Gluestick

Could this be due to water conservation? I notice that the water level in the new loo pan in a UK property we have just renovated is considerably lower than than the much older pan in our UK house. Also, the exit pipe is far smaller diameter than the original and thus the plumber had to use an adapative connector. Also the quite old loo in our French house seems to maintain a low level, too. The water in the U bend conforms to the basic rule of water finding its own level (since, highschool physics, the atmospheric pressure is equal on both sides): same as a "U" tube or liquid manometer, used for measuring and setting pressures, and finding surface levels. In a sewerage system, both a mains sewer and a septic tank are vented to air (the "Stink" Pipe).  The Loo pan water level will be predicated by the absolute height of the exit before it discharges into the waste pipe: therefore, the water level in the pan will always sit at the precise level of the highest point in the upwards pointing moulding at the rear of the pan. Effective operation is really governed by the volume of water that discharges into the pan when the cistern is flushed, rather than the pan level. Problems arise when the outlet (to main sewer) or septic tank etc, becomes blocked and/or when back pressure is created by blockages further along the waste pipe, and then and only then can the pan level rise.  

[quote user="WJT"] Oh dear what to do. Take a risk and buy the cheaper products and hope they are good quality (on a plumbers recommendation) or pay way over the odds. Until I saw Gluestick’s comment, I had at least planned on buying the thermostatic shower valves from Brico. [:(] [/quote]   WJT: The problem with the cheaper thermostatic shower valves is that the thermostat inserts corrode quickly and either stick or rot through. They are the same sort of principle as a car thermostat, i.e. wax pellet or similar. If the bellows corrode through or jam then they scald or freeze! Also the sheer quality of the tap threads is important. All a bit like those nasty cheap neo-Georgian interior lever door handles, which after a year or so, go sloppy and the return spring breaks![:@] You gets what you pays for. As has already been pointed out, buying spares can be tricky. And as you have pointed out, once fitted, it always affects surface finish to fit an alternative part. Therefore it does seem the first question has to be on spares. Most manufacturers tend to use the same insert for a range of valves, unless it is a very unusual item. Therefore I would stick to known makes rather than the cheap imports which are coming from all over. Taps, well normally pretty easy to change, as holes in baths and basins, vanity units etc are all common. With flexible tap connectors, make allowance for different depth of future taps, in case! So with taps, for me, it's a question of standard type fittings, over clever styling!  

Perhaps it's me being naive, but surely, if bricoX demonstrate a considerable saving, it is simple to then fit a better quality flush mechanism? All standard now in France? I would never buy cheap taps and thermostatic shower valves, though. Loos, basins, baths and shower trays, no problem. Cheap cabin type showers, hmmmmmm[8-)]  

[quote user="Cassis"] Re these clock sites, how is it you can buy anything under the sun these days online in the USA and the UK, yet French online websites are so limited by comparison?  Do you think it's down to the cheque book v. credit card imbalance here, due to the banking system charges? [/quote] Interesting point. I have been quite involved in E-Commerce and E-Biz for some time. I have to say that US businesses, as normal, were far quicker out of the blocks. I also find them far more willing to ship to Europe. Can't imagine most UK businesses agreeing to ship to the USA! For example, I needed a new cutting deck for one of my Rallye ride-on mowers. Originally made by an American company American Yard Products Inc, which like so many other agricultural/garden firms was bought by Electrolux. After giving up trying to find anyone in the UK who wanted to assist with the spare part, and wasting hours trying to track Electrolux's correct division down and sending enquiry emails, I resorted to Googling the original manufacturer's name. Found a US businesses who very rapidly responded and referred me to one of their client companies: who not only had the part, they responded in hours with a price shipped to the UK! And furthermore, they even posted a dedicated page on their E-commerce website for me, so that I could order this one-off spare, securely by credit card! By the time Electrolux finally deigned to reply to my email, (telling me that if they could source one it would cost £250 +VAT, at least! And they would come back to me. They never actually did, of course!), I already had the part which included shipping by DHL, cost me just £87! Personally, I think the sluggish approach to embracing E-commerce by French organisations is simply that they don't feel that they need to! Probably that's why Amazon.com is not French.............  

Try here, Chris. It seems everything from the basic to the exotic! And plenty of hands, too! http://www.klockit.com/depts/hands/dept-5.html    

Thanks for that, Chris. Whilst I like the concept of your turfing idea, sadly, I don't think it would be viable, as the plan is to build the surface cellar on the back of the existing workshop, thus the earth cover would allow damp to ingress the back wall. Suppose I could fix an impermeable membrane on the wall firstly, though.........? Whilst I would love a large cellar, the concept is to buy most of our good wine forwards and drink after three to four years, so I only need a reasonably small area in total. Wish it could be much more! [B] The place I saw was inside a garage! Built of parpaings, it was surprisingly cool even in Summer and the bottles of white the owner showed me were nicely cool, too.  

