Nickfromwales

Yes, that looks a bit shat. I cant help noticing the closed fill valve on the top of that chuffing "expansion vessel". If it were a true ( F & E ) expansion vessel then it couldn't have a seal as it would need to be open to atmosphere. I still think these systems are sealed, not open pipe @ProDave, and would need to be told different / otherwise before carrying on down this route. That one pictured has clearly collapsed after being closed when the system was hot, and its been allowed to cool / contract. No sale sorry. A heating system need got be able to expand and contract freely, and an F & E tank is just so 'yesterday'. Does the antifreeze / inhibitor smell? Plus, you still need an overflow for that too so just a poor way to save a few bucks imo. £12 £8 £22 or all in a kit for The princely sum of £34 ! You could have bought that and fitted it by now

None of a TF kit would come treated, as its assumed that it would never again be subject to damp / rain etc. However, being a bit OCD, I'd probably still buy treated timber for the soleplate just as it would feel to me to be the right thing to do, but I suppose this all depends on how long the soleplate would actually be sat in rainwater / exposed. The timber vertically rising from it would dry out far quicker so would be less 'problematic', but the soleplate will always have water sandwiched between it and the DPC. Do what feels right to you I suppose.

And there lies the problem. Most fitted these in the early days out of mostly greed and being ABLE to afford it. They are going to be better off than most for a lot longer. Instead of a FiT, there should have been subsidies and grants to fit a couple of panels to every home, just to offset the consumption at each dwelling, and to reinforce the localised grid areas. That would have benefited the grid and at the same time encouraged ( forced ) them to upgrade their infrastructure accordingly. Nothings free I know, but its not exactly a charity, this electricity transportation lark, now is it ? She looking for a toy boy by any chance?

One member on EB had the piles done, and then they were cut off very neatly and perfectly level and flat, and the ring beam all done very well........all 600mm too low in the plot !!! So low in fact that they nearly had to lose gravity sewers and fit a pumping station. CHECK, CHECK, and CHECK AGAIN. Know your levels before your guy gets there, know your ridge and finished slab height, and question EVERYTHING and EVERYONE. A few have fallen foul of assuming that paying someone is a guarantee of nothing going seriously wrong. Ive heard some utter horror stories where this has been the case. Having a turnkey package ( downstream of this ) gives you recourse against such failings and a means to seek remedial action, but its better to not have had them in the first place. Your still only dealing with human beings after all. Tape measures and lasers are cheap to buy / borrow / hire. For me, I'd need to know this part of the process as well as the person I'm paying to do it.

Then no second trap for you im afraid, unless its outside ( yuk ). A lot of people have to chuck a pint of water down the trap of an unused shower / basin so dont feel alone. I would deffo not be using a waterless trap for the shower if its on a horizontal run and inaccessible. What exactly do you have?

Should have added I don't think theres any benefit here in dismantling the joints youve already done either. Their Yorkshire, so would have made themselves off as per my previous.

Shouldn't that have read, and no more micro generation was going to be allowed until the government acted to enforce that the necessary upgrades would be made mandatory eg the 'poor' energy companies would have to plough some of our money back into maintaining and upgrading the network that allows them to charge us what they do? How many decades has some of the rural stuff been in, eg where they should ( imo ) be upgraded in line with local growth / development rather than charge for the pleasure? I still fail to see how local micro-generation, sub 253v, could affect the upstream system as most would be consumed by the ( non-generating ) neighbours anyway, and how much excess could a couple of <4kw arrays produce after self-consumption anyway? Majority of rural properties will be on a 60a supply. I went to one house by Swansea airport which was on a 60a supply fuse, had a huge induction hob, double fan assisted oven, full kitchen of appliances and white goods, ( no gas ), 3 electric showers ( one was a 10.5kW ), and another all electric kitchen in the above garage granny annex, which was on its own CU fed ( split ) from the house 60a supply !! There fuse wire must have been glowing in the dark. Agreed, but instead of just knee-jerk responses to these problems they should carry out actual local surveys to work out the worst case, and if it wasn't that problematic then the install should be able to go ahead ( as per my previous ) eg first come first served, where I may get PV this week but next week my neighbour wouldn't. You still have to go to war with them about inverter driven heat pumps FFS, but fitting a new big electric shower.....not a problem

Yes, particularly as it'll be rarely operating at 100%, and it'll be less self consumption.

