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Everything posted by ProDave
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PT100 cylinder probe wireless connection
ProDave replied to JohnMo's topic in Boilers & Hot Water Tanks
It will work, but you will miss out on being able to read the tank temperature. I like on mine when someone has had a long shower and almost emptied the tank, being able to read the tank temperature on the ASHP display to see how it is doing re heating the tank and is it ready for another shower yet. -
You really need a themometer on the flow manifold to check what temperature it is at. A simple solution is to buy a cheap infra red handheld thermometer and use that. Only then can you tell if the flow temperature is correct and being regulated properly. What do you mean by "venting the circuits"? Do you mean flushing water through them to ensure there are no air leaks? If so shut the red and blue isolating valves, connect a water supply hose to the fitting on the right of the top manifold and a drain hose to the fitting on the right of the bottom manifold and run cold water through each loop in turn until water flows through each with no air bubbles. You really want to do that one loop at a time, so put the actuators back on (not energised) and remove one at a time to allow water through each loop one at a time.
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LG Therma V mono block Air Source Heat Pump
ProDave replied to ProDave's topic in Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP)
Yes that is still in use. I use the "room thermostat" input to call for space heating when required. As pointed out, there is no official way to "call for hot water" from an external source, so my solution was to use a relay to switch between the cylinder temperature probe (which is a thermistor) and a fixed resistor, chosen to mimic a hot water reading which fools the control system to thinking the tank is above the set point so it does not do any heating water. The way I have it, is with the relay not energised the fixed resistor is connected so no hot water heating happens. When I want it to heat the DHW I energise the relay, that connects the temperature probe and the heat pump heats the water if it is lower than the set water temperature. -
And there is a more fundamental issue. If you are heating with an ASHP (rather than direct electricity) an ASHP will never get a thermal store hot enough in the first place. So a thermal store is a complete non starter if a heat pump is in your plan.
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My ground mounted PV is now about 6 years old. I read my meters once a week to record usage and generation etc. When doing that on Friday I noticed the weeks PV generation was tiny (even for the time of year) and the inverter was showing an error. Yesterday was time to investigate. The inverter was tripping on excess leakage current, and powering down and re starting it did the same every time. Shut down and disconnected the DC from the inverter and sure enough one string was showing a leakage to earth of just under 1 megohm. Next step was go and disconnect the panels in the solar shed. Thankfully the interconnecting cables now showed very good IR. That was a relief as I had feared an issue in the 100ft long buried DC cables. Next go round checking panels one at a time. I soon found the rogue panel that on it's own shows this high leakage. For the time being I have reinstated things with this one panel bypassed so it is working again but one string is 1 panel short. The repair plan is this. I had 2 spare panels that are one on each end of my shed vertically connected to a cheap Chinese inverter to try and give a little extra early morning and late afternoon power. I will take one of those to swap with the faulty panel on the main array. Thankfully by happy accident is is the easiest panel to access on the main array that has failed. I will then investigate what has gone wrong with this panel. Though I suspect used singly on the cheap inverter it may just work, as I doubt that cheap inverter has all the checks that the proper one has. This is the first time I have come across and insulation resistance issue on a PV panel before. They are after all designed for outdoor use but clearly damp has got in somewhere on this particular panel. I am very thankful that this is something I can do myself, that I have a spare, and being ground mount I don't need the complication of scaffold (though I have that if it were needed)
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I have a customised tote for my work tools, the customising is to divide the main section into compartments using several offcuts of very large trunking glued together. It has lasted surprisingly well. 2 of the metal cantiliever toolboxes for all the garage tools, spanners etc. You don't want to carry them far. and 2 metal barn toolboxes, the one I made as an apprentice and the one my dad made as an apprentice.
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A bizarre twist to this, is those on pre payment meters won't get this surcharge as they can't go into debt. And already the prices of PPM have been levelled so it is not more expensive. Perhaps en-mass we should all switch to pre payment meters? Like I suspect most consumers I pay the same amount each month building up a credit in the summer to pay for the higher usage in winter. Does that not qualify as "pre payment"? If I did, as a matter of protest switch to a PPM it would mean me paying less in summer and more in winter. Is this a "solution" they really want?
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I was going to suggest that. If it is just the bends at the end, then can you not fix it by digging up just a strip of the lawn and repairing / replacing the damaged sections?
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What did they test for you? I don't see much posting about what you have been doing.
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Yes, in the UK neutral is strapped to earth in the distribution system, so while officially a "live" conductor, unless there is a fault in the distribution network it is safe to touch.
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This is the cheapest 200A 3 phase distribution board I have found https://www.cef.co.uk/catalogue/products/620464-4-way-tp-n-type-b-distribution-board-with-200a-isolator-incomer That would supply up to 12 single phase boards, 4 from each phase.
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- listed building
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Why do you need 3 phase? And yes where does the 200A come from? 100A is easy, standard domestic consumer units and switchgear.
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eco-rennovation.co.uk
ProDave replied to makingprogress's topic in Environmental Materials & Construction Methods
What do you want to know? What project are you taking on? -
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88 new houses near Cambridge to be demolished.
ProDave replied to Temp's topic in General Self Build & DIY Discussion
Or strip founds on land needing piling? I would be concerned if I was in one of the already occupied houses on the development. -
Ours is similar. To get the SWA across the burn I went to the plot boundary where I erected a fence on the boundary line straddling the burn and the SWA crosses the burn fixed to the bottom of the fence. You could also build a nice foot bridge over the burn (on my to do list still) and use that to support it. My inverter is in a shed, roughly half way between the supply head and the panels with long DC cables to the panels. Volt drop on the DC side is lot less of an issue than on the AC side.
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How easy will it be to replace this broken bath waste?
ProDave replied to Adsibob's topic in General Plumbing
When I was choosing our bath waste for a similar "non dismantle-able" bath, I chose a McAlpine top servicable click clack waste. That may not help you at this stage, but can yours be dismantled from above? -
Go on, make it easier. WHAT is it?
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Whatever you do, and whatever you buy, in the lifetime of the unit, the lights will need replacing. So make sure you allocate an accessible space for the drivers for the lights, so WHEN they fail you can get at them to replace them. Choose fittings where you can replace the lamp, not fittings where the LED is built in and the whole thing needs replacing. You WON'T be able to get replacements forever for that type. And lastly, set top boxes, Blue ray players etc, you need a place for those so make a cupboard or shelf for them in your design.
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Plywood for lining internal walls in timber frame
ProDave replied to Hannah82w's topic in Timber Frame
If the plywood is getting wet behind the plasterboard and other wall finishings, there is something seriously wrong. Check the boarding is not for aiding the racking strength of the structure. -
Any SEs in the forum? Looking for a second opinion
ProDave replied to ash_scotland88's topic in General Structural Issues
Perhaps you can tell us what you are building? Being in Scotland and talking of coombed ceilings I am guessing a 1 1/2 storey house with rooms in the roof. What are you building the roof from? Ours was done with a cut roof supported on Ridge beams. It allowed the entire roof space to be unencumbered by intrusions other than the rafters themself. A much less cluttered design than say attic trusses. -
We are in an east / west glen. We can't actually see that far, the mountains to the west are the most distant we can see which is no more than 10 miles, that is looking down the glen to the west. North and south we can't see far at all, can't even see the Black Isle. And looking north we are looking up hill out of the glen. So we don't see the northern lights very often, it has to be a spectacular show to get high enough to be seen over the hills to the north. I think it's only 3 times I have seen them.
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Clearly the alterations have messed things up. Get both the electrician and the plumber to sort it. They broke it, they fix it.
