Member postings for John Doe 2

I don't know the exact rules but I was told that working on any part of a gas boiler was not permitted without Gas Safe qualifications. I hope I am wrong about that. (I did replace the control board on my own boiler, and did some other maintenance - but nothing to do with the gas path - and it now works perfectly. I also discovered an almost completely blocked hot flow supply pipe and certain design and installation errors with the radiator pipework. I corrected these and the system works much better now than it ever has).

I was also given to understand that if you install your own gas pipework and ask for it to be signed off, request might be refused, since for example, they do not know how well your joints were soldered, but they would technically be liable for any faults.

I would be very happy to be told otherwise.

You are correct about the safety systems on gas burners, but the whole industry has become closed to non Gas safe engineers. Us mere mortals are not allowed to work on gas boilers, full stop. My domestic gas boiler developed an ignition fault, which was due to a faulty electronic control board, but trying to get advice and spares met with "you are not allowed to touch it, not even only the electronics".

I did fix mine, but just so you are aware of potential problems ahead. Having a tame gas engineer in the family might help a lot, but equally, he might insist that he does the work for you. Good luck.

Your local plumber wholesalers will have electrodes for domestic gas central heating boilers, which do exactly what you need, except for the spark plug thread bit.

Only problem might be persuading them to sell one to you, since I bet you are not Gas-safe registered ! But worth a try.

Gerry said "a little" cosmetic damage or corrosion. e.g. a few light dings or some surface discolouration in non critical areas would be OK. Heavy rust or pitting in the ball races wouldn't !

Re the part number: I would think that the correct part number also specifies operating heat range, materials, working load, max rpm, and a host of other parameters, as well as basic dimensions. These would need to be correct for the aircraft to be signed off by the CAA? A different part number might have all the correct dimensions but only half the working load, or not certified for use below 0°C, for example.

Thanks again, Jason. Too late now for Trend though; I have already ordered the other ones from GBR Engineering, and they have been dispatched.

Odd that the main Trend website does not list the spares, or direct us to the other website.

But anyway; at £20 PLUS VAT for a minimum pack of 5 drill bits of only one size from Trend, I would have had to spend about £50 at Trend to obtain the two sizes I needed. I have just spent a total of £10.49 including VAT and 1st class postage, for 2 of one size and three of the other from GBR. So I am afraid there was simply no contest.

Trend are good, but they need to be a little more competitive.

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Edited By John Doe 2 on 04/09/2023 13:36:45

+1

Anybody approving construction with a design life of only 30 years should be strung up - unless the building was a farm building or temporary building. But something like a school or a hospital, where the colossal disruption and cost of rehousing all the inhabitants; pulling the old building down and constucting a new one in its place......

....it just beggars belief that anyone would think it was a good idea.

Hi Jason, yes you are correct. However, Trend do not list these drill bits as spares - they only list a kit of three complete units - I only need the drill bits - and they haven't answered my email.

So.......tricky.

Just a quick thanks to whomever suggested GBR Engineering for Osborn drill bits.

I broke the 2.7mm diameter drill bit in my Trend drill guide, (a sprung device used with a hand drill to locate a screw hole exactly in the centre of the holes of a door hinge or lock plate etc. when drilling into the wooden frame or door.

Normal drill bits are too short for the device, but Osborn carry longer ones.

Price is very good and the ordering and paying process was very easy. Hopefully they will arrive tomorrow, and I can continue fitting the internal doors !

I think the problem might be that this guy is posting lots of photos of things he makes, but whenever someone, (on this engineering forum), asks a question, or offers some advice, or points out a potential flaw, he has a go, saying you are all pathetic toy makers, who couldn't even put Lego pieces together ! Nice. If he said that to me/us in the pub, he would be "shown" the door in very short order !

So why does he bother posting his stuff in the first place if he thinks you are all clueless idiots ? Most of us post to gain thoughts, ideas, discuss problems, and tap into the expertise of the experienced members. One has to hope that the ad-hoc devices this guy makes for his motorbikes - without any engineering qualifications - do not turn out to be dangerous.

