The DIY thread

[Stevo985]

14 hours ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

Na you won't need to.

Just apply a shellac base primer to the caulked area in question, Leave it to dry for 12 hours and the paint will apply easily go on just fine.  

Thanks! That's incredibly useful!

[Genie]

On 06/06/2023 at 12:39, Stevo985 said:

I caulked the shit out of it in the end and it looks good. It's probably a horror show underneath but oh well.

The only mistake I made was using caulk that can't be painted over so might have to dig it out and start again

I thought the point of caulk was to be paintable… did you use silicone instead? That doesn’t let paint stick to it.

[Stevo985]

26 minutes ago, Genie said:

I thought the point of caulk was to be paintable… did you use silicone instead? That doesn’t let paint stick to it.

I probably did yeah

[Genie]

22 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

I probably did yeah

At least you know it’s not going to leak  

[AvfcRigo82]

1 hour ago, Stevo985 said:

Thanks! That's incredibly useful!

 

50 minutes ago, Genie said:

did you use silicone instead? That doesn’t let paint stick to it.

 

24 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

I probably did yeah

Has it dried rubbery with a flexible bouncy type feel to it? If so then that is silicone. You should remove it and replace with caulk ideally.  

[Genie]

2 minutes ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

Has it dried rubbery with a flexible bouncy type feel to it? If so then that is silicone. You should remove it and replace with caulk ideally.  

Yep, it should come out easily and caulk is only a couple of quid per tube. It’s one of those jobs I quite like for some reason (caulking woodwork / siliconing the bath).

[Marka Ragnos]

A gfci outlet -- in the UK I think it's called RCD? -- in one of our bathrooms has failed. The whole outlet seems to have stopped working. Of course, I tried to reset it, but no joy. I checked for current (I have one of those little current-indicator "pens") and nothing shows up through the plug-in receptacles. No fuse has been tripped either. I bought a new GFCI outlet tonight from the DYI store. I guess I will take the old one off, check the hot wires for current, and if there is still current, throw in the new outlet. But what does it mean if there's no current at all through the hot wire? Am I ****? Time to call an electrician?

Edited June 11, 2023 by Marka Ragnos

[sidcow]

8 hours ago, Marka Ragnos said:

A gfci outlet -- in the UK I think it's called RCD? -- in one of our bathrooms has failed. The whole outlet seems to have stopped working. Of course, I tried to reset it, but no joy. I checked for current (I have one of those little current-indicator "pens") and nothing shows up through the plug-in receptacles. No fuse has been tripped either. I bought a new GFCI outlet tonight from the DYI store. I guess I will take the old one off, check the hot wires for current, and if there is still current, throw in the new outlet. But what does it mean if there's no current at all through the hot wire? Am I ****? Time to call an electrician?

Can't answer your question but I think in the UK we would call them a trip switch. 

Never ever seen one built into a socket though we're not mental like Americans so you're actually not allowed a plug socket in a bathroom, you can only have a low voltage shaver socket. 

[Genie]

8 hours ago, Marka Ragnos said:

A gfci outlet -- in the UK I think it's called RCD? -- in one of our bathrooms has failed. The whole outlet seems to have stopped working. Of course, I tried to reset it, but no joy. I checked for current (I have one of those little current-indicator "pens") and nothing shows up through the plug-in receptacles. No fuse has been tripped either. I bought a new GFCI outlet tonight from the DYI store. I guess I will take the old one off, check the hot wires for current, and if there is still current, throw in the new outlet. But what does it mean if there's no current at all through the hot wire? Am I ****? Time to call an electrician?

Have you done any drilling anywhere recently? Put up some shelves or pictures? Maybe you’ve cut the wire somewhere in a wall or floor and there’s no power getting to the socket/outlet any longer.

[Guest av1]

9 hours ago, Marka Ragnos said:

A gfci outlet -- in the UK I think it's called RCD? -- in one of our bathrooms has failed. The whole outlet seems to have stopped working. Of course, I tried to reset it, but no joy. I checked for current (I have one of those little current-indicator "pens") and nothing shows up through the plug-in receptacles. No fuse has been tripped either. I bought a new GFCI outlet tonight from the DYI store. I guess I will take the old one off, check the hot wires for current, and if there is still current, throw in the new outlet. But what does it mean if there's no current at all through the hot wire? Am I ****? Time to call an electrician?

A couple of things here. Voltage indicator pens are useful but shouldn’t be trusted, so make sure you properly isolate before swapping the outlet. 
 

A RCD is basically just a coil which the live and nuetral pass through. Current should be the same at every part of a circuit, so if the coil detects an imbalance it trips. Like any electronic device these can fail. 
 

But if you’ve voltage indicator is working correctly and you have no power to the outlet, then the problem is the supply. I know you said you checked the MCB (trip switch) but these can also fail, did you check there is power on the outgoing side of the switch? 

Edited June 11, 2023 by av1

[Guest av1]

51 minutes ago, sidcow said:

Can't answer your question but I think in the UK we would call them a trip switch. 

Never ever seen one built into a socket though we're not mental like Americans so you're actually not allowed a plug socket in a bathroom, you can only have a low voltage shaver socket. 

Depending on how big your bathroom is you can actually have sockets in a bathroom. 
 

Electrically a bathroom is split into zones. Your bath or shower is classed as Zone 0 and at different distances these expand out to zones 1 and 2. Basically you can have a socket if it’s located out of these zone, which is 3m. 

[sidcow]

39 minutes ago, av1 said:

Depending on how big your bathroom is you can actually have sockets in a bathroom. 
 

