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Home » Reader question » Reader question: Why do so many electrical appliances break down?
Reader question: Why do so many electrical appliances break down?
Dear readers,
We now have a few weeks in a row that various electrical appliances break down. First the TV, then the coffee maker, then the iron and yesterday our washing machine.
According to an acquaintance, this has to do with the high humidity in Thailand. Another says it's cheap Chinese stuff and often imitation.
Do other readers experience this as well? Is there anything to do?
Regards,
Harold
To be honest, I don't recognize your complaints.
My electrical equipment generally comes from Big C or Central.
It has been working without problems for years.
It is possible that the mains voltage is a problem, it can fluctuate a lot.
Sixteen years of Thailand and no damage whatsoever to refrigerators / freezers, TV and stereo, microwave and more things you mention. Fluorescent lamps are broken due to lightning strikes nearby.
Power outages are quite normal where we live and when the voltage comes back it can remain at 180V for a while. Then we unplug the refrigerators / freezers and leave as many other things as possible unplugged. Then you have to be able to measure the voltage, but those things are not expensive.
Dear Erik,
It's not too bad, buying a multimeter is the problem of dealing with it.
Yours faithfully,
Erwin
I also do not recognize your complaints for the electro that we bought in Thailand.
The electronics (refrigerator, TV, desktop computer and PC) imported from the EU in the moving container broke down within a few months. I was told that these devices are not adapted to the higher temperatures in Thailand and/or to the greater voltage fluctuations on the Thai electricity grid.
Hi Harald, this could be peak voltage. Ie that there is temporarily a higher voltage on the power grid. Many equipment is protected against this, but not all equipment. you can have an electrician place a voltage interrupter. Good luck
indeed, I have also heard several times, the peaks in the mains voltage would be a problem for the electrical appliances. That Chinese stuff is just nonsense. But how old are your devices really?
My experience is or was, the 220/240 volt is not stable in Thailand, I have had it despite 2 earth leakage switches, that the current was variable between 110 and 360 volts. After thunderstorms and heavy rain, freezer box, many lightings died.
An earth leakage circuit breaker does what its name says, it monitors for leakage current and therefore not for under and/or over voltage. A good safety cut can do all this, such as monitoring under and over voltage and has an adjustable leakage current, often set so low that it already works when touching a wire.
Moreover, he does it so fast that you don't even get a shock.
I bought a beautiful TV Panasonic large screen in Big C Extra 2 years ago.
There are now black spots everywhere in the screen..now about 60%.
But it can still be done .. so no new purchases yet.
Known problem of all LCD screens, TVs, remote air conditioning, telephones, etc.
High temperature and humidity will destroy the glue (black spot) used to stick the polarizing film to the LCD.
In China and India I just put a new polarizing film on the LCD.
But I don't know of any company here that does that.
Dear Albert,
You're right.
We have a TV that repeatedly fails (capacitor).
I don't doubt it's due to the humidity in Thailand.
Normally, all components are painted and protected against moisture.
I think it depends on the quality of the product.
The peak voltage must/may not make a difference (everything is now protected against).
What you say about the screen is correct.
Yours faithfully,
Erwin
Dear Erwin,
Capacitors come in different types.
The so-called electrolytic capacitors and starting capacitors (on eg air conditioning motors) are filled with a liquid.
If the rubber grommets of the connections start to leak, these capacitors will dry out and must be replaced.
However, an Elco must last longer than 2 years even in Thailand.
The electrolytic capacitors in the 220V side of a power supply must be at least 450VDC.
The so-called Dry capacitors break if the operating voltage is too high for the type used.
This may be because a 200VDC capacitor is used instead of 200VAC, or because the design of the circuit is not good.
In 220V circuits these dry capacitors must be at least 1000VDC type.
Unfortunately very difficult to obtain in Thailand.
m.vr.gr.
No 3 year warranty?
It may be that electricity fluctuations occur on your grid, most devices cannot withstand this, what you can do against this is to install a safety cut.
Not all safety cuts have over- and/or undervoltage protection.
A safety cut switches itself off, which can be difficult if the voltage is not constant.
The only solution is then a mains stabilizer, but that is an expensive solution.
I live 11 years in Thailand, close to the sea. And I can tell you that everything rusts here, and many (small) electrical appliances break down, e.g. electric toothbrushes, shavers, Senseo appliances (I now have the 3rd), halogen hob, and lamps, spotlights, etc.
In my opinion, this is due to huge fluctuations in voltages, especially for rechargeable devices, and on the other hand due to the climate, hot and high humidity.
Also notice this on chrome furniture such as dining room chairs, you can see the chrome base rusting away!
The main cause is the mains voltage which sometimes “peaks”
There's something you can do if you want
A kind of collection box for peak current.
Are for sale in the Netherlands and perhaps also in the larger cities in Thailand.
All electronics are normally equipped with protection against peaks.
The culprit is usually too low a voltage.
That was also told to us by the mechanic of Elektrolux.
Our dishwasher also broke down after less than 7 months, fortunately under warranty.
New circuit board and it works again.
The too low voltage is often the cause, says the mechanic.
That is why you often see Thais unplug all the plugs when they are not using a device. Do not use for the first few minutes, even after a power failure, because the voltage is too low
We regularly had problems with the power water pump in the night. Red LED and continuous on/off switching. Measured the voltage at night on the advice of Mitsubishi. Turned out to be between 240 and 250 volts, while the pump is designed for 220 volts. According to Mitsu, this could pose a problem for more power consumers in the home. Mitsu offered an electronic adjustment to the pump free of charge to solve this problem. So the problem is known. Fortunately, there are no other power consumers on at night.
