Replacing Radiators, Imperial to Metric

These last few winters in the dale have taken their toll on us, in our quest to keep warm we have introduced double glazing, draft proofed the doors and installed a Chimney Sheep.

The last job on the list to improve the warmth was the central heating upgrade. I could put it off no longer It was time to bite the bullet and replace the radiators in the house.  The old ones are well… really old, painted (I hate painted radiators), chipped, flaky and cold.

Technology has moved on somewhat and for the same size radiator today, you can get a lot more heat output - ‘British Thermal Unit’ or BTU - for your buck. So by simply replacing the radiators, like for like, type 11 and type, 21 as appropriate I was hoping to warm the rooms a little better than before. All new radiators have fins or convectors, which my old ones sadly lacked.  These fins or convectors increase the surface area, without increasing the size of the radiator and allow more heat to be radiated away and into the room.

Ever the optimist, I was hoping it would be a simple job of lift off, lift on, but nothing is ever as simple as that, is it.

Measuring up, it became all too apparent that the radiators I have don’t conform to the standard sizes of today.  For example, the width of the bathroom radiator was 520mm, while the standard radiators today come in 100mm increments; 400mm, 500mm or 600mm etc wide.

What made my job a little more difficult is the fact that all of our heating pipes are plastered into the walls so repositioning the pipes was, in my opinion, going to create far too much work.

The likes of B&Q have telescopic radiator valve extenders but the reviews of them left a lot to be desired, with a tendency to leak and at £8.00 each, not something I was prepared to put my faith in.

I eventually found some solid radiator extensions in a place call toolstation, I’d not heard of them but service and quality of items was great.  It’s a bit like Argos for tools, if you pardon the expression.  The solid radiator extensions are considerably cheaper too, starting at £0.68 for the 10mm and going all the way up in 5mm increments to 40mm at £2.60 ish.

Happily, this meant that it was eventually a case of ‘lift off, lift on’ after some alterations to the wall brackets.
 
The picture below shows a 40mm extension in place on the living room radiator. (I've put a 40mm extension on both sides of the radiator).

The picture below shows a 10mm extension in place on the bathroom radiator. (Same again here, I've put a 10mm extension on both sides of the radiator).

Job done.

London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay - Day 30 Sunday 17th June - My Daughter was a Torchbearer.

I am very proud to be able to say that my daughter Holly was an Olympic Torchbearer on Day 30 of the Torch Relay, Sunday 17th June 2012.  She ran in Darlington and had the most amazing day.

This is her nomination story and some pictures of the day.

Holly's nomination story

I want to nominate my daughter Holly. Holly didn't develop any speech or social skills as she was growing up and was finally diagnosed, at the age of five with pervasive developmental disorder (PPD) and semantic and pragmatic language disorder. She presented within the lowest 1% of scores in the numerous test the professionals did throughout these years. Holly attended a speech and language unit attached to a mainstream primary school providing intensive speech, language and social interaction therapy and has continued into mainstream secondary school. Now sixteen, Holly completed her English Language GCSE a year early and has sat (by the time you read this) a further seven GCSE predicted C or above. Although these may be considered 'average' marks Holly has spent eleven years pushing herself. Her effort is far from average. Eleven years completing therapy, programmes, etc bringing her to the point where she doesn't stand out from the crowd, she would describe herself as 'just normal'. I want her to stand out from the crowd. To feel rewarded for her effort in a way I could never provide, to shine for a day, with a torch in her hand lighting the way for others. 

 Just signed in

 Torchbearers starting to gather for their run

 Holly and Charlie at the torchbearers briefing

 All the torches on the relay bus

 Just about ready for the off

 The torch relay bus full of torchbearers

 Holly with her Grandad Andy

 Holly with her Nana Sheila

 Before her run, the crowds get to see and touch the torch

 Photo's galore

 The Olympic Flame is just about to arrive...

 Holly, calm as a cucumber about 10 seconds before her 'moment to shine'

 Setting up the torch 'kiss'

 the official 'kiss' (flame handover)

 instructions - I think he's saying take your time...

 ... and off she went.

 This was Holly on the front page of the Northern Echo website

 This is a wonderful photo, just fantastic!

 Still running, I think she gave the out runners a good work out.

 At the other end the official 'kiss' (flame handover) with Charlie.

 Go Holly, still working the crowd.

 All over, just about to get on the relay bus again

 Back at base and a team shot.

Holly can spot a camera at 50 yards.

Her nomination can be viewed here... www.london2012.com/torch-relay/torchbearers/torchbearers=holly-barry-1180/index.html

How to install a boot light in a Fiat Panda

This panda of mine is strange, for some reason it doesn't have a boot light, another cost saving measure from Fiat I guess. Luckily most Pandas come with everything installed for the boot light except the light itself.

The photo below shows the whole in the left hand side of the boot under the parcel shelf (2). You will have the mounting but no light fitting. The two cross head screws (1) and a hole for black plastic clip (3).
 

(Cam C902)

Firstly you need to gain access to the wiring, begin by removing the two cross head screws (1) in the picture.

After the screws are out pull the top of the carpet away from behind the plastic shelf fittings and from the rubber seal around the door frame.

 

Locate the wire with the white plug from behind the carpet. As in my picture it will most likely be taped to the bigger bundle of wires, if so remove the tape.

You can then feed the plug, the black plastic clip and the wire thorough the prepared crosshair cut in the carpet. The picture below shows the plug, wire and clip correctly inserted through the carpet.

