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tomturd

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Posts posted by tomturd

  1. Short between earth and neutral? Wall sockets.

    in Chit Chat

    Posted

    An electrician is coming over tomorrow to take a look.

    Tom, it's 1.5mm in diameter. 2.5 and especially 4mm sound awfully thick, I have a few UK plugs in my room and they don't look like they could accommodate such a massive wire. I could well be wrong though.

    The reason I'm somewhat worried is that the problem concerns one of the first sockets in the circuit. So if it's radial there will be no earth in my entire room, correct?

    2.5 and 4mm don't relate the diameter of the cable, I think it represents the cross section/area. Each strand of copper in a 2.5mm cable is about 1mm diameter if I remember correctly.

    Good that you have a pro coming round. It does sound like you have no earth in any of the sockets.

    I wouldn't be too concerned. My whole lighting circuit didn't have an earth and we have lots of metal wall lights, but in the 40 or 50 years it was like that, to my knowledge, nobody died. Still worth getting it sorted though I think, especially if you're planning on moving sockets anyway.

    • Like 1

  2. Short between earth and neutral? Wall sockets.

    in Chit Chat

    Posted

    If the current wiring is as bad as said, then that may not be the best test, and even thickness of wire may not be correct. Get an electrician in to check the lot.

    I should have added quite a big disclaimer.. I only know enough to be dangerous :D

    In this case if it was me I think I'd probably rip it out (safely), do the chasing and run new cables myself then get an electrician in to wire up of sockets, do the CU stuff (that's one place I definitely don't mess around with) and sign it off.

  3. Short between earth and neutral? Wall sockets.

    in Chit Chat

    Posted

    1.5mm diameter or 1.5mm area? In the UK I think the standard is 2.5mm for loops and 4mm for radials.

    Ring/loop looks like this:

    ring-circuit-s.JPG

    Radial looks like this

    radial-circuit-s.JPG

    You can find out if its a radial by disconnecting one of the wires in one of the sockets (breaking the chain). If the other sockets further down the chain stop working then it's a radial, if they keep working its a ring (as power is supplied from both sides)

    • Like 1

  4. Short between earth and neutral? Wall sockets.

    in Chit Chat

    Posted

    Sockets can be connected in series, its called a radial circuit and that's totally ok according to my electrician. You need a fatter cable because the electricity is delivered to the socket from one direction only.

    But the 'last' socket in your chain might go back to the CU, which will make it into a loop. You can use thinner cables because the electricity is delivered to the socket from both sides. If you break the loop (by drilling through a cable or something) then you effectively have 2 radials where a loop once was, the sockets still work but now each radial is on underrated cable.

    That, and that having an earth is generally a good thing, is the about the extent of my electrical knowledge :D

    Personally I would get digging in the wall.

  5. Inflatable Kayaks

    in Chit Chat

    Posted

    I have one, used once. It was easy paddling, we went for miles along the coast from one beach to another. But on the way back, against a gentle breeze, I was paddling for my life. Genuinely thought we were going to have to swim for it. It seemed like we were getting absolutely nowhere, while and old couple who had rented a plastic kayak sailed past with ease.

    The problem is they have high sides and aren't particularly [insert word thats like aerodynamic but for water.. hydrodynamic?] and get caught by the wind really easily, if you want to use it more than once I would go for one of those plastic sit on top type kayaks.

  7. The Election Thread

    in Chit Chat

    Posted

    As far as I can tell most people on my FB feed voted for a party that had zero chance of winning/having any impact on the overall result, and are now pissed off the conservatives won :blink:

    (for the record I didn't vote conservative)

  9. How much do you pay for mortgage / rent per month?

    in Chit Chat

    Posted

    My tip: Pull any equity you have in a property out (to whatever you feel comfortable with 80-85% LTV) and use this to buy further properties which will make you money. It's not risky it's just spreading your equity accross assets which make you money rather than your house which costs you money.

    The additional interest on your personal mortgage is tax deductable too.

    Are you doing that at the moment?