I wonder whether anyone has any information on the concept of the surface cellar? Bit of a misnomer, actually as they are meant to be semi-sunk in the ground. Our originally 200 year old farmhouse obviously had a cellar. I suspect it was underneath what is now the Salon. I understand that it was quite common around 1900, to fill these in with rubble and cement, owing to damp and water ingress, which I can understand since the plot slopes down to the house and in any case is elevated considerably from the road. I plan to build a semi-sunk cellar in the garden, behind a workshop. I believe that these are called Sous Surraines or something similar. Can't find the word either! I hav seen on surface cave and it worked well. The concept is to sink it down circa 1.5 metres, leave the earth floor and cover with gravel, super-insulate the walls and ceiling and provide cross draughts of air with considerable insulation. When it is hot, the humidity can be raised by simply watering the floor! Which should also lower the ambient temperature. Any further ideas, comments please? [blink]  

Ummmmmmmmm a sort of self re-generating mazout. What a nice concept! Or should I have said "mice concept"? groan.............  

[quote user="TWINKLE"] Amsta oil for heaters? Well that is SO cruel! [/quote] Interesting line of thought you have started here, Twinkle. Is it Oil from 'Amsters? Or it could be construed as oil heaters for keeping 'Amsters warm?    

Impossible to comment on "reasonableness" of quote, without more info. Is this just for supplying and installing the boiler and flue? i.e. replacing an existing boiler in a heating system. By your description, it seems to include the boiler, the bruleur, and the ventouse forced flue system: accessories mens nothing! Does the boiler come with the circulating pump and the expansion tank? Some do, some don't. If a replacement, has an allowance been made for an upgraded fuel feed system with feed and return pipes? Essential under new safety and environmental regs. Does the cost include the cuve (storage tank); if so what type of tank? i.e. is it internal or external? Is it single or double bund? (i.e. single or double skinned or if single, installed within a concrete bund, correctly built according to the new regulations.). What make of boiler? The price varies enormously. Is it heating and hot water or just heating? Wher are you situated, geographically? This will predicate the grade of oil you buy. If your area experiences considerable low ambient external temps, then you will be compelled to buy the better grade of oil which resists "waxing" when cold. Suppliers: there are normally various specialised dealers who will agree a contract which can include the annual maintenance and safety certification: essential for economic operation and insurance purposes. One of the local franchised builder's merchants such as Toute Fait tend to be the most competitive. Please provide more detailed information for better answers.  

Yes, quite right, Frederick. They either tend to have fixed rings or like ours, a cast plate in two bits which is removable. And as you say, when burning blue, you get a ring of blue flames through the plate/s. One other service comment I forgot (brain's dead today, far too much work on!): you should find at the bottom of the burner bowl where the feed pipe goes in, some sort of "Plunger", which you can push and pull and twist. This is used to clear out the jet inlet if the oil isn't feeding properly, which is normally caused by excessive carbon build-up on the inside. Forgot to say earlier, the principle is actually quite common. Years ago in the UK we used to use Salamander Space Heaters, which were simply a large round tank, with a chimney, used by farmers, garages (us!) etc. You filled the bottom with paraffin, diesel or even waste oil and away it went. Very dangerous if not de-carboned, as the chimney (which simply sat on the top) used to launch up like a space probe, with a loud thud when you turned it off and all the dampers were shut down! Insurance companies didn't like them: don't know why?[:D] Used to frighten the apprentice very sucessfully! [6] Also same principle used in house space heaters and still apparently used by the US military in temporary huts here and there. Used to be common in Canada and the USA for "Log Cabins".  

Nearly all this type of heater operates in the same way. The oil drip-feeds, via a control valve, which is set by a heat control, marked in graduated numbers, lowest being 1 and 0 being off. On top of the control vale should be a small lever which turns the oil on and off. The oil is fed by gravity, via the valve into the burner. First and most important step is to check inside the burner bowl and see if it is carboned. If so, first step is to clean this out. It is a filthy job: rubber gloves and an old vacuum which you keep for this job only! If the heater hasn't been used for some time, clean out the filter, which normally sits at the bottom of the valve. Set the heat control to mid-way and turn on the small on/off valve. Wait for a few minutes and using a torch, probably, look to see that the bottom of the burner bowl is wet all over. DO NOT ALLOW TOO MUCH oil into the bowl! Once the bottom of the burner bowl is is wet all over, soak the end of a piece of kitchen roll ( I find this the best way: simply dip it into the tank once I have filled it) in oil, chuck it into the bottom of the bowl, drop a match onto it and close the door. The flame will burn yellow, tinged with black and after the burner heats up it will turn blue. Once the flame is blue, then the heat can be regulated using the control: setting it low will make the flame burn yellowish, with the odd blue bits. Setting it medium to high will always result in a blue flame. This type of heater is very effective, but messy to clean and is very thirsty. If you keep it topped up, however, it will run for weeks in cold periods and provide loads of heat. We even cook on our Deville; it has a cast iron top plate which is ideal for slow cooking casseroles etc in Winter. If you are not confident about cleaning and servicing the filter, call in a qualified Chaufaugiste.  

Transmutation: http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=Spent+Nuclear+Fuel+Transmutation&meta=  

bj Paul: I will try and nail down a surfable resource for this. The original concept was presented to me by some retired (just) nuclear physicists, who had all worked at Aldermaston, Harwell and finally AWRE (Atomic Weapons Research Establishment) an important part of which used to be near where I live. Is it any wonder I want to relocate? [blink] We were discussing this thorny subject, a few years ago, over a beer or two, as you do. The core concept, I believe, is that any atom can be sub-divided into its component parts and reassembled. Thus it follows that a radiotoxic substance could be reassembled into a benign substance or even restructured, in the same way that Uranium is when U 235 is made from enriched Uranium. Plutonium, which is artifical (i.e. not ocurring in nature) is also made by nuclear bombardment. In the same way that chemical engineering creates artificial substances (e.g. long chain polymers), nuclear physicists hope to be able to change the state of almost anything. I hope I have remembered this correctly![8-)] http://www.newscientisttech.com/channel/tech/nuclear/mg19225741.100-halflife-heresy-accelerating-radioactive-decay.html Look under "Transmutation" scroll down: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_waste If I can source more references, I will.  

Paul: Again, I must reinforce the message that this project isn't just about cheaper, safer energy, anymore than core nuclear research has been about building better bombs! The fact that it was highjacked by such as Adolf Hitler's mob and Pres. F D Roosevelt, has given it a bad and warped press, ever since. The media, of course, always seize on the energy dynamic, probably 'cos they don't want to bother to understand the other possibilities. Being able to manufacture at molecule level, then atom level and then finally sub-atomic level is the next progession of nanotechnology. The spin-offs to such research are always igonored and forgotten by Greenpeace, F o t E, et al. For example, nuclear medicine has saved countless lives, and I am not referring here to radiation treatments. One of the spin-offs from CERN, for example, enabled this medium we are using to communicate: viz, Tim Berners-Lee's invention of Hyperlinks and HTML (Hyper Text Mark-Up Language). Of course, cheap, safer, less environmentally intrusive energy is one object: yet not the only objective.  

Absolutely: and of course, fusion probably offers the best method of rendering nuclear fission waste virtually harmless, as well as offering the potential to create a whole range of new materials and change the structures of existing materials, so the benefits to mankind are potentially immense, and not just power generation. Interesting that this is France leading the project and not Blair/Brown's staggering successful Britain.[6]  

Well, just had a new water main fitted: the pipe into the house (synthetic, to replace the very old lead!) is only about nine inches under the soil surface, 'cos that's where it emerges in the house, just under the floor. Since the old lead pipe was buried to the same level (I watched the guy dig it out), and hasn't frozen thus far I suppose this must be OK? We'll know when Winter finally comes!  

I must confess that I am somewhat ambivalent over nuclear energy. Since the early days of the Magnox reactors and the original promises on ZETA (Nuclear Fusion project), most finished plants, have well under-performed their forecast design output: and have cost far more to operate than projected. Additionally, yes there are problems with waste and have to agree that it is dificult to conceive how safe containers might demonstrate sufficient longevity when considering half-life. And yes, again, early containers (50 gallon oil drums, concrete filled to surround the waste) were dumped in the North Sea and circa 90% ruptured as they became affected by pressure). However, what are the real viable options? Not a lot! Will humanity desist from energy profligacy? Of course not; we may make token adjustments, like energy-efficient light bulbs, mainly on a cost basis. Will we however refrain from cheap flights abroad? Faster, more comfortable journeys on short haul business trips? Not really. Any late move to the nuclear option by such as Blair & Co, is simply a knee jerk reaction to total government failure in setting a cohesive central energy policy 30 + years ago: i.e. do nothing as the problem escalates and when it's too late, make a decision. Of course, we could if we really wished, change the future in a whole raft of ways. Junking that 4X4; recycling more waste keep on going. On the carbon front, carbon exchanges are now well establised: polluting plants can now buy spare credits and simply carry on polluting. What incentive is there ti install CO2 scrubbers, at huge capital cost when they can simply buy their way out of trouble? And make greater profit? The mere fact that these exchanges are set, by the wheeler dealers, to become multi-billion dollar activities in the next few years, to me, demonstrates the futility of it all. Pollute or profit? Profit every time! However with vested interests in play, here and lack of government lead, all the potential solutions will remain simply that: potential solutions which are unadopted. The current problem of water shortage in the South of England sums it all up for me. If more houses are being built; more cars, washing machines, dishwashers and garden hoses and swimming pools are being sold, then it aint rocket science to project increased water demand. However, despite massive losses through leakage and failure to invest etc, Thames Water has just been sold by its German owner to an Australian bank for £8 billion. nice pay day for the resigning directors. If billions can be made wheeling and dealing a utility, where's the incentive to become more environmentally friendly? Thus I have to go along with Nick, here. There are no realistic viable options to nuclear. We can but hope that as nuclear physics advances, new processes will come into use to render waste less harmful.  

