zoothorn

Aha thanks Nick. I'm on board! So assuming universal thread diameter for this whole section, I should maybe just buy a new one. If I do that, I guess just a Q then, of whether I need turn off house water. My old friend.. won't want me doing that you see (even telling him I built my own bathroom with electric shower! I'm not a "qualified tradesmen" you see in his pov!). Grateful for that- fab BH help as always. Zh

Hi G&J, Assuming you removed a section to do this soaking, could you possibly explain exactly which part you removed? And how? Can you see I have done step 1, & unscrewed the chrome cap. This reveals a brass section, onto which, the cal was screwed onto: the brass section has a thread on it. The brass section, surely then, is the section that is meant to move up-down, within the stationary chrome surround base section (this section Nick points to, but I have no idea what this flat spot spanner area is for). thx Zoot

Hi Nick, apologies I'm not understanding which bit yiu are referring to, to unscrew. Not being able to get to the house for a while too. I am 110m away. Of course I see your flat spot. But this seems to be the lower section, & the part that doesn't move, of the uppy-downy brass section.. which seems to be the section that is meant to move, & is stuck, within it. I have unscrewed the 'cap' to reveal the brass bit: with the cap on (& so far as I recall with these) the cap/ knob is supposed to be pulled UP, to divert water to the hose (& up to the shower head). Is this right. I can only guess this to be logical, bc with the cap screwed back on, it's then in the 'down' position, & is flush with the surrounding large tap "chassis" section. And the water is currently coming out of the two taps. Christ it's difficult to explain typing words in a box. Almost exhausting. Thanks, zoot

Hi ProDave, yup had thought of this, but awkward to get something to soak it in. Kettle, easy. Here/ this, in situ, I can't exactly immerse in a bowl of limescale dissolving stuff. Noted Viakal tho. Thanks, Zoot

Hi Nick, thanks for your 2 replies. No, the brass centre section seems stuck firm. I don't quite know which bit is meant to move (never unscrewed the top of one of these ever before- & no-one really uses these taps-up-to-showerhead things). I presume, in photo 1 where the chrome cap is screwed on/ as is meant to be, this section should simply pull UP say 1/2" or so. Meaning the brass bit with the thread on inside, should also move up 1/2". I can see your flat area on the outer tap section, but i wouldn't need to twist or use this for leverage.. would I? It's only the centre brass area inside it that I need to grasp & shift. Unfortunately I'm NOT near it presently (I live 120m away)- I took photos of these taps, at my dear old friend's upstairs previously unused bath area, which a new situation/ a live-in carer has just started using you see. At the mo, she only has the bath of use. Not ideal esp in this heat. Even if she's from Zimbabwe. Thanks, Zoot

Hi chaps, small issue preventing water going UPWARDS via hose, to a shower head, from a bath mixer tap pair. The valve thingy between the taps, is stuck. How to release it? Thanks, Zoot

Hi Onoff, sorry to hear you're struggling a bit there.. we both lucky only a few more weeks until it -should- be spring proper. Yes. You see I can make 1 effective room, 2 even. Despite having 1 old stone wall acting like a fridge on end. And with you guys' help this is in fact what I did. I have 1 room which retains this "low output" HP rad heat: my new build bedroom. The weirdness still affects it though: dark moisture-wet peripheries, of course on the stone end wall, but nowt to worry about if the room's warm. So you see now, I tramp down AM from this newbuild bedroom warm room (which I ventilate for 1/2 the day as soon as I leave it).. down into sittingroom, which thrn feels completely different. Then in into kitchen/ bathroom, which feel a step further on in coldness, & whichever adjacent room I flit between, I -have- to turn on a fan heater. Or I'd be uncomfortably cold. The sittingroom being big, can't be affected by the small fan heater: meaning I just vacate it until bearing an hour or two upon an leccy blanket + hottie, for my need to listen to my records/ vinyl. So I have the IDEAL comparison. New build room, to original old stone big room, to oldbuild 80's extension. The 80's oldbuild extension (despite the 1" of celotex you suggested adding in 1 kitchen wall, a perfectly good idea of course) is actually, worse than the old sittingroom. How.. considering no draughts (none anywhere- blocked all up within months of buying the place p, bc I could sense the cold even in july & thought "that must, surely be draughts- no, it wasn't so simple as that unfortunately).... how is it so bad, despite no draughts. Well this is the sticking point it seems. My theory, vs kind chsps' ideas on here (that the HP can be effective in the 3 problem rooms: I say a HP just can't be). I'm doing their tests now, so the results (of sorts) in 3 weeks. From this compsrison, I can tell the fundamental factor, is structure & how it can retain heat, outputting from a HP system with it's 'medium at best' temp rads. Thanks, Zoot

