Best tips?
a) don’t take any advice from anyone. It will be conficting and confusing. Trust your own judgement.

b) 10 minute rule. When your baby screams as it inevitably will, put him/her down in his/her cot, walk away and have 10 minutes. He/she is more resilient than you think. The chances of you breaking are far greater than him/her. If after 10 minutes they are still screaming, give them a hug/cuddle and don’t feel you can’t repeat the process again if you need it.

Good luck. Best times ever.

Rich.

The best camera is the one that is with you when you see the photo you want to take. This should really dictate what you go for.
If your wife is looking to take photos where transporting gear is not an issue then the DSLR route is probably a good one. If she’s wants to capture stuff that she’s seeing in day to day situations, then something that is always with her is a better bet and thus it’s more likely to be compact sized.
Once she’s worked out what she needs then in my view the next important issue (on the basis that most cameras at a price point are much the same) is what is the most intuitive to use.

I’ve recently gone through a similar process with my son who is into video. We were thinking of a DSLR (Nikon D3200) but we went for a Panasonic LX7 instead. It has a fast (f1.4) lens, gives excellent results, is easy to handle and pretty much fits in a coat pocket. The ability to manage the depth of field is more restricted than on the DSLR as is the control of the zoom and focusing. But I knew that for outdoor, action video to supplement his GoPro this would be far more practical.

I’d recommend taking a look at Ken Rockwell[/url] He’s a bit “marmite” but he makes some very good points, particularly that “the camera doesn’t matter”.

Rich.

Check to see it is configured to get it’s ip address automatically. If it’s got a fixed ip address and a default gateway that refers to the old internet supplier, it won’t connect.
Rich.

personally I’d go for a non-combi. Get an indirect tank fitted with a solar coil and fit a couple of wet solar panels when you can afford it.
However, the time you’re expecting to stay there, available space and finances would all impact your decision.
Cheapest option is probably a replacement oil combi.
Rich.

Difficult to say. Non condensing boilers should last for ages. Worcester Bosch are one of the better makes so spares are likely to be available. The only answer is to get a reliable plumber in, or a Worcester Bosch service engineer to take a look.

Personally I’d probably just bite the bullet and get a new boiler (Worcester Bosch, Grant – something well known).

Rich.

I thought our CTC for 3 kids was around £180 a month. How did you end up with a £8K debt, that’s like 4 years of earning over £60K rather than 2..

Well, I certainly wasn’t earning that much! I’ve three kids and CTC was in the region of £4500 a year. (The problems commenced 2011/12). Quite honestly, it’s virtually impossible to work out. I did have a very good year 2011/12 – which made the CTC drop to zero. Thus the initial overpayment of £3000. I’m still trying to get my head round the rest. I think a lot of it has to do with using estimated income rather than actuals. The accountant did my (and business partners) accounts as late as possible (against my wishes). Thus actuals were some 9 months behind. In this time tax credits are being paid every month, which are then found to be more than you should actually get.

Don’t get me wrong, I accept that I’ve dropped the ball on this. It could also be argued that CTC are not really meant for people like me who has a reasonable income and it was an inevitability that I’d be overpaid. Maybe if I’d researched it I’d have worked it out.

It certainly doesn’t help that the information you get from them is almost impossible to understand. Even now, going back over it, I’m struggling to see how it works.

One of the frustrating things is that having asked me for repayment, I’ve sent them two letters outlining my willingness to repay it and offering them a payment plan. They’ve not bothered to reply. Nor did they take any notice of my request to stop money being put into my account despite the massive overpayment already accrued. It’s bit “twilight zone” – you can’t communicate with them. Once you’re in, you can’t escape!

As I say, it’s not causing me any distress, but I know that there’s plenty of people who have been badly affected by it.

Rich.

willjones and others, thank you.

Being self employed I had a couple of good years and an accountant who took too long to get actual figures out. The payments accumulate very quickly and once you’re in an overpayment situation it doesn’t take long for it to go bent.

I think the figures are reasonably accurate and I accept that I am partially to blame for taking my eye off the ball with them. That said the process is extremely complex, even for someone with a reasonable degree of financial savvy and that they hold some degree of responsibility for the situation. From the wording of their letters, they mislead you into thinking they are recovering the full amount when this isn’t the case.

I have no problems with them wanting repayment. However, if there is a precedent for them accepting 75p in the pound or whatever on larger debts then it would be good to know about it before writing the cheque.

The big issue I have is the way in which they ask for the money. They make repayment easy – just put it on your credit card. You’ve got 5 weeks to pay us. I’m not intimidated by it, but there’s people out there that a) will put it on the card or b) panic and go to a doorstep money lender or c) not be able to face it and step in front of a train.