Make sure the black plastic clip can reach its hole in the shelf fitting (marked as (3) in the first picture), then slide the carpet back into place behind the plastic fittings and fix into place with the screws.

Pass the wire through the light mounting hole (2) and then connect the light which should, in theory illuminate. Remember that the boot light times out after a certain length of time, so don't panic! Closing and re-opening the boot should activate the light.

The light fitting slides up into the mounting and will then snap in to place. The black plastic clip that supports the wire pushes, from behind the bracket, into the hole (3).

The last job to be done is to put the carpet back behind the rubber boot seal.

 

The light fitting is Fiat part number 0051878127

The door switch to turn the light on and off should already installed. BUT...do check!

Do make sure your car has the appropriate boot latch incorporating the microswitch for detecting open/closed condition or you will be disappointed. I have read that some models don't have the appropriate boot latch.

I don't know how you tell, but thinking out loud here...I would expect the 'door open' dashboard light to be an indicator that you have the appropriate boot latch. For example, with the engine on, all four doors closed and the boot open making a red 'door open' dashboard light appear, I assume this means I have the appropriate boot latch incorporating microswitch for detecting open/closed condition. That's the test I did before buying the part.

Good luck

Installing a 12v power socket in a Fiat Panda

I’ve just been getting a 2009 Fiat Panda 1.3 Multijet.  For some strange reason it doesn’t have a 12v socket for the likes of my sat nav or ipod.  Doing some reading on the Fiat forum it appears that this is not an unusual occurrence, and doesn’t necessarily follow any model / spec detail??

 

This is where the 12v socket should be in the Panda (Cam C902)

Very strange? Why Fiat would leave out a £20 fitting that seems to be standard in all cars is any ones guess, welcome to the world of Fiat I suppose.

Anyway, after lots of reading on various Fiat forums two things were clear to me; if the wiring loom had a connector under the central console for a 12v socket, AND you had a fuse sitting in position F85 then I think it’s safe to say that your only missing the 12v socket fitting. 

PLEASE NOTE - Some owners have reported having either the connector or the fuse, but not both and in these circumstances any upgrade didn't work!  Therefore please check before buying any parts.

A quick check showed I had both, phew!

In short…. If you have one of these….

And one of these…See the highlighted fuse in position F85 (Fuse box in the engine compartment )

Then you only need this…..

Fitting Instructions
Ok, here’s your fitting instructions, you need two small flatbed screwdrivers and less than half an hour of your time.

Fitting is quite simple, pop out the tray in the central console with some flat blade screwdrivers.

Fit the orange casing through the new console trim making sure you align the cap to the right orientation.

Fit the 12v socket through the orange casing (it will only go in one way)

 

Connect the wiring loom connector to the socket and test with a suitable appliance (sat nav).  Remember the socket only has power while the ignition is switch on.

 

Once you have confirmed power is getting to the socket switch off and snap the trim in to place.

Job done.

Original part number for the trim 0735441990
Original part number for the 12v socket 0735383175

I got my parts from ebay, but any parts department should be able to get them.

Good luck.

White Knight Tumble Dryer Repair

We’ve have a White Knight 38 AW Tumble Dryer for the last three years.  Last week during a cycle it began to make the most horrendous rasping noise, as if the drum metal was rubbing against the outer casing.

 

White Knight 38 AW - ready for it's operation... (Cam C902)

It turns out that the dryer drum rests on some felt padding attached to the casing.  The felt padding had completely warn away and the drum was indeed rubbing (metal to metal) against the casing.

 You can see the felt has completely gone! (Cam C902)

The felt must be replaceable as checking web-sites for replacement parts I found some replacement sticky-back felt strips for £2.80 so thought it was worth having a go at repairing it myself, £2.80 isn’t going to break the bank nor can I make the problem worse. I ordered two strips, thinking one would be a backup in case I made a mistake but as it turned out, I needed both to complete the repair.  My order came to £9.50 (inc delivery).

 Felt Strips... not very high tech  (C902)

Time to strip the dryer down… First job was to remove the lid, attached by the three screws at the top of the casing.

 The back ready to be stripped (Cam C902)

Next for removal is the fan and element protector panel, (screws) followed by the heating element itself (more screws).

Nothing difficult so far... (Cam C902)

To make sure I remember where to replace the wiring I always take pictures for reference, (very handy for writing the blog too).

  The wires need to be removed so it's important to replace them correctly (Cam C902)

 Then the back casing can be removed… but not completely.  The fan blades do not allow you to remove the back casing totally but for this job you don’t need to.  As long as the back casing is tilted on an angle so that the ridge for the drum is exposed that’s enough.

 Time to clean and repair (Cam C902)

I then gave the ridge a good clean and vacuum,  the cleaner the better so the sticky felt strips have more chance of adhering to the ridge surface.  Sticking the felt strips on couldn’t be easier, just take your time and align them well.

 Felt strips in place (Cam C902)

Getting the drum back on the rim might be a little tricky as it’s now padded with new felt, it may help if you have someone to take the weight of the drum from the front to allow you to position the back casing.

 Nice snug fit (Cam C902)

Fitting is the reversal of the removal, remember to check your wiring too.  Job done! A £10 repair and an hours labour at most.  That's got to be better than £129 to buy a new dryer.

It’s obvious that the replacement felt was not a direct replacement part, nor does it appear to be as thick as the original but it works.  I will no doubt keep my eyes out for some similar sticky-back felt as it’s sure to ware out again.

Hope you find this useful.