B&Q - My part in its downfall...
 

I was replacing our leaking hot water cylinder this weekend - what a
joyous job it is!

Anyway, I needed a small piece of 28mm pipe to repair a very badly
soldered (yorkshire) joint on an old gravity hot water circuit (will
change to fully pumped at some point - but thats a job for another day!)

The soldered joint was quite something - the pipe had been cut at a very
bad angle and must have slipped before it was soldered so that about
half of the pipe was in the joint by a couple of mm and the other half
was not quite in. The pipe went nowhere near the solder ring. I assume
that when it was soldered, enough ran down the inside of the joint to
create a watertight seal with the pipe - but offered no mechanical
protection at all. It had obviously lived happily for years in this
state, but when we started clanging about with the pipework it came undone.

The biggest problem was that the joint was boxed in halfway down a wall
and we had no idea that there was a problem, so we happily sat in the
loft and turned on the supply to the f&e tank and waited for the system
to fill up so we could check that the connections to the coil in the new
cylinder were sound (obviously the holes weren't in the same place so we
had to **** about all day changing the pipework). We suddenly heard a
scream from below as SWMBO walked into the living room to see water
dripping through the ceiling!

Anyway, I digress. Back to B&Q. We were lucky enough to catch it, as
this was about 3:30pm yesterday and it shuts at 4pm. I rushed in with
time to spare and grabbed the only bit of 28mm piping I could find - 3
bloody metres of it! We only needed a bit! Anyway, looked at the price
- £15.98 - horrified! So, I took it to the checkout knowing I didn't
really have much choice, and the young girl on the checkout looked up at
it, grabbed a ring binder full of bar codes (there wasn't one on the
pipe) and asked, "Is that 3 metres of 22mm?"

Well, who was I to argue over a few mm? Ended up paying £7.48 which was
still too much but I felt happy anyway!

Had to bend the bloody thing to get it in the car - so if anyone wants
2.8m of 28mm copper pipe with a bloody big bend at one end, let me know.

B&Q - My part in its downfall...
 

Richard Conway wrote:
I was replacing our leaking hot water cylinder this weekend - what a
joyous job it is!

You must be the only DIY'er I know thats doesn't have a few pieces of
copper pipe in his toolbox, mind you 2.8m is going to be hard putting it in
your toolbox. :-)
--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

B&Q - My part in its downfall...
 

The3rd Earl Of Derby wrote:
Richard Conway wrote:

I was replacing our leaking hot water cylinder this weekend - what a
joyous job it is!


You must be the only DIY'er I know thats doesn't have a few pieces of
copper pipe in his toolbox, mind you 2.8m is going to be hard putting it in
your toolbox. :-)
--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite



I'm only a young lad - my tool box is still in its infancy! Besides,
28mm is fairly uncommon - I do have plenty of bits of 15mm around and
the odd bit of 22mm.

The ironic thing was the we needed a bit earlier and we went and raided
my grandfather's celler (all sorts in there if you can find it!) We
found the only bit of 28mm that he had, which was literally about 4
inches long and just enough for what we needed (or so we though!)

B&Q - My part in its downfall...
 

On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 15:06:56 +0100, Richard Conway wrote:

Had to bend the bloody thing to get it in the car - so if anyone wants
2.8m of 28mm copper pipe with a bloody big bend at one end, let me know.

With November approaching, an idea does occur to me. As a youngster in the
North of England, it was the must-have toy, a tack-cannon. In this case a
short length of 1/2" copper gives away age to a degree fixed down to a
small chunk of 2x4, bent over at one end and with an appropriately placed
hole pierced near the bend. A banger was dissected and the powder loaded,
a piece of cotton wool, a handful of tacks and another wad completed the
project. a bit of powder in the touch hole and a match meant that the
neighborhood could be terrorised. This was in the days when bangers were
proper bangers, easily capable of dealing with the grumpy old man at the
end of the street's milk bottles. Now I am somewhat more mature, I can
understand why he was grumpy. I understand bangers are now not for sale.
In any case the kid around the corner completely overtrumped us all.
Digging in his father's garden, he unearthed a cache of weaponry from
WWII. There was a service revolver, ammo and a half dozen grenades.
Fortunately the park was empty and there was a 6" thick sandstone wall
between him and the grenade when it went off. The local plod took it all
away, and the kid around the corner recieved a proper slippering.

John Schmitt

--
Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/

B&Q - My part in its downfall...
 

On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 15:28:48 +0100, Richard Conway wrote:

The ironic thing was the we needed a bit earlier and we went and raided
my grandfather's celler (all sorts in there if you can find it!) We
found the only bit of 28mm that he had, which was literally about 4
inches long and just enough for what we needed (or so we though!)