Perhaps that's why the UK has so many economic problems and no industry to speak of; all the scientists and engineers have buzzed off to France?  

Forgive my cynical wit, but perhaps Chief has already completed a precursor to his MBA, say a Dip. Ms and this exercise is a practice for before he uses the MBA skills in a business................. Thames Water, e.g.?[:D] Sorry people, but having spent quite sometime as an External Examiner and Moderator to a University Business School and having had many (far too many!) head-to-head battles with textbook lecturers on the subject of Real World ism, I just couldn't resist this comment! And that Deimos, might just provide your answer..................  

OK. What I would probably do is to select an area basis, climate, environment, facilities and so on and thereafter visit and scope out the potentials of places needing renovation against those which are already completed. Possibly, the most critical aspect here, is to leave the UK mindset at home! Property in the UK is totally different. People can buy a spec job, dump a fortune into it and think they ae developers, whereas what happened is that the market shot upwards and despite their mad spending, they still make a profit! Not the same, here. If you do consider a renovation, add a far higher contingency figure than normal: and project a far longer project lifecycle than you would expect.  

Advice? Find a place that has been totally restored and perhaps simply now needs minor cosmetics to place your own stamp. Have it professionally surveyed. It will be cheaper, far less stressful and enable you to enjoy your time in France from day one. People always underestimate the costs involved in renovation and the time it all takes. Whilst many sellers will have, shall we say, a hugely optimistic concept of their finished value, find someone who really wants/needs to sell, rather than a dreamer.  

[quote user="J.R."]Ah but after doing the DCF calculation what about the "net present value" one to confuse things further?[/quote] Yes and of course, using state-of-the-art financial engineering and EIS (Executive Information Systems) financial extrapolation or spin [;-)] we could, finally, "prove" wind turbines are either free; or cost £1 million/year!  

Surely, going on from an earlier post, the only instrument that has to be zeroed, is an aneroid barometer altimeter? It is set to true atmospheric ground at the time of take off and then as the air pressure changes it show the height from original zero? (Atmospheric changes and different airfields, relative to sea level - from which all such instrument are such instruments are referenced - would otherwise produce an inaccurate height reading). Unless the red stuff has further addled my brain tonight![B] My simple old barometer only needs the adjustable hand set to record any changes of the moving hand to indicate, roughly, a move from fair to stormy or visa versa.  

[quote user="chris pp"]  it depends on what you mean by "pay back", Chris [/quote] Simply, the total capital cost, plus the maintenance cost, plus any repairs necessary, divided by the actual current and forward cost of the user's average electricity. To "Pay Back", means that once the total costs, as above, have been equalled by the current and expected normal spend, thereafter, it is free. Also, one could past the zero cost point, justify offsetting the savings then made, against the earlier sunks project costs. However, this then becomes rather chancy, unless one has a very clear empirical model of service and maintenance costs, time to failure and time at which plant is beyond economical repair. Also, one has to compute into the sums the cost of capital on a DCF (Discounted Cash Flow) basis. This uses as a benchmark, the value of the front capital cost in terms of notional lost investment or capital growth lost. One also has to take into account the replacement cost, in the future, as no such equipment has an endless lifecycle. Without such calculations, vendor's (often wild) claims of savings are valueless, in real terms. Most people when considering "Green" energy technologies, simply consider how many years they probably have left and and how much their energy bills will be and therefore can they theefore see any real financial advantage. Obviously, from an environmental aspect, there are other notional savings in terms of carbon emission etc, other environmental pollution and so on. However, these are "Soft" or "Green" values as against "Hard" or actual values. Interesting concept, the Dodo project, Chris.