Tuesday 6 December 2016

How Can a Pinhole Leak be Temporarily Fixed Until a More Permanent Repair Can be Done?


Ordinary 2-part epoxy resin also works well for sealing leaks. I have used it successfully for repairing a long crack in the polystyrene spray nozzle of a hose. Make sure you get the quick setting stuff which hardens in about 10 minutes. Try and dry the joint thoroughly, and if possible, rub it with sandpaper to improve adhesion. Let the epoxy stiffen slightly before applying to prevent it spreading out. Heat from a hair drier accelerates the curing process. As far as I know special pipe sealants are epoxy based.
Another alternative (although this is theoretical and I haven't tried it!) is to use a hose clip. Keep one opened out and if you have a leak, wrap it around the pipe, push the end of the clip back into itself and semi-tighten it with a screwdriver. Push a small piece of rubber (bicycle patch, piece of old tire, rubber boot or whatever) under the clip over the hole and tighten. The advantage of this is that the water wouldn't have to be turned off and the area around the hole wouldn't need to be dry but it would probably only work on a hole in the actual pipe itself where the clip would exert sufficient pressure on the patch. You can also buy emergency clamp type fittings which seal over a hole, effecting a temporary repair until the section of pipe can be replaced.
Yet another repair method for cracked brass fittings is to solder them. I had to do this when a fitting on a heating system in my workshop developed a hairline crack during a lengthy period of snow during the winter. (Haven't looked at it for years so hopefully it's still water tight!).
It's wise to know the location of all your stop cocks/gate valves, and write the function of the valve on the wall behind it with a marker, or tie a label around it. In an emergency, you don't want to have to figure out which valve shuts off which pipe. Also valves tend to stick and seize up after years of disuse, so "exercise" them at least once a year by screwing off and back on again. It's actually a good a wise idea to add a redundant valve in case your main water shut-off valve fails. Another option is to fit a quadrant ball valve in addition to the main valve which can be quickly turned off by turning it through 90 degrees (These are the ones commonly encountered on gas and air compressor lines or on oil tanks). Quadrant valves don't normally seize up.

Can an Oil Stain be Washed Out of a Cotton Shirt?


Any of the well known hand cleansers used by auto mechanics or similar are excellent for cleaning oil stains from clothes or even worse carpets. The stuff I use on my hands after I do work on my lawn mower is excellent and seems to remove even the worst grime. Some of these cleansers contain hydrocarbon solvents which may remove colour from clothing, so try using some on the tail of the shirt first to see what the affect will be. Wash the shirt in your washer after removing the majority of the stain. Cotton is a somewhat porous fabric compared to to synthetic fibres which are more smooth. So the oil content of the stain will be removed, however you may not be able to remove all the stain, especially if black, waste oil is involved.  However it may become less obvious after further washes.

How Can I Mould Stepping Stones For the Garden Using Cake Tins?

If the pans are slightly tapered from top to bottom, there shouldn't be any problem releasing the cement, just as it is easy to release a cake from a mould or a sandcastle from a bucket. Cement doesn't normally stick readily to smooth metal. You could spray the inside with silicone lubricating spray and this should help also or even rub around the inside of the mould with some butter, Vaseline or similar. You only need to rub the surface in the same way that pans and dishes are coated when cooking or baking.
When the cement is set hard after a few days, lightly tap all around the base and sides, turn upside down and then if possible, hit the edge of the pan off the edge of a surface such as a bench, wheel barrow or kerb. This usually works when releasing plants from pots so it should work with cement also.
Leave the cement for about a week before walking on it so that it attains its full strength.
If you want to make the stones really strong, you can reinforce them by laying any scrap metal items you want to dispose of inside the cement. Half fill the mould with cement and then place the pieces of metal flat on the cement. Fill up to the top of the mould with cement.
If the stones are going to be walked on, they need to be at least 2 to 3 inches thick.

Wednesday 10 August 2016

For Less Than $4 This Mini Adjustable Zooming LED Flashlight is a "Must Have" for Camping, Hiking and DIY

So I received one of these flashlights from Dealextreme  in the mail today and I wasn't disappointed! This 120 lumen flashlight is really bright and runs on a single1.5 volt alkaline AA cell or alternatively you can use a 3.6 volt Lithium 14500 type.

SIPIK SK68 120lm Convex Lens LED Zooming Flashlight w/ Q3-WC



You are probably familiar with the two AA cell Maglite which is a nice compact torch, and an indispensable item in any DIYers toolbox. Maglites can be zoomed so that they throw a narrow parallel beam, useful for instance when running services under floorboards or pinpointing stuff in the distance. This flashlight is a little over half the length of  a double AA Maglite, but has the added advantage of a zoomable beam, which can be adjusted from flood to spot by sliding the lens at the front backwards and forwards.

How Bright is It?

Well it's REALLY bright for something so small which runs on a single AA cell! According to the spec on Dealextreme's website, the flashlight pumps outs 120 lumens of light from the Cree Q3-WC LED. This is insanely bright and perfectly adequate for lighting up an area. When adjusted to provide a narrow beam, it can easily light up a target 30 metres away.



What's the Runtime?


At a voltage of 0.7 to 4.2 volts, runtime is 1.5 hours

What's the Construction Quality Like?


The body is made from aluminium so the flashlight should withstand being dropped from at least waist height. It's sealed with O-rings as is standard on these types of torches to make it water resistant, I couldn't see how they sealed the the LED head, presumably there is an O-ring between the two sections. The contact spring in the base cap is gold plated which may help to reduce bad connections, a problem which plagues torches with pressure contacts. The contact pad inside the torch however isn't plated with gold. A metal belt clip is a useful feature with a recess on the flashlight to prevent it slipping off the belt.





How Much Does it Cost?


$3.43 £2.62 or €3.09 excellent value for a bright, well constructed flashlight


Where Do I Buy It?


From Dealextreme at this URL http://bit.ly/2aZexby