What Did You Do Today (2017)

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Windy on 26/01/2017 18:42:10:

When he arrived he opened a box and there was an hot air engine.
First attempt with a litre tin of hot water as power source was a failure.
But one of the staff came to the rescue and filled the tin with boiling water.
Away the engine went with interest from various people who knew nothing about them.…

All patients should get hot air engines on the NHS

Neil

[Tractor manParticipant @tractorman]

Spent a happy few hours moving stuff round to make room for the new Boxford TS which hopefully arrives on Tuesday. I have to shoehorn three lathes into the shop till I can sell one of them. Mick

[RJWParticipant @rjw]

Posted by richardandtracy on 27/01/2017 11:18:30:

John,

Know how you feel, but your brickwork is pretty good.

A few years ago we had a brick animal shelter where the foundation had failed (it was on an 1890 map of our area, so had been around a while), and after getting a 2" wide crack through the wall, we dismantled it & re-built it as a play room for the kids using the old bricks & a few new blocks. After finding paint on bricks inside the solid wall, we realised some bricks were going to be in their third building at the very least. The kids helped with bricking, blockwork, erecting the roof trusses, slating the roof and plaster boarding. The photo below was after we built the trusses but before building the gable end to match the actual roofline:

We reckon the whole thing (12' x 13'6" ) cost about £800 and the lessons learnt by my kids will save them a fortune in later life.

Regards,

Richard

Edited By richardandtracy on 27/01/2017 11:19:39

Thanks Richard, new bricks helped no end though,
Nice job on the playroom too, they look like handmade bricks which would have made the job interesting for you – aside from having to clean them up, I just unpacked packs of bricks and trundled them down the yard.

Excellent getting the kids involved too, they'll always remember that, and definitely better than having their heads stuck in games consoles or mobiles.

John.

[RJWParticipant @rjw]

Got the Warco mill back together again and fired up for the first time since I bought it, wife's a happy bunny now too because she's got her greenhouse back, which is where it's resided as a pile of bits since Spring last year,

Off to hit the paracetamol now to get rid of a nagging headache, calor gas heaters are good for taking the chill off a place, but they don't half make you suffer for it.

John.

[Martin WParticipant @martinw]

John

An extract from the NHS Choices page re Carbon Monoxide and its effects:

The symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning aren't always obvious, particularly during low-level exposure.

A tension-type headache is the most common symptom of mild carbon monoxide poisoning. Other symptoms include:

• dizziness
• nausea (feeling sick) and vomiting
• tiredness and confusion
• stomach pain
• shortness of breath and difficulty breathing

Might just be coincidence but something to watch out for in future.

Martin

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I'll echo that, I didn't like the smell a calor fire was making in out conservatory – I stuck a CO monitor in their and it went off after 20 minutes

Neil

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Sealed the floor yesterday using oil-based polyurethane sealer (looks like French onion soup without the cheese), then this morning I applied the gray polyurethane paint (also oil based). That followed hours of sweeping and vacuuming Thursday – Friday to get most of the dust off the floor. I even used the Miele HEPA vacuum with carpet beater head (wife was at work!). The place stinks of white spirit but I've managed to keep most of it out of the house by ensuring good ventilation and taping up the connecting door with masking tape.

I'll leave it to its devices until Monday or later, then the acid test will come when I go about moving the equipment back through. Although my engine crane has rubber wheels, the Bridgeport clone weighs 1000kg. If it starts to lift, I won't be enormously happy. Have to say, I'm not overly impressed by the concreting. Although it was mixed by pukka machinery outside the house and raked in by experienced concreters(?), the result isn't an exhibition example of concrete technology.

Back into the house in the meantime while the stink prevails, doing the second fit electrical and plumbing. Damned fiddly in places. I've lashed up a 110V CTE site transformer to power up the garage consumer unit. That allows me to power up the wiring without killing everybody and use a volt stick, as much of the first fix wiring is unmarked. The MCBs and RCDs should function properly in this mode but I'm not planning on finding out accidentally.

Still to resolve the toilet soil pipe. The cunning stunt with the bendy pipe didn't work out, as it isn't bendy enough and will be going back to Toolstation. Back to plan B ie the tight solvent bend if I can locate one nearby. We'll be OK unless somebody lays a cable in the new karzi in the meantime….

