newadventure

Ok for the sake of completeness in case anyone finds themselves in the same situation, i replaced the dimmer switch (and the face plate as i couldn't get the same style dimmer) and it still didn't work. After checking all the connections again and finding nothing wrong, i took out the second (regular 3 pole) switch and discovered this was the fault.

Next project is trying to work out why the undercounter halogen lamps have gone dim...

sir_eccles

Question for the hive mind.

Dripping shower. Looking at the valve body, it doesn't have integral shutoffs and no hidden access panel to be seen. Hot water tank is a pain to access. From what I have read, I can just shut off the main cold supply to the whole house open a hot tap and a very small amount of water will drain out then stop.

Does that sound right?

scrubbedexpat099

Yes, some valves are easy and cheap some are not.

sir_eccles

Yeah I saw some good videos online showing how to change the cartridge. They either brushed over turning off the hot water or said use the integral shutoffs. I was quite disappointed when I found out mine didn't have shutoffs.

sir_eccles

I know you were all dying to know what happened with the shower valve.

Well, I turned off the main supply to the house and can confirm both cold and hot taps were stopped. I proceeded to take out the cartridge at which point there was a big of a gush of water, I'm guessing syphoning out due to the height of the shower head. I didn't wait to see if it would stop as I put the new cartridge in as quickly as possible and tightened all the screws.

Anyway, it works very nicely now.

anotherlimey

Has anyone here, living in a hot climate, put sun film on their windows?

I have blinds already but I'm wondering if the film will help keep the house cool more.

sir_eccles

The trick is to stop the sun before it gets to the house. Plant shade trees. Hang blinds outside the window.

sir_eccles

If anyone knows the home address of the guy that designed bathroom tap cartridges and the god awful way they screw into the body of the tap do let me know. I'd like a word.

I spent all of Saturday morning working on one where bits had rusted and expanded so they couldn't be unscrewed. Bits that were plastic so you couldn't grip them with a wrench. Flats for a wrench to grip which were too narrow to fit the spanner. I ended up disassembling the whole thing from the counter top. Then to top it all off I go to the unnamed orange hardware store to find the replacement only to discover that the part with the right number looks completely different. Got a guy in an apron to open it up and we discovered it was suitable for three different taps you just slide bits off and back on again. Could have made it clear on the box.

I have a different brand tap sitting in a puddle of oil waiting to be unscrewed if I can find a wrench or socket that can fit the impossibly narrow access. Might have to resort to heating that one to loosen it.

riversofblood

Nope, but I'm sure if I tried it all my neighbours would kick my head in.

Asg123

The handle came out on my bathroom shower and I called a plumber who said he'd have to change everything, behind the wall etc, and it'd cost $750. I called another plumber and he just changed the cartridge, and replaced the showerhead with one with a hose, for $310. When he was changing the cartridge, after removing the old one he was trying to get something out with a screwdriver, I asked what it was and he said a washer, but I didn't see anything come out. Now the flow from the shower is less than before. This could be because of the long hose (there was no hose before). But could it be that the plumber nudged the old washer or whatever it was and it went down the vertical part of the pipe and the flow is now less because of that obstruction?

scrubbedexpat099

Design, you need an overhang which cuts the sun in summer but lets it in during winter.

scrubbedexpat099

Must become a plumber...

Unlikely a washer issue.

Pulaski

It is most likely that the shower head has a restrictor in it. Pretty much all shower heads sold these days are "low flow" heads. Usually, if you unscrew the shower head and look inside the bottom end of the handle you should see the restrictor, perhaps with three holes in it. If you remove that and reattach the head you should have dramatically better flow. Note there is usually a regular black rubber washer inside the head, which seals the head onto the hose - that is not the restrictor you need to remove.

Asg123

Thanks

Pulaski

Mrs P e-mailed me when I was on my way home last night - our nice round, symmetrical, and relatively large flowering pear tree had shed about a quarter of its branches into the road. A neighbour had severed the torn end from the trunk and used his truck to drag it out of the road, so traffic could pass.

It has taken me two evenings to cut up the branches with bow saws. The rest of the tree is going to have to come down too, as there is a nasty split in the trunk, sufficient for the remaining three quarters of the tree to split fairly evenly and fall down in two clumps of branches. I envisage it keeping me fairly busy in the evenings for the next couple of weeks.