Recent content by Albumen

Combi, hence the DHW.

I've got a (fairly old 2005 I think) Vaillant Ecotec Plus. The central heating seems to be on more than it should. I've checked communication between the (wireless) thermostat and the receiver, and that seems to be working OK. I turned the thermostat down to "off". There's one radiator that has...

Thanks for the advice everybody. Having done a little more research, I think I know the position now. Cheers.

Yes, you're obviously correct. Thanks.

I am not a tradesman. But I spent 5 years in a labouring and then technical capacity in the construction industry. I have worked with some very skilled tradesmen and some terrible ones. As this is my house, and my money, I will make the decisions about who I employ. And I absolutely refuse to...

Not to me it wasn't. Every circuit in the house is protected by an RCD in the consumer unit. Maybe I should have said MCB, perhaps my use of the term RCD was confusing. Either way, there isn't any separate connection at the consumer unit for the FCU which supplies the microwave. So the...

My built-in microwave has just died. The lead from the microwave is joined to a PVC mains cable somehow (I assume a connection block), wrapped in electrical tape. The mains cable is fed from a FCU which is just to the right of the housing, and "within reach of the person operating the...

Yes, thanks for that. As I've replaced the old fitting with a complete LED fitting, I took the old one apart to recycle the parts separately. And also to investigate, and discovered how the wires go in. I've got another 3 of these fittings in the house. So it might be that if another ballast...

Thanks for all the answers folks. Sorry not to have replied, or acknowledged the answers earlier. For some reason I wasn't getting the notifications. In the end, given that a new ballast was going to be £35, or the fact that T5 "shaped" LEDs don't seem to have quite enough output, I just...

Both bulbs failed at exactly the same time, and there was a bit of a "pop" sound when they did. There's another fitting on the same circuit, on the same switch, which works fine. I've just put a meter across the leads feeding the fitting and got 241 volts. So I'm assuming that the ballast is...

We have one of these. Fitted Feb 2006. Many parts have been replaced, several about 5 years ago. Off the top of my head: Head Exchanger Pump Gas Valve PCB PRV Metallic Pad (whatever that is) And probably diverter valves, and others that I can't remember. I've got a feeling that the only...

Thanks for the reply. I think the void isn't that deep. The wall behind is decent brickwork, so fairly flat (not uneven masonry). And whenever I've drilled through before I've not felt a big gap as the drill went from board to brickwork. I'm a bit of a belt and braces chap, so I'll probably do...

One of my rooms was dry-lined and plastered. I wish I'd insisted on browning/skim, but too late now. The dry lining was fixed with board adhesive, and behind that is brickwork. I need to fix lots of things. Some of them fairly heavy - shelves, loudspeakers etc. When I've fixed a couple of...

Our kitchen is 7 years old. On the edges of the cupboards over the hob there's a tiny bit of delamination. We use the hob to boil water, in open pans, for tea/coffee, and the extractor fan doesn't always come on. Though I did notice that just now, even with the extractor on full, after boiling a...

Great advice, thanks for that. No resin then. This is for a bike which is completely out of view, it's not a massive security risk. And if somebody nicks it, well, it's not the end of the world. It's been in the same place for two years with no problem.