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Gyn_Paul

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  1. [quote user="tinabee"][quote user="BIG MAC"] Another vote here for the Lidl tap..my brother fitted one in his house in Scotland a few years ago no problems and handy for filling the kettle when there's stuff in the sink...similarly filling a stock pot with water when the bowl is occupied. [/quote] Ditto - we have one like this http://www.ebao.fr/E_BAO_COMMERCE_WEB/FR/produit.awp?librayon=Cuisine&librubrique=Robinetterie&libcategorie=Mitigeur-douchette&libproduit=Mitigeur-evier-ARES-chrome-avec-douchette-2-jets very useful and easily pulls out further than the front of the sink. Also, cheap enough to replace when it wears out (ours is still going strong after 6 years) [/quote] Haven't checked in the new catalogue, but Brico Depot used to sell those - they were about 30E. I had one in the house back in the UK, and can confirm they have a hose long enough to come over the sink and fill a mop bucket sitting on the floor. The only caveat is that you have to have sufficient space under the sink/against the back of the cupboard to allow the hose to retract in a loop (it has a big lead 'slug' on it to help it fall) Ikea sink bases have a drawer which only goes back 2/3rds of the dept into the unit, to allow for plumbing like this. The old B&Q one didn't, so it was a fiddle to fit. p  
  2. [quote user="Pommier"]I have to own up that when I was working and the password had to change every month (and not to the previous month's password) mine was the first three letters of the month, followed by the year. I don't think it was just me either![/quote] That sound horribly like the BBC. I could never get my head round why the system was entirely safe on day 27, but so insecure as to need everybody to change their password on day 28. I discovered that  - although there was a minimum number of characters - there appeared to be no maximum number, so I just added words. So what started as 'summertime' ended up as 'summertimeandthelivingiseasyfisharejumpingandthecottonishigh' And we all recognize the workings of 'the law of unintended consequences', whereby after about month 5 no sane human can remember the damned thing so you write it on a post-it and stick it to the side of the monitor. Sorted ! Frequent changes make a system less secure, not more. p
  3. Thanks.  After hours of downloading and pressing DVDs of varioua drivers onto the reluctant beast (in much the manner of trying to get a toddler to eat vegetables) I've finally got the on-board sound to work (thank you Realtek!) but the network driver still remain a foreign land. I'm awaiting a delivery of a new wireless card which will, at least, come with its own drivers cd, so I might eventually manage to actually drag the damned thing into the 21st century! We'll see.
  4. I've acquired a bare-bones pc with a Foxconn N15235 motherboard which needs drivers and - predictably - the Foxconn website doesn't list that model any longer for support. Is it possible to discover the chipset details/version from the software anywhere when running XP (or some ext programme) or is it only possible by examination of the motherboard itself? (Don't you just love the word 'acquired' ? Always seems to carry faint overtones of something vaguely underhand !) p
  5. [quote user="pachapapa"]Done to death now! ZZZZzzzzzzz But it is most amusing to read. At the moment I am channel zapping between football on Kabel Eins Österreich and the OpernBall on 3Sat so I haven't got time to recall my second form  grammar school lessons on the paradox of the inertness of nitrogen and it's profligate family of nitrogen oxides.[:D] [/quote] Yes I remember Mr Unwin calling it "the do-nothing gas", and then muttering something under his breath, as he turned back to the blackboard, about it properly belonging in group O (I think it was) surrounded by argon, xenon, neon, krypton and the rest of the bunch, nothing noble about something that does damn-all)"  Not a verbatim quote, but near enough.
  6. [quote user="pachapapa"]Done to death now! ZZZZzzzzzzz But it is most amusing to read. At the moment I am channel zapping between football on Kabel Eins Österreich and the OpernBall on 3Sat so I haven't got time to recall my second form  grammar school lessons on the paradox of the inertness of nitrogen and it's profligate family of nitrogen oxides.[:D] [/quote] Yes I remember Mr Unwin calling it "the do-nothing gas", and then muttering something under his breath, as he turned back to the blackboard, about it properly belonging in group O (I think it was) surrounded by argon, xenon, neon, krypton and the rest of the bunch, "nothing noble about something that does damn-all"  Not a verbatim quote, but near enough.
