Recent content by MrDuck

My chalet bungalow suffers badly from overflowing gutter corners during cloud bursts, due to rain flowing down the valleys. The guttering is conventional semi-circular plastic which has been reasonably well laid and I see little chance of improving this. Is anyone aware of an easy solution to...

Many thanks for that advice, which makes perfect sense. Final question: Should I replace the pipe inserts with the latest stainless steel ones, or should the existing ones be OK for compression?

I wish to replace some grey (3rd gen) Hep2O connectors by 15mm service valves with compression joints, prior to fitting new taps. I gather that all should be well so long as I can fully remove the Hep2O fittings. Is there a 'best' method for removing the grab rings, or am I better off just...

Thanks for all this valuable feedback. Regarding my 'RCD tester' I examined this today and it contains five 39k 1/2W resistors in parallel (7.8k) so is close to the nominal 30mA. I have used this at a previous property which had a battery of RCBOs and it was very helpful as a go/no-go tester...

Thanks everyone for your feedback and I will reduce my worry level!. I plan to get a professional with the right kit to do some earthing tests 'just to make sure'. Would a conversion to PME (if available) be worthwhile?

I measured the 18mA ac by using a suitable multimeter onto a cable plugged into a ring main (with the live well insulated!). My previous property had PME, this one doesn't.

My (new to me) property has a TT supply with a 30mA RCD protecting all the MCBs (not ideal but not causing inconvenience so far). There is a substantial Earthing Rod robustly connected to the earth bar of a modern Consumer Unit. PME is not available so far as I am aware. The RCD trips via its...

EPC is unhelpful as merely states 'Cavity wall - insulated (assumed)'. Tapping walls can be misleading as many properties have plasterboard dabbed into block work (to save rendering/plastering) and sound variously hollow and solid.

I am looking at purchasing a 1980s terraced property but would prefer that it was brick and block construction, not timber frame. Please can someone suggest the key points that I should use to tell the difference. I suppose that taking a power socket out would be one way, but it's a bit drastic!

The gunge is hard to photograph but looks like a white puddle underneath the combustion chamber cover. Clearly I need to get someone round with an FGA if they can pick up leaks. I can't live with it as it is! Thanks everyone for the advice.

I had the boiler professionally inspected before I bought the property and was told that it was a combustion gas smell, not kerosene (see initial post). I've had small kerosene leaks with other boilers (thirty years with oil heating now!) but I can't see the slightest weep on this boiler and...

The boiler (which came with the house I have moved onto) smells unacceptably despite having been serviced by an OFTEC person a year ago and I need to get something done about it. There is some sort of gunge on the boiler floor which looks as though it must have dripped from the bottom of main...

I am told by my local heating engineer that leaking primary and secondary combustion chamber gaskets are weaknesses in this boiler. Is there a good workaround for this, or is replacing the seals from time to time the best that can be achieved?

I would like to be able to make some accurate bends in 10mm plastic covered oil pipe (which has an overall OD of about 12mm). Am I expecting too much? Maybe I should use plain pipe and a conventional bend tool (Rothenberg for example). Any guidance much appreciated.

Just to close this thread I attach a photo of the defective elbow which the RGI replaced. It seems it must have developed a hairline fracture after installation (5 years and two property owners ago) and disintegrated altogether when the RGI dismantled and reassembled the hob. It has now been...