₦airaland Forum

Oshomo12:
That speed small now!!! Or you meant 2MBps?

Note MB = 8×Mbps if I remember correctly.

It is for office use.

I hope it turns out to be a good purchase, if not it will be shut down.

I have to supply internet to several devices on 2 floors.

My key consideration was that although other providers may offer faster speeds they are not very clear on the data cap. How much data will be used before they throttle down the data or the speed or both

As you know there is not really anything like unlimited internet connection.

"Starlink will slow down speeds for Best Effort and Mobile plan customers. The bandwidth priority goes to Standard, Priority, and Mobile Priority users. " that is a quote from starlinkhardware dot com

As someone said on Reddit:

"Networks have a max bandwidth. If you can't (or won't) build your network so that peak < max, then that data gets spread out over time. Doing that in a controlled manner is better than letting it happen 'naturally'.

Most networks are far below their max most of the time."

I just want to test if my office will consume 1TB a month, and to guarantee that even if they hit 1TB per month the internet will not be cut off.

Airtel has a 1TB plan but it would cost me 100,000.00 and each time it is exhausted, I would need to shell out another 100,000.00

With this system, I can get the 1TB for less than half of 100,000.00.

I have MTN 5G and also plan to get the Airtel 5G and also have Glo 4G for home/mobile use.

GloriousGbola:
you want good earthing, you will have to get maybe 3 or 4 earth rods, bond them together, and use earth enhancement [bentonite]. the default used in nigeria is salt and charcoal - but research says that salt actually messes with copper

you also want to excavate to one meter or more. if you are in an area that was sandfilled, you will have issues .

you also want to be sure you have actual copper earth rods. you can do this by scraping the earth rod or using a magnet on it. pure copper will not attract the magnet , the pit is simply for you to be able to do periodical earth integrity test

if you want, you can build a small manhole around it - or even just get a 200mm pvc pipe off cut with a cover.

you want to test your earth integrity

kyoritsu earth tester

As usual you have been that resource person in electrical matters that I have to reference.

Thank you for your time.

By the way, you may recall our discussion about internet awhile back. I just subscribed to a dedicated 2Mbps service from Glo. Costs N41,000.00 monthly. Data cap is 1TB. If you exhaust the 1 TB before the 30 days is up, they dial you down to 512kbps but the internet does not shut down.

Should be activated by the end of the week.

Will tell you if it is worth the cost.

mank1234:
Area covered is dependent on:
-Type of lightening arrestor
-likelihood is it occurring.
-shape of your roof
-the length and breadth of building and so on.
So you may actually need more than 1.

You also need a very good earthing. Like Niyi pointed out the resistance must be very low so that the current can flow easily to ground when surge is building up. Else you're are causing more harm - attracting what you cannot handle

Smiles.

Thanks for sharing.

I now have pictures of what I was earlier struggling to describe.

Your warnings will be taken into account.

I appreciate your inputs.

Will begin by testing the resistance of the current earthing. That will help me determine if it is good enough or if it will need to be replaced

Please what is the cost of stone dust and granite (1/2" and 3/4" in Abuja per ton?

GloriousGbola:
you do not need an indelec lightnng arrestor for a domestic residence

a franklin arrester is all you need

you only need one arrestor

anything else is overkill

what you need is an arrestor at the highest point in your facility

it must be properly earthed

Turns out what I saw was a Franklin (actually 4 of them)

They installed the additional 4 after a lightning strike destroyed some stuff on the site.

They had one before.

They even installed it in a such way that you could easily open the earth pit for inspection.

Will try to get the name of the stuff on the ground when next I visit the site

mctfopt:
If the cost is not much of an issue, get an Indelec lightning arrestor

Thanks for pointing me in this direction.

This will be expensive but I have started making enquiries.

I saw one property that had 4 lightning arrestors on the same building. I had to check it out and found out that the more the merrier. The greater the likelihood that the system will not be overwhelmed.

Now imagine having 4 of the above.