  7. [quote user="Théière"][quote user="Bill"] An existing chimney must firstly be given a visual inspection,and make sure it is of a suitable size,a smoke test should be carried out to make sure it is clear of obstruction and check for gas tightness,your chimney should be swept before installing a new appliance,do not attempt to fit a liner without firstly sweeping the chimney,if your chimney passes the the visual inspection and passes the smoke test,it is deemed sound and not a legal requirement to line,lining your chimney has advantages such as increased draw and better efficiency,reduces the risk of chimney fire,and piece of mind having a sealed system [/quote] That is pretty much the nuts of the subject Bill.  I was corrected by someone who has been installing in France for years that twin wall (uninsulated) is not yet a requirement even for wood burners so single skin would do. In the UK HETAS only recommend single skin for gas burning flues, wood burning should be twin walled but by now you have probably noticed that in your links etc. Most of the wood burners if not all have the single skin and have been going 15-16 years.  I think the points I made are echoed in the links you have supplied so the final choice is yours. The UK again recommends wood burners of more than 10kw must have an air supply into the room as the fire will draw in the air to combust and as air is 80% nitrogen 20% oxygen you can see that oxygen depletion is quite easy and so is slipping in to a coma, thankfully rare due to leaky old buildings and our inbuilt sense of stuffy air open the door/window. Likewise slipping into a coma after reading posts from PPP [:)] [quote user="pachapapa"] It is amazing how many chimneys in old houses such as mine which have had one metre logs roaring in them for three centuries creating such an updraft that the front door has to be opened to supply air; then a stove and installer arrive and surprise, surprise it needs excruciatingly expensive double walled stainless steel tubing.[:D] [/quote] Despite this bloke allegedly having a degree in engineering related matters it seems amazing that they haven't grasped the basic understanding of why a roaring open fire is different to a stove so the chimney/flue designs are different even though your links describe it very well. (open fire 95% of the heat rises up the chimney taking the gasses with it) [/quote] ...That would certainly be the case if the fire was capable of selectively extracting the oxygen and then recirculating the nitrogen (along with the CO2 and NO for good measure). The more prosaic reality is that the fire would simply draw badly and ultimately go out completely. After all, the control devices on a poele are nothing more sophisticated than means of restricting the air-flow. And as for sealing the top of the chimney to prevent the flue gasses from sinking back down the chimney cavity..... well all I can say is that it would have to have been a chimney with a pis-poor draw for this to be an issue. My register plate sits on a metal rail on all 4 sides of the chimney but in no way is this an air-tight seal as can be demonstrated by running a lit taper around the joint: there's a slight up-draft: strong enough to pull the smoke through the joint, but not strong enough to blow out the flame (which is the case if I put same lit taper by the flue inside the poele). This effect is slightly greater when the poele is lit, which will be because the flexi liner radiates heat in a temperature gradient up the chimney, and consequently heats the body of air surrounding it in the chimney cavity. Given that there is a draft at the bottom, this heated air must be being drawn off at the top. However if the register plate (and flue entry hole) was an air-tight seal, then I imagine there might be some local convection currents circulating within the chimney space. but since it's airtight, the composition of the gas is irrelevant  ! Somebody earlier in the thread mentioned flash-over.  I'd be interested to read any technical data to support this seemingly wild notion. And whilst it's certainly the case that the corrosive effect of a poele's flue gasses will do for lime mortar in the end, this is not like a gas fire's fumes which would silently kill; if fumes from a poele were leaking through the brickwork into - say - a bedroom, you'd be coughing and choking on the smoke and beating a path to the fresh air  l-o-n-g  before the CO levels became an issue. Just think how pleasant it is in a room with a fire that smokes. ;p
