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tracteurtom

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Everything posted by tracteurtom

  1. You get what you pay for, bottom budget equal low quality and / or poor spec.  Have a play with the proposed purchase first, then make your mind up.  Acer seems to be a star at the moment for the price vs spec vs build quality balance.  Keep your eye open for any good deals on XP spec machines as with the recent Vista launch, there should be some good deals to be had.  But then if it were me, I'd get Vista, hang the cost as you'll regret it in 12 months if you don't.  Just my 2 euro cents worth.
  2. My trusty Husky 242XP failed me at the week end and is now in need of a major repar, so I thought - after following this thread - whilst I'm collecting the parts for the Husky, I'd get an electric to cut the firewood. After a bit of research I settled on a Stihl MSE180 with a 40cm guide.  All I can say is Wow, I'd never have thought an electric saw would be so good at log cutting.  It truly is the business for the fire wood in the yard. A word of warning for those considering the cheaper brico sourced brands.  Check you can get spares.  Are the chains  available, can you get new guides, yes probably to both these, but the crunch is the chain spocket as Stihl call it; the thing that drives the chain.  This is a wear item and it is recommended it is changed every 2 chains, ok for Stihl and Husky owners, for other brands?
  3. [quote user="Will"]I think unless the windows you are replacing are absolutely disgusting and out of keeping, it is always a good idea to replace like with like, at least appearance-wise. You see so many examples, in France as well as Britain, of inappropriate styles of windows for the building. Even something like a typical British 1930s semi can be visually ruined by fitting mock-Georgian panes or leaded lights, when it would be so easy to keep the style (though a good idea to change the material) of the original steel-framed windows.[/quote] Absolutely - well said that man!
  4. I think this needs a bit more thought.  The 2 ratings on the motor will be running load and max overload.  They are nothing to do with the in-rush current on start up.  That will be many times greater than the 8.9A quoted running current.  The MCB feeding the motor will be a special one that allows a large in-rush current for a small period of time to stop it tripping during start-up. A generator will max out at a certain load and if this is insufficient, ie less than the in-rush current of the motor, the motor will not start, buzz, and trip the breaker. This is assuming there are not some fancy electronics in line with the motor giving it a "soft start"? Single phase motors are horrible things to start, more so, if they are fully loaded, just as in this application with a ton of sewage to shift from a stand still.... Clair, you need to look at some generator specs and see if any quote being able to start 2kW motors on full load.  It will need kitting out with a motor type MCB.  I suspect you will be into commercial stuff and the  price will be high (diesel, well you must have big pockets, but if its going to run for days on end, its the only way to go).  Also, try and find out the specs of the motor from the manufacturer, they should be able to tell you what the in-rush current is and that will allow you to spec a genny. Is there not a manual pump handle you could use?  Or may be consider an additional manual  pump? PS, Dont fancy being the man called out to repair that pump when its stuffed![+o(]
  5. [quote user="Will "]Even I can make an informed guess about what a sat engineer is as it's in the Satellite TV etc section of the forum. But sat and kit have other meanings of course, so the mind is working overtime [:)]  And I wonder where he has installed himself? Yes, the problems are his, that's why he wants to pay a proper engineer. I am sure such people get a more than fair bit of business from adjusting people's own attempts. [/quote] OK apologies for my arsey response.  Its just the tone of the post that got me.  Having been in the domestic electronics repair business in a previous life you get to recognise certain types of questions and just know if you get involved its going to give you grief.   The customer knows his kit, buys it cheap, knows how to connect it, then when problems occur he comes asking for help, not in an open way, but a loaded way that means he ain't going to pay much!  Of course (??), this doesn't apply here, so again apologies from me - jumping to conclusions - again!  [6]
  6. oh and when you install stuff yourself, the problems are yours!
  7. What's a sat engineer?  Taken kit over what? Make yourself clear man!
  8. Yes, this is a bit of a problem and I think the fix is to tell XP a little lie in that its located in UK and not France. Another fix (may be) would be to check out the Nero etc and there might be a language setting. Another angle to take is leave it and use it to improve your french - you'll soon get the hang of  it!
  9. I too have been told about using a small dead animal to seed the fosse.  All the additives you can buy today are so confusing and very expensive.  To me, they just seem to be there because the marketing depts have found something to sell and the confusion is all part of it!  I'm sure they work, in part, but if the fosse is correctly installed and sized it should run for years without problem, without additives.  However, problems occur when the use is irregular eg in a gite install and there are many a gite I've been to were the fosse stinks.  Months on end without use, then it is expected to cope with 6 peoples waste full time for 2 weeks, then just 2 people etc etc.  Does any one have a cure for this problem (maybe flushing a rat every 2weeks [:P]) ?
  10. [quote user="Teamedup"]Try Photostation, they are a national company and in most big towns and cities.[/quote] Many thanks, I'll look out for them.
  11. I'm looking for P&P for a sensible price in France.  Is there a postal service anyone?  I've tried various places and had 1 film P&P'd to date at a cost of over 20 € for 36.  This to me seemed a rip off - and no it wasn't a pro service! I used to use the Kodak service in Tescos (dans Angleterre) at a cost of under £4 for 36, far more reasonable.  I appreciate times have changed very quickly in the P&P world with digital killing the market - I too have gone digital, but I dont 'alf miss my Nikons (F3 and  F2) with their wonderful lenses....................
