N Gauge Forum

General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Newportnobby on November 12, 2012, 09:11:47 AM

Title: Winter drawers on
Post by: Newportnobby on November 12, 2012, 09:11:47 AM
For those in the UK, it may be time to get your boiler serviced (and I don't mean SWMBO).
I heard on the news this morning they reckon temperatures at the end of November could dip as low as minus 15 Celsius :o
Memories of 2 years ago when my boiler gave up the ghost in December, no one could fix it and I didn't get a new one until February :cold:
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: Sprintex on November 12, 2012, 09:50:42 AM
Quote from: newportnobby on November 12, 2012, 09:11:47 AM
For those in the UK, it may be time to get your boiler serviced (and I don't mean SWMBO)

:laugh:


Paul
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: scotsoft on November 12, 2012, 09:54:46 AM
That must have been horrendous for you, especially at your age  :smiley-laughing:  :smiley-laughing:  :smiley-laughing:

Reading your post reminded me of last year when I was dealing with broken/ cracked bones and was not in a very festive mood  :'(

cheers John.
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: Tank on November 12, 2012, 09:55:43 AM
My tip for if your boiler fails in very cold weather......put an electric heater under the boiler to warm it up!  Not too hot obviously!!!  I've had to do that with mine two years running - despite passing the service with no problems.
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: guest373 on November 12, 2012, 11:10:33 AM
I was told of a problem with condensate discharge pipe freezing in very cold weather, then found this

http://www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/homeowner/customer-service/common-winter-boiler-enquiries (http://www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/homeowner/customer-service/common-winter-boiler-enquiries)

If warming the boiler fixes the boiler and there is nothing else wrong, maybe worth looking at.
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: scotsoft on November 12, 2012, 11:30:29 AM
Thank you for posting the link to that site, very informative and could help save train money  ;)

cheers John.
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: 1936ace on November 12, 2012, 11:49:43 AM
Yeh it was freezing here today I think it got down to about 26 degrees C can't wait for summer
Bart
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: Jerry Howlett on November 12, 2012, 11:59:42 AM
Quote from: 1936ace on November 12, 2012, 11:49:43 AM
Yeh it was freezing here today I think it got down to about 26 degrees C can't wait for summer
Bart
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Yep at those temperatures the Italians here would still be wearing their padded jackets.. 12 C today still very mild for the mountains.
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: scotsoft on November 12, 2012, 12:01:35 PM
Quote from: 1936ace on November 12, 2012, 11:49:43 AM
Yeh it was freezing here today I think it got down to about 26 degrees C can't wait for summer
Bart

(http://i438.photobucket.com/albums/qq108/Scotsoft/NGF/Emoticons/cf9a197c.gif)

cheers John.
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: d-a-n on November 13, 2012, 05:45:34 PM
In a way I'm glad the pump on our boiler went last Friday - the landlord's fitted a new one and it should all be good for this coming winter! Something always goes wrong with it every winter...
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: Newportnobby on November 13, 2012, 05:50:05 PM
Quote from: d-a-n on November 13, 2012, 05:45:34 PM
In a way I'm glad the pump on our boiler went last Friday - the landlord's fitted a new one and it should all be good for this coming winter! Something always goes wrong with it every winter...

Not by any chance made by Ideal?
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: d-a-n on November 13, 2012, 06:17:26 PM
Quote from: newportnobby on November 13, 2012, 05:50:05 PM
Not by any chance made by Ideal?

Not sure what was in there before but this new Primaflow's very, very similar to the old one. The old pump only lasted a year. I'm sure the plumber the landlord gets out just bangs any old secondhand stuff he has kicking around into our plumbing!!
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: daveg on November 13, 2012, 07:53:17 PM
Quote from: scotsoft on November 12, 2012, 12:01:35 PM
Quote from: 1936ace on November 12, 2012, 11:49:43 AM
Yeh it was freezing here today I think it got down to about 26 degrees C can't wait for summer
Bart

(http://i438.photobucket.com/albums/qq108/Scotsoft/NGF/Emoticons/cf9a197c.gif)

cheers John.

Love that smiley!  :claphappy:
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: MikeDunn on November 13, 2012, 08:05:19 PM
Mine's still down ... no sign of a heating engineer either  :veryangry:

Had someone look at the imersion heater this morning & he fixed it - but the damn thing's crapped out again ...  :veryangry:  Oh well, he's back tomorrow first thing, and at least we have warm water today/tonight.
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: Alex on November 13, 2012, 08:25:54 PM
Minus 2 this morning so had to close the van window slightly. Hmmm, have to look out me thermal string vest. :D

Alex :wave:
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: Sprintex on November 14, 2012, 12:55:18 PM
Quote from: 1936ace on November 12, 2012, 11:49:43 AM
Yeh it was freezing here today I think it got down to about 26 degrees C can't wait for summer
Bart

You can keep that, I'd rather have the -15 thank you!!  :P


Paul
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: moogle on November 14, 2012, 01:31:42 PM
Quote from: Jerry Howlett on November 12, 2012, 11:59:42 AM
Quote from: 1936ace on November 12, 2012, 11:49:43 AM
Yeh it was freezing here today I think it got down to about 26 degrees C can't wait for summer
Bart
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Yep at those temperatures the Italians here would still be wearing their padded jackets.. 12 C today still very mild for the mountains.

