Recent content by Archimedes

The act of sniffing recently vacated ladies bicycle seats is technically known as ‘snurgling’. Andy clearly needs help.

If you haven’t already had one done it’s well worth doing a sniff test to confirm the diagnosis. It’s simple to do this yourself with a DIY sniff tester that will establish whether combustion gases are leaking past the head gasket into the coolant waterways. This should at least help you make an...

I’m still wondering if you had any knocking noises coming from the rear end before you submitted your CR-V for the MoT test. Failed drop links and /or knackered ARB bushes usually present themselves as a clonking noise when driving over rough and uneven roads (across most of the UK these days).

There is a reset button on the underside of the boiler (on the right hand side towards the front if my memory serves me). Try pushing that in and see what happens. If that doesn't work, I think that the problem is likely to be with the control board or possibly, the solenoid. Either way...

As Eddie M said, try a few applications of WD40 on the spindle of the internal stockcock. Leave it overnight to penetrate. If it still won't budge, as an alternative to hitting it, a bit of heat applied to the spindle may help - a hairdryer on a high heat setting held close for a few minutes is...

Now that the days of cheap natural gas behind us, the pendulum is rapidly swinging in favour of electricity. And if you factor in the high maintenance and environmental costs of wet systems, it is a fallacy to say electric heating is expensive now. In the last year I have had to replace a...

Many thanks for the details of the Chubb site. 'Fraid I wasn't too impressed with their site or offerings. I have tried side-fitting ERA 318 garage locks (decent-looking mortice locks sold in locksmiths and some B&Qs) but unfortunately they were too wide for fitting into the Cardale frame...

I'm trying to uprate the security of a garage door - a single 7' wide Cardale Futura Vertical (overhead trackless wood type in a metal frame) - which currently has a single top latch operated from a central 'T' handle lock. Apart from via the garage door itself, there is no other access to the...

Thanks for all your help chaps. Ollski. I don't have problem with soldered joints - I'm just hoping I can dry out the pipe tails sufficiently to allow soldering. Hopefully, I'll be able to avoid this if I can get the olives off without a fuss and just slip on new ones. Slogger. All the...

Many thanks for that Ollski. Do you suggest using soldered or compression joints for the straight couplers? I've got 7 rads to do, BTW.

I'm planning to replace several radiators. The rads throughout are connected to the system via 8 mm microbore piping, so can I get away with reusing the existing olives and valve cap nuts and simply reconnect these to new replacement valves? If this isn't a good idea, what's the best way to...

Very many thanks for the draining down tip Oilman and the advice on alternative radiators. Any thoughts on replacing the rad valves issue? Any input would be very much appreciated. Thanks, A.

Such as?

An expanding sealant would probably be the most suitable fix. There are three main variants of expanding sealant: polyurethane-based, polyisocyanurate-based and latex-based. The first two expand by up to 40 times the volume so will tend to displace anything loose and can sometimes distort...