They are a nightmare to deal with. I hate to think how many people have had their lives affected by it.

Never mind.

Likewise. Email in profile too.
Rich.

There is specific learner driver insurance that runs in parallel with the existing insurance. I got a 3 month policy which was enough to teach my son to drive. Then it was a case of him going on our policy as a named driver. He only drives it at weekends and the occasional evening out. I am the main driver.
Rich.

I’m always pleased to help people with electrical stuff, but this isn’t a DIY job that you can learn on the fly.

The “earth” you connected incorrectly, isn’t an earth. It’s neutral. This is basic.

TN-C-S doesn’t require an earth stake. The installation looks like it’s TN-S. This doesn’t require an earth stake either. This is basic too.

There is a requirement to size the earthing conductor correctly to be able to carry the PEFC. These can be found in the Wiring Regulations (BS7671)or calculated using the adiabatic equation. This is important because if you don’t, the main earthing conductor will not be able to carry the fault current in the time between the fault occurring and the main fuse blowing – thus setting fire to that nice piece of flammable wallpaper it runs underneath.

Are your water/gas/other conductive parts that bring earth potential into the property bonded? This will ensure you don’t get a shock if a fault occurs and you’re touching the sink at the time.

You can fit all the RCDs you want. There’s still an earth fault on the saw that’s causing it to trip. It was there 3 weeks ago when I first told you and it’s still there now.

An electrician will have that done in half a day. Safe and certificated. He can also test the lead out to the saw. This will show that the saw has a problem.

I respect you for wanting to give it a go, but it’s not just a case of connecting 3 wires up. The skill is not making it work, it’s making it fail gracefully when a fault occurs. This requires knowledge, experience and suitable test equipment.

There is a time and place for DIY and a time when a tradesman is worth the money. This is that time.

Sorry, but it has to be said.

Rich.

3kW is approx. 13A (3000/230). Fine with a fused spur with a 13A fuse in.
Rich.

Edit:
I should add that the cable to the fused spur should probably be 2.5mm.
1.5mm would probably be ok but I would like to know more about how it’s routed and the rating of the main fuse before committing to use it.

Flex from the FCU to the heater is ok in 1.5mm.

Can’t believe the OP thinks this is just free speech & nothing more sinister, longer term

Well, I’m in two minds. There is no doubt there is a need to act in situations where the words or behaviour is such that there is a genuine threat. However, there is also a need to tolerate words or behaviour that, whilst unsavory to the majority, is unlikely to result in any significant event occurring.

Without having sat through the evidence makes it’s difficult to be certain, but it on balance I feel it leans more towards the latter than the former. However, 5 years 3 months is a significant sentence so maybe there is more to it that we realise.

I hadn’t intended it to be a discussion regarding radical Islam which I agree is very much a threat to the UK; more really to sound out where people feel the boundaries of free speech are.

Rich.

Was it anything like this?

Instead of bullets, use in line crimps. Butt crimps.
Stagger joints and use heat resistant shrinkable sleeving. The cable should really be clamped to avoid strain on the crimp. If you can make the groove big enough a cable clip either side of the join would do.
Optimally you should use a proper crimper, not one that you would use on the car. Ratchet Crimper.

Rich.

PS You’ll only die if you don’t turn the power off.

PPS – soldering is acceptable, but you should still clamp the cables.

The obvious course of action would be to take the stat. out of the equation and seeing if the boiler runs. However, I wouldn’t think you’d get a red status LED (I assume this means “fault”) if it was a stat. issue – it would just either run constantly or not at all depending on whether or not it failed in the “call for heat” setting.

Is there a lockout on the boiler with a reset button somewhere (my experience is all oil)? Sometimes ours locks out if it fails to fire, though I think a power off/on will reset it.

Sorry I can’t be more helpful.

Rich.

No problem. I am an electrician specialising in inspection and testing so can fill you in as needed.
Rich.

Extension leads are not appliances.

They are covered by the codes of practice for In Service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment.

Rich.

I can. Email is in profile. I’ll reply with my phone number.
Rich.

….but firefighters instead of newspaper…….

Freudian slip?

Get some new wallpaper while you are out

….and some 16mm singles, 10mm for bonding. Seals for the main fuse will be available on ebay…..

The purpose of the MCB/Fuse is to protect the cable so it doesn’t overload, get hot and catch fire. The RCD is to protect against electric shock by ensuring that the power is disconnected within 300 milliseconds and the current doesn’t rise above 30millamps (a bit simplistic, but accurate enough).

