Druidic exploits of a various nature!!

[245dlc]

Aye, cheers boyo ... Feb was not a good month TBH ...... just about back to feeling more normal ... and not panicking with every twinge ... would not want to end up back in hospital given the current situation

Aye I'm getting twitchy as spring is just starting to tease us we had one day last week where the temperature got up to +15C all the snow had melted making things nice and mucky and little rivers and lakes all over the place because of that. I keep thinking about going on a road trip with the girls and our home made camper but this Corona covid thing keeps us cooped up except for me to go to work when there is some. And being an asthma sufferer I can do without any more sickness I'm also scheduled to get a tonsillectomy at the end of the month provided I don't get sick or the numbers of infected people don't skyrocket.
Are you able to still tinker with your projects being cooped up at home?

[v8druid]

No rush Fella..... just had me panicked a bit there given a few of your last posts then absence, and the current situation, .... anyway .. good to see you ok

Aye, cheers boyo ... Feb was not a good month TBH ...... just about back to feeling more normal ... and not panicking with every twinge ... would not want to end up back in hospital given the current situation

[Muz]

aye Boyo ..... must have a bit of a catch up ..... been told by the NHS this week, to keep me head down for 12 fkn weeks ... not happy .... not been off the ranch in 3 weeks already ..so'll be 14 by the time i get to go out again ... in theory

thanks for asking

see if I can't get up to date later

No rush Fella..... just had me panicked a bit there given a few of your last posts then absence, and the current situation, .... anyway .. good to see you ok

[v8druid]

Howdo mate ... havent seen you in a bit ? all ok ?

aye Boyo ..... must have a bit of a catch up ..... been told by the NHS this week, to keep me head down for 12 fkn weeks ... not happy .... not been off the ranch in 3 weeks already ..so'll be 14 by the time i get to go out again ... in theory

thanks for asking

see if I can't get up to date later

[Muz]

Howdo mate ... havent seen you in a bit ? all ok ?

[v8druid]

Didn't hear from Vicki sunday 'til lunch time so was assuming all the water was where it's supposed to be.
we have had her brother, his wife and their two children here for a couple of days .. arrived late Sat. night ... and Vicki and Clara were due here for lunch so was gonna find out


I 'd have been very pissed off if the second 'repair' hadn't been effective ... and annoyed if she hasn't told me sooner so i could have done something about it


However .. transpired all water was where it should be and all working fine ......
'cept my boiler decided to have a hiccup an hour after she arrived .......


seems OK now after sticking it on manual, giving it some HEAT and topping up the pressure a bit .. which did look fine, but an extra 0.2 bar seems to have settled it
we'll see .... just didn't sound right ... but does now .......
funny how your ear will pick up the slightest thing when it's in tune with regular background noises


She brought Clara up Monday morning at 07:45 before work and it was still fine .. and DRY ... so got some breathing space to sort the new one

As said Josh and family here, over the weekend ... his Birthday shortly and we're not going to see them for three months ... off traveling later in the month, having saved up holidays, maternity and paternity allowances .. off round Europe ... again .. possibly not the greatest time to choose but all planned months in advance and they'll just keep away from people as much as poss.


little un's growing



daddy didn't get a look in on the candles ... four or five times, Sunday afternoon ..



Clara and Shem decorated his cake!! ..... bit random ... but they didn't pinch any, whilst they were doing it .. much to Pam's amazement


they departed about lunchtime, after I'd fetched Clara back from nursery ...... then it was treatment time, bit later than the usual Monday morning, after we'd had lunch ..... Clara loves to get in on the act .....






gonna be a while 'fore she gets anywhere near my arm, with a canular ...... she's dangerous enough with a thermometer

[v8druid]

well .. they say.. "trouble comes in threes" ...
after the car last week and the boiler issues earlier this week ...
Vicki on the phone early Thursday morning ... with water dripping from Clara's bedroom ceiling !!!

Had me BIL coming to give me a hand sorting some errant slates on the roof here, after all the winds we've had ... well he was gonna sort 'em and I was gonna get him up there in the basket ...
Vicki got priority, so shortly after he arrived we shot down the village for a look see ....
cold water header/expansion tank in the ridge of the loft leaking - properly ... concluded a split somewhere, so set to getting the bugger out ... which we eventually managed after some careful persuasion

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having wrestled it past all the pipework and wriggled it out of its resting place, 'twas pretty evident 'twere fooked ... but only slightly

dashed into town, with the offending item, hoping to find a replacement that'd fit the space available or better still a like for like replacement .... reg,s changed recently apparently and .... no chance ... all very different now

managed to find a supplier who could offer very similar physical dims, but a very different tank ...but at the earliest, friday or more likely Monday/Tuesday - bugger !!