NiyiOmoIyunade:
I last installed a residential lightning protection and earthing system in September 2021.

Budget - Under 750k
Achieved System Resistance - 2.3 ohms
Number of Rods - 5 x 6ft
Earth enhancement material backfill - 5 bags
Furse Earth inspection pits - 5
Full roll of 25mm sq copper cable for bonding rods
Indelec Prevectron TS 2.25
U bolt clamps and assorted fasteners and connectors.

We were able to deliver the job with a very healthy margin and return some credit to the customer.

We should be looking at costs of between 2 to 3 times the above today!

mank1234:
The last paragraph is what I meant.
If the connection in the bolded is outside your building, I think it should be ok. Surge will flow to ground rather than I to your house.

Thank you.

What are you thoughts on earthing DSTV connections?

I have found out that I need to earth the mast/pole on which the dish is mounted as well as the cable that brings the feed to the TV.

Can I do that with locally available materials?

Or will I have to import the stuff I have seen being used in places like the US?

By the way I just got wind of a man in Abuja who literally has to replace his TV and his DSTV decoder monthly due to this problem.

I have never had this problem, but I want to put in place all precautions.

My final move will be installing multiple thunder arrestors (at least 4) on my roof. Putting that off for the last due to the financial implications.

mank1234:
Do it separate. You don't want flow path to ground through your home.

Inside the ground, link the panel earth rod to the earth rod serving the house.

Guiding principle: surge follows shortage/fastest (least resistant) path to ground.

Thanks.

Additional clarifications.

There is an earth rod outside the building.

It is less than 5 inches from the building.

The solar panels are 170 inches from the building.

I connected the solar panels that distance of 170 inches to the general earth of the house.

You mean that I should do another earth rod less than 5 inches from the solar panels then connect both underground right?

Can I find this in Nigeria or do I have to import?

Will be used to ground my DSTV lead-in cable?

For those of us that have earthed their solar panels.

When do I need to create a separate earth terminal for the panels instead of that of the main house?

Currently the panel earthing is connected to the house earth.

MeineMutter:
I doubt if the first pix is an HDF door. It looks more like MDF. Check the purported Turkey door well. Does it have fine particles like compressed saw dust at its edges? If yes, it means it is an MDF.

The second pix looks like plywood or HDF. Check well; if the edges of the wood show layers of flat wood, that means it’s plywood he bought. He might need to use an edge binder to cover the layers from showing, after finishing.

Where the edges of the second pix show no layers of stacked wood, it may be a HDF wood.

He needs powerful router to create dado (the deep lines as shown on the Turkey door) on the woods in pix 2 with a matching diameter (and at the same depth) of bit used in creating the lines in the first pix (Turkey door) has to be used by the furniture guy for me to be able to get something closer to the one made with router table in factory.

If he attempts to chisel out the esthetic lines manually, he may not get the design (dados) well.

Hope he has a better plunge router like Festool or Mafell. Those are the best routers that can do the job well, including the door holes and hinges. He can use a couple of other door engine installation kits and hole saw, where he can’t use plunger to drill the hole.

A Trion, Makita, Dewalt, Milwaukee or Bosch plunge router too could be useful, if he knows how to use any of it and has or could get one.

Where he couldn’t get a plunge router, he can use trusted trim routers will rail guide, for the dados and the door holes.

Let him also look for quality white paint for the finishing.

If I am to make such door with my tools here, it cannot cost more than N40k, without adding my profit and cost of shipment ni o.

Tell him to reduce the price for you. The charges are too closer to that of factory-made door and he hasn’t made any of such doors for you before for you to know if he would get it as closed as to the Turkey door.

Don’t pay upfront for everything. Let him make one and show it to you. If you are ok with it, he can then go ahead with others, to avoid a case of WHAT I ORDERED VS WHAT I GOT.

Modified:

Estimated cost of making one door using plywood.

