Electrical Wiring in Thailand

[pf_mills]

Guys..I have already asked this question on another forum, but would appreciate any other opinions..

I have a new house in Thailand and just need a little advice/info. Basically the live and neutral socket connections are reverse ie live is neutral and neutral is live, as compared to UK. Details are

The incoming cables (240v) feed in via an 80amp Mitsubishi Supply Breaker.
This breaker has two outgoing sets of cables L&N) one to the Dist Bd supplying the breakers which supply the Air Conditioning Units..no problem here.

The other to a SAFE-T-CUT breaker 63amps with setting selections of 5mA, 15mA, 25mA and direct. It says that the tripping time is between 20mSec and 30mSec (not selectable) so is compatable with UK standard of 35mA for 30mSec I think. This feeds the dist bd. which supplies all the house power and lighting circuits. Each circuit has a circuit breaker. So this far is of a simular standard to the UK I think.

The wall sockets (power sockets) are rotated 90Deg clockwise compared to the UK. The pin which would be the neutral in the UK (ie now at the top) is actually the Live and the pin which would be the Live in the UK (now at the bottom) is actually the neutral.

Therefore if I plug in a UK appliance (via an extension lead, you can now get these that accept a UK plug) then the live comes in via the neutral pin on the plug and vice vercer. So the live is not fused.

The house is earthed via an earthing rod (simular practice to some older UK houses). Having and earth is now modern practice in Thailand although many appliances come as two pin. So it is belt and bracers 'I hope' (earth leakage plus circuit breakers).The house is on a garded complex' and was built by a reputable company. We bought it built so I supplied nothing.

More strange, I purchased, from the same shop in a Mall 'big store' a Electrolux washing m/c and an Electrolux fridge/Freezer. The indicated convension on the plugs was UK convension on the Fridge/Freezer and Thai Convension on the washing m/c ie live and neutral different on each. No fuses on either plugs.

This is ok or not please

Also could someone give me info on what I should ask the company about the house earth, resistance values etc

 

[plugwash]

The incoming cables (240v) feed in via an 80amp Mitsubishi Supply Breaker.
This breaker has two outgoing sets of cables L&N) one to the Dist Bd supplying the breakers which supply the Air Conditioning Units..no problem here.

The other to a SAFE-T-CUT breaker 63amps with setting selections of 5mA, 15mA, 25mA and direct. It says that the tripping time is between 20mSec and 30mSec (not selectable) so is compatable with UK standard of 35mA for 30mSec I think. This feeds the dist bd. which supplies all the house power and lighting circuits. Each circuit has a circuit breaker. So this far is of a simular standard to the UK I think.

sounds ok so far though possiblly a little vulnerable to neusense tripping.

The wall sockets (power sockets) are rotated 90Deg clockwise compared to the UK. The pin which would be the neutral in the UK (ie now at the top) is actually the Live and the pin which would be the Live in the UK (now at the bottom) is actually the neutral.

Therefore if I plug in a UK appliance (via an extension lead, you can now get these that accept a UK plug) then the live comes in via the neutral pin on the plug and vice vercer. So the live is not fused.

not ideal but not too serious given the lower rating of the cuircuit protection in most countries wiring practices and the fact a rcd is present.

personally i'd avoid leads with irregular socket holes anyway for permanent use. chances are you will get more reliable connections with sockets designed for one plug type only. changing the plugs on british bought extention leads would probablly be a sensible soloution.

The house is earthed via an earthing rod (simular practice to some older UK houses). Having and earth is now modern practice in Thailand although many appliances come as two pin. So it is belt and bracers 'I hope' (earth leakage plus circuit breakers).The house is on a garded complex' and was built by a reputable company. We bought it built so I supplied nothing.

ok so you have a TT earthing system. you mention RCD protection for the sockets system but nothing about the aircon. is this RCD protected too? if not i'd be a little worried.

More strange, I purchased, from the same shop in a Mall 'big store' a Electrolux washing m/c and an Electrolux fridge/Freezer. The indicated convension on the plugs was UK convension on the Fridge/Freezer and Thai Convension on the washing m/c ie live and neutral different on each. No fuses on either plugs.

mmm that seems to tell me that if there is an official convention its widely ignored. much like france.

 

[Moss5]

That sounds like a top-quality installation to me.
A friend, who is developing a complex in Pattaya had no earth leakage protection (RCD) on his system, but the pool was protected by a step-down transfomer.
If you look at a German DIN plug, it is 2-pin + earth side-wiper and competely reversible. So no respect for line/neutral polarity. No fuse inside the plug. This style has been adopted in many places.
Some gas-fired appliances use a flame-failure device that is polarity sensitive.
If you knew nothing, you would have less worries!

 

[pf_mills]

Thanks Guys..much appreciated.

The Air cond Units are not fed via the RCD..each one has its own MCB.