the problem with the original was a couple of small cracks that'd developed around the base of some internal ribbing and the supplier, who I've dealt with for many years, suggested a temp fix with some CT1 adhesive/filler, that works and can even be applied, under water - - like sticking tiles to a swimming pool wall whilst said pool is full

so new tank ordered .... tube of CT1 in hand, me and the BIL set off home to effect a temporary repair on said tank, so' we could at least get the heating and hot water functional for a few more days, on the old unit, whilst the new one made its way to Druid central and we could be impressed at the performance of this CT1 stuff

internal ribs suitably plastered and some flexible cover patches bonded to the under sides .... welding curtain seemed a fair option

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we returned to Vickis loft to re-instate the bloody thing ...... went in a damned sight easier than it came out ... we had the drop on it .. refilled and all was nice and dry
observed it for a good hour and were happy ..... way too late for the originally planned slating job, so a.n.other date was set for that and Gareth went home after a cuppa and some of Pam's gluten free sponge cake. she makes an awesome GF cake

22:00 thursday night - me phone rings - Vicki ... "there's a bit of a drip" !! ****, **** and double **** ......." I'll be down first thing ... stick a bucket under it and turn the main off babe "

the pic above is one I took this morning after extricating said tank ... AGAIN !! after taking Clara to nursery and returning home with the damned thing ... water had some how managed to find a way to track through the sealant inside on the web/tank wall interface, through the crack and then worm it's way out through the sealant holding the patch on ..... well unhappy !! (the missing bit is where I'd rubbed it off)

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cleaned everything off ... meticulously clean .... scoured it all with course glass paper (sand paper to them that don't know better - sand paper doesn't exist) and remade the seal / patch repair ....
back to Vicki's .... re-installed the repaired tank in situ, left it to dry/drying,... all in time to collect Clara at 12

as per , as the sun was out here, for a miraculous change :hurra: .. she wanted an hour in the park on the swings/slide/etc. ........ half twelve I get a call to say the new tank had been delivered --- "I'll be in shortly - just installed the old one again for the second time - long story - see you in twenty min.s Peter "
He was amazed the CT1'd let us down !!
"C'est la vie "
Shot into town with Clara and picked it up ... very nice .. but very different!!

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going to need a lot of plumbing re-juggling to persuade this into the original location and after examining it in the loft, as a comparator ... concluded 'twas a job for a.n.other day, suitably armed, with a bucketful of plumbing fittings, extra pipe and more time than I had available today .....
so filled the repaired tank, checked it over yet again, turned the main off in case, strategically placed a few buckets and burgered off for some lunch, as Clara was now H U N G R Y

Spoke with Vicki at tea time and discussed tactics/procedure, for leaving it un-attended over the week end, if she went out anywhere - i.e. turn the bloody main off, in case, but ......... was all still dry and dandy when we spoke, so hopefully if there're no issues in 24 hrs, there won't be any and I get some breathing space, to get yon new one installed not heard anything bad , yesterday evening, so fingers crossed ... or today, so hoping it's all ok

So that's three 'problems' ... in double quick time ...... they/I/we have had our quota for a while ... hopefully


for those wondering or a little confused ...... this is an old style system with a hot water storage tank, which can also be heated electrically, with an immersion heater coil, built into the tank.

the header tank is as high as you can get it in the property .. provides a good head of water to the tank, a floor below and keeps it totally full, with a rising expansion drain back into the header .... then the hot tank feeds the boiler's hot water jacket/loop, that supplies the hot water system, when the heating is on.
The hot water is stored in the lagged / insulated hot tank.

The boiler has a separate water jacket which heats the sealed/closed heating circuit, feeding all the radiators, which is pumped around the system when on... this too has an expansion/header tank to keep that system full.
each tank has an overflow to atmosphere, should they over fill, due to expansion (or ball float valve failure) and their own rising main feed on a ball float valve, to maintain a correct pre-set level in each. ... I ought to take a look at this smaller tank too, next time I'm in the attic/loft as it's the same age as the failed one ... but much smaller and so not under such stress .. the failed one is 15 gallons ...... hope that all makes sense

without the hot water header tank installed you can't run the boiler safely

so that's been my week - ish ....... I am hoping for a quieter week, next week ...... so's I can carry on with the recuperation

[v8druid]

very lucky not to have been a hell of a lot worse

Skoda Fabia's on her list of preferences or a Yeti....
she'd actually been considering a change -- apparently - - unknown to me, the Roomster was 250 quid a year to tax fk knows why??

only a few quid less than my P38 ... spent the day wandering locally Saturday, eyeballing what's about ...after spending several hours on the search pages friday evening and got plenty of leads !

