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Thanks Dan, it's a good comment. My current cylinder is labelled as having 0.44m2 of heating area - I don't know whether that's good or bad, but I don't think it can be that old as it's got the thick green insulation on it. I am hoping for a bit more explanation of the behaviour of my boiler...

I have a small 3 bed house with Vaillant ecoTec plus 415 boiler feeding a 1980s Y-Plan system with a conventional indirect hot water cylinder and 8mm microbore radiators. There is not (as yet) any control over the water flow rate through the indirect coil (I plan to install a gate valve in the...

My new (smallish) house has a Vaillant 415 boiler which serves seven radiators and a hot water cylinder using 8mm microbore and Y-Plan, with a bypass valve. As the rads have a total rated output of no more than 7.5kW I am proposing to reduce the boiler output to 10kW via d.0, and cut the...

Many thanks everyone for your feedback. Hopefully the olives will be copper so they cut easily. I've bought some spare pipe and connectors in case it all goes wrong...

I need to replace a radiator and rad valves on a 30 year old 8mm microbore system and will take the opportunity to fit a TRV. I am familiar with the job using 15mm copper and have an olive puller, but not this 8mm stuff! Should I expect to be able to get the old olives off, (and if so how?)...

My testing of the 95 deg C FEL valve using hot water was just as careful with heating stopped as soon as the valve tripped (and surely 100 deg C water shouldn't damage a 95 deg C valve!). The valve functioned perfectly for the whole last winter - it's just the recent hot weather that has blown...

Keraflo/Fuelstop also told me that their valves should not be tested with hot water as if this was above the trip temperature of the valve (e.g. a 72 deg C one) it could/would cause permanent damage. Perhaps this is also behind OFTEC's guidance to not use boiling water.

Only a few years ago a FEL Thermostatic Fire Valve was fitted to protect my oil fired boiler. It was successfully tested OK at each service but has just failed continuously tripped off and cannot be reset. It has to be replaced! I spoke to Keraflo/FuelStop who took over the FEL product...

Good news! The third party manufacturer has agreed that a design improvement is desirable and this is now underway. I am also encouraging OFTEC to establish a standard for the Mectron connector as they appear to be very widely used and there really is no reason why significant variation should...

I have now procured a pair of genuine Riello biofuel flex hoses (Riello Part no. 20022601) which Riello have advised are correct for my G5X burner. I attach a photo I have just taken of the Riello 'Mectron' fitting versus another manufacturers equivalent. You will note that there...

Thanks for the further suggestions. Oilhead, you are right to suggest that the nipple is deeper on the new hoses and that the thread start is further back. Combined with the almost flat end to the nipple rather than a dome shape this reduces the thread engagement to no more than one turn...

EOGB have replaced my hoses but I still think the thread engagement (1 1/2 turns) into my Riello G5X burner is too small for safety. Am I sourcing the wrong sort of hose or is this a common experience? I thought 1/4" F was a standard for a pump port but it now seems not, as different hose...

I spoke to the supplier this morning who immediately accepted that they got a large batch of hoses wrong earlier this year and that others had had same problem. Design change wrongly made to pump end fitting. Replacement pair to be posted today. Not pleased, but at least it's an outcome.

I have replaced my Camray boiler/Riello burner flex hoses regularly without difficulty but this year have run into a problem with the 1/4 inch BSP connections into the burner oil pump using newly purchased hoses. Basically the design of this year's manufacture of 'Bio Green' flex hose is such...

My grateful thanks to all those who have helped me, especially catlad. In the event, after removing several rows of tile behind the back gutter I felt that the old tiles were in such poor condition and poorly fitting that they should be replaced. This I have done, using 'nearly new' tiles...

I've been thinking a bit about your ideas. Bringing the felt up over the back gutter is clearly a good solution but means cutting the felt both at the back gutter edge and vertically. I'm wondering whether I couldn't get away with using Flashband or similar to bond a flap of felt to the...

The whole chimney has been rebuilt from the roof level upwards, and modern cowls fitted to exclude rain. The leak is from outside the chimney as I can see it dripping down the side under the sarking board and making the woodwork damp.

There are two flues in the chimney, one is unused (but ventilated), the other has a wood burner fitted, but rarely used. The chimney breast has got so damp lately that water has been seeping through the paper and running down. :cry: Surely that can't be condensation? It correlates with...

Many thanks for so much advice so quickly. A few comments: 1. The house is more exposed than it may look as it's in the middle of farmland quite high up and Northerly winds with rain seem to be what causes the problem. It can rain hard without Northerly wind and there is little or no...

My 1930 chalet bungalow has a long-standing problem with damp leaking in around one of the chimneys. After taking advice I have had the chimney rebuilt with lead trays and new soakers but still have a problem with damp seeping in around the back gutter area. This photo shows the roof and East...