  8. [quote user="Théière"][quote user="Bill"] An existing chimney must firstly be given a visual inspection,and make sure it is of a suitable size,a smoke test should be carried out to make sure it is clear of obstruction and check for gas tightness,your chimney should be swept before installing a new appliance,do not attempt to fit a liner without firstly sweeping the chimney,if your chimney passes the the visual inspection and passes the smoke test,it is deemed sound and not a legal requirement to line,lining your chimney has advantages such as increased draw and better efficiency,reduces the risk of chimney fire,and piece of mind having a sealed system [/quote] That is pretty much the nuts of the subject Bill.  I was corrected by someone who has been installing in France for years that twin wall (uninsulated) is not yet a requirement even for wood burners so single skin would do. In the UK HETAS only recommend single skin for gas burning flues, wood burning should be twin walled but by now you have probably noticed that in your links etc. Most of the wood burners if not all have the single skin and have been going 15-16 years.  I think the points I made are echoed in the links you have supplied so the final choice is yours. The UK again recommends wood burners of more than 10kw must have an air supply into the room as the fire will draw in the air to combust and as air is 80% nitrogen 20% oxygen you can see that oxygen depletion is quite easy and so is slipping in to a coma, thankfully rare due to leaky old buildings and our inbuilt sense of stuffy air open the door/window. Likewise slipping into a coma after reading posts from PPP [:)] [quote user="pachapapa"] It is amazing how many chimneys in old houses such as mine which have had one metre logs roaring in them for three centuries creating such an updraft that the front door has to be opened to supply air; then a stove and installer arrive and surprise, surprise it needs excruciatingly expensive double walled stainless steel tubing.[:D] [/quote] Despite this bloke allegedly having a degree in engineering related matters it seems amazing that they haven't grasped the basic understanding of why a roaring open fire is different to a stove so the chimney/flue designs are different even though your links describe it very well. (open fire 95% of the heat rises up the chimney taking the gasses with it) [/quote] ...That would certainly be the case if the fire was capable of selectively extracting the oxygen and then recirculating the nitrogen (along with the CO2 and NO for good measure). The more prosaic reality is that the fire would simply draw badly and ultimately go out completely. After all, the control devices on a poele are nothing more sophisticated than means of restricting the air-flow. And as for sealing the top of the chimney to prevent the flue gasses from sinking back down the chimney cavity..... well all I can say is that it would have to have been a chimney with a pis-poor draw for this to be an issue. My register plate sits on a metal rail on all 4 sides of the chimney but in no way is this an air-tight seal as can be demonstrated by running a lit taper around the joint: there's a slight up-draft: strong enough to pull the smoke through the joint, but not strong enough to blow out the flame (which is the case if I put same lit taper by the flue inside the poele). This effect is slightly greater when the poele is lit, which will be because the flexi liner radiates heat in a temperature gradient up the chimney, and consequently heats the body of air surrounding it in the chimney cavity. Given that there is a draft at the bottom, this heated air must be being drawn off at the top. However if the register plate (and flue entry hole) was an air-tight seal, then I imagine there might be some local convection currents circulating within the chimney space. but since it's airtight, the composition of the gas is irrelevant  ! Somebody earlier in the thread mentioned flash-over.  I'd be interested to read any technical data to support this seemingly wild notion. And whilst it's certainly the case that the corrosive effect of a poele's flue gasses will do for lime mortar in the end, this is not like a gas fire's fumes which would silently kill; if fumes from a poele were leaking through the brickwork into - say - a bedroom, you'd be coughing and choking on the smoke and beating a path to the fresh air  l-o-n-g  before the CO levels became an issue. Just think how pleasant it is in a room with a fire that smokes. ;p
