Any DIY Problems??? Can I be of Help???

[lemonade]

Hey Lemonade,

...Can I check house bulbs the same way if I use longer wires to connect the poles or would I get an electric shock doing so? I have a large box of spare house bulbs under the stairs and I wonder if they are working.

Hello Lisa
No sorry you can't test household bulbs in the same way. Although mains powered fairy lights use 240 volts, each bulb is wired in series. however household bulbs are wired in parallel....you wouldn't get a shock testing bulbs with a PP3 as it is only 9 volts.
May I suggest testing your spare bulbs by inserting them one by one into a standard ceiling fitting or bedside lamp, etc.

[LisaCummins]

Hey Lemonade,

Thankyou for your advice. Yes I have tested these bulbs and I have managed to find several which work. 3 of them are energy saving bulbs and 2 have a screw fitting which I have been unable to test, but will keep aside anyway.

You have been as helpful as always, for that I thankyou again.

Lisa x

[Annie]

Hiya Lemonade,Me again haha
if you remember when i last spoke to you on here i told you about our loo
well we had it fixed as i said, but we can't find our "manhole" thats why apparently we had to pay so much for the repair because the plumber had to dig up the base of the sewage pipe,
anyway we went to Lewisham council to see the plans of our house and there does appear to be a manhole in our back garden but it seems to be under a concrete path? which seems a bit odd, but when we asked Lewisham they implied that the plans they had from Thames water were not "Complete" and that Thames water do not know where all the pipes they inherited are, do you know of anywhere else i could get the pipe laying plans of my street from? the plumber we used said that we should have a manhole at each turn of the pipe is this correct? our house was built about 1955.
Thanks for your help Lemonade.

[anthony]

Hiya Lemonade

Wondering if you can help me sort out a real pain of a problem. I’m no electrician and need some guidance.

I was given a new ceiling lamp. When I disconnected the wires from the old lamp I noticed that it was connected to two mains cables through a loop connector of some sort. I didn’t note what was connected to where.

I have opened the on/off wall switch box and seen that only two wires are being fed to it. The problem I have is that when I try to connect my new lamp it simply turns on and doesn’t turn off. From the two mains cables in the ceiling I have connected the lamp to only one, it appears to be the same cable as that in the switch.

In the ceiling there were two mains cables connected to the old lamp that I disconnected. These are

1) Red / Black / Earth
2) Blue / Red / Earth - This is the same wire that is connected to the on/off switch.

The ceiling lamp has only two wires
Black / Blue

Do I have to create some sort of twin connection / loop to get it to work properly?

What am I doing wrong??
Any help will be much appreciated.

Thanks
Ant

[lemonade]

Hiya Lemonade,Me again haha
if you remember when i last spoke to you on here i told you about our loo
well we had it fixed as i said, but we can't find our "manhole" thats why apparently we had to pay so much for the repair because the plumber had to dig up the base of the sewage pipe,
anyway we went to Lewisham council to see the plans of our house and there does appear to be a manhole in our back garden but it seems to be under a concrete path? which seems a bit odd, but when we asked Lewisham they implied that the plans they had from Thames water were not "Complete" and that Thames water do not know where all the pipes they inherited are, do you know of anywhere else i could get the pipe laying plans of my street from? the plumber we used said that we should have a manhole at each turn of the pipe is this correct? our house was built about 1955.
Thanks for your help Lemonade.

Hello Annie
Please let me look into the place to obtain plans for your waste and get back to you on that one.
Yes it is often the case where a manhole is situated over a bend or junction.
Considering your house was built mid 50's it's possible the path was constructed over the manhole at some later stage.

[lemonade]

Hiya Lemonade

Wondering if you can help me sort out a real pain of a problem. I’m no electrician and need some guidance.

I was given a new ceiling lamp. When I disconnected the wires from the old lamp I noticed that it was connected to two mains cables through a loop connector of some sort. I didn’t note what was connected to where.

I have opened the on/off wall switch box and seen that only two wires are being fed to it. The problem I have is that when I try to connect my new lamp it simply turns on and doesn’t turn off. From the two mains cables in the ceiling I have connected the lamp to only one, it appears to be the same cable as that in the switch.

In the ceiling there were two mains cables connected to the old lamp that I disconnected. These are

1) Red / Black / Earth
2) Blue / Red / Earth - This is the same wire that is connected to the on/off switch.

The ceiling lamp has only two wires
Black / Blue

Do I have to create some sort of twin connection / loop to get it to work properly?

What am I doing wrong??
Any help will be much appreciated.

