My week this week, my workshop videos.

Thanks Kroll, coming from you, that is praise indeed! I had always used a kerosene torpedo heater, but always to hot, or not hot enough, and so NOISY, and constant strip down to clean jets etc. I was sick of it many years ago, but had no alternative till now, and I am very pleased with how it works. Watch out for part 2 next friday! Thanks for commenting!
Phil
 
Part 2 of the heater build and a couple of videos at the end of a walk in the rain with my daughter, including gratuitous squirrel content, and lots of roaring water! watch, subscribe, like and enjoy!

 
Hi Guys, part 1 of my workshop rebuild slideshow, I will be putting more up in between videos, and I am back at the workshop from Monday, so expect a video next friday If I can get something interesting done. Monday I will be back out to fit new hoses to the showerpump, as the old ones were leaking, and then seeing if we can solve the other problems Thanks for watching, like, and subscribe of you want, but most of all Enjoy!
Phil
East Yorkshire.

 
Hi Phil,

Sorry for the delay, somehow I was "unsubscribed" from this thread....that's fixed now!

A few things occurred to me while catching-up on your videos........

1) What welding process do you use for that thin sheet? I always find that so hard to do without burning thru.
Some of your joints on the galvanized ducts looked like you may have soldered them, but I know I saw a ground clamp in there too.

2) Here in Canada, insurance companies try to double your rates if you heat with wood, or drop you all together.
One guy has a wood stove in his detached garage that is over 50 feet from his house, but he could not get his house insurance renewed if he kept that wood stove. He told the insurance guys where to stuff their policies. (sure it was an old model woodstove, maybe early 1900's that was heating the house when he moved in.....think the old black stove pipe that wound thru nearly every room).

I can't imagine what they'd say about a home-made wood burner.....

Are things as bad there?
Perhaps you don't have that issue since your shop is a different property than your home.

3) It's great that your girls are seeing all this construction!
Even if they take no interest in it themselves, at least you'll be raising savve home owners that can talk directly to a contractor and not get swindled.
Or perhaps they'll get hooked and become trades-people themselves.....people can't outsource their masonry needs to China or India!

-brino
 
Hi Brino,
I used mig to tack the flue up with a 1/2" tack every six inches or so, makes it very strong, and minimises the zinc poisoning! I use a large 200 amp three phase mig, which I find to be much more stable at low amperage settings, and much less tendency to burn through. I also have a Clarke single phase 160 amp mig, but the arc is not as smooth at lower settings (there is a BIG choke on the three phase one), and the more you turn it up, the better it works, maybe I have just got to be a better welder with all the practice I have been getting! I don't try to seam weld it, to much heat, and always burns through! I really need insulated flue, but it is so expensive, I will try for some second hand stuff. Ppl are lazy, put in a woodburner for all the right reasons, then can't be bothered with the upkeep, and more often try to burn wood that is unsuitable, or wet, or both, and give up, claiming that "woodburners dont get hot enougn". Thats where I move in and buy them up for peanuts!! With the internal ducting, I cover the joints with aluminium duct tape to make them airtight.

Insurance is similar here, VERY hard to get insurance for any form of workshop that uses any sort of naked flame, like a forge, or O/A, most of the garages now use induction heaters for rusted bolts etc, because of the insurance. The blacksmiths shop end of the workshop is not dry lined and the ceilings are plasterboard, with bare concrete block walls, so it is pretty fireproof, and all the sources of ignition are kept and used in there, including the woodburner. I think the traditional stovepipe heaters are more of a danger fron CO poisoning than fire, and in the UK the number of housefires we have today is vanishingly smal, but insurers will use any excuse to hike policies!

The girls used to be interested in what I was doing when they were younger, and still enjoy trips to see the workshop, but the eldest has just turned 18 and is doing A levels at college , wants to study biochemistry at uni, she has Aspergers, and is a bit of a worksholic when it comes to revision, and my youngest, now 15, also doing well at school, and wants to go into medicine, and eventually pathology! They are also good artists, and do enjoy making things, but they are so busy at the moment, that they get little time for practical work.
I am back at work Monday, for the continuing saga on the shower pump, I have new pump hoses to fit, and suspect (hope!) that our lack of gravity flow may have been caused by the valves not opening fully, We will see!
Thanks for your interest, and thanks for watching!
Phil
East Yorkshire.
 
Well I drained down, fitted the pump hoses, and no more leaks, as you would expect! The valves on these hoses are better than the old ones, as they have a positive stop at either end of 90 deg of movement, which means you KNOW when they are fully off and fully on, without trying to get the screwdriver slot aligned exactly!, Someone ought to tell the manufacturers that there is little point in makking a 22mm pump connector pipe to improve flow if it only has a 15mm hole through the valve and the end elbow!!! You really couldnt make it up could you!

So, Fitted the hoses, filled it up again, and it is worse! the pumped side only slightly, but the gravity hot water is hardly working at all, and I am beginning to wonder about loose scale build up in the bottom of the HWC as this would reduce the flow of hot water in both the gravity and the pumped sides, as it would slow the flow of cold into the bottom of the cylinder which forces the hot out for both systems. Now I fitted this tank several years ago, and cannot remember having any problems with flow then, so I may drain down again tomorrow, take out the immersion heater, and have a look, at least if there is no scale I can eliminate the possibility from my enquiries and if there is, drain the HWC and get the wet and dry vac in!
Phil
East Yorkshire.
 
Further to the above, took the immersion heater out, bottom of the tank has a little scale , but not anything like enough to interfere with water inlet., refitted immersion heater, and refilled the system, air locked again but cleared it by putting my thumb over the running hot taps and cutting then releasing the flow many times, and after lots of gurgling, we got good gravity flow at all the taps, and much better flow through the showers, and the pump now operated immediately the sink taps are opened, but is slow or doesnt come on with the showers, at least not reliably. Looked at the paperwork for the showers that have been fitted, and it appears that they may have "flow restrictors fitted for high pressure use". Next job will be to take these out if they are there, and also check and clean the inlet filters. Some of the showers are thermostatic, certainly "not reccomended" for pumped systems, so it may be that with clean filters and flow restrictors removed, they will allow enough flow to trigger the pump, its touch and go, and we may have to change them all for full flow non thermostatic types., but today we definitely "advanced a tech level".
Phil
 
Hi Guys, below is part 2 of my workshop rebuild, the interionr of the "Chuch lane end", no video this week as I have been off with sinusitis, a thumping head and a stiff neck, but I am determined to go back next week, so it will probably snow!! like, subscribe and enjoy, any comments and questions welcome!
Phil
East Yorkshire

 
Wow!
Some great progress there.

I agree about painting I find it tedious. However, if sure does make things look clean and bright.

Nice work Phil!

-brino
 
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One of my thinsulate hats is still covered in white emulsion, I did it all with a roller on a pole, and stained all the woodwork!
 
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