  9. I've not needed it here in France so it's probably around and I've just not noticed it (as I have to constantly point out to my wife, we chaps are hunter-gatherers, and therefore genetically designed to only see things when they are moving: which is why I can open a drawer and not see the potato peeler, while she can).       [a likely story - Ed] but... I'm looking for rolls of adhesive flashing. The stuff I remember from the UK was about 6" high, made of v. thick alu (or a lead-alu-something alloy) with black bitumin-based adhesive on the back.  With a little gentle persuasion, and the mild application of a blowtorch, it could be made to stick to even quite friable surfaces. Anyone come across it over here?  (I shudder to imagine the price!) p
  10. I've not needed it here in France so it's probably around and I've just not noticed it (as I have to constantly point out to my wife, we chaps are hunter-gatherers, and therefore genetically designed to only see things when they are moving: which is why I can open a drawer and not see the potato peeler, while she can).       [a likely story - Ed] but... I'm looking for rolls of adhesive flashing. The stuff I remember from the UK was about 6" high, by 2 or 3 m long. Made of v. thick alu (or a lead-alu-something alloy) with black bitumin-based adhesive on the back.  With a little gentle persuasion, and the mild application of a blowtorch, it could be made to stick to even quite friable surfaces. Anyone come across it over here?  (I shudder to imagine the price!) p
  11. [quote user="NormanH"]I can't help on the laptop, but what I don't understand is that the Freebox V5 and V6 have two boxes which communicate using a plc via the mains, so you should be able to get through your wall problem with that http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freebox [/quote] Freebox V4c   1 x  ADSL in, 1 x Ethernet RJ45 out, 1 x USB out, 1 slot for a PCMCIA wireless card. Oh, and I borrowed a friend's pair of ethernet plugs and the signal - even on a single phase system - won't get through to a socket on a different tableau (something to do with the ECLBs, possibly ??), and since I have 3 of them in this house , that's pretty much a no-no. p
  12. [quote user="NormanH"]I can't help on the laptop, but what I don't understand is that the Freebox V5 and V6 have two boxes which communicate using a plc via the mains, so you should be able to get through your wall problem with that http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freebox [/quote] Freebox V4c   1 x  ADSL in, 1 x Ethernet RJ45 out, 1 x USB out, 1 slot for a PCMCIA wireless card. Oh, and I borrowed a friend's pair of ethernet plugs and the signal - even on a single phase system - won't get through to a socket on a different tableau (something to do with the ECLBs, possibly ??), and since I have 3 of them in this house , that's pretty much a no-no. p
  13. [quote user="AnOther"]There is a free temperature monitor here: http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp DON'T use Core Temp 10. RC3, it installs all sorts of crapware, click on More Downloads then choose the Standalone version. Re the router yes, no reason why not. that side of it doesn't care whether it is connected to the outside world or not. If you want your machines to talk to each other you'll have to set up sharing, it doesn't just happen by magic ! How you do that depends to some extent on what version or versions of Windows you are using. [/quote] I have a collection of stuff - mostly Netgear - and a wired network all over the house. It starts in the loft with a Free ADSL box feeding a NetgearWGR614v6  4-port router off which comes a PC running XP, and another running Win7, and a NSA. Then there's a Netgear Prosafe 5-port which feeds the cables to the rest of the house.  One goes to the kitchen to another Wireless router (feeding a useless Roberts internet radio and the aforementioned hot laptop running Vista). The spare switcher I was enquiring about is for the living room which has a Panasonic TV, Blu-ray player and an Onyka A/V receiver, all of which have wired or wireless net capabilities. None of which works properly. The Onkya, for example, is happy to go on line and update it's software, and will sometimes find the NSA or the DNLA library on the Win7 machine, but won't make its own NET connection to internet radio (for example). It just reports 'server busy'. All of the above boxes (except the Prosafe) have  wireless capability, but none of them manages to get beyond the confines of their individual rooms through the 50cm stone walls (100cms in some cases) Hence the need for yet ANOTHER box. In a perfect world I'd have one wireless router up in the loft, with a ERP slightly lower than Droitwich but I've yet to read a review of any model which says "fantastic wireless performance: the signal blasts thru 4 foot of concrete with no worries", which is basically what I'm looking for !  p
