Nickfromwales

A big subject, so I’ve started a unique thread for it.

Popular products for myself, are: Illbruck FM330 expanding foam. Airtight, closed cell, and goes off very hard compared to off the shelf foams from the BM’s etc. CT1 vs silicone, from a robot in cyberspace: The key difference is that CT1 is not a silicone; it's a proprietary TRIBRID® sealant and adhesive with a unique polymer formula, while silicone is a class of materials known for their flexibility, water resistance, and sealing properties. CT1 offers advantages over traditional silicones, such as superior strength and color retention, and the unique ability to be applied in wet conditions without shrinking or cracking, unlike many silicones. CT1 functions as an all-in-one product for sealing, bonding, and caulking, whereas silicone is primarily a sealant, with its strength and properties varying significantly depending on the specific formulation. CT1 Technology: Uses TRIBRID® Technology, a unique polymer that makes it stronger and more durable than traditional hybrid products. Application: Can be applied in wet conditions, even underwater. Features: No shrinkage or cracking. Excellent color retention (white stays white, clear stays clear). Solvent-free and food-safe. Bonds to many materials, including metals, glass, wood, and concrete. Can be painted after curing with water-based paints. Function: Functions as an all-in-one sealant, adhesive, and caulk. Silicone Composition: A material (polymer) known for its elasticity and water resistance. Application: Some silicones are not suitable for use in wet conditions or on wet surfaces during application. Features: Can have a long shelf life. Good for creating waterproof seals. Prone to shrinking, cracking, or degrading in certain environments, depending on the type. Can lose its color over time. Function: Primarily used as a sealant in applications like bathroom and shower enclosures.

Let’s discuss the different products and their correct placement / applications. Following on from this post:

They’re simply stating a knee jerk, uninformed, uneducated “builders” response. Stick to your guns and when built you can invite them around long after they’ve put their CH on, and you’ve not yet had to . Then they’ll soon revert to praising your methodology and saying “it’s the future” lol. 😜

It’s down to the finish of the reveal. You don’t really want CB on display, and some will use a fat bead of mastic to cover it. Theres fitters and then there’s fitters, but Norrsken tend to attract / employ the best from what I’ve seen to date.

I’d say do the cosmetic silicone via other after the external rain screens are 100% complete. A few folk employ a “mastic man” at that stage to do all the external mastic / frame sealant etc, and these folk eat / sleep / breath sealant and mastic so do a good job; essential this isn’t fecked up as it can’t be easily removed and reapplied. Like REALLY can’t.

If draining down, can you use a spanner? https://www.screwfix.com/p/tesla-expansion-vessel-service-valve-3-4-x-3-4-/442fj?ref=SFAppShare Fit one of these and then you’ll never have to drain down, for fault finding, and for routine annual inspections and checks. These are great gadgets, and should be commonplace imho.

On a current project, Norrsken fenestration, installed by Elite, the “silicone” I challenged. The fitters then pulled out tubes of high quality Sika mastic, and I pointed out that wasn’t silicone, but a brother of CT1. Very good stuff and this was used to create a fundamental weather seal around the outside of the frames, but which would live out of eyesight behind the external render system. @Selfbuildsarah, if you are hands off, then consider the merits of a completed installation, but first let us know what the cost is for “silicone”.

Irrespective, the in-built controller decides at what point the thermostatic control will say that it can or cannot accept further input. You don’t get to choose to ‘put energy in’, you just do so until it is satisfied. To ‘fill’ your thermino to 80° you just need to connect power to it and walk away. It’ll shut off when the thermister string feeds info back to the PCB to say it’s PCM (58) is heat saturated. The heat (input energy) is either by external source (which you have to govern its max temp) or by its own in built direct electric immersion element. It is this that decides the recovery time, the amount of heat input, and not any person. There isn’t any ability to be its boss, and decide what to ‘give it’, there’s just an inbuilt control which is satisfied or not. If not, it’ll ask for more heat energy, and you supply it or you don’t. If you don’t, it’ll simply go to bed hungry. One of the worst things ever, to try and give to a simple member of the public and try to explain the behaviour of a PCM based device. Ask me how I know.

Do you have posi joists? If so you can redirect the intake and exhaust, or just the intake, to be further away.

When running, does the flow pipe immediately prior to the UFH setup from the boiler feel as hot as it does going to the rads?

The phase change is 58°C, so if you are close to that the recharge time is stupidly elongated. You have to put ~80°C into one of these units to get it to reheat quickly. I fitted a pair of ‘9’s’ to a buffer fed from a log gasification boiler, and until the buffer (thermal store) got up to north of 75°C the Sunamps didn’t really pick up very quickly. I hadn’t finished fitting the insulation at this point!! Relax people At 82°C they seemed to then get some sense of urgency. An UVC would have started mopping up useful energy way sooner <60°C.

@craig ?

I don’t know how many more PM’s I’m going to have to send….. I have said to not mention zones or buffers in front of @JohnMo I thought I’d reached everyone……😑

I doubt they’ll give a 💩. Warranties are for more significant things in my experience.

You have to say my name 3 times 🙄🤦‍♂️

Nope lol. They’re just lazy tossers. Looks like they’ve cheaped out on the smaller flexis, which will be a choke point when you’re looking to get the DHW cylinder heated up after use. The butterfly valves are most likely 1/4 full bore, but the flexis are questionable. If it all works, you may think “what’s the problem” but when you see the difference in heat up times for DHW when there’s a much higher flow rate, then you’ll see. There’s a big difference between hardly working and working well. The worst part is they took you for a muppet and lied to your face about insulation not being needed. Cocks.

McAlpine flexi under a top fitting bath is the norm. They’re fine, done loads without issue as they’re protected for life under there.

The floor will have already been spec’d to take a bath, and with the short span from the stud to the outside wall I doubt you’ll have any issues whatsoever. Your floor build up will spread the weight quite well too. Do you know if the posis rest on that stud wall, or simply fly over it (and there’s just a few token nails fired in to pin it together)? Best to make sure the tiler hasn’t been on the pop the night before laying the tiles, as that’ll need a very flat / level surface to sit on.

What he said.

Go to the pub. I’ll send you the money to buy the beer. Go now 🍻

Connecting things to the pipes is fine, but I’d fit a lot more staples, and make sure the pipes are full of water so they don’t have any buoyancy (and don’t want to float).

It looks like they’ve fortified the existing timbers, and one looks to have been cut out / short, so was necessary to do a good (robust) job. Odd as it should have been in your quote as it’s a significant amount of work so would have been costed for you to agree to it being done. Did you read their quote word for word?

I’ve seen some odd UFH manifold arrangements, I’m adding this to the list. Technically it’s correct, pump sucking water through the TMV and taking cooler return water to blend it down, just odd to see it set up in this order of components. Is it still working?

Mr Magic.com.