Electrical Grounding our Houses
IMPORTANT about your electric
This is the MOST IMPORTANT message that I have sent to residents of the Royal Park Village Jomtien, PLEASE READ IT, it might just save your life.
If you use any of the items below, this email is important to you.
- ELECTRIC SHOWER,
- Washing Machine
- Pressure washer
- Electric Cooker
- Rice Cooker
- Water Heater
- Computer
- Electric Iron
- Any electrical items with a three pin plug
- (there are many more items)
I have only just realised that my house has not been ground to earth, which means in my walls the green wire travels back to the fuse box but is not connected to the earth – ground.
What happens when your house is not ground to earth ?
Firstly you may get small shocks when you touch certain electrical items in your house. If any electrical item turns faulty such as:
- Water heater – you could get electrocuted in your shower turning on the water
- Washing Machine – you could get electrocuted by touching the washing machine,
- or any metal case item.
Do you get shocks in your house?
Maybe from ..
- Taps in your bathroom or shower
- DVD player or TV
- Fridge
- Washing Machine
- Computer
- Microwave
Getting small shocks in your house will indicate that your house is not ground. The shocks you are receiving at this time are safe, but if something was to go wrong with that electrical unit, you could be killed.
The Reason
Building techniques and regulations are very different in Thailand from Europe and America. In Europe and America all of the water pipes coming into the house are metal. To ground the house in Europe or America is easy, just connect a green wire from the fuse box to the water pipe coming into the house and you are ground. The house is safe.
In Thailand water arrives at the house via PVC pipe. For this reason the house cannot be ground to earth using the water pipe.
What the ground wire does
The green wire normally is connected to the case of the electrical item. If the case receives any electric the green wire takes it straight to the earth, as a result it will trip the fuse – breaker in the fuse box and you will not get an electrical shock. You will also know there is a problem with an electrical item in your home.
Why are our homes not ground
When our houses where built, firstly it was not a legal requirement by the builder to install a ground rod. It was an extra that we could have requested and paid for. When I purchased my house I asked for the green earth cable to be fitted in my home, I was asked at that time if I wanted a 10 foot rod in the garden, but I didn’t understand what this meant and said no. The reason it wasn’t fitted in my home was because I didn’t understand what the office was asking me. Though I do remember them looking surprised that I didn’t want it as I paid for every other extra possible in the construction of my house.
What you need to do
First you need to find out if your house is ground to earth. This is easy, but I suggest talking with a QUALIFIED ELECTRICIAN. By inspecting the fuse box you should be able to see all of the green wires coming to one section. Check to see if another green wire runs from that point to a grounding rod anywhere in the house.
If you need advice, give me a call and I will tell you if your house is grounded, time permiting.
If you are not ground
You need the following:
8 foot copper grounding pipe beat into your garden close to your house. Be careful not to fit the grounding rod near the water supply or drainage as you could damage them.
When the grounding rod is in the ground with about 1 foot showing above earth, an earth cable needs to be run to your fuse box and connected to the ground rod.. It is that simple.
Tips for Bungalow
Find an area out side of the house which is close to an interior plug socket, then the electrician will be able to run the earth cable from the fuse box, across your roof space and down the electrical conduit to the plug socket. At that point a hole can be drilled in the wall and the cable pushed through the hole to the outside and connected with a clamp to the grounding rod.
Do you have a swimming pool?
I suggest if you have a swimming pool to run a second ground rod next to the pump house and ground all of the electrical items inside. This way if the earth cable running from your pool to your fuse box is damaged in the ground, it will not matter as the pool will be independently ground.
Price for the work
I have spoken with a builder that I have used on many occasions over the last two years. He is able to ground a small bungalow for 2750 Baht.
That includes the ground rod, earth cable and run back to the fuse box connected and tested.
A larger house will be on house by house situation, A bungalow is easy to ground as you can get into the roof space and into the top of the electrical panel. But in most larger houses, the ceilings are closed and you cannot get into the top of the electric panel. Though there are other ways to solve this problem
Arranging the work to be done
Arrange a trusted local builder or I can arrange the builder that I use.
The builder is already booked into do the work on three houses on the village, he will be working to our standard and he understands what is required as he has inspected the work done on my house.
If you would like me to arrange this builder please let me know
What I have seen in Village Houses so Far
I have talked to four residents on the village over the last two days and heard some scary stories
Resident 1 had a washing machine fitted and the electrician ran an earth wire to a metal slip 3 foot up a concrete wall. If this washing machine was to go faulty it is possible for a person to be killed
Concrete does NOT CONDUCT ELECTRIC; the metal clip is connected to concrete.
Resident 2 had a safety breaker fitted and the electrical told him that the house was ground, on inspection I found it is not. The house is not ground
Resident 3 Every time he touches his computer he gets a shock, I tested the voltage and found his computer case has 4 volts that cannot get to ground. Every time he touches the computer case the electric travels from his fingers, up his arm, down his chest, down his leg and out his foot. If the computer power supply went faulty sending 220 volts to the case, then he would easily be killed.
Resident 4 when he turns on the the taps in his shower receives a shock. I tested the voltage at the taps and found 2.7 volts. This is the most serious of all. When you are having a shower, the floor is wet and your feet and standing in water. If the electric heater turned faulty and you touched the tap, you would probably be killed.
Resident 5, when he or his children get a cold drink from the water machine they get a small shock, as a result he hasn’t used his water cooler in months as he though it was faulty. The water machine isn’t faulty, his house isn’t ground
Please talk to your neighbours about this as not every house has an email and I haven’t got the time to translate to Thai print and deliver letters to all the houses of the village at this time.
One Comment to “Electrical Grounding our Houses”
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May 4th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
THANKS RICHARD
WELL WRITTEN
BOB PELLETIER