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    Question Time: Kennedy, Howard, Blair...

    Adam W wrote That just about says it all though Voltaire put it better: "I disagree with what you are saying but I will defend to the death your right to say it." I remember the riots outside NF meetings. (And PIE meetings too - and judging by the lack of comments I guess there isn't...
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    Do i need a rewire?

    Here's what can happen with old lead sheathed cable where the lead is the earth conductor. The lead becomes brittle and cracks leaving you with an imperfect earth. Also, the insulation within crumbles allowing the conductors to touch the lead. Worst case scenario - the lead breaks right...
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    cable rating

    If the original cable is 2.5mm then it was wrongly wired in the first place but you can remedy this by putting a 20 amp fuse in the consumer unit. This will give you 4.8 kW which is enough for your oven, grill and igniter - but don't go plugging a 3 kW kettle in there! If the original cable...
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    extractor fans

    Not to worry. Even God makes mistakes. I ask you, testicles on the outside ---- OK SJ let's try again. First things first. Are you sure that old chapel isn't listed? You should find this out before you make any holes in it. Even if it isn't I would still want to avoid putting a vent...
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    fans on dimmers?

    Some fan speed control boxes simply switch capacitors in series with the fan motor. An induction motor can be run on reduced voltage and at reduced speed if it is designed for this. One way of doing it is to put extra resistance into the rotor, something you can easily do if the rotor is on...
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    cable rating

    Thanks Damocles. That old anomaly makes sense now. I suppose the same rule applies to the armoured cable coming into the house. From what I've read elsewhere on this forum the substation fuses could never protect this against overload. That job is left to the 60 amp fuse at my end.
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    Strange Links

    Spybot doesn't just seek out spyware. It has a very useful Immunize feature. This uses facilities that already exist in Windows to redirect calls to rogue websites. When a link tries to access a URL on the blacklist it is redirected to a site called localhost which is your own PC.
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    Do i need a rewire?

    That info from Damocles is all good stuff but the need for a rewire depends on things you haven't told us yet. 1) Are the sockets standard square pin or old round pin? 2) Even if they're square, have a look at the cable behind. A common rewiring bodge was to replace only the sockets...
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    Mains and Earthing

    This may sound odd to you but voltage does not cause electric shocks; current does. When you put volts across something that conducts electricity a current flows. Light bulbs conduct electricity and so do you. If you're unlucky enough to put your finger on a live wire, current will try to...
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    Crazy!!

    It certainly isn't right. It sounds like the upstairs ring is linked to the immersion heater. Try turning off the immersion breaker to teat this theory. I think you'll find it stays on until you turn off the upstairs ring. Yes it could be dangerous. Quite apart from the possibility of...
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    Lenders warn of home losses as interest rates bite

    Sorry kendor. I can't remember any more reliable details. I think they bought a house in London during the 80's. It was a time when lots of people were buying property with the intention of selling quickly at a profit and something in the old memory bank is saying Barclays. At about the...
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    Money grubbing charities

    It took me a few attempts to get quotes right. Start by selecting the stuff you want to quote then copy it to your clipboard. Now click on Quote. The word "quote" will appear in square brackets on your screen. This marks the start of your quote so follow it immediately by pasting from the...
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    Question Time: Kennedy, Howard, Blair...

    I'm all in favour of the BNP getting TV time. If you want them to hang themselves you must first give them the rope. This same rule should apply to anybody who calls themselves a political organisation. If you deny them the right to speak you hang yourself instead. Does anybody else remember...
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    Lenders warn of home losses as interest rates bite

    If you mortgage yourself up to the hilt there is always a risk that your income will not rise fast enough to keep up with rising interest rates. There is also a risk that the house you bought was overpriced in the true bricks and mortar sense rather than by the estate agents maxim "a house is...
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    cable rating

    It's the size of the fuse in the consumer unit that dictates the cable size, not the load you put on the end. The way to get your head around this is to think protection A fuse protects the cable that lies beyond it. You can use 2.5 mm cable if that fuse is small enough. But here we have...
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    eplace a 2 way switch with a 2 gang switch

    We might be able to help if you can tell us what's on the other end of that new cable! Is it part of another two-way switching set-up? And if the new wall light doesn't have two way switching then why do you have three core (and earth) cable leading to its switch?
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    Mobiles in hospitals

    Porker is correct. The accuracy of location is not great but it was good enough to nail at least one major criminal. The police had to swarm all over the place looking for the missing phone but they got it in the end. Could your phone's location (not yours) be tracked in the past? That...
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    Mains powered Smoke Alarms

    The backup battery is normally a PP3 (standard 9 volt battery available in every street market on the planet) and you would see it when you fitted the alarms. Perhaps yours don't have battery backup. Intermittent beeping is something ours do after you press the "silence" button. The idea is...
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    dimmer switch

    Somebody's got to ask this sooner or later --- Jim bob, have you got any earth wires in there?
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    Working mothers

    Can anybody spot a hole in this logic. 1) New mother runs out of maternity leave and goes back to work. She earns money and pays tax. 2) New mother has taken a job that somebody else could be doing. That's not a complaint, just an observation. 3) New mother needs a nanny to look...
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