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I've no specific recommendation, but would suggest avoiding electro-brass/brass-plated/brass-colour/brass-look/brass-effect/brassed and anything else that doesn't claim to be solid brass; these days they're mostly very thin coatings over cheap steel. (PVD brass on stainless is an exception, but...

You can reduce fence panels in size, with care. Though frankly most are too weak for normal/regular use as a gate, so real gates would be better. But.. is there any reason why the existing gate could not be used for one half of the double gate and a (possibly strengthened) fence panel used for...

I think in this case I would favour.. another alternative! I would go for a double gate, with hinges at posts A and C. The two gates would meet roughly where post B was; the less frequently used one would have a sliding bolt to a small hole in the ground. It is possible Post A may need...

You haven't said what you are replacing the old ones with, but I'm guessing uPVC; and in these there are different strength/thickness fascias. Some are meant pretty much as cladding to cover and mildly strengthen existing old boards, or can also be used over new ones. But some are thick enough...

Thanks both, thats helpful. I may not know the specific cause, but it helps to know some potential mechanisms for it - so it may not be mysterious little gremlins at work then :wink: Cheers Kev

I'm in no way an expert, but if you bled the radiators in a sealed system, did you re-pressurise it afterwards as well? I'm guessing so by what you mention about topping up, but just thought I'd check. FWIW my system seems to take many months to settle down after flushing/refilling too, but...

Thats a new one on me, but certainly they've been having trouble lately. Huge amounts of down-time and temporary 'sorry'-type messages in my case, and the mail URL keeps changing which is annoying for bookmarks/favourites. So perhaps it worth checking where your link/favourite/bookmark is taking...

Ah, thanks, that makes more sense now :) Though I can see the point behind it; my theory may not have much basis. Cheers Kev

Heh, yes okay 'transformer' may not be accurate, its just whats written on the box. I believe switch modes have a small coil, but no idea if these halogen jobbies are the same. I was just searching for a possible 'how', since it seems odd to me that the RCD goes only with these lights, which are...

Ah another possibility, thanks! The consumer unit is split with two RCDs, so (ignoring part P for the moment) I could potentially swap them over and see if the sensitivity moves with the RCD or not. At the moment I'm suspecting the lights, as nothing else seems to trip the RCD - including...

Ah, I'd not thought about the switch vibrating, many thanks. It would be good if it is that; cheap and easy to fix. As would be replacing the switch. Yeah, if that fails I will try eliminating the lights one by one. It could be tedious due to the intermittent nature of the fault, and some of...

Yes, it only happens as they turn off - its a new one on me :? The transformers were what came with the lights, supposedly good for 20w to 50w bulbs although they seem to flicker with just 20w bulbs in so I went with 35w. Unfortunately I forget the brand but I could go up and have a look...

Switching OFF my bathroom lights sometimes trips the consumer unit's RCD, but it never trips when switching them on or during them being on and it never trips the circuits MCB. Its only an occasional thing, happens perhaps every few weeks or so, but I've finally had enough and decided to try...

Just as a small update: I got some 28watt eco-halogen R50 bulbs and they seem pretty decent; their stated '40w equivalent' is believable, and whilst thats not spectacular its enough for my requirements. I have a loose floorboard upstairs and found that I was able to reach one of the eyeball...

Thanks John. That certainly is far too narrow for my purposes then. If I do go with LEDs at any point in the future then it may be better to swap to GU10s, there seems to be much more choice of bulb for those - and cheaper too, which should cover the cost of new (and better) lights. Cheers...

Yeah, thirty degrees seems very tight, unless they mean either side of the beam rather than total - maybe the tight/concentrated beam may be why its brightness is deemed equivalent at only half the wattage. Would be convenient not having to deal with new lights and smaller cut-outs though. I...

:D The holes are about 105mm diameter, though they aren't nice perfect circles so sometimes a tad bigger. I think unfortunately this would need an unusual GU10 or adaptor/converter plate of some kind. Though the edges are very crumbly, so a plate may be a good idea in any case, were I to...

Thanks very much for the thoughts everyone. Yeah, I agree these old style R50 downlights aren't the best choice, but their installation is what I've inherited and I'm having to make do for the moment. So thanks PrenticeBoyofDerry - its reassuring that you wouldn't expect 40w to be a problem...

My living room has a lath and plaster ceiling, into which are recessed some old R50 sized eyeball down-lights. The current bulbs are a bit dim so I was going to get some higher powered eco-halogen replacements. The lights themselves specify 40W max, but does anyone know if I'm safe to use...

That sounds very promising. I'd not run across them before, so many thanks for the info! I'll check them out. Cheers Kev