Thanks
Ant

Hello Ant

A ceiling fitting (rose) normally has 3 groups of connectors offering 8 terminals and an earth point.
If you no longer intend using the old ceiling rose you should get a choc block and do the following:-
Please remember before starting work to turn off the power then;
(going by your cables...(1) Red/Black/Earth & (2) Red/Blue/Earth)
Join Red from cable 1 to Red to cable 2 in a choc block, join Blue from cable 2 to Black in the ceiling lamp, join Black from cable 1 to blue in the ceiling lamp and join up the earths.
This should work.
Please let me know how things go.

[Illuminance]

To add to Lemonade's answer...

I didn’t note what was connected to where.

It's always good practice to mark the phase /switch conductors (wires) with red sleeving or insulation tape (brown for installs after April 2006) Makes life so much easier in the future.

In the ceiling there were two mains cables connected to the old lamp that I disconnected. These are

1) Red / Black / Earth
2) Blue / Red / Earth - This is the same wire that is connected to the on/off switch.

The ceiling lamp has only two wires
Black / Blue

Are you sure Cable 2 is not Red/Yellow/Blue with a bare earth? Blue/Red/earth cable doesn't exist.
Be careful there's no extra wires that have been snipped back, you could introduce a dangerous voltage if it's accidentally re-connected

Any help will be much appreciated.

Buy a cheapo multimeter from Syd DIY or Homebase, it will save you so much time, maybe even your life!

[Annie]

Thanks lemonade xx

[anthony]

Dear Lemonade

I had the problem with wires that i couldnt figure out for my new wall lamp. You suggested what I should do and I tried it...guess what it worked first time! brilliant.

I can't thank you enough.

I hope you have a great time for whatver your plans for the new year are and I wish you all the best for 2007.

Thanks a million
Ant

[GemStone]

I know Lemonade doesn't seem to be about anymore, so I am hoping someone else may be able to help with a technical issue.

I have a Sony laptop which I bought from the States earlier this year. I did not realise at the time when I bought it but the voltage in America is lower than here.

The adaptor to charge the battery and operate the laptop has an american plug.

Can I simply cut off the plug and fit a 13amp plug? But will the volts be reduced?
A friend said I need an adaptor. Has anyone seen this adaptor or know where I can get one?

Jim

[Savvy]

Sorry, I have no answer for you, I have a question of my own.

My hairdryer keeps cutting out. It will work for 3mins then stop. If I don't remember to turn it 'off' and leave the room, it comes back on again of its own accord (once its cooled down perhaps?). Does anyone know if this is repairable? I would rather not fork out for another and end up putting it in the landfill if there is a simple solution.

Thanks

[stuart]

I have a Sony laptop which I bought from the States earlier this year. I did not realise at the time when I bought it but the voltage in America is lower than here.

The adaptor to charge the battery and operate the laptop has an american plug.

Can I simply cut off the plug and fit a 13amp plug? But will the volts be reduced?

Your power supply is almost certainly universal. Look carefully at the label. It should say something like 60Hz/110V & 50Hz/220V. If so - there is no problem connecting it. The best solution is to use a replacement lead. Most laptops use either a standard two pin inlet - the same as you find on radios, CDs etc. If so - just borrow a lead you almost certainly already have. Some use a 3 pin 'clover leaf' input. You can get a lead with a standard 3pin UK plug from Maplins (Stanstead Road in Forest Hill) - or if you have a motorola mobile - you may find their transformer includes a US to UK converter.

HTH,
Stuart

[icb]

Hi Lemonade,

Don't know if you are still on the forum but I am in desperate need of advice.

I've recently moved to a new flat and stupidly unplugged my old fridge freezer and moved it out of the way in the hall while waiting for the council to come to collect it.
What I didn't realize is that a little paddle of water has formed under the fridge and that the laminated wooden floor undreneath has been slightly damaged. It has lifted a little at both sides of a copule of wooden "tiles" and in one spot a little bubble has formed.

What should I do?? Is there any way it will go back to normal or do I need to change the damaged "tiles"?

Thanks a lot

icb

[SarrahL]

Hello to Lemonade, or anyone who can help me.
I've got an old cast iron radiator, and I've seen these traditional brass radiator valves which I want to use on it, but on that site they show two sizes;
3/4" BSP valves
and
1/2" BSP valves.

I've really got no idea what size to order; I measure the whole on the end of the radiator as about 19mm - which I make to be 3/4 of an inch, but a helpful assistant in my local plumber's merchant warned me that the "BSP" sizes are nominal sizes; that is, just because something measures 3/4 of an inch doesn't mean it'll be a 3/4" BSP fitting.
Can anyone shed any light on this?

