Home DIY

Flatmate says the kettle exploded (sparks and stuff everywhere) today so definitely calling the landlord to check that out. He can sort out the tap at the same time.

Did the landlord provide the kettle?

Yep. It was safety tested in August though. I'll probably ask him to get an electrician in to make sure there's nothing wrong with the circuitry in the flat (rather than just the kettle blowing up). It might just be that it's been a bit overworked filling in for the hot tap this weekend.

It's actually an agency (not the landlord as I said earlier; just said that for brevity) and I've rented off far, far worse people in the past. It's a small agency with only a few staff and they're generally quick to get things sorted and haven't tried to rip us off yet so I'm (generally) pretty happy here.

Edit: having said that I have a friend whose flat burned down a couple of weeks ago (probably electrical) and after this incident I'm definitely getting renter's insurance.

It does seem unlikely to be a fault in the wiring of the house, more likely as you've suggested the kettles at fault. I've seen sockets destroyed by long term damage from steam and kettles popping rcd's because they're standing in some water but usually an appliance blowing up is the result of a fault in the appliance. The 13amp fuse should have blown or the RCD tripped, otherwise I'm guessing your flatmate would have some injuries.

Yeah it's possible the kettle being under a cupboard caused condensation but the sparking came from the base of the kettle I believe. The breaker tripped and the fuse in the kettle apparently has a resistance of only 0.1 Ω according to my multimeter so didn't blow.

There is also a switch for an extractor fan that needs replacing so he's going to have to call an electrician sooner or later anyway; no harm in getting it looked at

The resistance measurement should be in the mΩ range. 0.1 Ω looks like the end of range of the multimeter but signalling continuity. Not sure what meter you're using but does it cope with mΩ?

Could of been arcing from a dodgy contact in the base if it's the now usual base and kettle type connection.

Sometimes it's an overfilled kettle boiling and spilling water from the spout into the base that can set them off.

I presume you mean milliohms?

I'd have used a capital M for megohms but I'm just going from a fuse resistance table which shows mΩ for milliohms. I've not done any maths to check it though.

It starts at 0.0 ohms (so no milliohms on the meter) and then increases to 0.1 then 0.2 ohms after a few seconds. Meter is a POS from China made by "Hyelec" - very similar to this

Edit: actually the meter measures its own resistance as about 0.1 ohms too (with a lot of variation) so I think the fuse is okay.

It's probably measuring the resistance of the cables too. Most expensive multimeters have a method of deducting the cable resistance from the measurement.

Everyone loves a 4-point probe!

Crocodile clips or nipple clamps, you decide.

Loft conversions and snow really don't seem to mix. A load of snow defrosting on the tarpaulin covering the roof has, unsurprisingly, led to water dripping through into the house. Good job I'm planning to redecorate after it is finished.

Am impressed by the pace of the work though, in seven days they've put in the RSJs and floor joists, built a dormer, started putting the stud walls in and knocked through ready for the stairs to go in.

Well, you know they're not sunbathing up there.

V pleased with how my curtain rail has turned out. Shame about the state in which the last fuckers left everything...

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Nice and clean, the wood will remain raw?

I was thinking so, should be very easy to dismantle if I need/want to refinish it though

Thinking of doing some shelves to match. Might move up to M8 fittings for that

Nice frapping. What string/line did you use?

I’d be having words! Why no deck on the flat roof? Flat roof should be constructed and weathered in a day to prevent exactly that sort of thing.
Especially if they’ve cut out for the stairs already!

Got to love builders, when will they be knocking off for crimbo.

Anyone else tried KiKU fittings?

http://www.sdslondon.co.uk/knock-down-keku-fittings.html

I think it was the unexpectedly shit weather, it seems to be sorted now (at least I hope so given they've started the electrics up there) and where it was coming through has now been cut out for the stairs.

Just typical hardware store twine, nice and grippy

Currently redecorating my lounge / dining room (knocked through).
Wanting to get some nice switches / sockets / dimmers etc that match. Don't mind spending a bit. Like Lutron but don't want a whole house solution etc. What range does the forum recommend. Want that baller high end look.

Gira, if your pockets are deep enough. Lutron do some nice stand alone ones, we've had a few dotted around the house for years. They're a pleasure in daily use but visitors generally don't understand them so you get unusual results.