The Grumpy Old Git thread.

[FamilyWiggs]

ring the CO.

Seconded.

Or if you don't want to do it, PM me the full details and I'll do it.

And me.

(I'm Spartacus, et al)

 

[philpjuk100]

ring the CO.

Seconded.

Or if you don't want to do it, PM me the full details and I'll do it.

Than

 

[Feltwell]

Grrrr! Back to being Grumpy again, and this time it's plumbing. A call from Mrs F had me rushing home on Tuesday, "there's water coming down the kitchen wall....."

Hot water tank had corroded and started to leak - no idea for how long, as it had leaked next to a pile of spare duvets and pillows, which were all sodden. So, the lovely job of getting the old tank out - which was very very heavy, lots of limescale - and getting a new tank in ensued. There was I at midnight squeezed round the back of the tank soldering pipes, as of course the connections on the new tank are not in the same place as the connections on the old tank. :evil:

Plus of course I'd bought every plumbing fitting that I might possibly need when I bought the new tank. Except for the one that I didn't think I could possibly need and then found that I did need after all. Naturally I discovered this long after the plumber's merchant had closed. There must be some kind of law to predict this - it's almost an inevitability.

Still, it's sorted now. We have hot water, and the Feltwell household awaits the next minor domestic crisis.

 

[Flyfisher]

Sounds like a nasty job well done. Good job you were nicely rested after your recent holiday. :wink:

 

[Penners]

I'd bought every plumbing fitting that I might possibly need when I bought the new tank. Except for the one that I didn't think I could possibly need and then found that I did need after all. Naturally I discovered this long after the plumber's merchant had closed. There must be some kind of law to predict this - it's almost an inevitability.

There is indeed such a law.

It's known by several names:

Sod's Law

Murphy's Law

and my particular favourite...

The Law of the Infinite Perversity of Inanimate Objects

They all boil down to one fundamental principle: what can go wrong, will go wrong.

 

[LadyArowana]

="Feltwell"

Plus of course I'd bought every plumbing fitting that I might possibly need when I bought the new tank. Except for the one that I didn't think I could possibly need and then found that I did need after all. Naturally I discovered this long after the plumber's merchant had closed. There must be some kind of law to predict this - it's almost an inevitability.

It is exactly the same when deciding when anything is past being useful and therefore can be thrown away. Even if you keep something 20 years and never need it the moment it has gone to the tip it will be required.

I had a tube of black lead grate polish at the house and decided there would be no possible use for it at our apartment in London ( no fireplaces there ) so left it behind. That was on a Thursday, the next Monday I bought a cast iron umbrella/ stick stand that needed some refurbishment and what did I need? .......

 

[wobs]

Plus of course I'd bought every plumbing fitting that I might possibly need when I bought the new tank. Except for the one that I didn't think I could possibly need and then found that I did need after all. Naturally I discovered this long after the plumber's merchant had closed. There must be some kind of law to predict this - it's almost an inevitability.

Still, it's sorted now. We have hot water, and the Feltwell household awaits the next minor domestic crisis.

I've always been told that if you ever do any plumbing, make sure you have a full tank of fuel in your car.

 

[Feltwell]

A little teaser for you all....

Guess how much my leaking copper hot water cylinder was worth when I took it to the scrap yard today. A clue - the cylinder was fairly modern, a standard cheap-ish model and not that large. They cut the bottom off it with an axe to tip the limescale out prior to weighing it - there was at least 2 buckets-worth of limescale in there!

A very small amount of kudos will be awarded for the closest answer.

 

[MdB]

£15.

Hmm. This is the Grumpy Old Git thread. I will therefore update my guess to £1.50

 

[FamilyWiggs]

50 quid.

 

[Schoolmarm]

.

 

[LadyArowana]

£27.60, dirty hands, muddy boots, gunk in vehicle, sore back ( Penners will sympathise, although he doesn't like to talk about it ), less petrol in tank, half a day round trip.

 

[Me!]

£12

 

[Penners]

Guess how much my leaking copper hot water cylinder was worth when I took it to the scrap yard today.

Marginally less than the cost of using the car to take it there?

 

[Moo]

I suspect that Penners may have won the prize, but I'm still curious to know the difference between the value of the redundant tank and the cost of its replacement.