Thanks in advance,
Sarrah.

[Willy]

Hi Lemonade,
To add to the list of questions..I am installing some tongue and groove as a bath panel and was wondering if you can recomend a good way of cutting the wood to size? I have been using a normal hand saw but this seems to damage it considerably, is there a special type of saw I should be using?
Thanks

[Savvy]

Hi Lemonade, I feel a bit daft asking this and I think I might know the answer but please put me straight if not. We have a tv platform on the wall (like you see in hotel rooms) and we can't get it off. We got it stripped down as far as the 'arm' but the three screws holding it to the wall will just NOT budge with a hand held screwdriver. My suggestion is that we by a posi-drive drill bit and lock it into the screws on 'reverse'. Is this correct? Will we be able to muy one from the DIY shop in Sydenham? Does one size fit all? Thanks.

[jackieboo]

We moved into a relatively new house in November. We have a wooden front door the same age as the house (14 years).

The mortice doesn't quite 'meet' as I think it has dropped slightly(~about an eighth of an inch. The screws in the hinges are all tight.

What would be best?

Try to get the door raised up at the hinges or take out the lock side in the frame and move it down slightly and chip away at the existing rectangular hole? I could probably do the second one on my own.

Thanks

Jackie ~ pleased to be living in a new house after 30 odd years of old ones with dodgy plumbing and drains, uneven floors, terrible roofs, old plasterwork, dangerous electrics, old windows, mysterious cables under floors, ropey kitchens, disasters of gardens and damp.

[lemonade]

Hi Lemonade,

Don't know if you are still on the forum but I am in desperate need of advice.

I've recently moved to a new flat and stupidly unplugged my old fridge freezer and moved it out of the way in the hall while waiting for the council to come to collect it.
What I didn't realize is that a little paddle of water has formed under the fridge and that the laminated wooden floor undreneath has been slightly damaged. It has lifted a little at both sides of a copule of wooden "tiles" and in one spot a little bubble has formed.

What should I do?? Is there any way it will go back to normal or do I need to change the damaged "tiles"?

Thanks a lot

icb

Hello
Yes you were almost right, I'm not usually on this forum but I often do tend to "Look in" from time to time. I answer a few PM's etc.
I'm astonished to find a few more entrirs to the thread.
I'm certain by now many of you have fixed any issues, however I'll try to answer all of you anyway.



I would imagine the tiles have become bloated as they expand like a sponge when wet.
They are sometimes not too difficult to pull up providing they haven't been glued too. Some click in, some require glue. However to access any middle panels, the nearest edge needs to be lifted first.
Occasionally when the tiles dry out they tend to only leave slight cracks which maybe missed to the naked eye and therefore you could leave it as is.

But I'm too late arn't I???

[lemonade]

Hello to Lemonade, or anyone who can help me.
I've got an old cast iron radiator, and I've seen these traditional brass radiator valves which I want to use on it, but on that site they show two sizes;
3/4" BSP valves
and
1/2" BSP valves.

I've really got no idea what size to order; I measure the whole on the end of the radiator as about 19mm - which I make to be 3/4 of an inch, but a helpful assistant in my local plumber's merchant warned me that the "BSP" sizes are nominal sizes; that is, just because something measures 3/4 of an inch doesn't mean it'll be a 3/4" BSP fitting.
Can anyone shed any light on this?

Thanks in advance,
Sarrah.

Hello Sarrahl
Usually modern radiators use 1/2 inch which is 15mm
Older radiators use 3/4 inch or 22mm
The flow rate of your boiler will be greater if 22mm pipes are used throughout your house and therefore your boiler will be more efficient. The boilers inlet return and outlet flow pipes are 22mm for this reason. However many households use 15mm pipework supplying their radiators.
If you have currently existing pipework which is 15mm, then use 1/2 inch. If you are using all new pipework, you may wish to opt for 22mm or 3/4 inch. However 15mm generally hides in better with decor as is thinner.

[lemonade]

Hi Lemonade,
To add to the list of questions..I am installing some tongue and groove as a bath panel and was wondering if you can recomend a good way of cutting the wood to size? I have been using a normal hand saw but this seems to damage it considerably, is there a special type of saw I should be using?
Thanks

Providing you are keeping the wood steady ...ie using a workmate, try using a jigsaw.
However please note:- The teeth on a jigsaw will cause the face edge of the timber to have splits (known as a rip) along the cut. Either cut with the face edge downwards or purchase a "special" jigsaw blade which rips in the downward direction