Thanks for letting me know how you got on, glad you got it sorted in the end.

Hi
I tried PTFE tape but it was almost impossible to get the tape up the thread far enough.  However, I tried and refitted the nut to the sinks underside. Result... Still leaking, but a lot less!  
So Ive taken the proverbal Bull by the Horns, ripped it all out, cleaned off all the silicon from the top and undersides of the sink and purchased a new Click Clack waste.  Re applied more silicon before fitting the new waste outlet and Bingo...  No leak!   I guess the former outlet was faulty in the thread area and just wouldn't seal 100%.
Thanks for the suggestions anyway.

As you’ve done such a thorough job on sealing round the washers the only option is the threads. I’ve had the very occasional leak this way, I think the thread is cut too loose allowing water to track down. PTFE tape should fix it.

woodsmith wrote on Oct 19^th, 2023, 8:23am:

Hard to say exactly where the leak is coming from as its almost impossible to see, but the thread is wet. Will try some PTFE tape on the thread and refit nut.     What I cant grasp is why its leaking in the first place, as there are two separate layers of Silicon mastic used, one under the rims washer around the bowls upper surface and the second underneath behind the thicker washer!

The ones I’ve fitted had a softer thicker washer at the top yours maybe different? Where exactly is it leaking? It’s possible it’s a faulty fitting and it’s leaking around the screw threads, in which case you could try winding PTFE tape around the threads to create a seal.

Hi
Thanks for the reply.
The wastes instructions (copied below) clearly show the thinner washer against the ceramic basin top and the thicker washer underneath against the basin underside and immediately behind the locking nut?

Unfortunately you’ve put the washers the wrong way round! The soft thicker one goes under the rim of the waste, the thin one goes between the nut and the sink. If the washers are ok then you shouldn’t need any sealant. If you do need to add sealant use it very sparingly and just smear a thin layer on each surface of the two washers. Some sinks are manufactured in a way that makes getting a good seal unreasonably difficult but using a lot of sealant is usually counterproductive.

Hi all,
I'm being driven made by a leaking click clack waste.  Originally a new waste was fitted to a sink wash basen and only the supplied two sealing washers were used. One thin one between sink top and waste undersides the other thicker washer to the sinks underside and the plastic fixing nut tightened onto this washer.  The fitting leaked!  
I removed the waste and applied a bead of white mastic to the sinks dried and cleaned waste hole and also around sinks underside. Then refitted the waste with the two washers. Left it for some 16 hours before testing with water and It Leaked!  
Should the two supplied washers be used? Or should the waste be seated top and bottom in just a fresh application of mastic?

Far too cheap!  You be looking at £105-145 around here for 2-3 hrs.

Decent branded light bulbs won’t glow.  Cheaper ones can.  The capacitor snubbers don’t need to go every fitting, just one per switch.

Good evening.

I am needing to buy a new electric cooker and we are looking to upgrade from conventional element to one with a fan oven. On the website we are buying from it says it needs to be hard wired to a 45amp fuse.

My question is this... does that mean 45amp at the cooker switch on the wall or 45amp at the consumer unit?

That seems incredibly cheap. I’ve just been quoted £262 to service my oil boiler which is a lot less work. Not going to pay that though but £40 is a bargain. Wish he lived near me.

Problem has been sorted just curious as to the price charged.
Micro bore to radiator `weeping` to the point boiler pressure would drop too low around 7-10 days.
Plumber drained system, repaired pipe, (it had been tightened a couple of times over 2 years for same issue) filled system + inhibitor, checked system for leakage.  Total time 2-3 hours approx.
Charged £40

Plumbing is not something I like to DIY.  

Fair price (Scotland) ?

Hi,
I have an issue with this Boiler the Pump Proving pin is not rising. (One on top of the Diverter Valve)
I have Rebuilt the Diverter valve. Cleaned the bypass pipe.
When i turn the Water on the pin does not raise But the Hot water Priority one does come out. If i push the micro switch on the top of the diverter the boiler fires.
Could it be the pump? The pump is spinning.
Or Anything else as got no hot water and feeling a bit of a hermit stuck in our boiler cupboard
Thanks in advance.

Using a dimmer and LED lamps I often find the LED lamps produce so called 'Ghosting' when Off. i.e. they glow slightly.  Today, my 25watt LED R7s tube arrived and was fitted to a Daughter and Child floor standing up lighter in place of the 150watt Halogen tube, in an attempt to save energy/money! But LED ghosting occurred. The same happened when I replaced two parallel wired ceiling light lamp fittings with LED lamps instead of the 6 x 40 watt filament lamps. Here I have had to replace one LED lamp in each fitting with a standard filament lamp, which immediately stopped the ghosting effect. See topic herehttps://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1646071303

It seems there are two fixes 1) Use a dimmer with neutral capacity or 2) Fit a special capacitor across the load. But this means several capacitors would be needed - one for each light fitting!  These are not cheap either.