  12. Are you sure that the yucky yellow is just not french paint - they (the french that is) seem to have a likely for yucky yellow decor! As fpr cleaning nicotine damaged interiors, you've got alot of hard and horrible work ahead of you.  It is almost impossible to remove, it will always smell of that disgusting habit and your hands are going to stink like a smoker's for ages.  OK I have a thing about smokers, and the damage they do to the environment.  Sorry, I have nothing to add re the question of how to clean the damage, except you should seriously consider getting professional cleaners in if its really bad.  I hope the purchase price of the house reflected this as I understand it can devalue a property by up to 20%!!.
  13. Re the memory, tres bon advice Albert, min 1Gb, 512Mb is pants these days.  Doubling up to 2Gb is also a good idea for the use you suggest so long as you use the same memory type.  However, any more and its a waste on an XP system, you will need Vista to make use of more than 2gig. Laptop price is very good, albeit quite a low spec machine, great for office and surfing, but not much else and of course, with a laptop, the upgrade path is difficult.
  14. is it available in 3 phase?  perhaps you could post the link........[:D][:D][:D] Re the laptop, do you really want a lap top or would a desk top do?  The reason I ask - and of its course your decision ! - is that a much better spec machine can be had for the same money if you stick with a desktop. Lap tops are for moving about, taking to site, in the car etc.  Ideal if thats the intended use, but to use in the home, they become a pain: always having to plug in the cables - power, modem, network, USB printer. external keyboard & mouse, everytime you want to use the thing.  and those infernal multi function keyboards - well, they test the patience of a saint. For the same money a super spec desk top can be had.......just a thought.
  15. I think the disc will be for Win98 etc PCs (god are they still around!) and will be the USB drivers for those systems.  WinXP is already USB setup, so you dont need to run the disc.  But without seeing it no guarantees! Just connect the player to the PC, it will then probably ask you want you want to do.  If not, run windows explorer (right click the start button, click explore) and you should see the player listed as a drive.  You simply save your music to it, either via Explorer or one of the many music apps that are available. It may say its sleeping because the batts are flat??  Are they built in rechargables, if so it'll take a while for them to charge via the USB.  Sorry cant see which player you have, the link fails. Hope this helps
  16. Dear Heidi H, It was only a joke - honest [:D] I know what you mean about glue on the floor.  We had the same problem on oak floor boards - in the Kitchen!!  What these French get up to.  I solved the problem with a belt sander and 36 (I think?) grade paper.  It took quite a while to do, and many changes of paper, before we could start to use the finer grades and finish with 120s, but it was worth it in the end.
  17. Hi Clair, Re Zone Alarm, it can cause all sorts of strange behavior until set up properly.  Suggest you disable ZA and then try printing etc. Can you print from any application - try a Windows test print?  I know fingers are being pointed at IE7, but it seems to me something else is going in here....[:)]
  18. I'd also be getting that mongrel dad the snip ASAP before he causing any more grief.  Should have been done years ago! Shame about the pure alsation though.....
  19. Carpets - so British - next you'll have the central heating on at night! 
  20. Sorry Cheryl, need to add to the above post.  It could be 2 phase!!  400V 2 line connections.  You need to measure it out to be certain.  This is why you really should get a pro in.
  21. Still on line Cheryl, quick reply.  If the water heater has only 1 line connection and a neutral - its single phase!  Look at the connections, maybe a drawing in the termination cover?  A 3 phase / singlephase heater will have a series of straps to configure the heater as single phase (all elements in parallel) or delta (400v 3 ph, no neutral) or maybe star for 230V 3 phase (neutral in the middle).  Difficult to explain without a drawing.
  22. Hi, Suggest you give EDF a call, but before you do that have a think what you want  to achieve.  3x15A (9kVA) is low for a modern household and if you really want an electric hob then you would have to upgrade this anyway.  EDF have the annoying policy of charging for the abonnement based on the supply rating - 9kVA in your case.  Whilst this may be good for people with little demand,  its not good for the modern household with high demand. Are you sure you have no 3 phase devices - well pump or water heater may be?  3 phase has advantages ( speak to any DIY workshop owner in the UK running on single phase - they'd give good money to be able to run 3 phase motors, without those  'orrible convertors).  But for a domestic household, sans motors, 3 phase is mostly a pain, dangerous and expensive to set up. If you stick with 3 phase, consider a gas hob / oven with a single electric plate (quite common in France).  Also, look at how the phases are used and try to even out the load.  Warning, ensure the earth bonding is good, cross bond all metal work and test (tug the terminations!).    Last thing you want is an earth leakage problem on 2 adjacent devices plugged into different phases!!!  If you move to single phase a certain amount of rewiring in the distribution box will be required along with new single phase RCDs.  For an electric hob / oven a 6 mm cable is required. Do not use English T&E, its interdit in France. In conclusion, you need an electrician to survey and advise you based on your requirements.  What's certain is that the existing set up needs a good look over for your best interests and safety. It would not surprise me, if those 3 phase sockets are connected directly to the EDf  disjoncteur with only 500mA of leakage protection (more than enough to kill you........).
  23. Whooooo  stop.......  that sounds like a 3 phase socket.  Measure the voltage between any 2 live feeds, and it should read 400V - see warning in next para. If you don't know what you're doing (and by the fact you asked this question, you don't) Don't Mess!!   Be very careful with 3 phase electric - it can bite......very hard, and I would recommend you call in a professional to connect your hob. pcwhizz
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