Things you don't see anymore

[Compo 10,328]

One rarely sees cookers being refurbished these days.  Most are tipped and replaced with new ones. I was pricing up a new range cooker and comparing the price to the possiblility of refurbishing our own.  In the end I opted for a refurb and although it took me a couple of weeks (I am retired so no cost there), I managed a refurb for just under £200 as opposed to a new cooker at £2,300.  

 

Part of the front panel before:

 

 

After:

 

 

Mummified mouse found inside the front panel:

 

 

The finished product:

 

 

[MargieH 7,599]

Poor little mousie.. I hope he died happy with a full tummy of crumbs

[loppylugs 8,429]

Looks good, Compo.  We need more of that.  Electricity board used to refurbish in the 60s. I got a nice cooker that way.  All parts dipped in caustic, faulty parts replaced and rebuilt like new.

 

I watched a program called 'Marketplace' the other night.  They took some appliance repair guys to various appliance problems.  The outcome was that they said the machines, 'frig's, cookers etc.  just weren't built to last.  Especially the ones with electronic controls.  A new circuit board often cost nearly as much as a new appliance.  So just chuck it and buy a new one.  All part of the great corporate ripoff we're all robbed by. 

 

[NewBasfordlad 3,599]

Nice one Compo looks good.

 

Same with these new boilers Loppy, its a bit like the old saying 'If you built a mini out of spare parts it would cost the same as a roller'

 

I have an agreement with several of my landlords, If the repair is over £400 and the boiler is 7 years or older then its a new boiler. Strange when it used to be usual to be working on boiler 20 years plus old.

[Brew 5,411]

Cracking job Compo, now tell us what Mrs Compo is going spend all the money you saved on...     

[LizzieM 9,507]

Looks fantastic Compo, assuming it cooks food ok then you’ve done a great job there.  

The Miele oven at our place down south has played up since we bought the apartment over a year ago, it does work when we turn off the power and then back on again.  We called out a repair man who struggled with it for about an hour and came to the conclusion it needed two spare parts and would get the office to phone me with a quote. He told us to leave it switched off for 24 hours then see how it was.   This girl rang and said the parts would be £700.  What?!!!!  Immediately decided we wouldn’t be doing that, we’d get a new oven.  After 24 hours we turned the oven on ....... nothing, no display lit up, just nothing.  Called the company again, man comes back next day, took oven out of the housing and found he’d not connected two wires.  Not got a lot of faith in that lot.  Still using the oven though. 

[radfordred 6,284]

These bad boys should keep you cool in this heat? Allso good for straining greens.

 

[Compo 10,328]

22 hours ago, loppylugs said:

 All parts dipped in caustic, faulty parts replaced and rebuilt like new.

 

Exactly what I did, LL.

[Compo 10,328]

22 hours ago, NewBasfordlad said:

, If the repair is over £400 and the boiler is 7 years or older then its a new boiler. Strange when it used to be usual to be working on boiler 20 years plus old.

 

My oil fired boiler is now 23yrs old, maintained by myself and still working perfectly.  I get phone calls from the eco nutters saying buy a new boiler but why the heck should I when the one I have works so well?!  I can buy spares for the burner for a mere fraction of the cost of a new boiler and the boiler plates/flues clean easily enough.

[Bubblewrap 3,815]

20 hours ago, IAN123. said:

Gone!...didn't last long- Radio Nottms own magazine.

Robin Hood minus his bow & arrow

 

[radfordred 6,284]

Jackets, coats & jumpers! 

[NewBasfordlad 3,599]

Ian, wait till you see the price of a replacement Grunfos they have gone up enormously over the last couple of years due to new regulation.

 

Both of you, if you want my advice stick with what you've got, the new standards set by government mean different heat exchangers and loads of electrical gubbins which when it starts to fail will cost you a fortune.

 

They are supposed to be eco friendly but I often wonder if anyone has taken in to account the production of new boilers every few years,,,,

[catfan 14,793]

Thought it had turned a bit nippy tonight, think might need the heating on for a while !

[Oztalgian 3,278]

Beefy Bovril? don't see any cow on the ingredients list. Very welcome on a cold February afternoon on the terraces at the City Ground.

 

[catfan 14,793]

Not many of these left !

 

[Oztalgian 3,278]

There used to be one of those or an RAC one on the Oxton by-pass. If there was a patrolman there and you had a badge on the car he used to salute you. As kids we thought this was great.

[jonab 1,644]

Regarding Bovril. Is that ingredient listing for the Oz version of the product? I seem to remember that Unilever tried removing the beef content from Bovril only to be met with protests from aficionados complaining that it had turned Marmite-like and lost all of its characteristic "beefiness". Unilever reverted to the real beef content version after being faced with rapidly falling sales.

I've not seen Bovril per se in France but according to the current Tesco UK website, Bovril comprises:

Beef Broth (50%) [Water, Beef Bones], Yeast Extract (27%) [contains Barley, Wheat, Oats, Rye], Salt, Water, Colour (Ammonia Caramel), Corn Starch, Beef Powder (1%) , Flavour Enhancers (Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate), Acid (Lactic Acid), Flavourings (contain Celery).

[philmayfield 6,118]

3 hours ago, Oztalgian said:

There used to be one of those or an RAC one on the Oxton by-pass. If there was a patrolman there and you had a badge on the car he used to salute you. As kids we thought this was great.

I knew a chap back in the 50’s who drove an old Austin 7 with an AA badge on the front. He never got saluted by the patrolmen so he painted the whole bonnet yellow to make him more recognisable! 

[Oztalgian 3,278]

3 hours ago, jonab said:

Is that ingredient listing for the Oz version of the product?

This is the ingredient listing for the Oz version of "Bovril"

Yeast Extract (52% (From Barley), Water Maltodextrin, Rice flour, Salt, Colour (150c), Starch, Flavours, Acid Regulator (270), Flavour Enhancers (631, 627). It is sold as a cooking additive and is marked as "suitable for vegetarians" so there is no beef in it, WTF.

Send some real stuff urgently...………….

 

[jonab 1,644]

Is the Oz Bovril made by Unilever, do you know? Or is some other company cashing in on the name (ex-pats, for instance)?

[Oztalgian 3,278]

The lid says imported by Manassen Foods, an independent grocery importer. The label says made in the UK by Unilever

[Compo 10,328]

During my apprenticeship at the NCB I had to spend some time in the training centre at Hucknall Top Pit. After the shift a number of us had to wait for ages for a bus so we used to go into the canteen and have a mug of OXO whilst we passed the time. As I recall, it cost 3d per mug.

[Compo 10,328]

[Oztalgian 3,278]

Compo, Have you seen "The Boat That Rocked"? a great movie about a pirate radio ship. It's well worth a watch.

[Compo 10,328]

Seen it a few times, Oz.  Here in UK we still have Radio Caroline.  Nowadays the ssip is moored in the Blackwater Estuary, Essex and most of the shows come from a shore based studio. Once per month they all go out to the ship and transmit from there via a link to Manx Radio on Medium wave.  In addition, Caroline now have a licence to braodcast from......the former BBC transmitter at Orforrd Ness in Suffolk.  Unfortunately, they are limited to 2KW output so their range is insufficient to hear it in Scotland.  I listen on the internet at Radiocaroline.co.uk  (24hrs) and have a mini transmitter that allows me to listen on an FM radio in the garden/polytunnel/greenhouse/etc..