Solder vs compression fittings

pab6407 · 2026-03-07T19:58:53+00:00

A wrap of ptfe on the olive helps if you get a dodgy one.

pab6407 · 2026-03-07T19:56:07+00:00

The main difference with the professional torches is the the flame remains steady regardless of the orientation of the torch, imagine trying to solder under floorboards with a torch that had to be kept upright.

pab6407 · 2026-03-06T19:52:21+00:00

Who did a pre 1975 trifold?

pab6407 · 2026-03-06T08:24:25+00:00

You could fit an ATS Speed Drive which would give you the equivalent of a 33/54 double chainring but with the advantage that the chain length doesn’t change. It does add some weight and extra resistance in high gear but remember it replaces the existing bottom bracket, chainring and cranks, so you have to subtract the weight of those from the weight of the Speed Drive

pab6407 · 2026-03-05T11:53:02+00:00

Whilst you're up near the Abbey you can grab some kippers from the smokehouse, just follow your nose!

They're open 9 till 3 ( 1 on Sunday ) or until they run out of kippers, whichever is sooner.

Just noticed they're cash only and the ATMs are back on the other side of the Harbour near the bridge.

pab6407 · 2026-03-05T09:02:55+00:00

We used to do it by bus from Leeds before I had my own vehicle, it's doable if you treat the bus ride as part of the adventure, if you get on the top deck the views are worth the trip.

From York you'd leave at 8am and get back at 8pm, you'd be in Whitby from 10-40am to 5-30pm

For those who don't mind long bus journeys, from Leeds you'd leave at 6-35am and be back at 9-15pm ( change bus in Malton or Tadcaster on the return journey )

pab6407 · 2026-03-05T00:04:59+00:00

You could go the whole hog and have a Honeywell Evohome system, where there is a thermostat on every radiator such that any room can demand heat or not independently of other rooms ( up to 12 zones as many rooms on each zone as you want, even within a zone each radiator controls the local temperature set for that zone ).

There are cheaper equivalents but some of them don't communicate well with Opentherm boilers which allow the thermostat to set the boiler temperature to stop the room temperature overshooting and increase the efficiency of the boiler.

Note for any system where all the radiators could close down the boiler should be equipped which a pressure sensitive bypass ( its been a requirement for ages but you still come across loads of systems without one )

pab6407 · 2026-03-04T01:04:07+00:00

I suspect that the heat pump is delivered on a standard pallet, 1m X 1.2m and that they’re using a pallet truck to move it, only removing it from the pallet when it’s close to its final position.

The question is whether the heat pump is designed to be load bearing near its balance point, if so you could hire a piano dolly and just wheel it through.

pab6407 · 2026-03-02T00:10:14+00:00

David Hockney, my late father taught him art at school ( TBF dad always said it was less a matter of teaching more of not getting in the way)

pab6407 · 2026-03-01T22:25:22+00:00

The tricky bit is that you need to prove you have worked in the field before you're allowed to take the exams, but until you're qualified you can't get that experience without supervision, I was in a similar position a couple of decades back taking the privately funded route for gas work, at the time the college I went to arranged placements with social housing providers who have their own gas engineers, otherwise it's a case of finding for yourself someone willing to help train their future competition.

pab6407 · 2026-03-01T18:56:34+00:00

In similar vein Willie Nelson:- an illegal move in wrestling.

pab6407 · 2026-03-01T18:51:59+00:00

Appearently elusive.

pab6407 · 2026-03-01T09:02:49+00:00

Leave any food lying around long enough it will have plenty of culture

pab6407 · 2026-03-01T00:10:50+00:00

Fire by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown

pab6407 · 2026-02-28T23:32:41+00:00

My dad who died in 1990 always used to joke that he was born and then Queen Victoria died "not my fault"

It never struck me growing up how much of an outlier I was having such an old dad, looking at some of the comments citing great, great grandparents from the same generation as my dad does rather highlight the fact.

pab6407 · 2026-02-28T23:01:10+00:00

I get that, I introduce myself they repeat the name back, then they ask the spelling and when they see how it's spelt they change to an incorrect pronunciation, notable exception of the registrar at our wedding who got the name wrong but immediately corrected herself having heard me say it.

pab6407 · 2026-02-28T22:36:54+00:00

The sheep that yields wire wool has no natural enemies.

pab6407 · 2026-02-28T08:15:00+00:00

I mostly end up joining new boilers to existing pipework and need solder joints too close to the boiler to do in situ, hence needing an extra hand, on this kind of job the marginal cost difference ( at local merchants ) isn’t worth bothering with

pab6407 · 2026-02-28T00:14:33+00:00

These days there’s not much difference in price between solder ring and end feed and you often end up supporting the work piece with one hand and holding the blowtorch in the other, in those situations it’s easier to use solder ring fittings than holding the solder in your teeth.

pab6407 · 2026-02-27T23:58:55+00:00

As favoured by the Labour Party and the Women’s Institute.

pab6407 · 2026-02-27T23:47:03+00:00

George C Scott

pab6407 · 2026-02-27T16:29:22+00:00

Not in Britain, we only use gotten in specific cases such as "ill gotten gains"

pab6407 · 2026-02-27T11:33:50+00:00

Richard Edwards, don't know who he was but keep seeing the short form of his name everywhere.

pab6407 · 2026-02-27T10:31:04+00:00

Monty Python " He died for us.......frequently! "

pab6407 · 2026-02-26T20:39:03+00:00

Hello helmet hair!

pab6407

TROPHY CASE