They're all big girls blouses!  :P  :D
When I lived in Tyneside 12 C was considered a heatwave!  :smiley-laughing:
Geordies don't put a coat on until there's a minus in front of the temperature number...

I welcome a cold spell as it'll kill off all those bugs and flying things that keep biting me!
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: EtchedPixels on November 14, 2012, 04:43:06 PM
Quote from: moogle on November 14, 2012, 01:31:42 PM
When I lived in Tyneside 12 C was considered a heatwave!  :smiley-laughing:
Geordies don't put a coat on until there's a minus in front of the temperature number...

In the big market they don't even put on a longer dress until its snowing 8)
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: longbridge on November 14, 2012, 07:37:26 PM
I have a mate in Lancashire that has an HO layout in his garage, his wife wont let him do anything to it because its far to cold so he is building a small N gauge layout in his house.

For me here in Queensland its getting far to hot to go out to the shed, even though the shed is fully lined with refrigeration insulation I am restricted to working on the layout in the early morning and very late afternoon, it gets so hot during the day that it makes me feel sick in the guts.

What I want is to win the lottery that way I can spend summer in England and winter over here in Oz (dream on).
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: Newportnobby on November 14, 2012, 07:51:31 PM
Quote from: oldrailbug on November 14, 2012, 07:37:26 PM

What I want is to win the lottery that way I can spend summer in England and winter over here in Oz (dream on).

It wouldn't work, Dave. You'd end up with two winters :laugh:
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: MikeDunn on November 14, 2012, 08:19:41 PM
Quote from: EtchedPixels on November 14, 2012, 04:43:06 PM
In the big market they don't even put on a longer dress until its snowing 8)
For those unfamiliar with the Bigg Market and surrounding streets, "longer dress" is defined as "three inches below the waist belt" ...  :laughabovepost:  not forgetting the compulsory boob-tube !!!

It's amazing how many people have read the Fat Slags & think it's a cartoon instead of a documentary ...  :o
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: Fratton on November 14, 2012, 09:49:30 PM
Good job I've got some new long johns in,,,, I guess I had better get the shed winterised sharpish!!!!!
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: Pete Mc on November 18, 2012, 12:39:59 AM
Talk about stating the obvious.Makes me laugh,honestly.All this talk about it being the coldest winter for 100 years is reminiscent of a few years ago,2007 if memory serves me right,of the met office saying we were in for an indian summer.In June of that year,us in south yorkshire and other parts of the country were flooded out for the first time in 50 years,not to mention the other parts who get regularly flooded out.
So,common sense will say,service the boiler,but it doesn't guarentee it won't break down in the same way as your car may nit start on the coldest day of the year.They do that.Parts wear out,they fail.
The condensate drain is always the first thing to freeze up and just lagging it doesn't help so what I'm going to do is suggest a very simple task.Now this is backed up with the latest building regulations in respect of fitting new boilers.
What you need to do is replace the 22mm diameter plastic pipe with either 32mm or 38mm waste pipe.Cut the 22mm short enough to allow a section to sit inside the waste pipe so as to allow it to run down the waste pipe and into the soakaway or soil pipe its connected to.The problem stems from where the condensate drain sits on a gully.The gully freezes,water builds up in the condensatee drain,this backs up into the boiler and then the boiler goes into lockout.Do not allow a condensate drain to sit in the water that is in the trap,always allow a small gap,this then ensures no freezing will occur and means your boiler will function as normal.
I used to love doing these type of jobs during winter because they were so easy to diagnose.So as we are going to have a very bad winter,this small task will go a long way towards trying to keep warm this winter.
Hope this is of some help to someone.

Pete
:Class31: :Class37: :NGaugersRule:
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: Malc on November 18, 2012, 10:30:48 AM
When I fitted my boiler, I ran the condensate pipe into the washbasin drain pipe work, under the floor in the bathroom. That stops it freezing
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: Newportnobby on November 18, 2012, 12:57:33 PM
My boiler is in the kitchen and the condensate pipe is linked into the waste pipe under the work surfaces so all inside the bungalow :)
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: tim-pelican on November 18, 2012, 02:41:33 PM
My boiler is non-condensing; solves that problem.  (Other problems are left as an exercise for the reader.)
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: jonclox on November 19, 2012, 08:55:56 AM
Quote from: newportnobby on November 18, 2012, 12:57:33 PM
My old boiler is in the kitchen
-----------
---------but she often moves around the house and sometimes even goes out shopping  :worried:
Title: Re: Winter drawers on
Post by: Pete Mc on November 19, 2012, 08:16:17 PM
With the condensate drain,you have to be careful as it has an acidic content.I have no idea what percentage that might be,but it can be harmful to small children.Saying that though,puttin one into a wash basin waste,auto washer/dish washer waste or kitchen sink waste is permittable due to there not being much of a chance of it backing up.
I did once got to one whereby it was linked into a bath waste,complete no no this one.The chap had it done that way after the plumber fitted it because the original pipe stood out like a sore thumb.Instead of painting it the same colour as the brick,he had someone connect it to the bath waste.He had two small kids who love having a bath so I warned him that it may,if the bath waste gets block up,flow back into the bath.He just said he'd risk it,not sure his kids would like a sore bum though.

Pete
:Class31: :Class37: :NGaugersRule: