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In the Europe, is all plumbing metric?

I’ve been at the water-Lego in our place the last two weeks and the number of stupid sizes, variations between manufacturers and obtuse naming conventions is staggering. Of course a 2” pipe isn’t actually 2 inches. Or 51mm. It’s just a random number somewhere in that ballpark. And there’s three different sizes depending on manufacturer. Oh and push fit, compression and solvent weld are all different sizes too. And supply and drain are all different sizes. And the boss on the side of this ring seal soil stack fits nothing that has ever been manufactured.

McAlpine do a trap adaptor from stupid European to UK stuff.

Spoke to a great guy from McAlpine yesterday - Fred, head of technical or something. Like your class weegie uncle.

Sockets can fail like that. I've replaced 2 recently. It's not really worth diagnosing, just change it for another one.

If you have a torch and no multimeter (should really be a voltage tester) the easiest approach is switch off all the power at the consumer unit and replace it.

As has already been mentioned, it's possible internal corrosion is playing a part.

Been through a bit of that recently. I'm getting better at it now I don't expect anything to work first time.

Had to do a bit of work with a plumber recently, was talking to him about a fused spur. He said "can't trust them can you, you switch them off and they're still live", which confused me for a while. Then I realised that if you live in a world of plumbing it's quite possible the fused spur was wired by a plumber so they might have wired it incorrectly first time around.

Same thing seems to apply with plumbing. Everyone thinks they'll have a go so you get people trying to connect euro basin wastes to 1 1/4 traps and sometimes they make it work for a while but ultimately someone needs to fix it. (S12A-F is the McAlpine EU -> 1 1/4" adaptor).

Just silicone everything.

That does look like a 'damp zone'.
Maybe consider one of these as a replacement:
https://www.toolstation.com/bg-ip66-13a-switched-socket/p78539

It's not really worth diagnosing, just change it for another one.

+1 fwiw

LSX everywhere. Had a fireman friend (R.I.P.) who I introduced to LSX. He came up with some amazing joints. Had to replace a bath trap for him that worked but had no washers in at all, just a tube of LSX. He insisted on covering compression joints with a coating of LSX that you had to peel off before you could get a spanner on them.

Ooh. Not heard of it, I have a lightly dripping solvent welded connection on a pond pump that I’m now going to smear in that. Thanks.

All plumbing is not metric, but some of it is. It's not all imperial, but some of it is. I think the white stuff is imperial (but sometimes given to the nearest metric conversion) and the grey stuff is metric. Or that's how it seems to be here in Spain. I've got to the stage where I take a mangled piece of plastic tubing into my local fonteria, and a white-haired lady, the same age as my mum, goes into a storeroom and comes out a minute later with the exact replacement part I need. In my last place I made friends with the old boy who ran the small, but perfectly formed, fereteria, and he helped me a lot. Well, I showed him the picture and he sold the thing to me.

It's a good thing to have around whenever you're remaking old joints, especially compression on things like cistern feeds. Plastic to metal joints etc.

This is where everyone is struggling a bit more now. If you have to order the part from Screwfix you don't get the experienced sales staff to help.

thanks again for this info - £20 and half an hour later, the front door is working again.
original gearbox is dated August 2004, so guessing it's had a reasonable life.

• 1 to lsx.
  
  

Was gifted a pot of stinking potable compression joint sealer 15 years ago, but it finally fully dried out, no little bits left. Got lsx instead, don't get it on bare skin fairly strong irritant for some reason!
Only needs a tiny amount for compression joints, but works wonders on bad sink waste gaskets etc. And not awful to remove like the old stuff in a metal tin.

M8 flexi tails for monobloc taps? Bought some "roca" taps in Uk not expecting them to come with small euro holes in them. Local merchants said no chance, Internet only brings up some budget online retailers. Anywhere you can get wras approved tails that don't suck?

I couldn’t haven’t told you the code, I just know they make it and I buy it sometimes and then say I’m not fitting anymore of this European pish again only to have the same convo with myself a few months later 🌚

Going to screwfix is even worse now since they took away catalogues and only have the iPads and if you don’t know the correct wording for what you need you can’t find it. Farce

You can get adapter to take them to half inch.

It’s like 3/8 to 15mm brass things. Toolstation sell em

We have one of these and replacing the very corroded cartridge sorted it.

I got some very non-standard tap tales on eBay.

Also had to drill out and tap a Vola basin mixer to M10, but that’s another story.

the number of stupid sizes, variations between manufacturers and obtuse naming conventions is staggering

Found this out when fitting radiators and refitting a sink. FML.

I'm not surprised McAlpine have someone like Fred, their stuff is solid IME.

Look, James Bond Fred!
https://www.facebook.com/McAlpinePlumb/posts/1592006567662005/

#FredFriday is a thing - wouldn't work in the US, people would think you meant choppers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgg3IK3uwpg&list=PL6hCnV_Hy3Vs6_MmTvyAzJBlDO5wpREdo&ab_channel=McAlpinePlumbingProducts
&v=qgg3IK3uwpg

Hahaha! I think that’s him!

I've had to buy a couple in a hurry recently. Don't know how the basin had been working for 10 years relying on ptfe to direct the water into the trap. Bought a spare for a future I hope never happens!

I found the adaptor on Screwfix but it was next day delivery so I went to a plumbing wholesalers and they gave me the run around until I offered the McAlpine code. Turns out they had a few of them at twice the price of Screwfix.