  14. [quote user="AnOther"]There is a free temperature monitor here: http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp DON'T use Core Temp 10. RC3, it installs all sorts of crapware, click on More Downloads then choose the Standalone version. Re the router yes, no reason why not. that side of it doesn't care whether it is connected to the outside world or not. If you want your machines to talk to each other you'll have to set up sharing, it doesn't just happen by magic ! How you do that depends to some extent on what version or versions of Windows you are using. [/quote] I have a collection of stuff - mostly Netgear - and a wired network all over the house. It starts in the loft with a Free ADSL box feeding a NetgearWGR614v6  4-port router off which comes a PC running XP, and another running Win7, and a NSA. Then there's a Netgear Prosafe 5-port which feeds the cables to the rest of the house.  One goes to the kitchen to another Wireless router (feeding a useless Roberts internet radio and the aforementioned hot laptop running Vista). The spare switcher I was enquiring about is for the living room which has a Panasonic TV, Blu-ray player and an Onyka A/V receiver, all of which have wired or wireless net capabilities. None of which works properly. The Onkya, for example, is happy to go on line and update it's software, and will sometimes find the NSA or the DNLA library on the Win7 machine, but won't make its own NET connection to internet radio (for example). It just reports 'server busy'. All of the above boxes (except the Prosafe) have  wireless capability, but none of them manages to get beyond the confines of their individual rooms through the 50cm stone walls (100cms in some cases) Hence the need for yet ANOTHER box. In a perfect world I'd have one wireless router up in the loft, with a ERP slightly lower than Droitwich but I've yet to read a review of any model which says "fantastic wireless performance: the signal blasts thru 4 foot of concrete with no worries", which is basically what I'm looking for !  p
  15. Well the front is propped up an inch or so (ext monitor and keydb in front) so it should be ventilated.... I'll check the air intake for fluff tomorrow. Meanwhile on the router front.... you mean I can just disregard the adsl socket and run other network cables into/out of any of the 4 ports and it'll work?  Sounds too good to be true ! p
  16. Can anyone tell my why my laptop - permanently connected to its mains unit, and with screen/hard drive/processor all set to 'never' in the power-saving/go to sleep options - closes itself down if untouched for an hour or so? It's running Vista as supplied by the manufacturer. It's not something it's always done (but then again it it does auto download and install windows updates), just since the last few weeks. Is there some other setting buried in a menu I've not come across? Also is it possible to use a  ADSL/router as a plain switcher? p
  17. [quote user="Chancer"]I dont even know what 4G is, nor a smartphone for that matter, neither do I really want to but even without knowing I can add something to the debate. Free have been quetly investing in their own fibre optic network for several years, they now have most of the large villes linked I believe and this program continues, that and not having to date any boutiques (OK they have 2 I believe) gives them a massive and sustainable competitive advantage over the other operators, the cabling project is ongoing so their advantage increases, I have no idea how this relates to this 4G thingy you are all talking about. Free have said that they will eventually have 100 boutiques which goes against all their principals, I dont know whether this is the result of regulator pressure, if it isnt then they sure must be thinking of a huge market penetration. [/quote] it would be nice to think Free is running its fibre-optic cables along the railway lines: we have one at the top of our front field =/< 80m. might get a decent download speed at last! p
  18. I had a large lean-to attached to the end of my big barn tall enough to accommodate a combine. It wasn't on the plan cadastral when we came to apply for PdeC but that's another story. The Secretary in the Mairie always calls it a Hanger, so that's what it remains (even if the item itself came down in the last gale)/ Galvanized  sheeting    -   Panneaux galvanisee ondulee ('e' acute 'e') Rubble     -    can't remember...see it all the time on the hopper with rubble in it at the dechetterie (I must be having a senior moment)....Ah yes 'Gravats'.    [Not to be confused with the rubble you infill the centre of a solid wall with, which the locals here call 'torchi' which almost certainly isn't spelt like that !] On-going works    -    projet en cours p EDIT : yes. 'Appentis' would be more appropriate.
