zoothorn

Hi TT, grateful for your input/ reading my essay (it really can't be redacted down, so long this has gone on). I'm at the stage you see where I just have to accept (eg whilst the iron's hot). But I do get your point entirely. Im not really in any position though I feel (nor can I cope with such engineering details tbh) to go into minutiae of heat loss calcs. They will have determined simply whatever system size is in now... to replace it. The installer, their one ascociated/ linked to Vaillant, came here a year ago. He was the one who decided upon this 'buffer' being needed. Whether that was his intention to pull the rug from under me (deliberately by Vaillant) or whether it does actually need one.. how on earth can I tell. Zoothorn

Hi again chaps, been putting this thread off for a while, so exhausted I've been with a HUGE battle with Vaillant that I couldn't cope anymore.. let alone explaining it on BHub. But I have to wade back in. Urgh. Ok. Suffice to say my battle lasted 18 months, & came to a conclusion last August (22). Brief overview: My battle was due to a noisy hydraulic unit in spare bedroom cupboard. Mechanical noise 11pm-7.30am. Intrusive even to a 3rd bedroom. Awful. 8x Vaillant engineer visits. I clocked up weeks worth of calls. They made countless unfulfilled promises to fix; after which, no-one knew what the damn noise even was. Exhaustive research by me to determine what the noise was (a starting point to me, to then explore the avenue of a fix seemed rational: although what it was doing was an impossible task for the engineers, I was determined to know what the ***k it was doing repeatedly @ 3.45 am, & why). During the 18 month battle, I also had a BH thread or two. Extra workload tbh; answering posts, discussing possibilities etc, I could barely cope at this stage, all the while each night my sleep disturbed by the noise. I almost went insane at this stage. One kindly BH member, poured thru my manual (huge bible engineer thing) & pinpointed "FROST MODE". Bingo. I'd already determined the noise innitiated at a certain outdoor temp, so putting 2+2 together = the reason. The cause. Surely. So I call Vaillant with my findings (remember 8x engineer visits & a year of calls ONLY determined it wasn't doing what it should be, not, what it was doing wrong). They replied "yes, that's what it does". FFS. I nearly lost it at this point. I pressed & pressed, another round of long calls ending last August. On meds by this stage I was. Then: WE AGREE IT'S NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE, TO BE DESCOMISSIONED & A REPLACEMENT SYSTEM TO BE FITTED -foc- WITH MONOBLOCK ASHP (ie unit's pump.. the specific noise-related component.. located within the monoblock outside!). H A L L E L U J A H ! My battle was surely over. Hmm not quite. ------ * The new units I demanded manuals for & poured over, to remove any possibility of intrusive house noise: new fan unit & new hydraulic unit. SO FINALLY I AGREE to the swap, & thanked them hugely. Installer visits (August 22), agrees where I plan new hydraulic unit to go (no way on gods earth, was I having it in a bedroom, even with promises of 'pump located outside in this system': NO FKN WAY). So I was finally-finally there!! I had it wrapped up!! Didn't I?? No. Installer throws a HUGE last minute curveball: you need a buffer, he said. A what??!! No mention of this large (1000mm x 500mm) tank by Renewables dept at this * stage. Nothing. So, I had a new chapter of the battle open up. Because I simply have no room for an extra huge tank. Can it go outside?? Pleading with them I was. No, needs to go inside/ needs to be insulated they said. I was in tears at this. I couldn't cope. I gave up. ------ A year passes, & I pick up my sword again to commence battle (no choice- another winter of overnight noise will ruin me, as well as it having ruined 3 bedrooms). I go to head office, demand the offer be renewed (they'd given me an ultimatum last August to accept the offer.. which until I knew where this wretched tank was to go, I couldn't agree to). THANKFULLY.. a kind head office woman, has agreed the offer still stands. But we are at this (buffer locating) stumbling block "last hurdle" resolutely still there. Zoothorn.

Thanks chaps- indeed fixed by replacing the pull switch. Thank goodness! Grateful for your replies. Zoot

Haha in fact I was just perusing vox valve amp history. Neon whatnots just about as fallible as old valves IME. SZtH

Yup thanks BigJ. Just done so in fact/ had a peep inside- nothing obvious, all 6 connections firm. I think I've found the likely LAP one I bought.. so will just have to replace & hope/ fingers x'd new one works. I'd prefer Crabtree- I choose this stuff on my hifi plugs etc, solid quality.. tho that smaller round one, I'd think I'd maybe have a Zootmare stuffing the big HD cables' 6 wires in. Cheers chaps

Hi ProDave. Will have a look into this Crabtree type.. sounds ideal. No I agree I'd prefer a wall switch, it's just that the pull cord one I fitted, replaced an old one up on ceiling. I don't have skills to redo the electrics to give me a better option hand height switch. So I'm forced into replacing it really.

Done this BJ quite ofyen tbh. But I gotta shower once during the 'summer'.

