The angry thread

EtchedPixels · March 20, 2014, 03:16:47 PM

Quote from: Dorsetmike on March 20, 2014, 01:44:58 PM
Problem is the house is going on the market today and I will probably be going into a flat in a retirement block where there is a laundry room so don't really want to get a new WM (assuming it's not a quick/cheap fix)

You can still rent washing machines, or you could buy a real cheap one - I guess it'll just about last 3-6 months

Kipper · March 20, 2014, 04:18:27 PM

A few years back, I bought some "Chinese Lantern" seeds and some "Joseph's Coat" plants. Both grew well, and looked good, but next year, I found them coming up all over the garden and in the lawn. They both send out long underground runners, and take over the garden. Took three years to get rid of. And don't get me started on next doors bamboo (now mine as well)!

Dorsetmike · March 20, 2014, 06:23:50 PM

Found a S/H Imdesit with 6 month guarantee at the British Heart Foundation shop for £90, + delivery, that will arrive Saturday, somebody is coming tomorow to take the old one away, presume either for spares or refurb.

Kipper · March 20, 2014, 07:58:33 PM

Another mixed message here, I am afraid. Had to get a plumber out, as my toilet cistern was driving me mad - flushing OK, but squealing on fill up, and then over filling. Basic call out charge was £70, which covered the first hour, plus parts and extra if over the hour. He found the problem quickly, but did not have the part, and had to go to a plumber's merchant to get it. Watched time clocking up, and thought that was a good wheeze - spending a couple of hours getting the part (or doing another job down the road). Took him two hours in total to finish the job, but only charged for part on top of the £70, which was pretty good, I thought. He then said he had fixed a leak under the cistern as well - so fair play in the end, but £105 to fit a part that was £20 at B&Q.
Good part was he was interested(ish) in the layout I am putting together. "Aren't those trains small", said he, "are they clockwork?". Thought I had a convert to N gauge, for a nanosecond!

MikeDunn · March 20, 2014, 08:21:39 PM

Had a problem with the upstairs loo a year or two back; had a quote & then replaced it all myself for a quarter of the price !

Had a failure on part of the auto-shut off over this Winter (the overflow overflowed into the loo all the time); spoke with the supplier, they ID'd the part I needed & I replaced for under a tenner (including postage - the local supplier wanted more than that for the same packet & would take 5 days to get it in; the web supplier I went to had it with me the next day ...). Reckon a plumber would have been £100+ for that one ...

And ... I had a problem with the back door with the high winds the other week. Got a chippie in the other day for a quote - a tad under £1000 ... No prizes for guessing what I'll be doing @ Easter ... and it's not making cups of tea for the chippie !!!

Mike

Kipper · March 20, 2014, 08:28:44 PM

Amazing that I can mess with cars and N gauge, but mains electricity and water are two no go areas for me. And I know I am no longer allowed to play with mains electrics, by law, now, but years ago I gave myself a jolt that I would not want to repeat! ANd torrents of water running down the stairs put me off plumbing as well.

Agrippa · March 20, 2014, 08:37:14 PM

When I was about 12 my parents gave me an old mains radio to mess about with .
I was poking about in its innards when I got a shock. Only lasted a fraction of a second but by God it shook me up. Parents' reaction was not too sympathetic,
"Serves you right for messing with things you don't understand ".

Newportnobby · March 20, 2014, 09:01:50 PM

I was about the same age (12) when I pulled a plug from a socket without switching the power off. My fingers slipped off the plug onto the pins and I was thrown across the room

I was scared witless (or something that rhymes) at the time but actually felt quite good afterwards!

Oldman · March 20, 2014, 09:18:02 PM

Quote from: Kipper on March 20, 2014, 08:28:44 PM
Amazing that I can mess with cars and N gauge, but mains electricity and water are two no go areas for me.

Have you tried jolts from a 24v truck battery or dodgy HT Leads fed by high performance coils - that wakes you up.

Sprintex · March 20, 2014, 10:44:32 PM

Funny the one time I got a mains shock it didn't feel that bad.

At my last job I was unofficial office "handyman" as I can do most practical things. One day the one and only light bulb in the mens loo had blown so I went in to change it. Making sure the switch was OFF first

I unscrewed the old bulb and screwed a new one in. Switched on and . . . nothing! Switched OFF and took new bulb out again and had a look inside holder to see that the base contact was squashed and bent out of shape. So with switch still OFF, and a chair holding the door open so I'd have some light from the corridor to work with, I set about trying to straighten the contact out with my fingers. This is where it starts to go wrong

Struggling to see what I was doing, and with my fingers still inside the holder, I absentmindedly thought I'd turn on the light to see better . . . oh dear!

About two seconds of weird buzzing down my arm was enough for me to switch it off again

Paul

Bob Wild · March 20, 2014, 11:53:35 PM

As a child my father looked after a Turkish Bath. There was so much steam and condensation that I often got a belt from the light switch when I went down there exploring after dark - nobody seemed too concerned to stop it ?!?

Michael Shillabeer · March 21, 2014, 08:20:30 AM

A few years ago a friend of mine was helping to remove old night-store heaters. They were on the 'white meter' tarrif, so I switched off the white fuse box circuit , leaving the brown fuse box on.

It was only after we'd finished and put the kettle on that we realised I'd switched off the wrong circuit and we were working on the live one... the double pole switches prevented us getting a shock and luckily our screwdrivers didn't slip!

Best regards
Michael

petercharlesfagg · March 21, 2014, 09:05:11 AM

Quote from: newportnobby on March 20, 2014, 09:01:50 PM
I was about the same age (12) when I pulled a plug from a socket without switching the power off. My fingers slipped off the plug onto the pins and I was thrown across the room
I was scared witless (or something that rhymes) at the time but actually felt quite good afterwards!

Similar experience except that I used my penknife to lever the plug, "BANG" two large holes in the blade, blew all those wired fuses in the house, an irate mother and a throbbing Right ear. No I've never done anything similar since!

Peter.

petercharlesfagg · March 21, 2014, 09:06:33 AM

Quote from: Sprintex on March 20, 2014, 10:44:32 PM
Funny the one time I got a mains shock it didn't feel that bad.

At my last job I was unofficial office "handyman" as I can do most practical things. One day the one and only light bulb in the mens loo had blown so I went in to change it. Making sure the switch was OFF first I unscrewed the old bulb and screwed a new one in. Switched on and . . . nothing! Switched OFF and took new bulb out again and had a look inside holder to see that the base contact was squashed and bent out of shape. So with switch still OFF, and a chair holding the door open so I'd have some light from the corridor to work with, I set about trying to straighten the contact out with my fingers. This is where it starts to go wrong Struggling to see what I was doing, and with my fingers still inside the holder, I absentmindedly thought I'd turn on the light to see better . . . oh dear! About two seconds of weird buzzing down my arm was enough for me to switch it off again

Paul

Laurel and Hardy springs to mind!!!

Bealman · March 21, 2014, 09:18:16 AM

From an OHS point of view, I cannot encourage messing about with mains voltage unless you know what you are doing.... especially our younger members.

We all have great stories to tell about electric shocks (I copped HT off an old Army 19 set, and didn't I know it), but the message from this forum must be:

240 Volts can kill. Don't mess with it unless you know your stuff.