    I have a house that I rent out, I overpay the mortgage on it even though I know I'll be shooting myself in the foot when it comes to my tax return.

    The bit that confuses me is, do I:

    1. stretch the mortgage out as long as possible, paying the least each month but therefore paying the max amount of interest over the lifetime of the mortgage, but paying the least to the tax man (this is what everyone else does)

    2. overpay the mortgage as much as possible, therefore paying (much) less interest over the lifetime of the mortgage, but more to the tax man

    I'm doing the second option, I just want to get it paid off so that it's not marked down as me having -£XX,XXX when I log into my online banking.

  10. How much do you pay for mortgage / rent per month?

    in Chit Chat

    Posted

    Some of these mortgage numbers must be interest only or whatever? Otherwise I'm doing something seriously wrong!!

    Yours should go down to under £800 ish if you get onto a 2.9% ish deal when your fixed period finishes, maybe less if you've paid some capital off (I'm skimming dangerously close to the end of my knowledge of mortgages here...). My tip: when it goes down to a more reasonable figure, keep paying what you are now. You'll knock years and years off your mortgage doing that.

    There's 10 year fixed ones out there now at 2.8%ish, so it sounds like the banks aren't too concerned about interest rates going up any time soon.

  11. The Car Thread

    in Chit Chat

    Posted

    Swapped my Focus for this for the past month:

    beast.jpg

    Double bed in the back with plenty of room for storage. It's pretty rad. I really like how simple the engine/layout is - it's just all really simple and functional. The only 'problem' with it is it's got a non-standard, bigger engine in there and the lack of cooling is a bit of a hassle at times. Going up some of the bigger passes here the engine temp creeps up a bit, but if you just cruise rather than gunning it it's fine really.

    That looks awesome! Where are you?

    On the heating front, beware strong tail winds. In my old fiesta the temp gauge went right up to red, so we turned back to find a garage. On the way back, the temperature went back down to normal levels. So thinking it was just a blip, we turned around again to continue our travels. This happened a few times until we realised the wind was blowing in the same direction we were driving :)

  12. The Car Thread

    in Chit Chat

    Posted

    Well it's not often I post here, but I just replaced the bonnet catch on my fabia. Feeling pretty chuffed. The bonnet stays down and everything (after a few heart stopping "uh oh, I can't close the bonnet" moments). It didn't fix the thing I hoped it would though :(

    And I only lost one "square ratchet bit to screwdriver bit converter" and the torx bit that was plugged into it somewhere down the bottom of the engine. I think it's on the tray. Not a bad result.

  16. The Car Thread

    in Chit Chat

    Posted

    I do not particularly want a Skoda, least of all a diesel estate skoda, but when using search filters like 'Insurance group 10 and under' (all i've got as a guide unless I spam my inbox with comparison site nonsense) and 'price less than £2,500' a fabia becomes the best option amongst shite like 3pot corsas.

    does anybody really WANT a skoda before they've actually got one? :P

    pretty sure my fabia vrs is less than group 10, and I think they go for around £2500 now, maybe worth a look. It has it's niggles but its fun to drive, pretty quick and reliable.

    only problem when I got it (after I wrote off the previous car) was getting insurance - they said it was a 'high risk' car and even though it was in a low group, they still wouldn't insure me.

    • Like 1

  19. The Happy Thread

    in Chit Chat

    Posted

    There is a reason for that though; is it all sorted and treated now?

    It's in the process of being treated, the seller has paid 1.5k for a 5 year treatment plan, they had it sprayed it in april I think. Now it seems they're waiting for it to flower in aug/sept before hitting it again. But yeah, not going in totally blind, we had it in our garden years ago and it took a couple of years to get rid of. I'll be buying some rosate 36 and an injector I think, there are mixed reports about the best way to get rid of it. I think I'll be an expert in a few years time :D

  20. The Happy Thread

    in Chit Chat

    Posted

    I'm 30.

    This is happy and angry.