1 piece of full length of plywood = 14k, max.
2. Door engine (the type that he would use for you)= 10k , max.
3. Door hinges = 3k, max
4. Lacquer and final painting = 10k, max.
5. Screws and others = 1k, max.

For using HDF, the only difference is going to be the cost of the wood is is being sold around N16k to 21k per piece, depending on where you are buying it.

You can then add his labour. I assume you already have your door frames installed.

Hope I am back soon to come and crash price for people making life difficult for Nigerians, in my own little way.

We exploit ourselves too much.


By the way, I sell and ship quality power tools and accessories for woodwork and furniture making, directly from Europe and the US. These are not China Made for Nigeria tools o.
Tokunbo dey, Brand new dey.

Please drop your email.

You spoke like someone who knows the woodworking trade inside out.

I could not help myself as I read some words up there.

Amongst other things I had imported a Mibro dado blade set just last month.

Will be purchasing even more tools to complete my wood working workshop and your contact would be immensely valuable

Coiner:
The mold is just on the concrete floor. Only at the areas where the water collectors discharge water.

Thank you.

Does the concrete floor slope away from the building?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-53Cksv7RA

Coiner:
Greetings Sir.

About concrete floor, I recently floored my compound and intend to use tiles for finishing. But I noticed some mold in some areas where the water collectors discharge. My workers said it's because they didn't use water seal.

Now, like I said, I will lay tiles on the floor. But I'm still concerned. From your experience, will this mold affect the tiles years later? Will a mix of water seal and cement solve this permanently?

Pictures would help.

But let me see if I can make sense of your post.

Is the mold on the concrete floor?

Is the mold on the wall?

Is the mold on both?

About mold, this is what I know. It loves moisture, and remember concrete is not waterproof. Mold also needs oxygen. You have got plenty of that in the atmosphere. Next, mold grows very fast.

About the theory of building a house to last, this is what I know. Your enemies are 1. Water 2. Heat and 3. Air.

It is not enough to have rain collectors; you need to channel the water away from the walls and away from the foundation of the building too.

Please confirm that that has been done, if that hasn't been done, then your setup is not yet optimal.

Otherwise each time it rains, the mold has a chance to not just spread but super spread.

Now to the other part of your question: Will this mold affect the tiles years later? Will a mix of water seal and cement solve this permanently?

I did not install tiles outdoors. But I know that concrete and even plaster is not waterproof. So the water will get in between the tiles and you will still see the effects of the mold. It seems to me then that you better eliminate the water that causes the mold first before doing anything else. Even if you use water seal, please use DPC cement mix and strictly follow the manufacturer's instructions for the waterproofing agent.

DPC cement mix ratio is 2.5cm thick 1:1.5:3 or 2 cm thick with cement mortar 1:2 mixed with standard waterproofing material (formula copied from the engineeringcivil dot com website.

Also be sure to confirm source of origin/chain of custody of the waterproofing agent as there are lots of fakes in the nigerian construction industry/market.

There is a guy who has been posting about the waterproofing chemicals on this thread. maybe you should reach out to him

Everything in Nigeria is being counterfeited including concrete nails.

Concrete nails are supposed to be the sturdiest of nails but imagine trying to nail a concrete nail and its head separates from the body and hurtles to an indeterminate location putting life and limb at risk of serious injury.

Please don't joke with eye protection during construction/wood working activities

You could lose a precious member when on site because of the above.

Speaking from practical experience on my site.

Better still take control of buying stuff so you buy the highest quality instead of leaving it to the workers who will go for the cheapest so they can maximize profit.

Even with oil filters they have the fake, the medium fake and the original. But imagine risking an engine costing hundreds of thousands of naira or millions because of a part that costs thousands of naira.

Reeefe:
if u were the engineer. you can't bid a contract n win. even when u win ur Client will tag u as wasteful n u will loose ur contract

lol.

It seems you are not aware that some clients even set specifications for how they want not just engineers but construction firms to follow when they build their structures for them.

If you want a house to last 100 years, there are certain practices that must be followed.

