Department71

We are in southern Burgundy and we have French neighbours down the road who live near Eurodisney but have a second home not far from us. One night at home near Eurodisney they had the telephone go at about 12.30am, it was their alarm phoning them to say they are are have a break-in at their second home, they phoned the local police, got dressed and drove down the 180+ miles to their house, when they arrived the police hadn't even got there, and the siren outside the house was silent, expanded foam had been sprayed into the unit to silence it. No if the bugg**s want to get in they will, the only thing you can do is make it awkward for them. One of the locks on our door is British made (not a cheap yale or eurolock) , my theory is they know all about locks sold in France, but a British one may cause them to go elsewhere, at least the opportunist ones  Well it's worh a try. Steve

Only other option I can think of at the mo is to phone FT or their English speaking number if your French is not up to it. Might not be too cheap from the US but it must be cheaper then X months rental. Do you have an Internet cafe anywhere close where you can try? As no payment details would be needed should be fairly safe. One thing I do is to use the "on screen keyboard" to enter account/password details as there are no key presses I assume key loggers won't pick it up, I hope!! Good luck steve

I had the same problem earlier in the year, used the system for ages, then at the end of July it wouldn't turn off via the website. We returned in September and whilst there opened the 3000 account from our line, when we left phoned them and got the line suspended. Checked our account today and it is in fact suspended as requested.  Tenniswitch I know this is no use to you at the moment but maybe its something to look into on your return. Another post mentioned they E-mailed FT and got it suspended that way. Good luck Steve

Back in the UK and been having a look at various options for the motor, one amendment I need to change here, I don't think it is a 4hp jobbie as I was told, the Kw stated is 2.94 on the plate. Now options, there are 2 and 4 pole motors on offer, the 4 pole ones spin at about 1500rpm and the 2 pole about 3000rpm. The 3phase one I need to change spins at 1420, but the log cutters I see advertised spin in the high 2000+. Would there be more "grunt" in the motors that spin at the lower speed? I appreciate the motor I'll be getting will be a bit smaller then  the 3phase one, was looking at one in the region of 2.2-2.5kw.  Any thoughts from the experts. Araucaria, not worth getting a 3phase supply reconnected, extra cost not worh it, plus shmbo hasn't got a 3phase kettle! Steve

Lizfjr, We will sometime in the future receive a written report from the person who inspected it. Don't know when but we have asked them to send it to our UK address. Its a bit of don't hold your breath. A friend who had the visit earlier in the year hasn't received anything yet, but saying that the inspector said they had an huge area they had to check so it could take ages. At least there was no sharp intake of breath and shaking of head when they visited so not worried about the paperwork. Tony, we have been told the official view is you have 4 years to find it before the next visit, then the Mairie will get involved, they will either do it themselves and bill for the work, that way you can be sure you will have a top of the range new system that costs the earth, or they could go to court, but doubt it, more then likely you will be billed for a new supadupa one. But France being France anything could happen, at least if the fosse can be found, if there is one! and everything seems fine it would save an awful lot of money Steve

Cacknanty,  interesting, wish we had your visitor instead of our male. (but maybe not the wife!) some friends over by Tournus had a female also. I take it your water bills come via the local commune, our water is supplied from Veolia and for that priveledge the cost for the visit is 90 euros with I think about 15 euros per year tagged onto the bill for further visits. We went to the meeting before the visit and boy did it explode, the mayor got shouted down, and the water people got a load of stick, why? because of that cost of 90 euro. Wish ours was only 20 euro. Steve

OK back in the UK and can now use this forum properly ( its a pain sitting in Mc Do doing e-mails etc, using it more to surf is nearly impossible) Pachpapa,, the Fosse is about 2 metres from the house and is a toutes eaux. 3000 ltrs We had the visit from them and it went really well, they were impressed that we could actually find and have access to the fosse, ( all the other locals have theirs buried and no inspection access) all the lids were off for them, they were impressed by the 100mm ventilation pipe. They drew a diagram of the position and asked us where it drained to, as it was fitted while we were in the UK 20 years ago we had no plans, it was decided it more then likely drained on our land so that is what they put. No mention what so ever about a grease filter, nor did they ask us for any paperwork, although we did dig out the receipt from Brico marche. They did ask us if it had ever been emptied, we said never in 20 years as it was a holiday home and not occupied all the year, he did check the level of the sh.. muck in the bottom with a state of the art 6ft bamboo stick that I assume is used to hold up his beans in the summer, he was happy with the level of muck in there. (not much) He also had a record of our water usage this confirmed our house as a holiday home. Came inside for a coffee and to use his laptop to update details and to practice his English. In all pleased its over. Steve

Thanks for the replies, will look into this further when back in the UK. The motor is I have been told is 4hp, it goes like a jet engine, think 2hp will be enough, but will be bringing it home with us. Wonder if I can get it rewound. Steve

We are expecting the SPANC people early November,and we will still be in France then. I remember reading somewhere that if the Fosse is less the 10 metres from the house a grease filter is not needed. As we don't have a grease filter I am expecting a problem with the inspection, anyone who is in the same position as me, I would appreciate a bit of feedback. Would also appreciate any info from someone who is up to speed with the French regs maybe with a link to the French site. Cheers Steve

