Search results

Moved into a new house which has unusual ceiling lights. They are GX40 fitting capsule bulbs. Several now blown and trying to find replacements but google is not forthcoming. The existing bulb is made by Aurora - AU-DFG927 9W 2700K. Seems to be discontinued. Any ideas where might find...

Hi All, We still have our 3.5 V6 petrol Espace going strong at 176000 miles. However, it has a starting problem:- When cold if you press the start button, the engine fires and starts quite easily but immediately cuts out after the initial automatic rev. If you hold the accelerator pedal...

This is a bit of a long story so the summary is - how hard is it to service your own car and find out the list of things that need doing... I've been doing various jobs on my car (1996 Audi A4 2.6 V6) and my wife's car (Renault Grand Espace 2004 3.5 V6) to save money. This began when the...

My 1996 A4 just failed its MOT on the front upper ball joints, both sides. Decided to have a go myself despite ominous warnings about the infamous "pinch bolts" that drive people mad. Anyway, pinch bolts were OK with a breaker bar and some penetrating oil. However, on A4 you have to take the...

Car started making a grinding noise when braking and when I took the rear pads off I saw this: The one on the right is from the inner side. When I last checked them I only checked the outer one as it's easily visible. Didn't realise the inner one might be so different in terms of wear...

We have a John Lewis condenser dryer model JLTDC05 which has just started acting up now we are back from a holiday with piles of washing. It goes for a bit then stops and opens the door and beeps with a message E50 flashing on the display. Any ideas ? It's probably over 5 yrs old and I...

Just got a new battery for the wife's car and it has a warning label on it saying remove bung(s) immediately. Battery web site says "remove these immediately". However, I am wondering if I really need to remove both of them or just one - the car has a battery breather tube that fits into the...

This is a bit of a saga so I'll start with the short question and then for those who would like the background carry on a bit: I have a Vacmaster VP112 vacuum chamber sealer US version 110V/60Hz 600W. I have blown it up using a voltage converter that I now realise was crap. :oops: I am...

Pressure relief valve needs replacing on Worcester Danesmoor 15/19. I have removed the old one and have the new one in front of me, but it comes with two different washers and I am not sure which to use where. One washer is red and looks like a tap washer I have seen before. The other is...

To aid refilling the system without having to keep going outside to boiler, then back in to bleed, etc I want to add a pressure reducing valve to the filling loop. I am wondering what sort of coupling would be needed - the PRV's I have seen are 15mm compression fittings. I am guessing one end...

We have a Riello 40 G3B oil burner coupled to a warm air central heating unit. It has been acting up recently - first the motor stopped working a month or so ago; it had been sounding like a strangled cat on startup up for a long while, but replacing the capacitor did the trick and it was...

We have two upstairs bathroom with tiled floors laid on plywood boards over the existing floorboards. In one of them a lot of the pipework to the hot water cylinders and towel rails runs under the floor and as a side effect the floor is always warm. In the other, there are no pipes and the...

We have two large(500l) cold water tanks with ball operated float valves that have started leaking due to ball valve not shutting off completely. Valves are about 6 years old. Rather then just replace them or some washer I was wondering if there were any alternatives that are more reliable...

I am in a rented flat which is roasting hot all the time and so bought a portable air conditioner. It needs to be vented to the outside. At the moment this is going via an open window, but as we are on 6th floor with a 3 year old it's not ideal from a safety view and there is also quite a lot of...

We recently had our old CU replaced by a new split load RCD one. The split part seems to mean ring main circuits are on RCD side and lighting circuits are on non-RCD side. I understand the reasoning goes "if you've just tripped your RCD, perhaps having touched a live conductor, you don't want to...

We recently had our old CU replaced by a new split load RCD one. The split part seems to mean ring main circuits are on RCD side and lighting circuits are on non-RCD side. I understand the reasoning goes "if you've just tripped your RCD, perhaps having touched a live conductor, you don't want to...

We are having a steel frame balcony constructed and want to cover it in wooden decking. The frame is made from T section steelwork and these would provide an open span of 870mm for the deck boards. I looked on the TRADA web-site...

Can you supply mains cold and pumped hot to a thermostatic mixer shower. If so, do you need a non return valve on the mains to the valve; do you also need one on the hot and if so, which side of the pump should it go ?

Can anyone recommend a good book on plumbing and central heating. I have a few basic DIY books, but would like something that goes into more detail – explains all different types of valves e.g. Difference between type A and B drain cock. Service valve vs. isolating valve. Full bore, ball...

Still trying to decide if I am dealing with a Primatic system or not. What do you make of this: Is it: a) a normal cylinder, but heating is fed from same tanks as cylinder and is not vented (presume it expands back up feed pipe into cold tank). b) Primatic cylinder but with the...