Could there be a connection between the leaking and the huge quantity of limescale?

 

[Feltwell]

£15.

Hmm. This is the Grumpy Old Git thread. I will therefore update my guess to £1.50

Wrong - very wrong.

£27.60, dirty hands, muddy boots, gunk in vehicle, sore back ( Penners will sympathise, although he doesn't like to talk about it ), less petrol in tank, half a day round trip.

No - I had to get rid of it anyway and the scrapyard is next door to the local "civic recycling centre". A couple of bits of rag stuffed in the relevant holes kept the gunk inside the tank. It ain't 'arf heavy though.

Marginally less than the cost of using the car to take it there?

A Eurovision style "Nil Points" to Penners I'm afraid.

£12

A little closer....

50 quid.

FW wins the prize!

76 quid in fact - I wasn't at all grumpy when they said that! I knew the price of copper was high, but I seriously only expected to get 10 or maybe 20 pounds (why is this forum putting a # in every time I try to use the pound symbol?)

I suspect that Penners may have won the prize, but I'm still curious to know the difference between the value of the redundant tank and the cost of its replacement.

Could there be a connection between the leaking and the huge quantity of limescale?

The new tank - which is almost the same (apart from the location of the conections, of course.. :roll: ) was 160 quid. The amount of limescale was a surprise as I fitted a water softener 2 years ago, by now I would have expected a lot of the limescale to have dissolved into the now-softened water. Maybe it had - maybe I was only seeing a fraction of what was originally there! The tank had failed where the top coil connection came out, so it's not down to the limescale. I'm not sure what softened water will do to the copper as it is slightly saline - time will tell I guess. Didn't copper get used sometimes on ship's hulls? If so I'm safe, so long as it wasn't used as a sacrificial anode!

 

[MdB]

Copper is about £3 per kg for recycling. My old foam covered tank is 13Kg which would be £40 less something for the foam and the cost of removing the foam. £15 to £20 sounds about right.

 

[Feltwell]

Copper is about £3 per kg for recycling. My old foam covered tank is 13Kg which would be £40 less something for the foam and the cost of removing the foam. £15 to £20 sounds about right.

I removed the foam - it's very easy actually, just cut a line top to bottom and peel it off, in my case at least it wasn't really stuck to the tank.

24kg for this tank at £3200 per ton (so £3.20 per kg) was what mine came to. Another local scrapyard who I rang first say a tank is normally £30 - £40, so I did well. I'm surprised your tank is so light - certainly from the selection in the local plumber's merchants, mine was one of the smaller ones.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

At a dinner party last night I found myself seated beside a guest who, on the face of it seemed pleasant enough, until, that is he turned out to be a developer. Somehow the subject of listed buildings came up and I found myself locked into a serious fight about his theory that he did not have any truck with CO's telling the owner of a property what they can and cannot do with their own home. His argument was that houses have been 'improved and added to' throughout the centuries without interference from 'ignorant' (his words) do- gooders and that listing was part of the nanny state. The table became silent as I quietly argued that we cannot disregard all that is fine about our heritage and that without the careful preservation of building materials, design and techniques we would simply become a throw away society. He then revealed that his company is developing the backs of a row of shops in a town and making them cutting edge apartments. I could not bite my tongue any longer and suggested that although development might contribute to the economy of the town would the back of the buildings outlive the listed facade---- and so we went on, until I finally said we would have to agree to disagree-- his final words were that I was WRONG. ughffffffff- dear me. What a grumpy old-------

 

[robgil]

76 quid? its a shame i dont have 13157.894736842105263157894736842 of them , i would be a million air then!
perhaps i could convince 13158 home owners to replace their copper cylinders with ''greener'' cheap plastic ones, perhaps i could seek government backing for this scheme , they could penalise anyone who doesnt consent with a copper cylinder tax.
the government earns a new tax and also looks to be helping the environment , i get rich and the customer thinks they have done well in reducing their carbon foot print and helps to save an endangered species (copper).
everyone's a winner.

have you considered a magnetic water softener? they dont remove the limescale they change the way it forms by changing the ions or something in the water so limescale stays dissolved in the water , thats my very none scientific explanation of how they work..