Vicki's had a couple of Skodas and must say I can't really fault them as a good, solid, basic motor ... her brother is still driving her old Fabia daily as his get to work and back bus / second car ... leaves their Cactus free for the wife and kids.
Some of the fabias are only 20 quid a year to tax
mission accomplished ..
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Vicki's on half term that week - she teaches - so had to be sorted PDQ ....
all seem around the same sort of price ... 27k miles, 2017, ex VAG lease to a doctor. just had its first MOT.

Ins.'ll only give her a rental for so long, 'fore they start charging it ... even if they ain't paying .. was local and a trader I know, with a good rep and been around 30 odd years
.... a few other identical ones in the area ... was what she fancied and should give her good service ... Job done

Lot to be said for not messing about

can waste a lot of time and energy running around looking at the same thing .. and more often than not end up where you started ..
with several others to eyeball, if required, it concentrated this seller's mind on striking a deal, rather than risk us not returning ... we did alright ... "not my first rodeo"

well that was last week - ish .... this week has been equally fraught ..


the recuperation/honeymoon is over .. or was tues. morning ....


Vicki feeling very 'not well' that day and actually called in sick that morning (not like her at all - very conscientious girl, fair play) ... so she dropped Clara at nursery and we got a lie in, after we got an early text telling us of the score .... ... followed by a slightly later one saying her boiler was equally unwell .... so 'twas assemble me boiler servicing toolkit and head for her's ....


transpires, when I get there, that she'd had a kero delivery the previous day, forgot to turn the boiler off, before leaving for work, and having inquired with a neighbour, they were quite late in the day delivering, so could well have been running as it cascaded into the tank ... which is a placcy jobby and fairly new .... but all fuel has a percentage of H2O in it and I always like to have yon boiler off for a while to let it all settle again. Tiger loop system, so the fuel is pumped around the system under pressure and recirculates a fair volume in a short time


Stank of kero, so whipped the blower/burner unit out to check the injector/atomiser nozzle .. 'twere damp so new one in for the fiver they cost ... combustion chamber was clean enough though and all dry


with the burner out the way, access to the filter was way easier than the usual struggle and sure enough, yon filter was saturated - with wasser and the feed line to the atomiser was empty.
new filter, reassemble the burner unit and re-install into the fire box, press go button and heat was restored .... well pleased I'd not needed to hoover the damned thing out .. was pretty clean.
still pushing two hours on me knees, leaning over the offending item ... wasn't feeling the greatest, but wasn't letting on ...
I get a real sense of achievement/satisfaction every time I nurse the damned thing back to life, which I've managed for a good twenty years now ...


Worcester Danesmore with a Danfoss blown burner and Satronic controller ... all pretty basic and a bag of spanners job to look after ... They'd intended to replace it later in the year .. 'fore Vicki'd had to spend her savings on a new motor, so might have to wait a bit longer ... but I'll keep it purring
... I have dibs on the old unit when they do ... the blown burner, which has been virtually rebuilt, over the last couple of years, as bits failed (a real "trigger's broom") is going to make a great space heater


Oil boiler design only recently seems to have started modernising. Compared to gas they’re a pretty crude design.


but relatively easy to maintain
biggest issue with oil fired is the fact it has to go through its start up/shut down cycle every time you flick a tap on .. gas is on / off flick of a switch/valve
we have a Grant, oil fired, floor standing, combi., condensing .. beast of a thing compared to a gas unit - piece of junk TBH ... would never buy an oil fired combi.


such a cycle, every time you demand hot water ... especially in summer months when the heating isn't in use.
conventional oil fired with a hot water storage tank, fine, but when this un dies .. I'd consider going propane or finding somewhere to install a hot water storage tank ... oil combis are crap (IMHDO)

[v8druid]

Nasty accident, but bent metal doesn’t matter so long as flesh and bone survives.

i thought something must be up with you as you’ve been unusually quite, but it was good to see that you’ve registered to join us on Madmodder (I approved your account a few days ago !)

too right Andrew

not had the greatest of months, this month .... body is just starting to behave more like it should, but'll be a while longer, 'fore I can trust it not to kick off again .... like walking about with a hand grenade with the pin out ATM ... great care is being taken not to piss anything off !!