If he'd had it a while, it was probably 1 1/4".

--
Star Trek II, the musical version: The Rap Of Kahn.

B&Q - My part in its downfall...
 

John Laird wrote:
On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 15:28:48 +0100, Richard Conway wrote:


The ironic thing was the we needed a bit earlier and we went and raided
my grandfather's celler (all sorts in there if you can find it!) We
found the only bit of 28mm that he had, which was literally about 4
inches long and just enough for what we needed (or so we though!)


If he'd had it a while, it was probably 1 1/4".


1" surely - although I'm sure it wasn't as it fitted into a 28mm
compression joint with no probs, and as far as I'm aware at this size
the two ain't compatible.

B&Q - My part in its downfall...
 

Richard Conway wrote:
Anyway, I digress. Back to B&Q. We were lucky enough to catch it, as
this was about 3:30pm yesterday and it shuts at 4pm. I rushed in with
time to spare and grabbed the only bit of 28mm piping I could find - 3
bloody metres of it! We only needed a bit! Anyway, looked at the price
- £15.98 - horrified! So, I took it to the checkout knowing I didn't
really have much choice, and the young girl on the checkout looked up at
it, grabbed a ring binder full of bar codes (there wasn't one on the
pipe) and asked, "Is that 3 metres of 22mm?"

Well, who was I to argue over a few mm? Ended up paying £7.48 which was
still too much but I felt happy anyway!

How very dishonest of you.

B&Q - My part in its downfall...
 

On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 16:31:22 +0100, Richard Conway wrote:

John Laird wrote:
On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 15:28:48 +0100, Richard Conway wrote:


The ironic thing was the we needed a bit earlier and we went and raided
my grandfather's celler (all sorts in there if you can find it!) We
found the only bit of 28mm that he had, which was literally about 4
inches long and just enough for what we needed (or so we though!)


If he'd had it a while, it was probably 1 1/4".


1" surely - although I'm sure it wasn't as it fitted into a 28mm
compression joint with no probs, and as far as I'm aware at this size
the two ain't compatible.

Hmm, I certainly did mean 1". I thought it was 22mm that had no near
equivalent, but that 1/2"/15mm and 1"/28mm were reasonably interchangeable.

--
The F-16. Takes a licking, and takes a licking.

B&Q - My part in its downfall...
 

John Laird wrote:
On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 16:31:22 +0100, Richard Conway
wrote:

John Laird wrote:
On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 15:28:48 +0100, Richard Conway
wrote:


The ironic thing was the we needed a bit earlier and we went and
raided my grandfather's celler (all sorts in there if you can find
it!) We found the only bit of 28mm that he had, which was
literally about 4 inches long and just enough for what we needed
(or so we though!)


If he'd had it a while, it was probably 1 1/4".


1" surely - although I'm sure it wasn't as it fitted into a 28mm
compression joint with no probs, and as far as I'm aware at this size
the two ain't compatible.

Hmm, I certainly did mean 1". I thought it was 22mm that had no near
equivalent, but that 1/2"/15mm and 1"/28mm were reasonably
interchangeable.

Old 1/2" bore is near enough the same as 15mm OD
Old 3/4" bore is nearly but not quite, hence the need for an adaptor to
successfully solder it, the same as 22mm OD

Dave

B&Q - My part in its downfall...
 

John Laird wrote:
On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 16:31:22 +0100, Richard Conway wrote:


John Laird wrote:

On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 15:28:48 +0100, Richard Conway wrote:



The ironic thing was the we needed a bit earlier and we went and raided
my grandfather's celler (all sorts in there if you can find it!) We
found the only bit of 28mm that he had, which was literally about 4
inches long and just enough for what we needed (or so we though!)


If he'd had it a while, it was probably 1 1/4".


1" surely - although I'm sure it wasn't as it fitted into a 28mm
compression joint with no probs, and as far as I'm aware at this size
the two ain't compatible.


Hmm, I certainly did mean 1". I thought it was 22mm that had no near
equivalent, but that 1/2"/15mm and 1"/28mm were reasonably interchangeable.

Maybe you are right - all I know is that it appears that all the
connections on the cylinder were imperial - I wish somebody would make a
decision on which it was to be and make everything the same!

B&Q - My part in its downfall...
 

Dave wrote:
John Laird wrote:
Richard Conway wrote:
John Laird wrote:
Richard Conway wrote:

The ironic thing was the we needed a bit earlier and we went and
raided my grandfather's celler (all sorts in there if you can find
it!) We found the only bit of 28mm that he had, which was
literally about 4 inches long and just enough for what we needed
(or so we though!)

Hmm, I certainly did mean 1". I thought it was 22mm that had no near
equivalent, but that 1/2"/15mm and 1"/28mm were reasonably
interchangeable.

