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Home » Reader question » Reader question: How do I get a safe power strip?
Reader question: How do I get a safe power strip?
Dear readers,
We regularly have problems with power strips in Thailand. It's probably cheap junk from China because they break down all the time with us. The last time the power strip also started to smell very bad. We are terrified that one day a fire will start from those things, but I can't do without them either.
Does anyone know where to buy a better quality? I don't care about the price as long as they are good.
Regards,
Anton
Have plug sockets brought from the Netherlands or Belgium.
I've been doing that for years for friends in Thailand. The good quality is apparently very hard to find over there.
Go to homepro and ask for a decent one. That is usually not the cheapest.
In the 2 months that we are there, we certainly buy x or 3 new sockets. We can't handle that dial on it. They always stink, a melting smell that comes off and then it's broken. We bring new ones from the Netherlands, grounded containers, then we know for sure that everything is going well.
That's not a "turn knob". When you unscrew it there is a fuse in it. There are also plenty of reliable power strips to be found. Only 2 to 3 times more expensive.
I've been doing boxes ./bins with my plug for 12 years.
But I always check first how many watts they can take and usually buy the strongest.
Usually they are for 1000, but then you have a lot of problems because closed equipment is often already 1500 and then they can start smelling.
Difficult to obtain but sometimes present 3000, often 2500
If the socket (supply) is not grounded, grounded power strips are of no use.
The power strips you buy at 7Eleven
are excellent
I've been using them for years and no problems
Check out Ebay.com. or Ebay.nl
That is a large auction, where you can buy cheap and good power strips.
Sometimes even with free shipping.
My experience is that the power strips in Thailand are all junk. The whole system with those flat plugs is a disaster. Also in America and on the Caribbean islands I have always had a fight with that.
I bring power strips with round plugs from the Netherlands. Usually the round plugs just fit well in the worn-out wall connections. In the unlikely event that it doesn't fit I put an adapter plug in between and fix it with a drop of superglue.
Make sure that the pipes from the meter can handle the power consumption. Often it is the roads in TH: three large condos with thousands of residents, who all cross a narrow road onto an already busy road (soi 77 Sukhumvit) and then onto the main road, which is also clogged.
Just bring good 3-wire cables from NL / B, and replace the whole lot in TH.
Have them brought from the Netherlands or Belgium, then suddenly have earthed plugs brought along.
After more than 10 years of searching, I have never come across a really high-quality power strip in Thailand.
The reason for this is that they are for dual use (American/EUR)
The more expensive types of eg. the brand “Toshino” are of good quality.
Available at eg. Tesco, Global, Thai Watsadu, Home-pro, do-home...etc.
Some even have overvoltage & current protection and the wire section (thickness of the copper conductors in the supply cable) corresponds to the maximum power stated on the power strip, which is not the case at all with the junk that is included with, among others. 7/11 is offered.
(this junk contains CCA or CCS conductors instead of copper, which are prohibited for this application in the USA and EU)
Versions of which the grounding is carried through to the plug (so 3p plug) also exist here, but first check whether your home / hotel can handle 3-pin plugs (usually not)
Cost from about 300 Bath,
Take a Dutch socket and put a Thai plug (with flat jaws) on it and Kees is ready.
I see Belkin plug boxes everywhere. In department stores, electronics and computer shops. It is more expensive and has protection against peak load, but then you have a good and reliable power strip. By the way, protection against peak loads is not a luxury here. Many more electronics in the house have an increased risk.
I bought a UPS at Advice (computer store).
Cost: about 50 euros.
In addition to a battery, that thing also has various protections and good connections.
And behind it hangs another distribution box that I brought from NL.
If a power strip starts to smell, it is evaporating. That could be plasticizers from the plastic insulation, or worse: thing is melting. Matter of time, and someone's hair is straight up or worse.
Also take into account a coiled cable in a drum, where the heat generated cannot escape. Not the first time things have melted in there.
In the EU we owe it to the EU directives, which are so much maligned by many, in this case the CE regulation, that electrical appliances and cables ARE safe. In Thailand, the “hallmark” on the price tag usually applies = THB. The lower the better.
The fact that a rolled up extension cable, with or without a box, heats up is not because the heat cannot escape. This is due to the “joule effect”. A coiled cable forms and behaves like a coil. A coil has different electrical properties than a stretched cable. Therefore: always unwind the cable when using it.
Those long distribution boxes with 3, 4, 5, 6 or 8 contacts with red switch and 10A fuse (=>2200W) that you can also buy on markets are rubbish.
They are often equipped with contacts with an earth hole, but these are blind, not connected. The cord is 2-core and the fused plug is 2-pole, so no earth.
The metal in the junction box is too thin to provide good long-term resilience and corrodes.
Due to the poor resilience, the contacts start to “sloppy”. Bad contact means great resistance, so heat, melting, smell, fire. The rust has the same effect.
If you already have such a “dredging box” I would, just like I did, unscrew it (with a Phillips screwdriver) and bend the contacts (with a combination pliers, for example) until it fits tight again. Can you go ahead for a while.
After a long search I found a good distribution box for 16A with earth (with earth indicator) and switch. Unfortunately, the cord with the melted-on plug is rather short, but because those loose round black rubber plugs with a metal clip are too ugly for words, I have not attached a longer cord yet.
I've got a moment http://www.directtoshop.com from HomePro looked at power strip.
I would leave anything under 300THB. Up there ??
The metal connections in the socket have too little spring force.
If you put a thick plug with round pins (for example from a vacuum cleaner) they bend too far out and then no longer make good contact with a plug with thinner round legs.
I bought adapter plugs at Big C, where you can put round pins, and which itself has flat pins.
As if you replace the plug with round pins with one with flat pins.
I have not found good plugs with flat pins either.
Those adapter plugs are of good quality, but it will make do.
It would be best to install Dutch wall sockets, but they are outrageously expensive. (in the Netherlands)
And not for sale in Thailand.
Completely agree that those flat plugs and sockets are worth nothing and yes, those rubbish are not made to stuff thick round plugs in them. Is it normal for them to break?
very expensive: surface-mounted wall socket with earthing pin: 7 Euro
surface-mounted box waterproof: 2 Euro
Built-in contact double with earthing: 5.5 Euro
Double cover plate: 1.5 Euro
Flush-mounted box: 0.5 Euro
But those are good European !!!
If plug boxes break just like that, you draw too much amperage (A) power (W)
Read what's on the boxes, how many barely you can go or power in watts.
If you put a 2 kw deep fryer on a 1 kw (1000 watt) socket, your cables or the inside of the socket will indeed melt. I don't know what all is written on that box, since 1000 watts is quite a bit. Look at your devices and add up the powers, then you know how many watts are drawn.
Bad contacts also do not work in your favor, which also puts extra strain on your box and also causes sparks and burns your contacts more. The power will therefore increase and ultimately cause melting problems. If the whole thing doesn't actually catch on fire. You should be able to tell by the plugs you put in.
I myself think the flat plugs are rubbish, worthless American invention.
Cheap is expensive, pack the more expensive homepro that can have 2500-3000 watts, but everything breaks down when overloaded!
In principle, just about all “multiblocks” are unsafe things. It is actually something you only use in case of necessity and not permanently. Multiblocks give rise to excess power consumption on an existing circuit. Especially in Thailand, where the existing electricity installations in homes are usually lamentable. Wiring for sockets of 0.75 or in the best case 1.5mm². Then a fuse of 50A and also connecting a few multiblocks to it is asking for problems. The burning of these things is only due to the bad plug contacts and wanting to chase too much power.