Thread: Another Electrical Question

Looking at my power board I have a big fused guillotine switch for turning mains off and on and a small consumer unit with 4 circuit breakers from a manufacturer called CCS.
I don't like the big fused guillotine switch, it looks primitive.
But is there actually anything wrong with having one?
Is there anything that I should/could replace it with?

I don't really want to replace the whole lot with a big integrated consumer unit as I won't be in this place much longer.

What does that run? About 3000 baht?
Is there any real benefit other than not having to replace the fuses if it trips?
Adjustable sensitivity?

Not sure about the cost I think they are more than that? You would have to check Home Pro, Global House or contact Safe-T-Cut directly.

http://profile.yellowpages.co.th/en/522055131782001

Safe-T-Cut will install for you .

It replaces the simple switch with a ground fault interrupter (GFI) or residual current breaker (RCB) whichever it is called where you hail from.

So yes in case of a fault it trips the whole house assuming that your house is grounded so it has somewhere to connect to ground. The adjustment is sensitivity, how many milliamps before it trips.

Originally Posted by Necron99

I don't really want to replace the whole lot with a big integrated consumer unit as I won't be in this place much longer.

If you're not going to be there much longer and the present system is OK why bother.

The knife switches are everywhere in Thailand - nothing wrong with them. If you need to change a fuse so what?

If you need to keep changing fuses then there are other issues. A circuit breaker is still going to trip if you've got a problem somewhere.

Two Ronnies got by with four candles

Originally Posted by david44

Two Ronnies got by with four candles

Are you sure it wasn't 'fork handles' ?

Originally Posted by Necron99

Is there any real benefit

to survive

Water and electricity make a dangerous cocktail at any time and European electricians who have inspected Local methods of wiring have warned us that, as foreigners, we are used to having earth/ground connections along with circuit breakers that are matched to current useage.
In many cases in Thailand an earth/ground supply is not fitted at all and at that point the danger of electrocution increases dramatically. An indication of earth connection within a building is that the outlets will have three available pins instead of two. This however is not a guarantee that they are connected and, as with many brand new water pumps, the plugs on many appliances only have two pins. In which case they can only be earthed with an additional cable run to the appliance chassis.
With the power supply here at high amps and 220 volts All installations and repairs should be done by a qualified technician and a wise buyer will insist on an earth supply

Ex Pat Brit electrocuted in new business venture | Pattaya 103 FM

Originally Posted by EssEffBee

Also, an effectively wired earthing system is not required for an RCD to properly work.

You seem to be the first person to realise this

Just for interest, in the UK school science labs require 1 mA RCCBs, this was fine until we had computer labs, most CRT monitors have several mA leakage current, my lab had 20 work stations. I ended up rewinding the transformer in the RCB.