Home DIY

Surely stud finder only works if they have used studwork? could also be dot and dab to brick\block wall ,in that case long screws and standard rawl plugs into the wall?

True, and that would make life lots easier, because then you can drill pretty much where you like (as long as you avoid pipes, wire etc.), rather than having to hunt for a stud to put a woodscrew into. I was replying to @rive_gauche's suggestion that you can't find wooden studs with a detector, which you can.

Yes sorry, just hit reply on the last bit on the conversation... obviously if it is dot and dab, stud finder can be used to find where not to drill...

well, fuck me, i bow to your superior knowledge

well, fuck me, i bow to your superior knowledge

To be fair, I have no idea how they work. I would say "magnets", but I think that's how they find metal!

Changes in density. Electronic equivalent of tapping the board and listening for the pitch to change.

so, channel A works on ultrasound, channel B on magnetic field?

All the ones I have just say metal/wood on the switch.

My old man was a joiner and swore by them, he also thought they were so essential he would give them to us as presents. So j have one in my small tool box, one in my big tool box and some more in my mums roof. Don't even know if any of them still work.

So further reading and judicious use of my degree certificate says they work in the same way as your touchscreen on your phone. They measure the change in the permittivity of the material around you. You do that by having (crudely) a parallel plate capacitor. One side is the detector and the other side if the ground. You're actually detect (mostly) the water content of the wood as it behaves very differently to free space (air).

ah, makes sense, a dielectric medium having a higher ratio of flux to charge

Depends who you invite!

It's fine, I try and keep that stuff for when I'm in the lab.

re Part P legislation is there not an area where a "competent person" can do some of their some of their own electrical works?

he wants to do some of his some of his own rewire, just how much we don't know don't know

Anyone know if these stud detectors can detect joists in ceilings behind lath and plaster?

Usually the lath fools it into thinking there is wood everywhere. Some of the newer 'pro' models may of fixed it.

Anyone know if these stud detectors can detect joists in ceilings behind lath and plaster?

Usually the lath fools it into thinking there is wood everywhere. Some of the newer 'pro' models may of fixed it.

Some of them have a calibration wheel where you can set the level of sensitivity. This might mean that you can set them not to false-alarm for the lath, but to go off when there's the extra density of a stud behind it. I can't guarantee, but it might be worth looking out for one like that.

given the device is a relative permittivity differentiator, then yes, if the sensitivity range is calibrated for the dielectric strength of the medium being sought

Look at the bosch d-tect 150 for the gadgets as it has an LCD screen while d-tect 120 can be found at a good price and a brilliant excuse to draw on walls and give people pretty plans with the depths and postition of things in their properties walls.

@diable
Extend a ring main with a couple of sockets, not in kitchen just in the lounge.

@diable
Sorry should have said ta for chipping in.

Define competent.....that is the issue.

Need more details. How many sockets/what is on the ring main now?

Fortunately AMD3 of BS7671 does away with the term competent

Reg 134.1.1 now reads:

"Good workmanship by skilled (electrically) or instructed (electrically) persons and proper materials shall be used in the erection of the electrical installation. The installation of electrical equipment shall take account of manufacturers’ instructions."

Historically, 100M2 has been the rule for thumb for a ring circuit (OSG table 8A)

OK what's the difference between a "skilled (electrically)" or "instructed (electrically)", I assume "instructed" is someone who's qualified and skilled is someone who has experience?

Re the "how many sockets" on there at present I'd better go and do some more research.

skilled - formal qualifications plus experience plus authorisation (i.e. ECS/JIB Gold card)

instructed - trainee undergoing qualification route plus developing experience plus registration (i.e. ECS/JIB White with Red stripe card), or unskilled installer (ECS/JIB White with Blue stripe card)

I'd like my gas meter to be moved, it's sat about a foot away from the wall through which the gas pipe comes - on the end of a flexible pipe.

If not for the hard 22mm copper pipe that runs from the domestic side of the meter it could be moved very simply, without having to do anything other than push it gently against the wall.

I've been advised that no plumber would touch this job, and that is' gas-company only, for ~£700.

Does anyone have any experience of this sort of thing? I'm unsure why a plumber can re-position gas-pipework elsewhere in a building, but not coming off the meter, and I think that £700 seems a bit steep for a job that I could do myself (but won't due to risk of blowing the spare bedroom apart).