You need to ensure that the cable you are feeding the saw with has a current carrying capacity greater than the demand being put on it and the fuse/mcb rating is greater than, or equal to both the demand and current carrying capacity of the cable.

Lets assume the socket the RCD is plugged into is on a ring and it’s run in 2.5FTE. This will have a cable rating of 27amps be satisfactory due to the way a ring works and a fuse/MCB of 32A so likely all ok.

The plug on the extension cable is going to be rated at 13A and 1.5mm Flex is rated at 16Amps so all ok here. We’ll also assume that the cable is fully extended.

MCB isn’t tripping, so no cable overload in the house. Fuse not blowing on the plug, so no overload there.

RCD trips implies an earth fault. Not sure if there is an RCD in the house protecting the circuit(?). The most sensitive RCD will trip first.
If the circuit has a 30mA RCD protecting it on the main board, take the plug in RCD off and try the saw. If the house RCD goes, it will eliminate the plug in RCD and confirm an earth fault. If there is no house RCD don’t do this, but try a different plug in RCD to see if the tripping persists. If not, then it’s a faulty RCD otherwise you still have an earth fault on the saw.
The RCD at the plug tripping indicates the fault is between the RCD and saw as the RCD would not trip with a fault “north” of this.

If an earth fault is suspected, power off and check for a loose neutral connection in the plug and also at the saw. Heavy load could be causing an increase in temperature in the RCD. Not sure whether there is a thermal cutout in the RCD or whether an increase in temperature could make it excessively sensitive.

Failing that, I would have the saw and extension cable tested to ensure that the LN-E Insulation resistance is satisfactory.

Rich.

edit:
Don’t dual up the conductors – It’s not safe and I don’t think it would solve it anyway.

What trips? The fuse in the plug, the RCD or the MCB in the board?
If it’s the mcb you have probably got a B curve fitted. A “C” curve mcb will handle the higher startup current of the motor.
Obviously difficult to tell without seeing the setup in the flesh.
Rich.

Turbogold. Worth the extra. Don’t break when used with an impact driver.
Rich.

Is it hidden or just a spare stored for attaching to a trailer unit when it’s picked up?

An interesting thread which prompted me to purchase a drimaster-heat.

Fitted yesterday in under 3 hours, most of which was cutting the chipboard flooring away with a blunt blade in the fein saw 🙁 .

Naturally, as an electrician I’ve bodged the wiring temporarily until I can move all the stuff out the way and run cables properly. No heat on it yet; maybe another bodge tomorrow……

Anyway, first night which was a cold one (zero degrees) and only limited condensation on the windows. The air quality feels better but is moving the stale air from son number one’s festering pit bedroom around a bit too much for my liking.

I had limited options for locating it on the landing, with the light, loft hatch and inconvenient joist placement meaning I was around 800mm from 2 walls and just over a metre from another.

Fan speed is set to 3 and can barely be heard. Vibration is non-existent even though the unit is bolted to the floor using their mounting kit.

The landing feels cooler, but not unacceptably so. It’s hard to explain but it’s a “dry” cold that is not uncomfortable.

The instructions were a little unclear as to the best way to configure windows etc. Our house is an old stone building with wooden but double glazed windows and good fitting doors. There are no trickle vents fitted but there are two woodburners, a vent in one of the living rooms and a chimney vent in one of the upstairs bedrooms. The windows can be cracked open and locked on a night setting if required.
The downstairs walls are lime plaster. Upstairs is still cement/gypsum plaster.

After some research my view is the best way to use the system is to try and get what is in essence a windtunnel effect established. The idea being that the drimaster puts in just enough air to establish a slight pressure differential that will use the natural leakage points the house has. This means we’re not opening windows as this would require the fan having to run at a higher speed to shift sufficient air to get movement from inside to out. It also should stop any windy conditions working against the system.

We’re also reducing the moisture content it has to deal with by running the extractor fan in the kitchen when cooking, opening the bathroom window when showering (no extractor fan) and wiping the shower down with a squeegie to reduce the amount of evaporation having to take place. Washing is dried in a closed utility room with a dehimidifier running.

Our main problem is damp/mold in the corners of our bedroom. Because this is cement/plaster it is cold and there is no opportunity for condensation to travel through it and out via the lime rendered outside walls. The walls are cold and we get a lot of moisture condensing on them. The hope is that we’ll see this be reduced and maybe disappear altogether.

If we don’t see an improvement over the next couple of weeks, we’ll try having the window cracked open at night.