If you want a house and don't care how long it lasts, then no issues.

This YouTube channel @OdellCompleteConcrete which I watch religiously once warranted his work to last 60 years.

Please get your engineers to put it in writing how long their construction that does not follow best practices will last before needing maintenance.

Some of us prefer quality no matter how much it costs

Reeefe:
are u the landlord of the building or the engineer?

LL

Aforxzy:
The ratio of your concrete mix determines the strength, workability and durability of your concrete structure. The strength is gotten from granite , that's why more granite is used in the mix while the binder is the cement.

Often times you see people using less of the granite because they want a fine finish and they end up compromising on the strength. Also site labour reduce the quantity of granite because it makes the mix heavier for them to carry.

So your workmen are invariably reducing the strength of your concrete element with that mix ratio and it has nothing to do with your location.

A finely finished concrete is gotten from properly mixing the components, vibrating to remove voids and using a good formwork and not by reducing the granite quantity.

However the granite should be washed and free from dirts and clay.

It's your project , insist on the right mix and they will comply.

I use this ratio as my minimum ratio and every time I do the workers marvel at how much granite I am using. They complain that they are not used to that much granite being used.

I have used both 1/2-inch granite and 3/4-inch granite.

In fact, I was once called Julius Berger for my insistence on the quality of concrete mix.

Once when someone had cause to break a portion of the concrete the workman shouted, do you want to build an everlasting house? This concrete is too strong!

I wash the granite that I use to create a 4'/6"water barrier, but I have never washed the granite that I use for the concrete mixtures.

Going forward, I will.

I even use reinforcement (TMT) for the concrete floors which the laborers said is a very rare event.

swagifted:
what kind of sound system do you use?

Vintage Hi-Fi Audio Amplifier

You need I presume a current limiter/voltage regulator for your inverter.

In recent days my utility current has been less than stable.

I never experienced this until now, now I am getting two. One for my inverter and one for my printer (not on the inverter) that unfortunately lost its power board due to a utility incident.

I did not get one before now because my ulitity voltage and been extremely stable.

Hope is not a strategy. Play safe.

obitobe:
Please I just noticed today that my charge controller is reading panel input voltage of 24v this night, has anyone witness this before and what could cause this.

I have 2 charge controllers. One is reading 14.9 volts right now and the other is reading 21 volts.

I have solar street lights near them, perfectly normal scenario.

Don't fret

Pictures of my DAC @brightK

brightk:
abeg share pics of ur dac

Will do that in the course of today.

Will update this post

Justice629:
I was able to get through the worst month of July completely off grid while August having similar weather condition as July, has a better pv energy generation due to the changing of earth's tilt towards the sun.

Calabar dark cloudy conditions during this season stretches weeks and that will humble any size of pv array and force you to deep cut your loads consumption if you truly want to stay off the grid.
Some are lucky and don't experience this at their location.

Overseas the weather is a very big issue. Here not so much. But if you have PVs, you will pay serious attention to the weather.

Abuja is having as bad as 90% to 94% cloud cover yesterday and today.

Not easy to run full load at this rate of PV generation.

Calabar is worse, because it is in weeks.

Yesterday it eased in the afternoon between 2pm and 4pm. How much can one really generate between those hours?

FEGEITOK:
Since we are talking TVs.

I have a modern smart TV without analog audio outputs just digital audio outputs but I have a vintage amplifier.

I want to pump the audio from the TV into the amplifier because I prefer the audio that comes from the amplifier to that coming from the TV.

The issue is that to do that I need a Digital Audio Converter (DAC) to act as a go-between my TV and my amplifier.

If anyone else has this kind of setup which DAC are you using?

Did you get it locally or did you import it?

Trying to determine what works and why before biting the bullet

I finally got this.

Glad I did.

Now I can listen to better stereo than the TV can provide

A while ago, I spoke of turning off utility charging from August 1, 2023. This is an interim report of my experience so far.