Murray

[Mark CParticipant @markc]

Murray, you should have got a wall hung bog, they have all sorts of options for the soil pipe and look really good when installed. Additional to the cosmetic appearance, they are hygienic in as much as you can mop under them easily after less careful visitors…

I am guessing you already know, but you can get swan neck connectors with a very tight (reversed) outlet?

Mark

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

It's not the toilet connector itself – it's the external bend ie the black soil pipe comes out of the wall into the garden and has to enter a socket in the ground that the builder has thoughtfully positioned just 2" from the wall. There are tight bends available, usually solvent bends, but they don't seem to be stocked by default. Screwfix, Toolstation and Grahams don't have anything, so I will either need to look further afield or order something in. Nice idea hanging it from the wall, especially with 2 boys in the house but I'm actually refitting a toilet that was liberated from the old outhouse – a fairly new one with the label still on it.

Murray

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Murray,

You might find that this is a better way of getting a tight bend: 

http://www.drainageshop.co.uk/category-6077/GWPS522BL.html

[pretty sure it's available cheaper if you shop around]

Put a push-fit cap on the upstand, and you'll have convenient access to clear those unfortunate blockages that might be occasioned by the tight bend.

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 28/01/2017 22:00:29

[Mark CParticipant @markc]

And if you still can't get in with the bend, how about cutting the wall to take the bend into the outer leaf (assuming the wall is cavity) and making good afterwards. As Michael pointed out, a rodding access would be good (possibly required by BC) on that bend.

Mark

[Alan Waddington 2Participant @alanwaddington2]

Posted by Muzzer on 28/01/2017 21:21:09:

It's not the toilet connector itself – it's the external bend ie the black soil pipe comes out of the wall into the garden and has to enter a socket in the ground that the builder has thoughtfully positioned just 2" from the wall.

I could be missing something, but it's quite normal for the drain to be 2" from the wall, otherwise the soil stack clips would need packing off the wall when serving an upstairs bathroom. The elbow usually ends up partially inside the brickwork.

[WindyParticipant @windy30762]

Still in hospital and rather miffed when the minor operation theatre made a mistake and put only one Hickman line in when it should have been two lines for chemo and fluids the consultant was not pleased it means a cannula has to be used for fluids.

Back to engineering my loaned friends laptop has been a god send and have worked away on my steam bike engine.

Made a decision on the crankshaft design and ordered the EN24T from my speed related engineering friend who used to watch me blasting away at sprints etc. in his younger days.

Have bought it at a reasonable price and should be able to pick it up end of next week while hopefully I have a short break from hospital.

Will also be seeing his bike that does not exist when collecting the en24t when it makes it debut will show you all it's mind blowing and theoretical speed is awesome.

[Nathan SharpeParticipant @nathansharpe19746]

Murray, can I suggest that you look at Effast pvc? A short radius 110mm/4" elbow with two short stubs of pipe, multiquick on the pan and possibly another to the soil pipe socket ( if the effast pvc will not fit) should do the job. There are other( cheaper) pvc fittings available, these are simply the range we use at work and are at least 10 bar rated ( if you fully seal the pan when using / had a mega curry last night that could be useful!), and are easily available but are costly. Wall thickness is can be machined to suit your soil pipe by yourself. Nathan

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

The problem is that it's a nice red brick wall in full view of the rest of the house, so butchering it isn't the ideal solution, otherwise I'd have taken an SDS chisel to it a long time ago. Given that most core drills around this size are a nominal 120mm (and given that the hole was already made at great effort and can't easily / tidily be increased), the flange of most push fit couplings won't fit into the hole. On the other hand, solvent weld flanges will fit into the hole.

Here's a "CAD drawing"(??) from Floplast (actually little more than a basic Autocad line drawing), showing a typical solvent weld bend. This will fit the bill, as I will be able to get the flange into the hole in the wall.

From a building control POV, you have either need an access cover on the bend, a dismountable push fit connection, some other means of rodding – or accept that the coupling will have to be replaced if access is required. In this instance, the indoor side is easily accessible (remove the toilet connector) and there is a gully immediately adjacent. Not ideal but the alternative would be to lift the blockwork and start excavating the pipework. As I said, I have a life to live and swarf to make, so we can forget that idea.

As you say, Alan, it's not unusual to have the soil stack close to the wall. Often the toilet connection hits the stack from the side, some way from the exit – giving you an inch or two to accommodate the bend flange either inside or outside the wall. 