Typos amended. As the fitting is a bit blackened, the Frys ( flux ) will get into where you cant with the steel wool and clean things up. Apply Telux to the coil of solder prior to using it to solder the joint, so your feeding solder and fresh flux in AS your soldering, just like how multicore ready fluxed soldering is done on wires / PCB's etc. Your joints are getting bone dry and too hot, so the surface of the copper is getting grotty and the solder is saying Ta-Ta. Less heat, more flux, and stop cleaning with whatever solvent your using as that may be feckin things up too. Steel wool, Telux flux, lead free solder ( leaded is dirty and imports a lot of grot into the joint with it ) and turn the heat down a bit. You need to back the heat away from the joint when the flux fizzes and evaporates, and at that exact moment you should be reintroducing flux with the solder. At the very least, every plumber ( good ) that I know dips the end of the solder into the flux before using it to make the joint off. The reason I say easily accessible fittings is so you dont try doing this on one of the most difficult fittings to get to. Practice first on the horizontal sockets where you can get to things and see better

If it was a sizeable development site then I may agree, but for one property on an end-of-line overhead supply ? Surely reinforcing the grid with exported energy, there at the end of the line and from only one property, would decrease the load on the upstream infrastructure? Tell the next person, or the one after that "no", but there should be an allowance for at least one exporter there, even if it's first come first served.

You may want to go mostly DC array then, with the Sunamps having an option to be pre-loaded with DC immersions instead of AC ones. According to the bumf, the DC system is around ( iirc ) 13-14% more efficient at driving the Sunamps ( or other DC load ) than going via an inverter. Say for eg the array is split 75% DC and 25% AC with micro inverters and you'll be able to demonstrate very minimal max export. If the PV is driving / fortifying an electric only based space heating and DHW setup ( as you are ) then just go all DC, but I'd prob prefer a bit of AC to at least offset your known base / vampire loads so when the SA units max out you can still utilise the sun to some other extent.

Only if you can access it .

Son of a bi....... I hate second place. . ?

It may look ugly on the outside but, if it's been cleaned and fluxed, you really can't go wrong with a Yorkshire fitting. You introduce the heat, it hits the sweet spot, the flux has done its job, and the solder flows to where it's needed. Thats a given. Now, clean one [ of the already soldered ] easily accessible fittings with steel wool. Flux it on the outside with the Frys. Apply Telux to the first 3" of your coil of solder. Heat the joint ( gently and slowly ) until the Frys starts to fizz and evaporate. At that point pull the flame away until just the tip of the flame is keeping the joint hot. Apply the solder at the top of the joint and let it run to the bottom. If it drips off so be it, but then quickly jump to the other side and apply the solder the same there. Drop the solder, literally, remove the heat altogether, and get the Telux brushed onto the joint to clean and brighten it back up. A quick glance back with the heat and you'll see the solder just 'flow' and thin out. Flick the snob off at the bottom of the joint and leave it alone to cool. If that doesn't work, sell the house.

WAY too hot. Reduce the flame size and back the flame away as you see the solder fizz and evaporate.

Oh, and Yorkshire doesn't need any thought. Just clean it, flux it, heat it and leave it to cool. Just don't OVER heat it.

Use very fine steel wool, not the stuff that's like a wire brush. Ive soldered with mild for over two and a half decades, so the fault is with the method, not the product. Excess heat will fry the flux away and then your screwed. At that point get the flux brush and recoat the hot fitting. You'll see the copper go bright straight away and then you can re-introduce the heat and just feed a little more solder at the top, letting the solder flow to the bottom and drop off. Once you see one drop drip off you know the joints saturated. Another tip is to apply a bit of flux to the solder sobit keeps getting fluxed as you go. If you want to break the law and use leaded solder, ALWAYS clean it with steel wool first as it gets stinking and you get the slag on the joint. Use lead free, and away to go. Don't you find that 'orrible Frys stuff causes the joints and pipe to bite and bind ? Can't stand the stuff personally.

If inverters cut out at 253 volts, what's the issue ? The DNO should be able to provide the provision for that in THEIR infrastructure surely ? Wheres the nearest dwelling that would be 'adversely affected' by this uplift, on lines which are good for a lightning strike or 3 bursts of direct short circuit . ? Sounds like a load of BS to me. "Free upgrade" must be their agenda.

Can the inverter be set to dump to a resistive load to cap the max uplift in local voltage ?

Is that all outside of your airtight layer? If so, EPS / foam ( or use PIR offcuts ) and move on. ?

The horizontal runs of 110mm underground ( orange ) pipework. How far are they between supported pads / junctions ?

Good point here here about the meter and the fuse being moved by different bodies .

Get a sparky lined up to put a temporary CU in ( a 'garage' CU with 2 x 20a MCBs and a 40a RCD up front will suffice ). Get that made off to 2 x metal clad 13a double sockets for site power, all contained in the meter box.

Oh and yes, the soil runs should have support at predetermined intervals, so has you BCO inspected and passed these yet?

In pic 5 you'd have thought the outer open end of those runs would have started off with a beam. Have they worked to a B&B design from an SE ? Good to hear they admitted the pads were a load of bollocks. Drilling them will take minutes. Why exactly are they talking so much BS?