Bill Farmer

Random thoughts on random subjects

Fixing Basin Waste Pop Up

by Bill Farmer. Categories: DIY .

There are two things that seem to go wrong with pop up basin waste plugs, either the clicker stops working or the O ring washer fails. Clicker The clicker can stay stuck down, refuse to stay down or come apart. If it sticks down it can possibly be pulled back up with a drain plunger, otherwise you will need to take off the U bend and poke it back up with a long screwdriver.

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Replacing microbore radiators

by Bill Farmer. Categories: DIY .

My heating system uses 1/4″ copper pipe, which I think was called microbore at the time. Both pipes went to a valve at one end of the radiator. There were a variety of valves fitted, but most of them were like this one. I investigated the best method for replacing the radiators and valves and found that using standard 15mm fittings with 15/8mm reducers was probably the best option. This involves removing the old radiator and valve, carefully removing the olives from the existing pipes with a junior hacksaw to cut a slot, and a screwdriver to pry it off.

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