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12 hours ago, DJ360 said:

When the glue has cured I'll fit the new double socket in the living room.

 

Col are you intending feeding the new socket from a plug top like permanent extension lead, or wiring into the back of the kitchen sockets?

 

 

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Just got back from QMC again........the last eight days have been a bit Traumatic to say the least,,...blood tests,,X-rays,,and today a visit to a Consultant........cut a long story short......problem

Result........CT Scans all clear......just got letter..been sweating for a fortnight......

Two years ago today..........my life changed forever,,,about this time i was on my way down to the operating theatre for what turned out to be a ten hour operation...........its been life changing in

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Nonna and BK. I think there is something in the butterfly theory. My mum passed away in a March, I flew over for the funeral and stayed with Chulla. March is cold and not butterfly season, but as I was looking out their front window a butterfly came up to it and went back and forth,  hitting against the window. I thought at the time it was mam saying goodbye. I had never up to that point, heard of butterflies doing this.

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2 hours ago, Beekay said:

Should imagine if I had 'em all on it would be less than 3 amps.

 

If they are all fed from a manufactured extension lead (as opposed to home made), you can plug in whatever you like. Everything has to pass through the plug top fuse, presumably 13 amp, so it's impossible to overload or exceed the cable rating.

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Hi Brew, I tend to do it with a ,' belt and braces' attitude. At the plug end, I exchange the original to a plug with built in circuit breaker. Although I'm not likely to run over the lead with a hover mower indoors.:rolleyes:

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Katyjay, following on from your experience with the butterfly. When we were at our sons funeral, after the church service we walked behind the coffin toward the grave. Now in that 13th century church they kept a flock of Jacob sheep, who used to run away when being approached. As we passed by their fence they ALL came to the fence and just stood there. Not only that but the church cat followed us to the graveside and sat at the edge until the service was over and didn't move until we dispersed.

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2 hours ago, Brew said:

 

Col are you intending feeding the new socket from a plug top like permanent extension lead, or wiring into the back of the kitchen sockets?

 

 

 

I'm wiring it as a spur off an existing socket which sits on the wall in the dining room between the living room and the entrance to the kitchen.  So... both the existing socket and the new one are on walls 'backing onto' the kitchen.  I've worked a length of twin and earth (BS 6004) through the wall from the new socket location and behind the kitchen cupboards then out of the back of the existing socket.  As ever..it's not been straightforward.  The steel back box I had to hand (25mm) turns out to be too shallow to accomodate the double socket and wiring no matter how I arrange it.. So I've pulled it out and now fitted a 35 mm box. So.. another wait for the adhesive to cure before I can wire up.

 

Meanwhile.. the most difficult part of all was removing the baseboard of the kitchen units in order to access the gap behind them.  It gave every sign of having been forcibly rammed into a too small gap between cupboards and floor and only came out without damage after a struggle.  That's kitchen fitters for you.

So.. before I put it back I'm going to have to get my power planer out and 'adjust' it a bit. Still it's only about 12 feet long....

 

As a neighbour of mine says about any and every one of life's little trials... 'Nobody said it would be easy Col....'  :(

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Sounds like a plan. The cable is fine (2.5mm) but some points to remember if you want keep with the regs;

Holes in the back box(es) must have  grommets

Earth conductors must have yellow/green sleeving

Most important - You can only spur off a ring circuit- you must not spur from a spur unless you use a fused spur unit.

Ultra important!!! isolate!!! do not turn up at the next meeting a nice shade of charcoal!    :victory:

 

You cannot wire back to the consumer unit (a new circuit), without Part P notice to the council.

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Yep.. bought grommets earlier with new back box but have to confess with the first box I used about 50 turns of 2" PVC tape.  I also have (and use) earth sleeving. .. and a 'flying Earth' to the back box.  I'm very careful with safety.

 

Existing socket that I'm 'spurring off' has two leads indicating that it is part of a ring as it is original installation. I'm replacing the 40+ year old socket with a switched MK which I recently took out of a loft power supply for an aerial booster amp.