It's hard work because folks refuse to believe it when I say this house is simply just one if those rare anomalies, one you just cannot seem to heat. If I sit on a sofa, & whacking a 9.5kW stove on FULL PELT for 4 solid hours, galloping through 2 huge baskets of logs, & I'm sat 1m away from it... if after 4 hours, my legs, nose, back especially is still feeling cold.. then this house is one of those rare infuriating anomalies. It's hard work, to convince anyone of this. It's hard work too, because the threads entitled "my battle with Vaillant", & nothing to do with how to run a HP (in this infuriatingly cold cottage). But folks wanted to help, convinced I was just being an idiot. Then I was oblidged ti answer the replies. And more join in. Now, at this point grateful as I am for the replies (quite unlike your suggestion here) I am finding it exhausting to read all, to try understanding many. Until I have so many, that I can only b3 SELECTIVE in reply. Basically I'm spent. Then it's hard work for others, who now feel that I've ignored them. It's hard work then for me, to put up with a fair few mildly insulting & condescending replies. Which then gather pace & others feel oblidged to join a small psck. Yes, it's hard work indeed. But I don't suppose it is for you though. Zoot Another regular member said they knew of occasional examples like this.

Hi Rick, but if my rads furthest away from the new internal box wall thing (IE near cylinder), are equally as hot to the touch, as the rads nearest to it.. that suggests the balance is ok. Or if it's the outside HP which creates the water which runs in the rads (instead of the internal box near the cylinder), then I can safely say, that the furthermost rads to -this- are equally as hot to the touch as rads near to it. Evidently then the balance is fine. The install was only 6 weeks ago too- I wouldn't expect the rads to gave 'drifted' out in such a short time, nor that the installer (Vaillant affiliated & vg by all accounts too) wouldn't have balanced them upon install- if that is, it was one of the jobs he was meant to do. He asked me at this juncture, to bleed the rads: so I know he was doing some form of setting up, after the actual installation job had been completed. Thanks, Zoot Thanks Zoot

Of course you will ST. So helpful on this thread. So kind with the replies.

Hi Rick, as I said in PM, I'm not understanding the principle of buying the thermometre ( I mean the children on here will laugh saying I don't understand what a thermometer is dummy or something pathetic of course). By this I mean: I'm not understanding why I would need to buy this gadget. I mean the system makes the water heat, then circulates it in within the rads., which are connected up lets just say "in parallel" within the same single circuit. So how any one's internal temp would or should be any different to any other, is beyond me (& therfore why the need for the thermometer). If you're suggesting I buy it, in order to ID any rad that needs bleeding..?? the answer is a resolute no. Because I bled them all myself. I expelled air in each one that needed it, upon installation, at the installer's request. Half the rads needed it until water bled out/ tightened it up with the key. And the other half bled out immediately without the need to expel air. So I know, the rads are recently all bled, & assuming their valves are correctly set to be open, they will surely (& to me just plain logically) all therefore have the same rad temperature water, circulating within them. The only difference one rad to the next, being the size: a bigger rad with more surface area will emit more heat of course. So, surely all I need to do, is find out what temp the system's circulating rad water is. If it's 70*C = too high, so I turn it down. I then just set it to 'medium' (someone on here might be decent enough to tell me a 'good efficient figure') & as I hear on R4 programme right now, Evan Davies etc, that 45*C will mean the system runs 3x more efficiently than 70*C.. I mean surely I just need to dial that figure in, & knowing my rads are bled, the system is set up. As I said in my PM though I can't understand why this seemingly absolutely pg 1 aspect of the sytem's rad water circulating temperature, hasn't really been part of the discussion. If at all. And furthermore I can't understand having searched anywhere & everywhere within the controller just to see what my current circulating rad water temp figure is, let alone where to set it better should it need changing.. it's nowhere to be found. Thanks, Zoot

