News Forum - Faulty wiring, poor construction, unsafe materials in Mountain B fire

[Thaiger]

As more details emerge on the horrific fire at the Mountain B Pub that took the lives of 15 victims with 38 more hospitalised, The Thaiger continues daily roundups of new developments. Yesterday’s can be found here (about the victims and owners) and here (about the response from authorities). Read on to learn about the construction issues and inspections, or click here to read about authorities’ actions regarding the owner, other club inspections, and a viral moment.   POORLY WIRED The Mountain B Pub was built on a sprawling three rai of land where entertainment venues were prohibited. Latest details […]

The story Faulty wiring, poor construction, unsafe materials in Mountain B fire as seen on Thaiger News.

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[Bluesofa]

11 hours ago, Thaiger said:

The latest details revealed the building may have had no signal circuit breaker on the electricity – considered vital for electrical safety

The phrase 'signal circuit breaker' seems a rather odd one.

Does it mean earth leakage circuit breaker I wonder?

[KaptainRob]

33 minutes ago, Bluesofa said:

The phrase 'signal circuit breaker' seems a rather odd one.

Does it mean earth leakage circuit breaker I wonder?

Whilst one might assume that an ELCB or earth leakage circuit breaker was the intended mention, a Signal circuit breaker SCB is quite different.  I employ an SCB on our inverter fridge to protect against voltage spikes, either high or low, which can damage sensitive circuits.

An SCB will only cost a few 100 baht but can save many 1000s in electronic device damage especially during power cuts and adverse weather conditions.

[Faraday]

So an SCB, is a a Voltage spike detector with a trip?

@Bluesofa

[HiuMak]

The current electrician always blames the previous electrician for his shoddy work

[Bluesofa]

6 minutes ago, KaptainRob said:

Whilst one might assume that an ELCB or earth leakage circuit breaker was the intended mention, a Signal circuit breaker SCB is quite different.  I employ an SCB on our inverter fridge to protect against voltage spikes, either high or low, which can damage sensitive circuits.

An SCB will only cost a few 100 baht but can save many 1000s in electronic device damage especially during power cuts and adverse weather conditions.

Right thanks. I'd never heard of one before. It sounds like it's an improvement on the old surge protector.

[KaptainRob]

15 minutes ago, Bluesofa said:

Right thanks. I'd never heard of one before. It sounds like it's an improvement on the old surge protector.

That's a common name for plug in types.

[Faz]

1 hour ago, Bluesofa said:

The phrase 'signal circuit breaker' seems a rather odd one.

Does it mean earth leakage circuit breaker I wonder?

It's common in Thailand to see a single ceramic circuit breaker as the only means to switch off an electrical installation in order to work safely on it. Usually a single (2 core) cable out, will feed everything.
Once you overload, the cable gets hot enough to melt and burst into flame.

As I recently discovered, for new installations, PEA will no longer connect a supply unless you have RCBO protection, yet they don't insist you have any earth - pointless.
https://www.electricaltechnology.org/2021/05/types-of-circuit-breakers.html

[Bluesofa]

1 hour ago, Faz said:

It's common in Thailand to see a single ceramic circuit breaker as the only means to switch off an electrical installation in order to work safely on it. Usually a single (2 core) cable out, will feed everything.
Once you overload, the cable gets hot enough to melt and burst into flame.

As I recently discovered, for new installations, PEA will no longer connect a supply unless you have RCBO protection, yet they don't insist you have any earth - pointless.
https://www.electricaltechnology.org/2021/05/types-of-circuit-breakers.html

I've never seen a ceramic breaker before, only a pull-down isolator.

The pull-down isolators I have seen like that usually have a single circular ceramic fuse next to it, the body of which unscrews out from the base to allow the fuse to be replaced.

[Faz]

1 minute ago, Bluesofa said:

I've never seen a ceramic breaker before, only a pull-down isolator.

The pull-down isolators I have seen like that usually have a single circular ceramic fuse next to it, the body of which unscrews out from the base to allow the fuse to be replaced.

Ceramic double pole breakers, not fused, similar to shower and air con DP isolation switches.
Just taken one out of the old village house which I'm renovating.
Saves on costs, first priority, safety aspect non-existent.

A single 2 core 1 mm cable fed sockets and lighting, with lots of twisted wire taped connections abounding all over the house. Pretty common in Thailand.

[Bluesofa]

11 minutes ago, Faz said:

Ceramic double pole breakers, not fused, similar to shower and air con DP isolation switches.
Just taken one out of the old village house which I'm renovating.
Saves on costs, first priority, safety aspect non-existent.

A single 2 core 1 mm cable fed sockets and lighting, with lots of twisted wire taped connections abounding all over the house. Pretty common in Thailand.

That's interesting. Have you got a pic of the breakers you've taken out?

[Faz]

2 minutes ago, Bluesofa said:

That's interesting. Have you got a pic of the breakers you've taken out?

No, went in the bin along with the rest of the installation.

[KaptainRob]

4 minutes ago, Bluesofa said:

That's interesting. Have you got a pic of the breakers you've taken out?

Faz may be referring to something like this ~40 y/o breaker and ceramic fuse (on right)

[Bluesofa]

57 minutes ago, KaptainRob said:

Faz may be referring to something like this ~40 y/o breaker and ceramic fuse (on right)

I didn't know there were any with a breaker in it before.
These are the type I remember:

[Faz]

2 hours ago, KaptainRob said:

Faz may be referring to something like this ~40 y/o breaker and ceramic fuse (on right)

Just like that, only without any fuse. 

[Faraday]

1 hour ago, Faz said:

Just like that, only without any fuse. 

 

Top Tip#

Use a piece of silver foil.

 

*Safety Alert*

Don't do this at home kids....