I see I'd got the approval, but not been back in for a better look around since .... some one on the plant talk forum had flagged up one of your threads and thought " I know that name"
looks an interesting site

[v8druid]

Bloody lucky to walk away from that. I've been to a few smash ups as a Volunteer Firefighter. After one smash up I started to think twice about electric seats with no mechanical override. Took us I think nearly an hour and a half to cut a girl out of a car that side swiped a semi we had the whole car cut away with our specialized tools and in the end it took a socket set to remove the nuts and bolts from her car seat so we could back up her seat and get her feet out from under the dash and the pedals because the battery had been obliterated by the crash so there was no power to the seat. Kinda fearful of some of the new technology like the electric cars and hybrids with these special batteries they have and the exotic metals in them. Scary enough when you get a vehicle fire and the magnesium starts burning.

absolutely Bert .... been to me fair share of RTAs too, when I used to get call outs, from plod, with me cranes ...
I was very thankful when I looked at the vehicles' damage

Have to say I'd never considered the leccy seat issue ... windows and locks yes, but not the seats ... as for all the leccy cars and hybrids ... yeh potential bombs on wheels, to say now't of fumes

[AndrewMawson]

Nasty accident, but bent metal doesn’t matter so long as flesh and bone survives.

i thought something must be up with you as you’ve been unusually quite, but it was good to see that you’ve registered to join us on Madmodder (I approved your account a few days ago !)

[245dlc]

Bloody lucky to walk away from that. I've been to a few smash ups as a Volunteer Firefighter. After one smash up I started to think twice about electric seats with no mechanical override. Took us I think nearly an hour and a half to cut a girl out of a car that side swiped a semi we had the whole car cut away with our specialized tools and in the end it took a socket set to remove the nuts and bolts from her car seat so we could back up her seat and get her feet out from under the dash and the pedals because the battery had been obliterated by the crash so there was no power to the seat. Kinda fearful of some of the new technology like the electric cars and hybrids with these special batteries they have and the exotic metals in them. Scary enough when you get a vehicle fire and the magnesium starts burning.

[v8druid]

"never rains but it pours" ........
had my stepdaughter on the phone last Wednesday afternoon .... from the side of the road 'bout 10 miles away ....
some pr*ck, going way too fast, had just failed to overtake them on a dual carriage way, hit their rear O/s corner, spun them, rolled himself, written both vehicles off and completely fkd their afternoon out at the local play farm' with Clara
all emergency services in attendance and he will hopefully get done for 'due care .. ' , if not 'dangerous driving' ... w***er !!

She saw him coming and had already decided in her mind he was not going to make it, so was at least ready for it
..... had to dash off out to see 'em and placate a fretting mother / granny

was a long afternoon ....... got home about ten .
everyone ok thankfully .... Clara fine, if not a little quiet ... Vicki bruised where her belt held her and her right leg took a knock against her door...

Vicki driving in N/S lane at circa 55 mph .... saw this guy coming, over taking two behind her, going like hell, then came back in ....
HTF he could not see a bright red car is beyond me ... either nodded off or was pi**ing about with radio perhaps, but just plowed into her off side rear corner .... pushed them off the road onto a (fortunately) wide verge and start of a lay by and they spun when their N/S wheels caught the lay by's kerb .... very lucky not to roll.... Think the road sign they demolished kept 'em the right way up

His Focus N/S front quarter is absolutely decimated .. wheel back under door ... all his air bags went off

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shit pix ... will get some off Vicki she took in the daylight .....
had to go back out there half eight later that night to meet the recovery guys, collecting her car ...

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recovery guy looked at it and reckoned he'd been doing at least 40mph more than Vicki .... again, I'll get some daylight pix.
her little Skoda Roomster gave a good account of itself really ... pretty solid compared to the devastation of the Focus....
rear seats in hers are all independent sub-framed, removable/reversible, bloody solid units, locked to the floor and without doubt saved Clara's position in her child seat ... a conventional bulkhead and seat squab would've folded for sure

Very bloody annoying as her little car was immaculate, low miles and one previous lady owner ... not long passed its test ... wasn't a mark on it and drove like a watch gonna take some replacing ....... and of course the insurers are trying to take the piss already

Vicki and Clara have been in for med. checks following day and all seems OK, apart from a lot of bruises - we shall see how they go .. Chris seems fine, other than absolutely livid .... plod intent on a prosecution by the sounds of it and plenty of eye witnesses to the whole incident ...... focus driver 22 and had been at the wheel a couple of hours previous, driving down the country

could have been a hell of a lot worse and they all walked from it

TBF to Vicki's insurers ... they've been seriously on the ball this week ... numpty's insurers have put their hands in the air and admitted liability .. so we've been off to collect a hire car for her friday afternoon, 'til their assessor gets to hers and a proper valuation can be agreed next week ....



then we had to find her a new motor

said she found this quite claustrophobic after the 'panoramic' views from her Roomster ...

