The main cause of valves becoming stuck is when they are opened fully and left there. The correct way is to open them fully and then close them half a turn or so. This enables a little ‘wiggle’ room for the valve when it slowly becomes stuck again over the years. A valve stuck hard against the stops is very difficult to persuade to move again. On stuck valves I always use a penetrating lube the day before, WD40 or such like. Try a little gentle tapping around the valve …
Using a Multimeter to Check Voltage The old workhorse Honda CRV has been a tad slow turning over lately on cold mornings and a recent ‘who left the lights on for ten minutes?’ left us without enough battery power to even turn the engine over at all. Que random mad clicking and flashing dash lamps… Oops! Now, we’ve been running around in the Honda for nearly four years and the battery looked far from new when we bought it, so it doesn’t owe me anything really. It’s often quoted that …
Happy New Year Everyone! I hope you’re already planning lots of fun things to make, renovate or improve in 2017. A new year often brings new enthusiasm to finish off forgotten projects or start new ones and Yay! for that… I’ll be right here this year helping you along with tips and tricks, so don’t forget to get in touch if you get stuck, other wise make sure you’re subscribed to the newsletter or following me on facebook etc. I’m busy too this year, finishing off my ‘big’ book so don’t …
Using a Washer and a Pencil… Been using this tip for a few years now for small scribes such as this MDF top for a small cupboard going up to a curved wall etc… Keep a selection of washers handy in your toolbox, preferably with lots of variation from thin to thick ‘penny’ washers. Simply measure the front projection to ensure it’s equal, and then run a pencil inside the washer, making sure the washer is tight up to the wall all the way. The washer will follow the undulations …
Want to use the new style, IKEA Ultrusta cabinet hinges from the new Sektion system on a custom build project? Then you’ll need to know a few measurements to help you set out the hinge position. You might not know this, but the IKEA hinge system is contracted out to ‘Blum’, a leading hinge and furniture hardware supplier in the UK. The new Sektion hinge system utilises a horizontal pair of holes (previously they were vertical), which gives more shelf arrangement options inside apparently. Here are the measurements… Hope that’s …
With this simple maintenance tip Ever noticed your vacuum cleaner isn’t pulling up as much dirt as normal? Now I know many folks will think this tip is blooming obvious, but I’m posting it for a reason. Day in and day out do I see vacuum cleaner heads like this (and no, I’m not kidding, I see this a LOT!)… Amazing huh? The way a vacuum cleaner works is simple; debris passes through little slots in the front brush and the suction of the motor pulls it up and into …
To Avoid Nasty Surprises in Your Building Budget… When the back of a cigarette package just isn’t enough to calculate your building costs, you’re going to need to do some pretty accurate calculations if you’re not going to overspend on a project. You can use tools like this to find out if you can afford the project you have in mind. This is not some fancy tool where you just add in your sizes but rather a worksheet or workbook that runs through everything you might need. The upshot of completing it …
