What have you Done It Yourself?

[Bob Minchin]

1)Just finished a wall of shelves in the pantry just one tin/jar/packet deep. Can see so much easier what we have and they have hardly taken any space up. 1/2" phenolic resin coated ply (because I have loads) edged with ash moulding to give small retention lip. supported on spur brackets with sawn off short brackets as I could not get less than 120mm ones. Been thinking about doing it since we moved in in 1982 - no point is rushing these jobs! Whilst I was at it I added a PIR/daylight switch to the lighting in there. Very handy when emerging with both hands full of ingredients. 2) Built an auto switch for the car coolbox which lives in the boot. It senses the change in supply voltage and switches on and off when the engine runs. No more risk of forgetting to switch it off over night and ending up with flat battery on holiday. Anyone thinking of doing similarly, bear in mind it needed far more hysteresis than I expected as the volt drop due to the coolbox load (6-7 amps)and the resistance of the car wiring and I expect, several fuses in series. It looses about 800mV on load. Circuit uses voltage regulator, dual op amp, transistor and 40A automotive relay off ebay. The boxed unit sits inline with the supply lead to the cool box. 3) Today I swapped the front and back wheels on the car to help equalise the wear and found a nail in one front tyre. £10 cash to repair at my local independent garage - not diy :-( 18 month old car and first time the wheels have been off and not a trace of grease on the wheel bolts from factory assembly. Grrr. Sorted now.

Bob

[John Rumm]

Already there:

[whisky-dave]

updating a ceiling light to LED with dimmer, trouble is most dimmers want a 40mm patreess box and all mine seem to be 25mm as standard and the dimmer I like needs a depth of 50mm.

[Robin]

Sorry, I should have realised you'd already covered it.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

That is odd. Pretty well all fit a standard deep box - 35mm. 50mm (or more likely 47mm) is generally known as shaver depth.

[Capitol]

To almost quote Spike Milligan " I told them I wasn't ill"!

So far seems to be true.

[John Rumm]

Given some comments though, I have just reworded it a little so indicate you are less likely to cut yourself rather than the more categorical "won't"!

[John Rumm]

I think the Varilight rotary one I just fitted was ok on a 25mm box. The front projection was a few mm more than a normal switch. Use with LED hut "filament" candle bulbs gives the best dimming range I have seen from LED so far - you can go very nearly as low as with a traditional GLS lamp.

[whisky-dave]

find me one of these 35mm ones.

I can see screwfix from my window so even if they are a few quid more expen sive I'll opt to go there rather than oder from amazon.

I did find one on amazon as I brought one last year £26, now down to < £15

I want a chrome and a white dimmer as I might as well replace both with LED s

I did find one on amazon as I brought one last year £26, now down to < £15

fits 25mm box

ED+dimmer

even the replacment parts 45mm :-

YGwodVGUH4g

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Yes- I've seen some that will fit a 1" box. Luckily when I re-wired this place I used deep boxes everywhere. So never have a problem upgrading.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

You might have a problem finding someone who sells a single one, though. Maybe a local DIY shop?

[ARW]

Measured up for a new fence at the gf's and for some stupid reason (ie beer) promised her it will be done this year.

[Tim Lamb]

In message , Bob Minchin writes

Don't drive by builders skips!

[Roger Mills]

I thought they were more mike multi-tools with a reciprocating blade which cuts rigid things but simply waggles soft things like flesh back and forth.

[Tim+]

Yep. The problems occur if they touch skin that is closely adherent to bone so that the skin can't "waggle" with the blade, like over the shin. Doctor shouldn't really have pushed it along. Always safer to do a series of plunge cuts.

Tim

[DJC]

Not as much as I should since moving home last year. bought a lot of gardening tools much weeding in the garden removed all the climbing plants covering the walls checked around foundations for damp problems cleaned attic Pressure wash and painted shed Pressure wash and painted garage painted one room cleaned paint off one cast iron fireplace bought cast iron fireplace from reclaim yard joined group to learn dry stone walling joined group to learn hedgelaying

got tennis elbow from hedgelaying with blunt billhook so fixing my hedge will have to wait until autumn. Fixing my dry stone wall may start next month, have spoken to quarry man about 4 tons of stone.

[DJC]

same as a multitool. oscillating action

[Bob Minchin]

LOL It was a curious nail. The style of a round head bright steel wire nail with a head size and gauge of a 60mm long one ie about 2.5mm shank and yet no more than 20mm long. It was less than 10mm off the tread centre line and almost perfect position for a repair.

[whisky-dave]

When I brought my place it had been rewired a few years earlier and I didnlt feel like going around replacing all the patress boxes with deeper ones, especailly as I found most dimmers at the time fitted OK.

Most LED dimmers seem to need more space partly due to the increased compnet count needed for trailing edge dimming. So I've been hoping that better tech will mean lower profile dimmers in the near furture.

[whisky-dave]

I've probbaly got one somewhere, but it's the hackingn out the brickwall[1] then repairing the wallpaper & repainting that's the pain.

Yes I have brick walls in my flat not plasterboard walls.