Dave and Dave, +1

Yes, I know, but in our heavy, compacted clay soil, it can be difficult to realise that one tine is stuck under a stone or a brick and apply a bit too much force !

I was mindful and gentle with the wooden handle when bending the tine back - successfully, luckily.

SoD, agreed, but the garden does need attention from time to time to make it look nice ! The heavy clay soil where we recently moved to is a real bugger, and many plants cannot get their roots into it. So I need to dig it all over and dig in manure etc.

I've also tested the soil, and it's very alkaline, which is a surprise.

All sorted - well, close enough. I should have taken a "before" photo, but the third tine from the camera was about 70mm out. Not having a scaffold pole, I first tried two branches of a tree, (suitably protected), and then the tube of a garden lawn aerator to bend the tine !

Thanks again for the help.

Thanks guys, that's exactly what I needed to know.

One tine on my garden fork is bent out of line - owing to it catching under a root or boulder.

Question, how can I bend the tine back without damaging it or weakening it? I only have a small propane plumber's torch for heating the metal, which I suspect won't get it very hot.

The fork is made by Wilkinson Sword and the metal is steel - not stainless - there is surface rust on the top and where the handle joins, but not on the tines themselves which stay clean and bright.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Another very nicely made gadget !

Would there ever be any danger of the internal slider sticking in the bore owing to corrosion, and jamming the carbs open? (I note the O rings on each screw-in component, but moisture could travel down the Bowden cable from the throttle grip end). Did the unit operate dry or did you lubricate it?

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Edited By John Doe 2 on 29/08/2023 10:17:21

I have bought some Dasqua rulers and a dial calliper so far.

All are CNC and laser cut, and very nice tools. The dial calliper is for my 3D printing and is nicely made. It is quick to read and there is no battery to run down, so my original callipers - which ate batteries - have stayed in their box ever since !

Cannot speak for accuracy and quality of Dasqua tools at accuracies below calliper level, but they generally seem well designed and made, and certainly worth considering.

Where I used to be Tower Captain; we augmented our six church bells to eight and had our two extra bells cast at the Whitechapel bell foundry, before it closed.

We were allowed to visit and watch our bells being 'poured', if that's the right term. The moulds are made inside metal cases from a clay mixed with animal hair, which burns away, leaving tiny air passages for gasses to escape. A fascinating process, and we also had all eight bells tuned in a giant vertical lathe, where they remove metal from the inside surface in certain bands to tune about 5 separate notes on each bell. Our largest bell weighed 14 and-a-bit cwt before tuning, and under 14 cwt after, so quite a lot of metal removed.

I don't know what else you could use bell metal for - casting a door bell maybe?

Yes, that's all very well until the day when you are distracted by something or someone walks into the workshop to ask you something then you turn back to your lathe and absentmindedly place your hand on the apparently stationary chuck, saying to yourself, 'right, now where was I ?'..........ooops! That's what an accident is.

Aircraft and airliners land with their wheels up from time to time, but you would think that pilots would know that they were airborne and about to land, wouldn't you ! It happens due to distractions.

Having said that, to really 'freeze' a rotating object with light you need quite an intense strobe light with very short 'on' pulses, e.g a xenon car timing light.

Sorry, that exclamation mark should have been a comma, but I cannot edit it now.

For what its worth! I think it looks very nice, and a nice piece of machining.

It looks quite complicated for what seems to be a T piece to mount a pressure switch for the brake light. Does it contain anything else, e.g. a proportioning valve?

Genuine question: What's wrong with banjo connectors? They look very neat; are they hard to bleed or something?

Yes, sorry, I did specify "without smoothing" in my reply.

If the lamp in question has some sort of smoothing or regulator built-in, it might be OK as a stand alone - I was assuming a basic LED lamp without.

As you say, hard to be sure unless one has a 'scope or a circuit diagram.

PS, the down-lighters I mentioned above are £10.95 + VAT each, and don't need any other components.

Edited By John Doe 2 on 19/08/2023 12:47:45