Electric grid down again.

[glalt]

We are used to the power going off about every day, usually for short periods but sometimes for hours. Never any notification. Today is different. The electric company notified consumers that the power would be off all day. Recently the grid electric has had low voltage, dropping down to 170 volts. At least my solar systems save me from most of the the misery. My computer room and camera systems run off the two 12 volt 200AH lithium battery solar systems. No air conditioning but the small fans are way better than nothing.

Could it be that the electric company is finally going to upgrade the grid? We can only hope that is the case. Time will tell. I'm not going to hold my breath. My batteries will run my computer room for a full day and probably longer. I have two generators. One a 2500 watt and anther 5000 watt. Neither has been run since I upgraded my solar with lithium batteries. As long as we have mostly sunny days, the systems take care of themselves and fully charge the batteries.

[glalt]

The low voltage under load has improved. From 170 volts and now about 200 volts. Two days now without an outage. Not perfect but definitely an improvement.

[Drunk Monkey]

No outages in the greater Udon metropolis gliat unless i missed them , im i correct in thinking you are in Loei province ? got a beer customer there who suffers from low voltage issues.

Lucky we are not residing in Bang Dung as they are still using candles there and even they have to be blown out at 8pm by order of the Pooyaiban hence the rather windswept appearance of the local expat population... cooking on open fires , outside toilets (referred to as Dunnies) and spin the bottle evenings another reason so many Aussies feel at home there.

DM

[jackspratt]

Lucky we are not residing in Bang Dung ..........

Undoubtably, a win/win.

Although reading this https://www.the-fence.com/scunthorpe-revisited/ it is apparent that BD is probably a decade ahead of Scunthorpe and its clones.

And also has a better soccer team.

[glalt]

No outages in the greater Udon metropolis gliat unless i missed them , im i correct in thinking you are in Loei province ? got a beer customer there who suffers from low voltage issues.

Lucky we are not residing in Bang Dung as they are still using candles there and even they have to be blown out at 8pm by order of the Pooyaiban hence the rather windswept appearance of the local expat population... cooking on open fires , outside toilets (referred to as Dunnies) and spin the bottle evenings another reason so many Aussies feel at home there.

DM

We live about 50 KM south of Loei city out in the boonies. Another day with no power outage. Things are looking up.

[Potamoi]

Those with low voltage issues may consider a AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulator) Stabilizer. I have one at my business when high temp loads bring the PEA voltage down to ~170 Vac, it steps it back up automatically to ~220 Vac thus saving motors, aircons etc. Been in place for 8 years or so without needing to touch it.

From what I can tell it is an over subscribed transformer normally too far away and PEA don't upgrade their grid until there are x number of complaints.

[Bandung_Dero]

<snip> loads bring the PEA voltage down to ~170 Vac, <snip>
From what I can tell it is an over subscribed transformer normally too far away and PEA don't upgrade their grid until there are x number of complaints.

Exactly the case in our village, over a 5 year period the voltage (although reasonably reliable) continued to fall as the load increased. Last year PEA installed a new transformer and upgraded the 3 phase domestic feeders from 15mm SQ to 25mm SQ. = Happy Days, a steady 220 VAC.

Actually, it was quite a well choreographed procedure, we only lost power for about of 90 minutes, in total, in 3 steps during the whole upgrade.

[glalt]

Voltage here is now about 215 volts. The long time low voltage, around 170 has not seemed to damage anything. The bedroom air con died but I think that was because of a nearby lightening strike. My wife wanted me to just buy a new unit. That LG dual inverter is only a few years old so I insisted that she call the repairman. The service and parts cost me 5,000 baht but it is now working fine again. Now during lightening storms, I turn off the air con breakers. Maybe not necessary but that gives me peace of mind. Life goes on.

[Bandung_Dero]

Close thunder storms usually trips our RCD which takes out the A/C's (if the PEA network hasn't already failed). Mrs. Dero has been instructed not to reset it until the storm passes. Haven't lost an appliance yet -- touch wood!

[glalt]

Voltage improved, BUT, now back to the short outages, on/off quickly. I should have figured that the decent service would not last. My solar systems are still working great.

[Bandung_Dero]

You might find "short outages, on/off quickly" are due to the maintenance department switching to a redundant power source for line, switch yard etc. works?