  19. [quote user="Pads"]Thankyou for your reply The barn( glacier) is a seperate building from our house so will not be adding to our area of habitation. We recieved no extra form H1 just the letter as above . It is just walls, roof, some soil floors and some wooden floors , there is electric connected but no water. Before we brought it it was used for animals and storage of hay and other odd items . So Im just going to write to them to let them know the roof work which was done at the end of last year has been completed but on going work will continued as and when we can afford to do it. The next job is to replace the rotten shutters and doors this will then make it weather and people proof . After that when we have saved up is to repoint the stone walls on the out side , plus some repointing of the inside.  My next question is how far can we go and still call it a barn ? One day I would like to remove the soil flloors get it damproofed and put in concret floors. Plus make windows . So at least it will be animals proof as well and we can use it to store items .  Its probally going to be 5 years before we can decided weather we can afford to turn it into a house , It would depend on selling the other house first as well which could take many years . But Id like to be able to store all our belongings safley in the barn by this time.    [/quote] If it is an existing (but dilapidated) barn, then you can replace the doors, roof, structural components etc. as much as you like. In most area, you can fill in existing holes with frames - i.e. put windows in window-shapes apertures (assuming you're not within 500m of some antiquated pile of stones deemed to be of great cultural and/or historic value), And as Bigmac says you can insulate it, and concrete the floor, but I would draw the line at a wide-screen TV and frilly net curtains! Really it all comes down to the P. de C. and what you (or was it your builder) applied to do with the place. If it is on a separate parcel of land to your house (probably;, since it's across the road?) then it may not have a Certificate of Urbanism which may be something else the builder applied for as this is essential if you ever intend to turn it into any sort of living accommodation. Again, your Mairie will be able to help you... and perhaps the builder?? Just out of interest, does it have its own electricity supply, or is it a cable looped across the road on high? p
  20. Just read this thread and seen the actual wording of this barmy piece of legislation for the first time.   <<......V. - Les dispositions du présent article sont également applicables aux dispositifs ou produits visant à avertir ou informer de la localisation d'appareils, instruments ou systèmes servant à la constatation des infractions à la législation ou à la réglementation de la circulation routière.>> Does this mean it will be equally illegal for me to drive around with my map book (bought a year or so ago on service station on the A10) which has the locations of all the fixed cameras marked on it? It most assuredly informs me of their position just as well as a Tomtom does.! p
  21. [quote user="crossy67"]That's the thing with a speed camera.  In the UK I feel we are encouraged to think that people that slow down for speed cameras are cheating in some way.  Yes, they are breaking the law for all but a few hundred meters of their journeys but if the speed camera is placed in where it can do it's job and slow people down because of a danger then that's job done surely. [/quote] Quite right. And a speed camera which you don't know about (hidden or secret), doesn't  slow ANYONE down. So contributes nothing to road safety, just more cash to the state's coffers. p
  22. ALL licences issued in EU countries these days are 'European' licences, in the sense that they permit the owner to drive in all other EU member states. But since there is no such thing as a license issued by anything other than the country in which the person is resident (technically resident, at least) ipso facto, 'European' is always an extension of a 'national'  licence, and not something which can exist separately. Anything else is either a con or codswallop (or quite possibly both!) p .  
  23. My understanding is that when a P de C is granted, you have a fixed time (2 years I think ) to START the work before the permit expires. I don't believe there is a time limit to completion. They will regularly send you these reminders (usually with an 'H1' form enclosed for you to fill in, to add to your area of taxable habitation). Depending on how busy your planning office is, they may then forget about it for 12 months, or they may follow up on a non-reply: you never can tell!  The reference to telling them if the project has been abandoned is simply so that they can close the file on it if that's the case. Write to them briefly outlining the work completed so far, and say it is an ongoing project which will be completed when funds allow.   - The truth is always a good place to start ! You local Mairie will have a copy of the P de C which will at least tell you what you have been given permission for, i.e. what work the authorities are actually asking you about. p
  24. .....Actually that can't be right. Channel 5's been on N1 for quite some time now. Odd.  Martin, you don't happen to know if Ch5 has changed frequency/transponder on on N1 do you? curiouser and curiouser! p
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