Question...Is it a case now in the UK that having a neutral at the wall switch is a common wiring practice? I have always seen and used loop in wiring at the ceiling rose with just line and switched line being at the wall switch.  To add a neutral and a specal dimmer would involve a lot of work rewiring, chasing walls and the special dimmer costs!  Hardly any saving then!!  

Or am I missing something??

It's two way switching, or two way and intermediate to switch from more than one position.

It's common to have the centre light switched from the door and both sides of the bed, and then bedside wall lights switched either just at each side of the bed, or also from the door.

So you would have the centre light 2 way and intermediate switched (3 positions) and the wall lights 2 way switched (each). a 3 gang switch at the door, and 2 2 gang switches at the bed.

If you use Click Mini-grid, you can have an intermediate switch mixed with the 2 way switches.

I’m assuming you will want a central light controlled by a switch by the door plus two bedside wall lights each controlled by a switch by the door and a switch by the bed. For that you will need a 3 gang light switch by the door and two one gang light switches either side of the bed each controlling the light at that side of the bed. If you are not going to be there then clearly mark the walls where you want the switches and lights to be fitted.

Hi,
I’d like to have a switch at the bedroom door which will switch both bedside wall lights off or on with individual light switches each side of the bed which will switch on/off the light above.

I’ve tried to explain this in an email to an electrician who is quoting for work but have failed to convey what I want as I don’t know what correct terms are I won’t be at the house when he comes over to quote.

I found this thread useful when trying to fix a GSI Panorama seat. It is a case of pulling out the horizontal metal pegs, which have no cap at the end or screw thread inside. I was able to extract one trying a series of tools:pliers, screwdriver, hammer. The other refused to budge, even using a mallet and screwdriver to try and chisel it out with some force. I ended up pulling out the whole fixing from the hole in the ceramic part of the loo. It was very corroded and I think this type of fixing is unsuitable for a hard water area.Even with the seat off I couldn't get the peg out.I ordered a new seat with soft close hinges and this while also having the awful butterfly clips, which I dreaded losing down the hole forever, at least does not have the same problem with the hinges

Looks great.

If you ever need to make much smaller lights, you can buy loose "filament" of the sort that you see in the filament style LED bulbs.  

Only issue is they cant be cut to length. But they are available in different lengths and can be chained together. Excess can be painted black etc.

Bulbs not seated correctly, or lamp holders/bulbs faulty.

It should make absolutely no difference which way round a light fitting is connected to the live and neutral supply so my guess is the light fitting itself is faulty.

I have bought a ceiling light second hand but cannot work out how to wire it in order for it to work properly. The fitting has three lights and each on has a live and neutral wire which all convert into two contacts (see pic). There is a single live and single neutral wire coming from the ceiling.

I initially connected one of the points on the fitting to the live ceiling wire and the other to the neutral wire but only two of the bulbs worked. When I swapped then around, a different bulb stopped working. Any help would be appreciated!

My guess is something is stuck in the filter built into the hose union at the water inlet to the machine. If there is nothing obvious it would be worth flushing the hose out just in case there is something in there.

I fitted a new Beko dishwasher for someone a few weeks ago.  Today it has started making a whistling noise when it is filling with water.  the noise changes pitch when you turn the cold tap on, so i'm confident it is just the running water that is making the noise.  Any suggestions as to why it has started doing this and how i could stop it?

If you find out where your water meter is situated then it’s likely they would choose the shortest distance between it and your stop tap. When moving a stop tap I always fitted it as close to where it entered the house as possible. I assume that you want to relocate the sink to the island which is going to entail digging the floor up to fit the drain pipe which is a bigger job than running water pipes as you need to ensure that you give it the correct fall. Unless there is access under the floor I always try to dissuade customers from fitting plumbing into an island when they have a solid floor. Normally once they realise the costs involved we can work out a better plan.

Evening All, I am after some advice please. I live in a Taylor Wimpey home built in 2016. I want to change the confit of my kitchen which was part of standard build with the house. We are looking at opening it up with Bifold doors and an island in the middle of the kitchen. Under the sink by the back window the main stop cock comes into the house. How and what’s the best approach to relocating that into the island as this area will be replaced by bifold doors. My dad believes it’s a concrete slab with screed but I am confused to what’s the best approach to reclaiming that mains into the island - can anyone help please ?  Would this pipe of come straight from the front under the house or would they have gone round. Can anyone recommend what’s the best approach with this

Thanks everyone for the replies. Problem solved - there was a leak is the pipework - finally manifested itself last night when some water came through ceiling. Turned out to be a screw holding floorboad nicked a pipe causing ever so small drip. Plumber said it must have been there for some considerable time as screw was almost rusted away.

If you pressurise the system and then leave the boiler off does it still lose pressure? Or only lose pressure when the boiler fires up?

Thanks for the reply. As said originally I have searched ( a lot of the pipework is surface mounted so can be seen) the system for leaks and cannot find one. There is no sign of water on ceilings or walls, the new rad has been checked - no leak there. The system loses pressure in about an hour so if there is a leak it would have produced a wet patch somewhere. The system is topped up daily and the amount of air that is vented is significant. I will keep trying various options and see what actuall fixes the problem.