Hints & Tips

[woodbine]

Originally Posted by leadpig

its also far easier to sit on the floor and push the washing machine with your feet,it just slides in

Yes, don't do what I did. The floor underneath the work suface where my new machine was to be situated was concrete. The machine didn't slide very easily on this, but went in by pushing it in with my knees on the front of the machine.

As i stepped back to admire the machine, you guessed it, there were dents from my knees in the front panel of the machine!

[justlead1]

Hi When hanging rads. (pipe clips etc) measure the height of the top screw hole, that gives you the rad height you want. Transfer on to a piece of wood, put a nail or screw through the wood on the mark so the end projects say 15 mm. Just put the end on the floor and scribe the height as you fix each rad. (if your fussy drill a hole to insert a pencil)

[Plouasne]

If working in a new house (walls plastered screed not yet laid) establish a datum point and work from that, for fixing rads etc

I once had a job where I was told that the "slab" was a bit "out", I'll say it was over 6" in 20', I asked where the datum was, what's that, was the reply, I asked where the highest point was, told that it was by the front door, this was the time before laser levels, so used a water level and ran a datum round all the walls, the plasters (who had built the house) took great delight in standing on the tube and shouting out "up a bit, down a bit" when we were setting out the datum points in each room, we had the last laugh though, they worked to the bottom of the rads when laying the floor

A laser level, is the thing now, single handed setting out now

If running vertical pipework close to a wall, and the wall is not "plumb", but only slightly out of "plumb", follow the wall line, and do not fix the pipework vertical, it will only emphasise the the out of verticality of the wall, and the eye will be deceived, and think that the pipes are out of "plumb"

[Bernie2]

Originally Posted by leadpig

acetylene is concaved at the bottom with a surrounding plate to keep it vertical,peg what the feck are you smoking,in17 years of using acetylene ive seen no peg

i know exactly what there for,as do most other plumbers on here,stop being patronising

Hi! Leadpig

The fusible metal pressure relief plug in the concave cylinder bottom as well as the top. It melts at about 100C and blows out the gas if it overheats.

The bit about flashback arrestors was written as a statement of the obvious and so people should supply them without thinking, but do they?

You might know about oxy acetylene but does a person who doesn't use flashback arrestors. The article was written for those new to the trade not the old hands.

And I am certainly not patronising anybody as far as I know, just trying to be helpful, if I have been I apologise.

If your using a long vertical plumb line in a wind, dangle the weight in a bucket of water, helps stop it swinging about.

If you want to make a plumb line of a specific weight.

Get an old bayonet light bulb of about size weight you want and remove the brass collar.

Place bulb carefully in sand bucket.

Bend nail for line hook and dangle centrally in bulb collar.

Weigh and melt lead and pour into bulb.

When set break glass and you have a plumb weight of the right weight.

[stevetheplumber]

If running vertical pipework close to a wall, and the wall is not "plumb", but only slightly out of "plumb", follow the wall line, and do not fix the pipework vertical, it will only emphasise the the out of verticality of the wall, and the eye will be deceived, and think that the pipes are out of "plumb"[/quote]

i plumb everything regardless of the state of the walls if the customer argues that the pipes are crocked you just put the level on to prove there not
ive had this argument several times mostly regarding rads under window sills They cant argue with the bubble

[Beeline]

If you have a small bit of patching up to do with plaster and want to save some time waiting for it to set, first thing in the morning put half a handful of plaster into a couple of litres "ish" of water (thats a guess, i just do it by eye) and mix it up and put in back of van - it should be watery.
When you come to mix the plaster later in the day pour in the pre mixed water with your mix then hurry up. The pre mix has started the chemical reaction that makes plaster "go off" so it "goes off" very quickly.
Some good tips on here, thanks all.

[Platinum]

if you're in a jam and need a compression cap simply use a straight compression coupling with a 5 pence piece to make the cap end (put 5p into nut followed by olive) This also works if you want to blank off rad valves!

[Plouasne]

A piece of insertion rubber and reinforced insertion rubber, also a piece of "Klingerite" (sp), they only need to be about 15cms (6 inches) square can get you out of trouble when you need an odd size washer, or ball valve washer, a small tin of tallow together with a stump of candle can help you when screwing pipe, with stocks and dies or screwing screws home, and they start to bind before they are home

A chalk line also has its uses

[MarkB]

When removing a radiator, count the number of turns it takes to close the locksheild and write it on a piece of masking tape stuck to the radiator.

[Plouasne]

W/C syphon's and replacement parts

The "C" links can be made to the exact size as the old, by using a brass welding rod, bent to the same size as the old one

The plastic displacer washers can be cut from an old plastic fertiliser bag, or any heavy duty plastic sheet, those with a brass displacer plate is another matter