    Happy birthday! I always thought you were older than me. I was 30 a couple of weeks ago. Still am actually.

    In happy news, our mortgage has finally been approved. The house has japanese knotweed issues, pretty hard to get a mortgage it seems. Looking forward to having a garage, been scouting ebay for table saws, band saws, thickness planers, metal forging stuff and all the things I want to do :D

    • Like 1

  21. Anybody Tried Out A Btwin Rockrider 6.3?

    in Bike Chat

    Posted

    Well, it turned up. Well impressed for the money. I thought they would scrimp where they could, but kenda tyres for example are a nice touch when they could have saved £2 and put some unbranded ones on. Attention to details is good, matching anodized qr's, little rubber bumpers on the cables, decent grips.

    Glad I got a medium, perfect for me and it's surprisingly not too heavy. Not sure what the forks will be like (suntours) so they may be getting upgraded at some point along with the rear shock, but they should do the job for the time being.

    I haven't ridden it yet, so it may ride like a bag of shit, but it looks nice at least.

  22. Anybody Tried Out A Btwin Rockrider 6.3?

    in Bike Chat

    Posted

    Sorry for not replying before you ordered it but ill give my two cents anyway.

    The rockrider bikes seem to measure up ever so slightly smaller to the typical sort of standard mtb sizes but not by much. With standard bar and stem length and geometries it sounds like it will measure up ideally for what you're after.

    I'd say the bike on the site is either a medium or large, I do believe the small sizes have a kink in the top tube.

    £350 seems like even more of a good deal and probably good you bought it while you did cause it's being replaced by a new model which isn't quite as good.

    I've unfortunately been out of the loop with anything fairly recent due to being off sick with 3 broken bones :P

    No problem, I only gave you about 20 minutes before I bought it haha.

    Good news that it should fit. Interesting you mention the top tube, I saw this on the french site: http://www.decathlon.fr/vtt-rockrider-500s-tout-suspendu-id_8208677.html - I guess that might be a small one then

  24. Anybody Tried Out A Btwin Rockrider 6.3?

    in Bike Chat

    Posted

    I think the main thing that makes the difference is front drive or rear. 250w should be enough as that is pretty much what all standard electric bikes (which probably weigh a good few kg's more than the Rockrider) run on. I read that 500w motors can get over 30mph but it all depends on your budget.

    Budget I guess is around £500-£600. That would be a total spend of £850-£950, which doesn't get you much in terms of a prebuilt electric bike, so I can justify that... just about. I have a 350w scooter (don't laugh.. it's awesome :D) and I don't think that would make it up the hill.. so I'm tempted to go for 500w. Really can't decide at the moment.

    Do you still live in Cardiff Tom? Or around should I say

    Nope, not for a couple of years now. My girlfriend got a work placement near where I grew up (in fact, the same hospital I was born in), so I've moved back to Pembrokeshire. Loving it now I'm back, but totally not in my life plans.. (not that I had any!)

  25. Anybody Tried Out A Btwin Rockrider 6.3?

    in Bike Chat

    Posted

    You going for the legal 250w version or something with a bit of oomph??

    Good question! Do you know much about them? There's so much stuff on the net I can't decide. At the moment I'm thinking 36v 500w. I also like the sound of the mid drive systems because you can use your gears go give the motor an easier time (but the chainsets look crap and they're more expensive).

    The main reasoning behind this is to get me home from the pub, mostly off road, about 1.5 miles gradual uphill. Any idea if a 250w hub motor would even make a dent on a trip like that? From what I've read it sounds unlikely so I think it'll have to be something a bit more powerful?

    My missus is 6ft and rides a medium 8.1 from a few years ago, it fits her well but she does struggle to hoof it around so you might just pass as a medium Tom.

    cool, thats reassuring! there's not much close by in terms of proper off road bike routes (no dedicated DH or XC courses or anything), but I do want something at least a little hoofable if I ever get the chance to ride somewhere decent again. Should find out on Friday if medium was the right choice, as long as it's not too cramped it should be fine :)

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