Murray

Edited By Muzzer on 29/01/2017 00:18:19

[davebParticipant @daveb17630]

I was using my Warco 1327 (similar to the Chester Craftsman) lathe today when horrible squealing and grinding noises alerted me to a possible problem. Investigation revealed the either the headstock casting had shrunk or the countershaft had grown, the drive pulley being hard against the casting on the left and the countershaft bracket hard against the casting on the right. It appears that the nut securing the pulley has loosened allowing the pulley to move left. The pulley and a shoulder on the other side of the bearing locate the countershaft. The pulley is not loose, quite the reverse! There's no room the tap the pulley back into position, which it has to be to get the countershaft out. I'm thinking I will have to use a hole cutter on the casting to get a socket on the nut to tighten it.

Edited By JasonB on 29/01/2017 12:16:58

[Martin WParticipant @martinw]

Muzzer

Can you adapt anything from this selection of connectors, I know they are intended for coupling WCs to the waste pipe but they might be OK. The one with the closest connection is the McAlpine WC-CONQ 90° Space Saving Pan Connector White 110mm.

Cheers

Martin W

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Muzzer I have got them from these people mail order, and a decent price not like the first link I sent

If there is enough length from where the pipe exits the wall to the soil socket then cut down the length of the spogot and fit one of these for access

 

The Tee shown in Michael's link is no tighter than a standard 92.5 bend so you won't gain anything using one of those.

Edited By JasonB on 29/01/2017 08:11:18

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Went for a walk up the hill for the first time this year owing to the weather and aaaagh there's a whopping great wind farm appeared with 9 towers. Though I know it is some distance away they seem near they are so big, no like trees that are indistinguishable at that distance, I can't see them from home owing to the trees. Must plant more trees

[RobboParticipant @robbo]

Murray

Ref Michael Gilligan's link. Surely you need to have a vertical vent pipe from the outside connection to eaves level, and that is what the ref coupling is for.

Both our ground floor and 1st floor lavatories have them. I'm sure the plumber didn't put them in for fun.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Well I had two WC connections passed a couple of weeks ago done with no vent pipes on either of the branches.

Edited By JasonB on 29/01/2017 09:59:34

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Robbo on 29/01/2017 09:47:48:

Murray

Ref Michael Gilligan's link. Surely you need to have a vertical vent pipe from the outside connection to eaves level, and that is what the ref coupling is for.

.

That is indeed what I used one for, when tapping-into the existing drainage system on our 1920s house.

The underground pipes are clay, and the old 'stack' is cast iron [both Imperial sizes, of course], and much larger than Murray's modern system appears to be; so there was quite a lot of adapter-making involved.

MichaelG.

[clogsParticipant @clogs]

Hi All,

regarding Muzzers floor……….nice job overall……….

for my next (new) w/floor a tad over 100sq, m…….I first thought of 2pack paint…but then found out the cost……

it was recomended a thined sealer coat first and after that 2 coats of paint at the proper viscosity ……

Had word with a builder friend and he suggested pour the basic floor then a 50mm skim (at the same time still wet) of concrete mixed with fine granite chippings……….at the proper time, float the floor with a "helicopter" type power float, proffesionally…….once dry, recomended 1 month, use a simple sealer thats re-coatable anytime……..

I want the place to look smart but still need to mop the floors……also my 2ton Epco engine crane has cast iron wheels…..

any views on this, only gonna do it once and thinking chipped paint is just not on……..well not at that price……

thanks Clogs………

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

I recon you need a floor with a bit of GRIP. Ever slipped over on wet tiles? Do that with something heavy in your hands and you will have wished for a different surface.
BobH

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Regarding soil stack ventilation, you don't need a vent on every stack. I already have one vented stack (out of a total of three) on the same sewer and that is considered adequate.

I would suspect / hope a power float would achieve a better finish than what I have. Note that some of the advice warns against certain types of paint on power floated concrete, presumably because the surface finish is much better.

There's a lot of info at buyfloorpaints on floor prep and the various paint types. Incidentally, they advise against oil based polyurethane floor paint so I won't go crying to them if my floor is a flop. I bought my paint from paintmaster. Good price but the website is pretty light on advice.

I can't imagine many floor paints are going to stand up to heavily loaded cast iron wheels. I'd suggest getting onto ebay or Aliexpress and finding some rubber faced wheels to replace the originals. As well as making them more easy going on the paint, they will be easier to move smoothly, assuming you don't have any vast chasms to negotiate.

Murray

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