I am at that stage where I need an Energy Storage System.

If are into renewable energy for a while you will sooner or later realize that you cannot run all your loads on the energy that the sun delivers that day ( in other words, your solar panels maybe able to generate way more energy than your loads needs, which is a waste of PV power)

You will also realize that you need to store away generated energy for those days where the weather is not friendly to solar power generation.

This is why you see people spend 3 million on WECO batteries or 9 million on BYD batteries for those who want to buy ready-made systems and for those who want to DIY then they either import cells from China directly or get those from Valto.

An Energy Storage System allows you to talk about days of autonomy aka how many days can my batteries run my loads even if there is no PV production?

While I can charge my batteries in 2 hours of sunshine with my increased PV capacity, I am clearly handicapped when it comes to the ability to run for days on end if there is extreme cloud cover.

This is going to be the focus of my expenditure going forward.

However, I am happy to report that I am spending less on AEDC.

But I have had no choice but to turn on utility charging to augment the low PV production on bad days and the lack of a sufficiently sized ESS.

This is very similar to travelling from Abuja to Lagos by road, for many of us, our vehicles do not have the capacity to run that distance on one tank.

If there is no fuel station on the way, the journey will be forced to come to an abrupt end. But let is say we had an additional tank or tanks or even travelled with say several jerrycans of petrol, that we could guarantee that we could be able to run the distance without ever having to stop along the way or worry if there will be fuel stations that would be open on the way.

Summary of the story: Setting up and running a PV system is not cheap!

The best time to stress test a PV system is during the rainy season

michaellek:
Fegeitok, I sent you PM concerning the above.

Thanks in anticipation.

I have another number for you.

But he is working for me at the moment.

As soon as he is done with me, will share his contact with you.

twinskenny:
Lagos Coleman

1.5mm 15000
2.5mm 2500
4mm 40500

Thank you.

They said 16,500.00 at Gudu but I opted not to buy because I couldn't tell who is selling the correct thing and who is selling the fake thing.

After I confirm that, I will make the purchase.

Thanks again.

redgem:
Good evening Sir.... It is not about the money, it is about his work...with what I've read, steel is better than galvanized pipe and it's more expensive.. The amount I'm paying (350k...I've paid 200k and will pay the remaining balance after he is done) which I believe will cover for steel but he decided to use a cheaper material...

I didn't want to go with him initially because of the nonsense door he made for me but I had no other choice cos he is closer to the site..

Please do steel.

This decision help you avoid criminal negligence.

Please how much is wire today? 1.5mm and 2.5mm full coil. Superior Nigerian Cable please.

Price in Abuja

redgem:
Good evening Michlins your advice is needed please...

I already have 2100L tank at the site and intend to buy another 2100L to place on the stand...

So, here is the issue, I totally forgot to give the welder this information, only to remember this evening. To cut the long story short, he said the stand can't carry 2 of 2100L except 2 of 1500L at the top and that it can only carry 2100L in the middle... I asked him why and he said cos he is using 2m galvanized pipe whatever and we've already agreed on price @350... 200k has already been paid so please, what can be done now?

Note: we never discussed about what materials to be used cos I know nothing about it, I just told him that I needed an 18ft tank stand and he sent me the pictures below

Madam, please tread carefully.

Don't put money over life!

In that your Benin it was reported yesterday how an overhead tank like this one you are building crushed and a killed a schoolteacher who happened to be off duty that day and was at home helping her mother

You can buy another tank, you can sell off the stand you just made, life cannot be replaced.

Not saying you want to do anything stupid, just advising that you look beyond the money.

You may wish to discuss with him the cost of either additional fortifications to carry your tanks or dismantling and rebuilding. In legalese they call it "variation of contract." I am sure it will be cheaper than a new build.

michaellek:
Fegeitok, I sent you PM concerning the above.

Thanks in anticipation.

sa

You can reach him on the following number.

But recent enquiries seems to show the guy maybe charging like the rest of the professionals