will avoid me having to go into town and allow me to spend more time with my family.

Does anyone know where I can get a bus schedule for Loei to Udon Thani to catch my flight from Udon Thani to Phuket. Have to be at the airport in Udon Thani by 6 pm tomorrow Sunday December 4. I have checked the internet for bus schedules for hours and can't find any schedules on line. Does anyone know a good reliable website for this bus tomorrow?

Got my first 7162 on August 5th and it was dated June 27. I returned it completed to the Thai post office in Chiang Khan, Loei on August 9. Paid 48 baht for an air mail stamp. Got my 2nd notice of the 7162 on November 22. It was dated October 27. This time I sent it back with a tracking number for about 300 baht extra and the post office told me that it would take 5 weeks to reach the states which puts me past the 60 day deadline. However, I never received either the first or the second 7161 forms for my wife who is designated payee for the SSI benefit for our 15 year old daughter. I sent a request for assistance with the FBU Manila office and here is there reply from 2 days ago. FBU Manila Nov 28, 2022, 9:18 AM (2 days ago) to me Thank you for contacting the Social Security Administration's Federal Benefits Unit at the U.S. Embassy in Manila. *********** Our records show that you are scheduled to receive the reporting form SSA-7162 / SSA-7161 this year. The form was initially mailed out in June 2022, and a second mailing went out in early November 2022. If you still haven’t received the form, you may complete the blank form attached to this email and mail it to the appropriate address below. Mailing Address for Form SSA-7162: Social Security Administration P.O. Box 7162 Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania 18767-7162 U.S.A. Mailing Address for Form SSA-7161: Social Security Administration P.O. Box 7161 Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania 18767-7161 U.S.A. We recommend using regular postal mail, as registered mail and some courier services may be unable to deliver to a P.O. box. The form cannot be submitted via email. Do not submit the completed form to the Federal Benefits Unit in Manila or to a U.S. Embassy/Consulate.

Got my first 7162 on August 5th and it was dated June 27. I returned it completed to the Thai post office in Chiang Khan, Loei on August 9. Paid 48 baht for an air mail stamp. Got my 2nd notice of the 7162 on November 22. It was dated October 27. This time I sent it back with a tracking number for about 300 baht extra and the post office told me that it would take 5 weeks to reach the states which puts me past the 60 day deadline. However, I never received either the first or the second 7161 forms for my wife who is designated payee for the SSI benefit for our 15 year old daughter. I sent a request for assistance with the FBU Manila office and here is there reply from 2 days ago. FBU Manila Nov 28, 2022, 9:18 AM (2 days ago) to me Thank you for contacting the Social Security Administration's Federal Benefits Unit at the U.S. Embassy in Manila. *********** Our records show that you are scheduled to receive the reporting form SSA-7162 / SSA-7161 this year. The form was initially mailed out in June 2022, and a second mailing went out in early November 2022. If you still haven’t received the form, you may complete the blank form attached to this email and mail it to the appropriate address below. Mailing Address for Form SSA-7162: Social Security Administration P.O. Box 7162 Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania 18767-7162 U.S.A. Mailing Address for Form SSA-7161: Social Security Administration P.O. Box 7161 Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania 18767-7161 U.S.A. We recommend using regular postal mail, as registered mail and some courier services may be unable to deliver to a P.O. box. The form cannot be submitted via email. Do not submit the completed form to the Federal Benefits Unit in Manila or to a U.S. Embassy/Consulate.

I just tried your idea and switched to Thai language on Lazada and it worked! I now get a far better translation into English. My Thai wife will thank you for giving her a vacation from translating everything on Lazada!

Thanks for that idea, I'll give it a try!

Do you mix those four ingredients? I need to keep the geckos out of the machinery. I have one water pump that is nearly destroyed by the geckos and one inverter air con PCB shorted out at a repair cost of 2500 baht! I just don't want to kill the fish in my pond with termite chemicals which seems to be what is recommended.

I am just checking Lazada for Gecko Repelant and I got 5972 products displayed. Of course all are in Thai language, no English. I am looking for a product that is cheap, effective, durable, smell good and will not harm the enviroment. We have a lot of fish ponds and everything that you spray around my house will eventually end up in the pond. Can anyone recomend one of these 5972 products that will do the job? I have read about some that are very effective like Chaindrite but this chemical is dealy to our fish in the ponds. Is there anything else out there that we can use to fight the invasion of the Geckos?

Do you have any idea about the warranty for the SAMSUNG AC units? I bought mine in October 2020 and had them installed by a local installer who was paid by the vendor in December 2020. I just had a second unit fail. Maybe another Gecko! I also have a Daikin from June 2020. Also inverter unit. That one is still OK, but wondering if the Diakin warranty is for 3 years for mine as well?

Have you considered the possiblility that the AC manufacturers havw purposely left a large enough opening to allow the geckos access these costly circuit boards knowing full well that geckos will short out the board and they will get to sell a lot of new circuit boards! I had the same issue with my Samsung double inverter evaporator unit. Cost me 2500 baht for a new PCB from Lazada! Plus my 3 hours labor to install it! I did not block the air flow but I can see that for the PCB on the evaporator unit, the card will only get hot when the Air Con is runing and there is plenty of cool air to reach the PCB in that case. Outside, the PCB is in open air and I think that putting a descrete screen to protect the PCB board with a course mesh would be better than have another Gecko fry the new board. Just make sure that the mesh is corse enough to avoid too much air restriction. If the board fails again do to overheating than just remove the mesh before calling for warranty repair!