We talk about 220 Volt but that is not correct.
Assume that the mains voltage is 230 Volt (internationally, people go in steps to 240 Volt).
When your connection is close to a transformer, you may even get 255 Volt.
And perhaps only 200 Volt as the last connection.
In the event of a power failure and a return of peak voltage, various devices are broken or do not work properly. Usually the transformer, rectifier or adapter is broken.
My TV, printer and alarm installation still work fine because I had installed a surge protector.
Tip. I ordered 6 more surge protectors from NL for €3,20 each.
I have overcome the problem of voltage variations by installing an under and over voltage relay and contactor and time relay
If the voltage is not within the limits, the voltage is switched off and if the voltage is stable again for 3 minutes, the voltage is switched on again.
I would also like that because the voltage here is continuously about 245 Volt with variations between 60 and 245 Volt.
The electricity company is aware of this and has also detected it, but does nothing.
I fear that after a long time (is already a year) many things will break sooner than necessary.
I understand that an overvoltage limit is 240 Volt, but if the overvoltage is ever restored, I will still be dealing with a really very variable voltage from 60 to 245 Volt.
What is the name of the brand of the service you are using and where can I purchase it?
Had the same problem, cause thunder.
We came home after a thunderstorm, the water heater, TV, satellite receiver and air conditioning broken.
-How is that possible, we have sockets with earth everywhere.
-There is even an earth leakage switch in the fuse box.
(which serve to protect people, not for lightning strikes)
Outside, a copper earth pin has been hammered deep into the ground.
If you get a short circuit in your device, this current must flow quickly through the socket-with-earth to the pin in the ground.
The earth leakage circuit breaker detects this and switches off for your safety.
What was the case now, the cable from that earth pin entered the house and was connected to the frame of the house (probably someone thought the house is in the ground that is earth then it is good)
The Lightning must have struck somewhere on the roof/iron/frame.
This surge wants to drain quickly and find an easy way out.
Roof -} Frame-} earth cable-} to socket -} device broken.
So then I disconnected that ground wire from the iron house frame.
Then another separate earth pin struck with a separate cable that is attached to the house frame so that lightning strikes can flow away to earth (lightning rod)
Lightning can also strike a mast nearby.
For this I plugged in some Blokker surge protection plugs.
I use with adapter because of thai europe plug.
https://www.blokker.nl/p/ion-bliksemstop-2-stuks/1393488
After that the problem was solved.
I often see at resorts and hotels that people connect the earth to a frame or iron pipe for a hot water shower.
Dangerous.
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to protect against thunderstorms.
A lightning rod is a real culprit for all electronic circuits in the vicinity of the rod.
In the event of a lightning strike, the current through the arrester will be so high that it causes an EMP (electro magnetic pulse). This pulse can cause very high induction voltages in electronic circuits, causing things to break down.
This will even happen with circuits that are NOT connected to a 220V mains.
So even if the device is in its box in the cabinet (unless it is a closed steel cabinet).
I suffered terribly, everything broke. Had a stabilizer put in between, right from the power outside this put in between. Too little power? Screws it to 230, too much current? Creams down to 230…. after installation no more problems. Believe me, is the only solution, costs something, but no more misery.
@ Edward,
Did you have that done by a Thai electrician?
Do you know the brand of the stabilizer?
I think you will help a lot of people with this solution.
Jos M, the name is pecahta of that stabilizer, but I don't think it is available anymore. But take a look at Huizho Yinghua electronic, you can put one of these things in between per device. It's much cheaper, after all, only your expensive stuff needs to be secured, a lamp isn't that bad. Then had it installed in Bangkok by an electrician. Been looking for his card, but can't find it anywhere anymore, but I think there are many electricians around who fix this.
Take a look here and choose one, possibly take several small ones and work per device:https://nl.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-voltage-stabilizer-220v.html
No LG TV ever again!!
Three years ago I bought a LED3D 55″ LG TV worth 54.990 Bath.
A month ago, lines suddenly appeared in the image.
TV brought in at Power Buy (also bought there).
After three weeks the cost turned out to be 30.700 Bath!!
(so perd total…)
Bought a voltage stabilizer in the meantime, but I know if that will help in the future.
https://www.lazada.co.th/products/zircon-stabilizer-rpr-1000-protect-your-smart-tv-i292056310-s487172867.html?
Now I'm going to watch out to buy a decent TV set;
Given the complaint and the repair price, the contacts of a connection cable of the LCD screen have probably come loose. The many contacts of these cables are glued to the contacts of the LCD screen with a conductive double-sided tape. This glue can also come loose and then contacts are interrupted, so that the image lines on the screen are no longer displayed properly.
Small ants in an electrical device can also cause problems. Just a puff of Chaindrite and your problem can be over.
Well, ants love to settle between the contact points of switches.
They are then electrocuted, then their peers come to pick them up and the circle is complete.
A malfunctioning switch full of dead ants.
Dear Albert,
Don't forget the amp ;)
Yours faithfully,
Erwin
The real reason is this: Connect your expensive devices through an 'ups'. Uninterruptable power supply. Your appliances break due to a power outage. The power restart causes a surge at startup that causes your devices to clap. Those ups will catch that.
So you connect your device to the UPS, and plug it into the socket. Firstly, your device (e.g. computer) does not suddenly fail when the power goes out, but you still have a few minutes to shut down, secondly, it absorbs the peak voltages. Any decent electronics store should know what you mean.