I think the key to success with this device is:

a) reduce the amount of work it has to do by fixing some of the basic issues that cause condensation (washing, cooking, showering etc).

b) match fan speed to property size/levels of natural air leakage.

c) ensure that the loft is well sealed so that the leakage is out the structure so recirculation doesn’t occur.

First impressions are positive but time will tell.

Rich.

The police one was a load of rubbish. Computer based multiple choice, designed for no other purpose than to ensure that having done it you’ll have no defence against dismissal if you so much as thought the word “lesbian”.

No knowledge on real diversity issues: ie how a male officer should deal with a Muslim woman; what might cause offence if you had to enter a place of worship – that sort of stuff.

I would say that you did the right thing. ie tried to find security to keep an eye on it but didn’t intervene. A shame that they weren’t around. Maybe you could have insisted staff find security and maybe stayed a bit longer until they arrived but I wouldn’t criticise you for not doing so.
Intervening would, in my view, only have been necessary if the threat had escalated to a point when violence towards the lady was imminent or perceived as such. You would have been morally correct* to do so and legally allowed as you are entitled to prevent a breach of the peace.
A difficult call and don’t beat yourself up on it.

*=my morals – other morals are available.

Rich.

Had an Alhambra (1.9TDi 110bhp) for 12 years. If I had the money I’d have another without hesitation. Tons of space, flexible seating arrangements. 2 Adults, 3 children plus luggage no problems. Don’t know if the newer ones are better/worse but probably the best car I’ve ever had.
Rich.

Is it a cavity wall or solid? If solid, I would think that you’d be better with a porous plaster that allows the moisture to pass through. My experience is with a stone house and we’ve used lime plaster (inside and out) which has been fantastic.
Rich.

Strobist – Blogspot[/url]

If it’s fundamentally like a uk system then there should be no reason why the stat. can’t move inside.

You could fit a wireless stat, using the outside stat wiring as the location for the receiver and have the stat inside, moving it around as you require.

Some heatpumps use an outside stat as well as an inside one, but this doesn’t sound like the case here.

Rich.

Also, when doing TV sockets, we run 3x coax from wherever a master outlet is likely to allow for Sky Plus and multiroom.

Power in the loft for lighting and TV boosters.

As above – wiring for stats. (Specify 5 core). Could also run ethernet to each stat. location as some of the internet controlled systems require this.

Ensure there’s enough two way lighting such that a light switch is available in situations where you can leave a room by a different exit to the one you come into.

Changeover switch? The chance to power the house from a generator should it be required. Run key lighting circuits separately along with a fridge/freezer socket so that essential items have power and the generator can cope.

Flexibility to fit PV.

Hard wired phone socket in bedroom. If there is a power failure during a fire and you’re trapped, you can still make a call.

Rich.

I use eukhost. Been with them a few years and very reliable.
Rich.

Grant and Worcester Bosch are the ones that I know of. IANA(Plumber) but I think that material used in the burner can is relevant to their quality.
Rich.

Gav,
Got a bit old kit you might want. Tank, thermometer, squeegie and some pots. Drop me a mail (mine is in my profile) and I’ll send you a pic.
Don’t want anything for it. May not work out but you’re welcome to look.
Rich.

How is the water heated? Is it an immersion with a stat on the immersion heater or via oil/gas (indirect cylinder) with a tank stat. attached?
Rich.

A quick bit of research gives this – remember IANAP –

<GOOGLE> With a heatpump, an openzone prevents short cycling (ie frequent stop/starts) which draws a large amount of current and is not very efficient. The open zone dumps some of the heat causing the pump to continue running. </GOOGLE>

I think open zones are also relevant with gas/oil systems in that they are often used where thermostatic valves (TRVs) are fitted. One radiator is used without a valve. Now, on my system at home (oil – S Plan plus if that means anything to you) – I don’t have an open zone; there are TRVs on all the rads. However, I do have a bypass valve which causes the hot water to circle directly back to the boiler. I think that this negates the need for an open zone because excessive pressure from the pump is diverted back to the boiler. An open zone would not necessarily require a bypass valve (though maybe for other reasons it would) because excessive pressure can’t build up.

That said, if there’s anything worse than a plumber doing electrics, it an electrician doing plumbing……

Rich.

Ekinspain, I’m an electrician, not a plumber so I’m in the dubious position of knowing enough to be dangerous when it comes to the bits with water in. 😀

I think some systems need them; others not. It depends on the design and I would ask whoever is doing the work for you what you need. If they don’t seem to be able to give you a convincing anwser then you might want to seek a second opinion.

Sorry I can’t be more helpful but I’m sure there’s someone watching this thread that can fill in the gaps.

Rich.