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Did a few more tonight and spent longer turning and mixing the mortar. I also added a little more Febplus to the mixing water, although not exceeding the limits. It seemed more workable. Thanks for the tips.

I had a hair dryer that used to do the same. If the capacitor is connected on the live side of the on/off switch, it would have nowhere to discharge, until someone touches it. I used to get in the habit of holding the live and neutral pins of the plug against any handy metal after use. It...

I'm building a small garden wall, and a while ago, I was asking a brickie for any tips. The main one he said was to use a plasticiser. He reckoned that even he would struggle without it. I bought a bottle of Febplus from B&Q, for about £2.95. On the back, it gave deatails about how much to...

You should have the RCD on the inside of the house, as the way you sugested would not protect the cable running to the shed. For a few pence extra, use 3 core and the earth will be a dedicated core plus the armouring. This is a requirement in afcory supplies to machines so I would expect that...

It's good practice to leave a little inner sheathing on to protect the conductors from the inside of the gland. Also, I would have fitted the banjo washer flush with the box, inside or outside and drill through with a screw. This would provide a good bond to the box and would be easier to...

You need to see why the latest element failed. I've seen them bent to fit in a cylinder because the one the electrician brought with him was too long. Where it was bent was a weak spot. If you do change it yourself, don't bother with one of those large ring spanners, as they slip off and tend...

Is there an easy way of estimating the number of bricks needed for a wall. I have to build a garden wall. It's three sided, about 1.5m on two sides and about 6.5m on the longest side. I intend going up 7 courses. I've laid a few odd bricks and worked out I need a little less than 700. Does...

If I'm building a double thickness garden wall, is it the done thing to use a hard engineering brick on the retaining surface where there will be constant wet soil in contact with it, and a decorative outer where it will be seen? I want something reddish with a textured finish, similar to the...

I'm preparing to build a small garden wall. Nothing major, but I'm puzzled by the different type of bricks available. I've had a walk round a few builders merchants and seen Engineering bricks which are smooth on all sides. Are these used where they can't be seen for cheapness? I want to...

You're supposed to keep the cable short because of the volt drop. If you can connect say, 1.5 to each fitting and run them all back to a single connection in a convenient place, that would be better than daisy-chaining several fittings, as the first ones in the chain would be carrying the whole...

The patio slopes away from the house to the lawn which varies in height above the patio by about 20 inches at one end to about 6 inches at the other. I am digging the footings for a small retaining/decorative wall to be built. As soon as we get any rain, the footings fill with water, which I...

Do you need it to be 32Amp? Could you not get away with say, 20A and use 2.5 or 4mm. What is the potential loading of the sockets that yopu intend using for the TVs. If it is only a couple of sets, just use a 20A and 2.5mm. It can be a bit of a swine to bend two 6mm in a medium depth back box.

I've laid a patio that extends about 2.5m from the house with a slight slow away from the house. It is about 6.5m wide. I would like to put something on the 6.5m edge to act as a drain.I've seen the meter long drains at B&Q etc that have a plastic or metal grill. These are level, so how do...

Your calculations are correct, but there will be a maximum current per phase allowed. You could do with finding what that is. It will be determined by cable size, fuse size, supply transformer size to name a few.

Inside your house, use a fused switched spur with neon instead of a 20A switch. That way you can't take any more than 13A from your ring.

I've always fancied tyring my hand at bricklaying and I've got a project to build a low wall around my patio. It's not very high, about 6 courses, just over knee height. I've been reading up and some websites say that 300mm footings are required. Is this realistic or could I get away with...

The voltage between any of the phases should be about 380v in France. This give about 220v between any phase and earth. With 3 phase, Power (kW)=1.732 X V X I X power factor so assuming power is 12000w and power factor is 0.8 which is typical for most loads 12000=1.732 X 380 X I...

only the live must be fused. Imagine if both live and neutral had a 60Amp fuse and a high overcurrent fault developed. Its a 50% chance that the neutral fuse would blow, leaving the live fuse intact. So there would still be 230v present in the installation.

I suppose if its fed from a 15A fuse and 2.5 cable is used, there is nothing electrically wrong with it, as it is a sort of radial circuit. Howeverit is totally inadequate for adding anything to it.

The fuse is supposed to be the weakest link in the circuit. All other components, cable, connectors etc are supposed to be rated higher than the fuse, so if a fault occurs, the fuse melts and not the cable. b is the most dangerous because the wire which may only be rated at 6 Amps will melt...