 

In a couple of places upstairs I've converted singles to doubles using surface mount converters where space isn't an issue.

 

I fitted a strip light in the loft using a junction box off the lighting circuit.  I added an architrave switch in the frame of the loft access hatch with red tape on the live black return.

 

When I had a lot more hi-fi boxes, I originally fitted two sockets on a 'mini ring' into a spare outlet on the distribution board. (It is on the other side of the wall in the integral garage.) Later I fitted seven double unswitched MK sockets on another ring into another spare.  The electrician who swapped out my old wire fused  'dizzy board' for the new all singing all dancing consumer unit declared them both fine, as he also did the wiring in the garage which feeds the wall lights in the living room on the other side of the wall. I do mean to cover those wires with 'trunking' or worever it's called when I get a Round Tuit.

 

I have one more little job in mind.  There's a single light switch in the dining room.. on the wall which has the garage on the other side.  I'm thinking of replacing the switch with a double and using the second one to wire  through the wall and along the internal garage wall then through the outside wall for a bulkhead light in the side path.

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Sound as a pound! my vision of crispy Col is receding rapidly!   wereno1

 

Be careful with light circuits and where you pick up the neutral...

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Nope.  I rely on my existing knowledge.., my massive intellect.. :rolleyes:,  t'internet.. and a thirty +  year old 'Do It All' book called 'Electrics. Part One -Principles.'   :)

 

As with many 'trades'.. much is down to experience. So that understanding how to do the job from a safety point of view is rather different to the practical application.   When you only do stuff occasionally, as opposed to daily, you do tend to make all your mistakes on the one job you're doing.. and may not recall them years later when you do a similar job.

 

Whoever wired my house put plastic backing boxes behind all switches and sockets.  It looks like they were all in place before the plastering was done, so that the plaster is proud of the boxes in most cases, easily damaged around the boxes and a bugger to repair as there's nothing to 'work to'.  That approach left plenty of room for a 1976 sparky to stuff the wires in. but is not helpful to me.

I like to fit a new back box so it's flush with the plaster face.. which makes any patching easier... but you do have to make sure you have a box deep enough for the gubbins in the socket or switch.

 

I never cease to be amazed how hard and stiff the cores are in twin and earth cable.  Copper is supposed to be malleable.  I suppose the wire gets work hardened in the manufacturing process.

 

Anyway.  We are supposed to have about 20 minutes of Sunshine tomorrow.. followed by another month of rain.... then Winter.  so it can all wait until the day after tomorrow.

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16 minutes ago, Beekay said:

Wouldn't be surprised if he's got a copy of "Fly Fishing" by J.R.Hartley.  :rolleyes:

 

Haven't fished since the early 60s BK,   But.. I do recall getting a book out of the library in the early 70s.

Even though I'm not much interested in the fishing, I was fascinated by the book.  It went into great detail about how to maintain rods, how to 'whip' ferrules to the rod, how to varnish the cane, how to care for reels etc.  Like all the best hobbies.. obsessive attention to detail was the thing.  Most of those skills now gone as everything is plastic and carbon fibre.

 

I do wonder what happened to all those lovely books. I recall others concerning model aircraft, which went into great detail about how to care for the rubber used for rubber powered models.. how to make a very fine membrane for indoor models and so on...

 

I also read a book by some American military type, which detailed the way that the Americans struggled to understand and give practical application to the V2 rockets they 'hoovered up' after WW2.   Reading it..it was no surprise that they were behind the Soviet Union for much of the space race...  Where would they be now if we hadn't given them the telephone, the electric light bulb, the computer, the jet engine, etc., etc. ;)

 

 

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My grandad taught me how to "whip" ferrules. He always used spade end hooks too and whipped them on a small length of line with a loop at the end which was then joined to the main line on the reel. This length of line was always of less breaking strength than the main line so if you got snagged and had to snap the line you only lost the short piece of line and the hook. Strangely enough using this method of tying hooks I never had any line come undone at the hook.  

