Tom

So pondering this while lying awake at 3am last night: if I AM able to switch the RCD to the on position (even after a few tries) then it cant be a neutral/earth fault? As irrespective of the MCD position it should trip straight away - is that right? It seems to trip when there is load on any of the circuits - a neutral/earth fault should trip the RCD irrespective of whether there is load on a circuit or not. So it MUST be a faulty RCD?

Thanks Dave and thanks Tony - great video. So I've tried removing each wire from each mcb in turn, and their corresponding neutral (and earth, though rereading your post Dave it looks like I needn't have bothered, makes sense when I think about it). Anyway, makes no difference, the RCD keeps tripping when I turn an appliance on, heater on or flip the lighting mcb (guess there must be a slight load on this circuit). A lot of the time the RCD doesn't reset even if all mcb's are in the off position. It takes multiple attempts and then it will finally stay on. Faulty RCD? 20210220_190356.jpg

Pic attached, remove wires going in to the top of the mcb?

Yes please Dave!

All appliances and lights off. I turn on the RCD and can switch on all 3 mcb's - but drawing any current on any of the 3 mcb controlled circuits- e.g. turning a light or any appliance on, trips it.

Moved in to the static yesterday. Cosmic. All going well, or at least as well as can be expected. Today electrics fine, but then suddenly this afternoon the rcd trips and won't go back "on". I turn off the three switches in the consumer unit: lights, ring main and heaters. I can turn the rcd back to on, but if I turn any of the three switches to "on" it trips again. I'm guessing there can't be a downstream fault in the three circuits as any of them trips it, so there must be a fault upstream in the supply to the consumer unit - is that right? Help!! At the moment sat here with an extension lead from the barn powering our router and a light...

Thanks all. Looks like that one on aliexpress you link to Temp needs a wired connection to a router, then you can connect to that via a 4g phone... So, might go for the lo-fi option to start with a la Russel Griffiths: clear signage, while I sort something out with ducting for a wired/powered solution. If I was to put in a 100mm duct how deep should this be laid? Does it come with something running through it to allow you to pull wires through?

Hi all, so we're actually (finally) moving on to site in to our static caravan next week. The mechanics of actually living there are beginning to become more pressing issues now, not least the fact that our site is approx 200yards down a farm track which in wet weather is quite slippery. I'd like to install a video doorbell thing at the end of the track - what options do I have? It seems all the Ring-type things need wifi connection which isn't there. 4G signal is reasonable but I can't find a similar set-up that will work with this. There are security cameras that will work over 4G (https://reolink.com/gb/product/reolink-go/?attribute_pa_version=1-pack-white&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrIiZr9nh7gIVE5ftCh3_WwyaEAYYASABEgITd_D_BwE) but we ideally need something that we can talk through like a RIng so we can direct delivery drivers etc. I could potentially put a data cable along the track - would that work along 200 yards+? Any suggestions gratefully received.

...and in addition to what has already been said, I have always understood that you have been allowed to partially demolish, but not if the intent was to put this back up later i.e the structure remaining after demolition is what is being converted, and as such has to be capable of being so.

Sorry to hear of your problems. The interpretation of Class Q seems to vary across the country so I would reckon the best bet would be to speak directly to the planning officer and perhaps arrange a site visit with them. I would also remove your neighbour from your Christmas card list.

Interesting you say that. We are going with Nudura for our build and I questioned them why their block's U value (0.24) was worse than their competitor's (in the teens for most others it seems). I was expecting them to upsell me their thicker block but the opposite was true - strong recommendation to stick with the standard block with a U value of 0.24 as the "as built" performance of structures using this outperformed the "on paper" calculations. The payback on a thicker block would have taken several decades to materialise, if ever.

I'm with you here, Joe. Didnt really like the design (very bling though, which is I guess what they were going for) and the interior didnt seem to use all that space in any clever/interesting ways. All talk and no trousers imo.

Thanks Nick. Standard for caravans seems to be 45mm nowadays, can't find anything that's 100mm. Might go for the TMV in the pipework option, will need to have a dig around and see how easy that will be. Thanks both.

Ours is a similar setup, gas 6 litre thing by Morco. Looks about as powerful as a joss stick so no power showers for a while... Good idea re setting the temp on the boiler, just a bit of a faff, but if needs must. Obviously need to shed these desires for creature comforts and embrace the caravan ethic!

Hi all, prepping the static to move in to in a few weeks and would like to swap the lever mixer in the shower for a thermostatic mixer - not least as it would avoid the children accidentally scalding themselves. Unfortunately the pipe centres are a non-standard 100mm and I cannot find anything suitable that would fit, even on caravan parts websites. Any suggestions? Are angled extensions available - even if it meant the thing sticking out? I've found this: https://www.toolstation.com/thermostatic-mixing-valve/p18520 which I could plumb in to the feed to at least limit the output temp and then use the existing lever mixer to fine tune, but a simple replacement for what is there would be ideal.

gc100, can I ask if your hidden gutter is an off-the-shelf system or fabricated by the roofers?

A chap came in with an apple up his arse when I worked in A&E. Wonder if it counted as one of his 5 a day?

Managed to get this bad boy on to our site a few days ago, needed to go about a mile over hill and dale, through some very tight gates and round some tighter corners, but arrived in one piece! Just need to position, level, and hook everything up. And work out how 4 of us are going to live in the thing...

The built value is essentially the same - it's the build cost differential that has essentially led the valuer to reduce their figure for the site. Perhaps you need to go back to Ecology again and discuss in further detail how your build costs add-up?

?

It had the benefit of additional thermal mass, as I understand it

@ProDave Specific question about your Conder mate, did you sit it on a concrete surface, or simply excavated and plonked the thing in the hole? Intsructions seem to state a "firm level surface" at the bottom of the hole but the diagram indicates this should be concrete.

Awesome sounding project MrT, will be following with interest. Like Joe, would love to see some pictures of the bunker!

It does seem mad though doesn't it! Would save so much more time, money and effort if LPA's could be a bit more pragmatic. I think the lesson is to find out what your LPA are prepared to accept - find similar Part Q's in your area and talk to them, look on the planning portal etc. Every area seems to interpret the legislation slightly differently.

+1 for this. If you remove the barn structure there will be nothing left to convert. Definitely worth looking at full planning, and as suggested above use the argument for better insulation, eco credentials etc. rather than the difficulty in converting - you'd have had to prove the opposite presumably to get the part Q in the first place. I guess you have outlined your plan for conversion for the part Q, deviation from this might raise eyebrows - but as stated above, who would check? Full planning very much depends on your LPA though. Ours seem quite open to this as we were successful. Don't forget you'd save a bit on the VAT for a new build too.