Weather..

Anniekay said:
I am not really mechanically inclined. plumbing is not my forte'. I'm not too bad with a chain saw, circular saw, hammer and nails, but stuff to do with pipes? uht-uh 😒
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That was just about the first thing I learned, worked with a central heating co installing pipework, then moved on to repairing timeclocks, now there's something you will never see in a modern system, actual clocks with electric motors, if they controlled gas boilers they had an actual clock on them as well for backup in case there was a power cut.
But I digress, are your butts purpose made water butts with a little plug where the spigot is supposed to fit? If it is then it is really easy, one screws out and the other screws in to replace it. The plug usually has a slot in it for a large screwdriver, anticlockwise to unscrew, remember 'Clockwise to close'.
That is true of most things, gas pipes go the other way so you can't accidentally connect them to anything else, also it seems the taps on water butts.
There is usually a thick rubber washer on the spigot so you can get a seal with the tap pointing down, screw it up until it is tight, if it is just past the bottom you can go back a bit, otherwise you can usually get a bit more turn with something like your trusty screwdriver pushed up the tap to give you a bit of extra leverage, but not too hard or sudden, they are only made of plastic.

I have three butts like that and one that is made from an old drum with an old fashioned kitchen type tap fitted, that really isn't a lot harder, I'll explain it if need be, but look for the simple ,'Screw one out, screw the other in."
 
olly-buckle said:
That was just about the first thing I learned, worked with a central heating co installing pipework, then moved on to repairing timeclocks, now there's something you will never see in a modern system, actual clocks with electric motors, if they controlled gas boilers they had an actual clock on them as well for backup in case there was a power cut.
But I digress, are your butts purpose made water butts with a little plug where the spigot is supposed to fit? If it is then it is really easy, one screws out and the other screws in to replace it. The plug usually has a slot in it for a large screwdriver, anticlockwise to unscrew, remember 'Clockwise to close'.
That is true of most things, gas pipes go the other way so you can't accidentally connect them to anything else, also it seems the taps on water butts.
There is usually a thick rubber washer on the spigot so you can get a seal with the tap pointing down, screw it up until it is tight, if it is just past the bottom you can go back a bit, otherwise you can usually get a bit more turn with something like your trusty screwdriver pushed up the tap to give you a bit of extra leverage, but not too hard or sudden, they are only made of plastic.

I have three butts like that and one that is made from an old drum with an old fashioned kitchen type tap fitted, that really isn't a lot harder, I'll explain it if need be, but look for the simple ,'Screw one out, screw the other in."
Click to expand...
Olly, is there any way to fix this kind of time clock onto a modern gas heating system now? It would certainly be jolly useful, especially as they are predicting power cuts in the near future. We also wondered if it would be possible to fire a gas heating system with a generator?
 
olly-buckle said:
I did wonder last year about building a dew-catcher, anyone got any experience of such things?
Click to expand...

I've made a simple one with just a sheet of polythene, 4 pegs and a rock in the middle. Cup underneath to catch the drips but you only get enough for a cuppa.

I was looking at more elaborate ones on YT that have a coiled pipe in a trough with cold water running through it. Looks much better 🙂
 

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