Hi there chaps, great to get replies/ Markc, joe90, Onoff, ProDave & TT hope all's good with y'all. Crabtree.. good call @Onoff but yes I might try & find a direct replacement 1st. I must've got it only from town, screwfix likely. If I can't then Crabtree it is. Will check the neutral & make sure of -tight- connections. Glad no-one said it may as equally be the shower unit.. praying ok. Thanks, Zoot

Hi chaps, hope all well on BH & your projects. Has Onoff finished his shower yet?? I'll have a peep. I have a shower pull cord switch unit, separate from my Mira shower unit. It's next to my WC light pull cord. Typical job with a small red neon light: pull cord & it's neon lights.. making the shower unit's light illuminate ON. Recently I pull it & the shower unit's light doesn't light = not on. The (switch unit's) red neon light is feint, but does just illuminate. Occasionally I can pull it & it fully illuminates correctly, & shower unit light goes on. Might this simply suggest the switch unit needs replacing? Are these fallible, & my symptoms fairly common of a switch fault? I'm desperately hoping it's this (I installed it with shower ~5yrs ago) rather than the actual shower unit. Thanks, Zoothorn

Nice one BigJ, been doing -many- a beer on my deck here.. a sun trap spot, south-facing cabin. Thanks Zoot

Thanks chaps, although not high enough to stop a -very- drunk Zoot falling over it into stream, I present my diddy handrail. It's at an alarmingly 'perch ass on corner of it' height too. A bit low! But functions to stop my seat going over. @Onoff hi there hope you're good- thought you'd like to see a bit more Zoot cabin progress: few more pics follow. Zh

Great thanks chaps. Will put up a pic once diddy balcony done. Zoot

Hi jfb, that makes sense to me. Have you any idea about the coating on frame screws ? Im sure you know the ones, they have a kinda goldy pinky coating.. so I wonder if they're made to be water resistant (tho I can't see how block with a dpm outside of it, would be ever anything but dry, nor any material a frame screw usually fixes to). They do look similar to std gold coloured woodscrews, but whether they are exactly this I don't know. Thanks, Zoot

Hi Tony, I understand frame fixings design is usually into solid walls. @Gone West thanks, yup I think you get what I mean. But what I'm asking is whether they can be used into timber instead, after all A) surely some frame surrounds won't be block at all (a timber-frame construction for eg). And B ) they look to me like big woodscrews anyway. And then if useable, whether to use the plastic plug at all.. or just use without, as normal woodscrews. Here is a woodscrew (LHS), & a frame fixing (RHS). It's as much to do with their coating, as possible use for the job.

Hi chaps, hope all enjoying the weather & in good health. A while since I posted on BH (done 2 small jobs recently without needing to ask, due to knowledge gained on BH. Ace). Another small job Im last stages of: a handrail onto my cabin decking.. to stop me falling off 7' into my stream! Posts done, so it's handrails to attatch to their tops. Q: as my handrails are quite high (3") I need long screws. Now, I have some frame fixings the ideal length @6". So they're the beefy screws, with their long plastic plugs you hammer in 1st. Any reason why I can't use these? Thanks Zoothorn

Hi chaps, sorry just jumping back onto this topic. I'm getting an quote for all my folks' (ten shot) 4-8-4 units. Sizing up the job cost. So digging out these old puttied-in units seems easy, if I find pins in the putty holding them in place that is. Then assuming I can tidy the frame up ok: without the snap-in beading like upvc frames, forgive me but how are the new units held in place, if not with pins again? And then what trim/ beading type situation? I'm a bit lost sorry. Thanks, Zoot Here's the first one to do:

Aha all is becoming clearer. Thanks for this info J90. So I guess pins would be redundant now though, should I be redoing these panes.. or they'd get in the way of whatever beading I decide on-? Or are they still relevant for this job?

@craig ok thanks chaps. How the heck putty kept the panes in, prior to setting.. god only knows. Anyway. So presumably, if this material is what obselete now(?).. I don't use some 'modern putty' instead then?

Of course, logical, thanks ST. As to whether it -is- putty.. well, in my very limited knowledge I can't think of any other material it might be. A pic of the bead side.. if it could give any clue:

Hi there J90, happy easter to you. This seems plausible theory, as almost every one in their house has failed almost simultaneously, it seems to me. 11 x thinner 4-8-4's, (plus 2x 28mm big tall upvc fogged conservatory panes too). I guestimate £3.5k-£4k for a pro doing all 13.. but if I -could- get it figured how one of these 'putty ones' can be done, £2k max in glass & materials me doing it. Glass/ DG unit cost has shot up in a year. Thanks, Zoot

Hi chaps, thanks.. @SteamyTea 4-8-4 it surely must be then. Great that's the thickness sorted. As to beading- well all I can see is what lookslike putty, but hardened perhaps by time, outside, holding the DG units in.. instead of beading. Would this be right?

Hi chaps, happy Easter weekend to y'all. (DG = Double Glazed) I've replaced typical 28mm upvc DG units before, removing beads etc.. but my old folks have (most shot/ fogged) older -thinner- DG pane units, set in timber frames. Now, I can't see any way to replace the DG panes though. No beads. The only reference I can think of, to determine what thickness the units are, is they look a similar thickness to a cd case. Perhaps 2mm glass, silver 8mm centre strip, 2mm glass ? (No idea, guess figures- I have no way to actually measure). Could anyone help? Thanks, Zoot

Hi chaps, finally got this job done: the whole floor's hardboard needed drying out (2 months & resticking down, the lino underside scrubbed of mould & restuck down. And my end of bath gap done (thanks @Onoff did as per your idea/ best I could). Lino Edges all siliconed. New shower door glass trim on, & all areas siliconed. New lease of life! All cos of a daft plunger frozen pipe fiasco. Thanks for the help on this. Too cold yet for a shower but water-tested the pesky low hinge area.. & seems better.