Right I'm not playing anymore. Well until I do an update that is in 2 months, & in the meantime FYI I've set the HP up to: Setback 16*C (including night goddamit). Required Temp 18*C. 3x blocks of Timer period: 7:30-9:00 then 12:30-14:00 then 17:30-21:00. So on -far more- continually than I had it before. So far.. I cannot tell a fart of difference (& even saw my breath as per usual in the bathroom yesterday, 11*C outside temp). But I shall give it time. -- Secondly. I remember a situation which is the BEST example of this OTT wet climate atmosphere thing, which you all ridicule & so certain simply cannot be true.. One job my builder did (along with the 2021 extention, thankfully well-built) was put in a new back door & frame. Bought from Howdens in town, with a basic hardwood frame. Now, my builder was reknown as the best around, most experienced. My extension proof enough. Door opened outwards (giving me more room in my back hall), & all fine. Swung open great. Nice solid heavy feel, quality hinges & handle. I painted 3x with Sadolin stuff he recommended. 4x coats on the top edge, & bottom edge. 1 month later the door was sticking, a week on, it was jammed shut. He trimmed a bit off edge, I repainted, rehung. I saw a good gap now. 6mm min. 6 weeks later, door was jammed solid again. Builder called, now a bit 'welsh angry' forced it open. Jigged it. Door was ok. 2 months on, again, it had jammed solid. Builder refunded me for the whole door job! Very decent of him, as it wasn't his fault. I took it off, trimmed another 5mm, rehung it, now at max possible trimming area. I noticed it had also got a slight bow in it too. It opened ok. 2 weeks ago, first open since winter proper, jammed solid again. It hasn't jammed solid, each time, due to any dampmess within the cottage/ in the immediate area: IE the door back entrance area to my (cold yes, but perfectly dry) 80's exention. I have never had any damp issues in the extension. Not the kitchen, bathroom, the small hall, nor any evident in the loft area above. It is quite simply, a dry extension. Now. The cause of the door doing this. You will list a,b,c as possible/ probable causes. But you'd do so as excuses, rather than accept the blindingly obvious: the local particularly & unusually damp atmospheric conditions, seeped into the fabric of the door, swelling it. A ludicrous ammount. Not only width, but warped it. As a consequence, it's NOW useless/ junk/ needs replacing again. It was a decent-quality door when new, but within a very short timeframe has --become-- junk. Because it has changed, structurally. It has been ruined. No iffs, no buts. That is an absolute fact. This was HOWDENS. And treated especially well, especially carefully by me 1) because it it was my door, & B) because I was aware of the damp (local area air) facet. I knew it existed. I did my utmost to keep it at bay, keep itmout of the structure of this door, but even this was a fruitless exercise. THAT is how pervasive, it is. How ruinous. How it leeches into every aspect of your life here. Without respite almost 365 days a year you feel it. This is absolute proof of it. This & the always-wet feeling limp post, I collect each day, from outside my front door/ that I collect from outside my dwelling........ are categorical proof. Whatever you guys say. You guys, some migjt be builders, most let's say very experienced amateurs/ &/or semi-pro standard. Without any question far above my level of knowledge. But look, so was my builder, when he said "oh no, I wouldn't want to do that/ no sorry I'm not happy with that idea" & refused the job of pouring 2 large concrete foundation 'pads' for my log cabin's base. I got a local guy to do the job. And with help from BH, the job was done, cabin is a success. So, the builder 65 yrs old, hugely experienced & known as the best around (& with it a premium in his quotes), who knows the area like back of his hand, whose ancestors lived in my very cottage 1855 or so... he was wrong. And you guys (not up to his standard)... were correct. And so by the same token, I am correct with regards to this strange & indescribable local wet air facet, & you naysayers who say it doesn't exist.... you all of you who club together singing from the same denial-hymnsheet on it.. are purely & simply wrong. That is all. Update in 2 months. Thank you, Zoot

NOOOOOOOOOO!! I'm not having this. I didn't expect anyone to understand. It's so much easier isn't it, to just say 'oh yes, it's the house'. Utterly, completely lazy. Which is the opposite of the effort you've put in trying to help. So completely at odds. Since those two months, Ive not had one second of any breathing problem, lung problem, ache/ pain, no more colds or sinus anything what so fkn ever. I've been more healthy overall, here, than anywhere I've lived too.. most likely the sea air & general cleanliness of it (particulates etc). Sea air. It was a physiological thing- my body pretty bloody obviously & simply attuned to the conditions in this local vicinity here. Topography wise, it was chalk & cheese to the cotswolds I was in before. Near the sea, inland west of the sea, 600m high up in a wooded steep-side valley, tucked down between. This topography has some bearing on the climate I speak of. The unusual climate which WAS the cause & the only fkn cause, of the 2-month 'condition' my body attuned to. Facts. I don't give a hoot for numbers. These are plain facts. The LOCALE, not the cottage. The AREA, not the dwelling. The VICINITY, not this house. I cannot be any clearer. This is not up for argument either. I will not rise to it anymore. This stacking up is grating now, so I shall take a break. I will do as you suggest, bar the overnight rads on at 16*C, & report back in 2 months. Carry on sniping everyone, gathering your 'likes' together at my expense. I will have nothing to do with reading it/ ignored (Yourself Rick not included/ this is not aimed at you). Thanks, Zoot

I've learnt more about bullying too. Not that I didn't know threads on forums can so easily become nothing but a witch-hunt against 1 person. By bored timewasters. The same old 'lets post a sniping post to get a few likes' bullshit. To firm up your group against 1 person. One thing I'd never do on a forum, is join in with a group stacking up against the 1 sole person just 'for likes'. Fkn pathetic frankly.

@-rick- Ok so you are certain, that the pain/ache I had in my chest IE in my lungs for the 1st 2 months of being here (being in this vicinity/ this area/ not lessening once I went outside of the cottage into the surrounding area, no it wasn't linked to 'cottage damp'/ it remained stuck firm in the vicinity of the property, & furthermore -subsided- within these 2 months, twice, corresponding to when I travelled out of the area back to england to visit my folks, & returned back with a heavy ache within hours of returning to the vicinity)... was bollocks too then, yes? To reitterate. It did not present itself one iota worse, whilst inside the cottage: it was stalwart the same whether I was outside or inside, whether I was walking in a forested estate 5m away, or whether I was in the kitchen. The same during a whole day in town 8m away, as it was later that evening at home having returned a good few hours prior. It didn't present itself one iota worse in the old main shell part of the cottage, vs any of the perfectly structurally dry (if badly built) newer addition rooms. It only presented itself as different, once I left the area, not only a difference.. but the pain./ ache abating, completely. All merely in my imagination, yes? Please, just answer this.