Old 3/4" bore is nearly but not quite, hence the need for an adaptor to
successfully solder it, the same as 22mm OD

One more grunt when tightening a compression fitting, so I err, found
;-)

P.

B&Q - My part in its downfall...
 

B&Q - My part in its downfall...
 

In article ,
Richard Conway writes:
The3rd Earl Of Derby wrote:
Richard Conway wrote:

I was replacing our leaking hot water cylinder this weekend - what a
joyous job it is!

You must be the only DIY'er I know thats doesn't have a few pieces of
copper pipe in his toolbox, mind you 2.8m is going to be hard putting it in
your toolbox. :-)

I'm only a young lad - my tool box is still in its infancy! Besides,
28mm is fairly uncommon - I do have plenty of bits of 15mm around and
the odd bit of 22mm.

I needed about 5 lengths of 28mm x 3m to replace the gas pipe through
my house some years ago. It was cheaper to buy a bundle of 10 lengths,
and the remaining 4 or 5 have been in the loft ever since.
I was thinking about using the excess to make heated shelves in the
airing cupboard at one time, but eventually went for a different
scheme (dehumidifier, as mentioned in another thread recently).

--
Andrew Gabriel

B&Q - My part in its downfall...
 

In article , Chris Bacon
writes

How very dishonest of you.

Oh, give us a break from the holier-than-thou attitude. B&Q's prices
are a rip-off anyway, so Richard probably paid about the going price in
the local plumber's merchant.

B&Q - My part in its downfall...
 

In message , Mike Tomlinson
writes
In article , Chris Bacon
writes

How very dishonest of you.

Oh, give us a break from the holier-than-thou attitude.

I'm not sure it was meant to be, but whatever.

B&Q's prices
are a rip-off anyway, so Richard probably paid about the going price in
the local plumber's merchant.

and the local plumbers merchants was open on Sunday afternoon I assume.

--
Chris French

B&Q - My part in its downfall...
 

John Schmitt wrote:
With November approaching, an idea does occur to me. As a youngster
in the North of England, it was the must-have toy, a tack-cannon.

Hells teeth, I always knew it was rough up north! The most offensive weapon
we had down sarf was the apple grenade. Scout around the local market after
closing time to find grotty cooking apples. Insert 3 penny banger, light,
wait & throw.

We did use rocket bazookas. Length of pipe about 2" dia and 3' long with a
rocket inside.

Southern softies huh.

Dave

B&Q - My part in its downfall...
 

Chris Bacon wrote:
Richard Conway wrote:

Anyway, I digress. Back to B&Q. We were lucky enough to catch it, as
this was about 3:30pm yesterday and it shuts at 4pm. I rushed in with
time to spare and grabbed the only bit of 28mm piping I could find - 3
bloody metres of it! We only needed a bit! Anyway, looked at the
price - £15.98 - horrified! So, I took it to the checkout knowing I
didn't really have much choice, and the young girl on the checkout
looked up at it, grabbed a ring binder full of bar codes (there wasn't
one on the pipe) and asked, "Is that 3 metres of 22mm?"

Well, who was I to argue over a few mm? Ended up paying £7.48 which
was still too much but I felt happy anyway!


How very dishonest of you.

I did consider going slightly further and cutting the 4" I needed off
the end and taking it back. Unless I was unlucky enough for there to be
another 3m length at the CS desk I'm sure nobody would have noticed!
(might have noticed the bend we put in it to get it in the car though)

B&Q - My part in its downfall...
 

On Tue, 11 Oct 2005 00:06:05 +0100, david lang
wrote:

With November approaching, an idea does occur to me. As a youngster
in the North of England, it was the must-have toy, a tack-cannon.

Hells teeth, I always knew it was rough up north!

My father grew up in Kentucky. When he was younger, well before I was
around, the local kids made N***** Chasers (offensive word to black
people, but still condidered PC in that neck of the woods) which were
rockets with their sticks removed. Horizontal launching towards a crowded
bus shelter caused appropriate consternation.

John Schmitt

--
Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/

B&Q - My part in its downfall...
 

In message , Richard Conway
writes
Chris Bacon wrote:
How very dishonest of you.

I did consider going slightly further and cutting the 4" I needed off
the end and taking it back. Unless I was unlucky enough for there to
be another 3m length at the CS desk I'm sure nobody would have noticed!
(might have noticed the bend we put in it to get it in the car though)

Grin I pasted a border around a room once, used two or three rolls,
which were not quite enough, and left a gap of about six inches, so I
returned to the shop, and asked for a sample 'just to check the colour'.
The piece I was given was more than enough to fill the gap :-)

--
Graeme