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As to electrical wiring safety. My house was rewired about 20 years ago. No grommets on any back boxes. Do you need these. Wires never move.  I’ve done quite a bit of wiring in the past.
I fully accept that safety is of upmost importance but I do rather get the impression with some of the measures for domestic property  they introduce are from an organisation or group who need to justify their existence. 

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The Institute of Engineering Technology produce the electrical regulations. We’re on the 18th edition currently. When I was running a factory some 20 years ago I believe we were on the 15th.edition. We’ve recently had an electrical  inspection at Bleasby village hall and as it’s a public building, the committee has had to spend over £3,000 to bring it up to standard to comply with the current regulations. With domestic premises an inspection is generally only required by a mortgage company if a loan is applied for. There only certain things an unqualified  householder can do to electrical circuits but they probably don’t know what they are anyway. I’m sure all those people growing cannabis in their lofts, where they have bypassed the meter, are taking little notice of the regulations!

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This morning I finished off what I started yesterday, that is sweeping and washing down all through outside and garden furniture. Tidied up the garden, deheaded flowers and protected the young acers that have started to get scorched. Temperature yesterday was 34 today still going up and tomorrow it's forecast 37. I was outside for 4 hrs and it took me 2 hours to cool down. I looked like a turkey but fortunately my face has turned a darker shade of honey.

On another subject  has anybody using flour found any weevils in it. It's quite a common occurrence. I wanted to make some pastry and as I opened the pack found a couple walking on top. I sieved  it and only found those two so I continued to make pastry. All my other flours haven't been opened so I've put them in the freezer in case there are more.

Advice on flour is to put flour in freezer for 48 hrs to kill any weevils so that's what I've done. Come to use them I will sieve as always.

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2 hours ago, letsavagoo said:

As to electrical wiring safety. My house was rewired about 20 years ago. No grommets on any back boxes. Do you need these. Wires never move.  I’ve done quite a bit of wiring in the past.
I fully accept that safety is of upmost importance but I do rather get the impression with some of the measures for domestic property  they introduce are from an organisation or group who need to justify their existence. 

 

I wouldn't bother with grommets in plastic boxes, but the metal ones do have sharp edges around the 'knock outs'. I recall reeading somewhere that the slight heating and cooling of conductors in use can cause movement, which over time can cause wear.  I dunno how true that is.  Also, it's supposedly a good idea to check the tightness of all terminals inside switches and sockets periodically as they can work loose for similar reasons... allegedly.

I don't think I'd extend that principle to messing with connections in the Consumer unit, but then again there's usually a notice recommending periodic inspection by a qualified Sparky.

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30 minutes ago, nonnaB said:

Advice on flour is to put flour in freezer for 48 hrs to kill any weevils so that's what I've done. Come to use them I will sieve as always.

 

We don't use a lot of flour, so it tends to be in store for a while and we throw more away than we use due to those tiny black weevils.  I've cleaned everything so I'm convinced the little sods must come in on the packaging.  Excellent tip about the freezer.  I'll make sure we freeze the next pack before it gets into the cupboard.

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1 hour ago, Jill Sparrow said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-53598637

 

Wonder if HMP Nottingham could offer something similar?

 

Doing thyme-flavoured mail baguettes? Order on your cell phone. ;)

Apparently there's also another one somewhere , think it might be in US but it makes bread.

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I've just washed and sterilized my large jars ready to put flour in when it comes out of the freezer and sieved. At the beginning of lockdown or maybe just after I threw away loads of flour because there were too many weevles. Yes they are probably in the flour when you buy it plus eggs. It's unavoidable really when you think about it. You never know how long the supermarkets have stored their flour and it does have a long storage date.

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2 minutes ago, philmayfield said:

They should make porridge.

 

Dont think they can avoid it.:rolleyes:

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