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going to struggle to find another one ... not been made since 2013 and are pretty thin on the ground anyway ...... was gonna be lots of net trawling coming up !!!!!

..... just got some daylight pix off Vicki ..

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[v8druid]

'evening all ...... been MIA a while
'tis a loooooooooong story



My disappearance kicked off with a routine visit to the Heath hospital on the 31st for my 6 monthly Ultra Sound scan.

started off fine at 11 o'clock .... by 11.20 I'm in excruciating agony being rushed through hospital corridors to A&E , after they'd pissed my pancreas off, with full blown, shoot me now, pancreatitis - AGAIN - puking my heart out !!!

was gone midnight 'fore I'd been shifted to a ward, bed and been given summat better than a couple of paracetamol for the pain

Unfortunately (but as usual) I'd gone down to Cardiff on me own ... had had to ring Pam .. tell her the bad news - like don't wait up - and get her and Vicki to come and get the car out the 4hr stay car park

several days of morphine induced stupor followed, as me pancreas calmed down a bit and I got weened back onto more conventional painkillers. Managed to persuade 'em after a week or so that I had enough of what they were giving me, at home, to 'self manage' the pain and they finally let me go

just about on top of the pancreas, for now, but me spleen has been a major problem, not getting treated for the gaucher's cells, it's been accumulating, since the 31st -
me consultant had been down to A&E to see me and said stop taking the new pills ... too many unknown factors in play .. so been urgently awaiting a new hamster juice delivery to disperse the accumulations ... arrived tues. morning, lunchtime-ish and it'd barely touched down 'fore it was mixed and plugged into me arm - spleen is feeling better for it !
Have spent the last few days since i've been home trying to get me digestive system re-interested in food, little by little, ease off the tramadol cocktails, catch up on a lot of sleep - they woke you every hour down there for some bloody test / observations / whatever -- was in the CT scanner one morning at 05.00 ... even the radiologists said it was bloody early

combine the double whammy above with the fact i've not had a fag in 15+ days and my system is doing cold turkey on that front too ...... it's been a bloody rough 2 weeks

just waiting now for the 80 quid fine/bill from Parking Eye for the car park at the hospital, to top the whole pile of shite off



Gonna take me months to get me back to where i was, pre U/S scan fk up .... At least I could manage to keep on top of it all myself at home

getting home is the best bit ... own food to try and get excited by .... being in the local hospital in 2010 was bad enough ... the Heath's 40+ miles away and had no idea of my way around it ?? ... 'least I know the local one inside out, having done a lot of work there over the years

most annoying bit is neither me or my consultant now has any idea about the new tab.s regime ..... they'm abandoned for now, anyway

couldn't put anything up from me hospital bed - - too wacked out /off me face and no 'net on me phone .... old faithful's steam power is my only portal into the ether

didn't expect any repeat performances of 2010, as I do me best to maintain the 'status quo' for the ol' bod and have learnt what does and how not to, piss it off
I'm pretty sure the U/S guy caused this, but until i have a chance to sit down with me consultant for a proper discussion about the 'new pills' , I can't completely rule them out ....... BUT .... I was fine/fit as, when i walked into the hospital, fifteen minutes 'fore getting pole-axed

[v8druid]

wasn't the greatest of days yesterday ... weather-wise, foggy as **** and drizzling / light rain most of the day ...
really wanted to see how the other mount suited though ... so 'twas a grin and bear it day!!


choice of two Kins yesterday morning ..








... and opted for the 4.5 tonner ...





t'other one's very similar, just a bigger base and also has two base outlet ports to suit an HPX ... but only a 4t cap.


Lugged the bits out onto the bench ...





and discovered I was going to need a spacer plate to raise the FF QCs off the top plate .... fortunately I had one already knocked out from a previous use ...
will cut the odd side off it next time the band-saw is plugged in


got it all bolted up and then swung the Miller over it to couple up to its lift eye ... easy way of hanging a Kins





then 'twas time to plumb it all up ... easy off the bench to reach the dipper QCs
and change over valves for the crowd circuit ... then hung it over the SEC to get a pin into it





hangs real nice with the jaws open to nigh on meeting ..... get past the closed point and it starts to hang a tad odd, with now't in the jaws .... but'd be fine gripping summat ....





centre hanging line is nicely in line with the rotater, hanging pin and jaw tips!


makes for another useful tool in the arsenal ... sort some 50mm pins and sleeves ... don't think what I had made a while back will work ... bit too long ... and it'll go under the VA-r too