I have been offered one of those big boy log cutters with a huge circular blade, the only problem at the moment is that the saw motor is 3 phase and I only have a single phase supply. Would it work if I just use one of the phases on the motor, ie connect the live to one of the round pins. I take it the rectangle pin is the neutral. I have an electric chauffe eau that can be wired for 3 phase or single phase and that works ok on my single phase supply, so I am hoping I can get this saw to work on my single phase supply. I have knowledge and am happy to work on single phase, but have little experience of three phase. Any help appreciated.  Steve

Hi Stu8, no haven't found out what has happened, must admit haven't tried it since our early posts as we are back there soon and decided to sort it out when there. Must admit it is weird why some can still do it while others have problems, When did you have problems? could it be FT were having problems  with its site a few weeks ago. At least I now know its not our computer or connection, phew! Payrac-man Seems FT had a sales drive to try and get more money out of punters when you signed up, we are paying the bog standard rate 16 euros month when connected, with no internet,  and we make our phone calls via Telerabais (cheap phone calls) but there are others. And it also depends on your phone needs.  We have been billed part months when its turned off mid way through a month,  at least when I could turn it off.  But I think it has to be on for at least one month . I believe the 4.6 euros is only due when you turn the phone back on, to turn it off is free, so depends how many times you require their service how much it'll cost extra over the year. Steve

Hi TW. No we haven't managed to find out why we can't turn off our phone, as we are going to be back in France mid September we decided to leave it on for now as there has to be a months gap between off and on etc we can sort it out when there, we may see about using their new? 3000 service and do it all via the automated voice on the phone ( wonder if it will be able to understand London accent French!)   it'll be easy turning the phone off from our french line but a bit of a bu66er turning it on, hopefully the internet will work for that. We logged in using the FT website, its in my bookmark/favorites list. Re the pop up window about not being secure, as always I click continue. Steve

We took our old Sony crt with freeview over a couple of years ago, works ok, the only thing we can't get is teletext and the clock is stuck on UK time. Am trying to get into the service menu then hopefully will be able reset it and get teletext etc. But more modern ones should work better. Steve

Tenniswitch, This is my usual procedure to turn on and off. Logged in ok, went to my services etc, clicked on suspend line, new window shows asking to confirm password etc, then new window, but then nothing window blank and "done" at bottom left of screen, When it works ok I get an e-mail confirming that my request has been actioned. I have tried on both laptop and desktop machine, also used Firefox and IE so not computers fault. Am going over to daughters later to try on their machine, if it works time to ask Talktalk what have they done. Steve  

I have been trying to turn off our French phone for the last week via the internet through espace client but have been unable to do this. Anyone else having the same problem? don't think it is our computer as been able to do this before. By the way english number has changed, it is now 09 69 36 39 00 (in France) 00 33 9 69 36 39 00 (outside). Bet it is a premium rate number as well. Steve

Ok who has mucked up the format!

Good replies about not mucking about with the electrics, one thing I would consider, turn off all the circuit breakers, then try and flip the master switch up, if it stays up start turning on each circuit breaker (switch) until the circuit at fault trips the main switch. switch this one off again, reset the main switch and continue switching on the other ones. At least you will have an idea where the fault may be, as it seems at the moment you don't have any power in the house. It  should at least give you something until a leccy can fix it. Leave the cover on the box. Steve

I think UK banks do in fact use RIB, they may not call it that, but it is just bank code -sort code - account number. We have a doofer with Sanef all fees are paid through our Nationwide flex account, no problem setting it up, it seems Sanef are used to having clients from the UK using British banking. No problem. Steve

One thing you can try to find e-mails; Open Outlook Express, click on tools at top of screen, options, maintenance tab, there is a "store folder" button  if you click this it should show where e-mails are stored. If you want to tidy this up a bit, I made a new folder in My Docs called it oeemails, then went into the tools etc in Outlook Express and clicked on the button to change location. Now all e-mails are stored where I know where they are. I have no problem with Outlook Express, wife has that stupid Windows mail on her laptop, just can't get along with it. Steve

One option you could try if you have the nerve is show the pipe and the floor to all the French neighbours and ask for their opinion what they would do if it was them,  and let it be known who actually caused the c0ckup, you can be sure it will get all around the village with the speed of sound. Our friends did something similar on a problem they had. They managed to shame the person and it got sorted to their satisfaction. Steve

The only problem with dial up  we have found is, you are given by FT an e-mail address to use, but they then give/sell this on to third parties, so when you check your e-mails on dial up you spend ages downloading a load of rubbish for which you pay for in increased phone costs. Steve

I used the English line for FT ( haven't got the number to hand but its in previous posts) Everything was done on the phone and didn't have to send any docs. Very easy. Steve

Chancer, But you get two in the pack!!!! Steve

Thanks Theire, Nearly there, what did I not do. Steve

If I can do this properly, link is here. www.cedeo.fr/recherche?q=d15%2F14 Steve