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I am replacing an old narrow Miralec shower with a new Triton shower, using their Instatrim, which allows pipework to be routed behind the shower. The old appliance is connected using a soldered tap connector which would be difficult to remove due to tiles etc. I want to use a flexi pipe to...

I asked a question on the electrics page the other day but did not get the information I seek so I assume the sparkies on here don't know the answer. I wondered if there are other sites I could try for this?

Some friends are extending their house and have asked me to do the wiring work. They have Total Control electricity, supplied by Scottish Hydro. I was not too familiar with the regulations appertaining to this tariff so I read the PDF on the SCARF website. It seems you can have a certain...

Central heating is not quite my usual field but I was asked to look at a cylinder stat today. The system is fully pumped with individual zone valves for central heating and hot water. The customer complained that the DHW was getting too hot. He had already had a new cylinder stat fitted but it...

For the last few days I have been plagued by these calls. I answer the phone and there is nobody there. I assumed it was some crank having a laugh but I'm told it is a byproduct of this accursed telephone marketing. The people at the call centres don't take all the calls generated by the...

House currently has a 7KW shower on a 30A MEM rewirable fuse in the full rate CU. If this is upgraded to a 8.5KW unit the old consumer unit could be renewed to provide a suitable MCB. There is also a modern Total Control split load consumer unit which includes a section for 24 hour equipment...

I have been keeping an eye out on Ebay for a van or MPV running on LPG. I just read one ad. where the seller says he has been quoted £1200 to insure a small dual fuel van. If the insurance companies are charging extra for LPG vehicles it defeats the savings on fuel cost. Does anyone have any...

About a week ago I fitted two five foot fluorescent lights with opal diffusers in a long kitchen. They were for an old lady in the household who wanted brighter lighting as her sight was going. I have now been asked by her daughter to change them again, perhaps for shorter ones as they are...

I wondered if anyone has an old MEM 3 phase MCB knocking about that I could buy? I need to replace an existing 16 amp for a 32 amp. The local suppliers tell me these are now obsolete. The 16 amp is marked 161MB3 and is the sort with external screws for the cable and busbar clamps rather than the...

I just tried to post a question at the forum information page as it says: "This is where you can ask your questions regarding the site, forum, etc" It seems I am not allowed to ask my question there so I will try it here. On the appliances page we often get questions from Americans, despite...

I have to renew the trap arrangement on a kitchen sink that has the big 90mm waste. At present it is plumbed with a kit of fittings that came with the sink but the seals have failed and they are not standard parts. I was thinking of using 2 bottle traps joined with a tee, perhaps using a...

Can anyone provide the part number for the standby light neon for a 240 combi boiler?

I have been asked to quote for uprating the bathroom lighting for an elderly disabled chap with failing eyesight. He would like either two 1200mm fluorescents or a round fluorescent. The room is quite small so the lights will be partly in zone two. Are there suitable luminaires available for...

I have had my 1998 1.8 diesel cylinder head repaired after the timing belt failed but I am stuck on a couple of things. My Lindsay Porters workshop manual appears to describe a different engine to my Endura one so some of the information is sketchy or incomplete. I need: a) The torque...

I was doing wiring work in a kit bungalow today, running cables in the loft and dropping them down through hollow partition walls. The problem was that there was nothing to indicate the tops of the partitian walls, just big expanses of plasterboard with joists in between. It was OK in places...

A couple of quickies: I'm told you are no longer allowed to wire an extractor fan in the lighting circuit. How do you wire a timed fan linked to the light in a bathroom without a window? The last one I did, the fan timer got it's live feeds from both sides of the light switch. Do you have to...

I've heard that towing with a towrope is now illegal. Is this correct?

Last sunday the timing belt stripped some teeth on my Ford Courier 1.8 diesel. It had been making a noise like a very loose tappet the day before and it actually failed while I was under the bonnet, trying to trace the noise. Today I took the head off and there is one valve stuck part way open...

Does anyone know what size Torx bit I need for the cylinder head bolts on my Ford Endura diesel engine? I bought a T60 one but it's too small.

I've found this spray paint easy to use and gives a good finish but there was always one drawback. It always said on the tin, if you don't get all coats on within a couple of hours you have to leave it 6 weeks to fully cure before adding extra coats. Invariably you would miss a bit somewhere and...