Electrically a bathroom is split into zones. Your bath or shower is classed as Zone 0 and at different distances these expand out to zones 1 and 2. Basically you can have a socket if it’s located out of these zone, which is 3m. 

That's no comfort to Mrs Sidcow.  I've got a 4m lead on the 3 bar electric fire so she still can't take a bath. 

[Marka Ragnos]

2 hours ago, Genie said:

Have you done any drilling anywhere recently? Put up some shelves or pictures? Maybe you’ve cut the wire somewhere in a wall or floor and there’s no power getting to the socket/outlet any longer.

I did do some drilling outside into masonry but quite distant from this area of the house.  I don't think it had any impact, in truth. It was just for exterior brick work.

2 hours ago, av1 said:

A couple of things here. Voltage indicator pens are useful but shouldn’t be trusted, so make sure you properly isolate before swapping the outlet. 
 

A RCD is basically just a coil which the live and nuetral pass through. Current should be the same at every part of a circuit, so if the coil detects an imbalance it trips. Like any electronic device these can fail. 
 

But if you’ve voltage indicator is working correctly and you have no power to the outlet, then the problem is the supply. I know you said you checked the MCB (trip switch) but these can also fail, did you check there is power on the outgoing side of the switch? 

Thanks for the heads-up on the pen. I had not heard that, but it gives me pause.Yes, I will absolute cut the power before touching anything. I haven't taken the wall plate off the outlet yet, but the pen doesn't indicate any power around the outlet. I will update you today when I take the wall plate off. Thank you!

[Guest av1]

16 minutes ago, Marka Ragnos said:

I did do some drilling outside into masonry but quite distant from this area of the house.  I don't think it had any impact, in truth. It was just for exterior brick work.

Thanks for the heads-up on the pen. I had not heard that, but it gives me pause.Yes, I will absolute cut the power before touching anything. I haven't taken the wall plate off the outlet yet, but the pen doesn't indicate any power around the outlet. I will update you today when I take the wall plate off. Thank you!

If you haven’t taken the outlet plate off mate the pen won’t read any voltage. 
 

The best thing to do with the pen  when you’re using it is try confirm it works on a known source. 
 

1) Put pen on something you know is live to confirm it works

2) Put pen on whatever you are checking 

3) Put pen on known live part again. 
 

I’m an electrician so happy for you to post/DM any photos if you’re having issues . 

Edited June 11, 2023 by av1

[Marka Ragnos]

3 hours ago, av1 said:

If you haven’t taken the outlet plate off mate the pen won’t read any voltage. 
 

The best thing to do with the pen  when you’re using it is try confirm it works on a known source. 
 

1) Put pen on something you know is live to confirm it works

2) Put pen on whatever you are checking 

3) Put pen on known live part again. 
 

I’m an electrician so happy for you to post/DM any photos if you’re having issues . 

Excellent. Thank you.  I will post pix soon! My explanation was unclear, sorry. My voltage tester's tip fits into the outlet. I tried on some working outlets and it worked. 

 

[Marka Ragnos]

4 hours ago, av1 said:

If you haven’t taken the outlet plate off mate the pen won’t read any voltage. 
 

The best thing to do with the pen  when you’re using it is try confirm it works on a known source. 
 

1) Put pen on something you know is live to confirm it works

2) Put pen on whatever you are checking 

3) Put pen on known live part again. 
 

I’m an electrician so happy for you to post/DM any photos if you’re having issues . 

Here's the outlet that failed and my replacement. It also seemed to have destroyed my very expensive electric razor, too -- luckily that was under warranty and replaced by Philiips. That was plugged in when the outlet failed. I should have said that before -- sorry. 

 

 

Edited June 11, 2023 by Marka Ragnos

[Guest av1]

16 hours ago, Marka Ragnos said:

Here's the outlet that failed and my replacement. It also seemed to have destroyed my very expensive electric razor, too -- luckily that was under warranty and replaced by Philiips. That was plugged in when the outlet failed. I should have said that before -- sorry. 

 

 

If it has damaged your razor you obviously have power at the outlet, which means that the outlet itself has failed. Swap it over and you should be grand. 
 

Whilst not entirely familiar with American products a failed outlet shouldn’t have damaged your razor, so the other possibility is that your razor has failed which in turn has damaged your outlet. 

[Follyfoot]

Not sure if this is the right place for this? We had a barbecue at the weekend and the father-in-law said the best thing to do with the grill to clean it is leave it upside down in some grass overnight and the stuck on bits of meat will just wipe off easily the next morning. 
 

I thought this would probably be rubbish as I’ve had many an hour, trying to clean those things in the past my good God it works brilliantly

[Seat68]

45 minutes ago, Follyfoot said:

Not sure if this is the right place for this? We had a barbecue at the weekend and the father-in-law said the best thing to do with the grill to clean it is leave it upside down in some grass overnight and the stuck on bits of meat will just wipe off easily the next morning. 
 

I thought this would probably be rubbish as I’ve had many an hour, trying to clean those things in the past my good God it works brilliantly

Woah, I have questions here, so you just pop it on grass, cooking side down? then you wash it the next day, and its easier to clean? This sounds like voodoo, and I am not sure I trust voodoo.

[foreveryoung]

58 minutes ago, Follyfoot said:

Not sure if this is the right place for this? We had a barbecue at the weekend and the father-in-law said the best thing to do with the grill to clean it is leave it upside down in some grass overnight and the stuck on bits of meat will just wipe off easily the next morning. 
 

I thought this would probably be rubbish as I’ve had many an hour, trying to clean those things in the past my good God it works brilliantly

But but, what about the environment, a tree Hugger would tell you all that carbon is not good for the surface of the earth.