SellaTheChemistFeb 22, 2025
Am trying to recover from what I think is an almost unheard of domestic emergency. On Thursday evening I spotted that my heating system was leaking water and the pressure was falling steadily.
Uncertain I turned off my heat pump and tried to contact my installers who originally made a series of pretty major blunders on installation.
Next day, with water still streaming out of the pipework gently, I finally made contact with them. No one was available for a week. 1/n.
Show threadSellaTheChemistFeb 22, 2025
They then offered someone on Monday but at a time corresponding with a lecture to 300 students - I just can't afford to cancel a lecture given how constrained our timetable is.
So i was on my own. I called a plumber who quoted me £580 for the job. I put down the phone and contact a friend - one of our piped services guys in UCL Estates - and sent him a photo of the situation.
He told me the price was outrageous and that it was a 5 minute job. If I wanted he could come round. 2/n
Show threadSellaTheChemistFeb 22, 2025

The problem is that I'm a Professor, right? 🤣 I have Professorial delusions. So I replied that i would have a go at it myself.

This morning I nipped to the local builders' mechant and got myself a replacement press-fit elbow and set about swapping the old one, with Hilaire Belloc's epic poem ringing in my ears:

Lord Finchley tried
To mend the electric light himself.
It struck him dead and serve him right.
For tis the duty of the wealthy man to give employment to the artisan.

Wealthy? 3/n

Show threadSellaTheChemistFeb 22, 2025

At £580/10 minutes (allowing for niceties) I wasn't terribly worried about said artisan.

Into the breach, then, loosening one end of the joints - at which point a terrifying hiss and a stream of mildly acidic water appeared from the system. I got my thumb over the pipe marvelling at the force generate by a mere 5 meters of head.

I managed to loosen the other joint and after 3 minutes of terror - I could see myself the butt of DIY disaster television, drrowned, corroded and electrocuted. 4/n

Show threadSellaTheChemistFeb 22, 2025
After what seemed like half a lifetime the elbow was on, I was unscathed apart from a tingling Fernox forhead and little mopping to do. The water had stopped.
I went to the sink to rinse off a dry my glasses. All good. I repressurised the system to check for leaks.
and then I took stock. Here are photos of the press-fit elbow.
It is immediately apparent that there is no rubber o-ring on one joint, which rather neatly explains the leak. I mean seriously, WTAF??? 5/n
Show threadSellaTheChemistFeb 22, 2025

The sodding installers who put in our system managed to put an 90˚ elbow into the pipework omitting/losing one of the elbows. And it held for three years. Until Thursday night. If I hadn't spotted it, I dread to think how much water would have poured into our kitchen/dining room.

For those who were watching the live-tweet installation on Twitter, you will remember the two week litany of cockups that I reported, including them delivering the wrong sized heat battery, badly soldered joints. 6/n

Show threadClyde DaviesApr 7, 2025
@sellathechemist I can sympathise. When we had our attic converted, the builders screwed the wall into the floor and straight through a heating pipe. Which held for three years before it sprang an almighty leak and almost brought down the kitchen ceiling.
Show threadSellaTheChemist
@deadlyvices I could tell you some wild stories about jobs that have gone wrong around here… The builders who drilled through a wall during a refurbishment of our theatre… They hit some asbestos, either because the schematics weren't correct or because they screwed up. Anyway, the theatre was closed for decon for 6-7 years. Tragic because it was the place where Robin Ince did so much of his public shows, and we lost him and huge amounts of standup comedy & stuff that moved to other venues.
Apr 9, 2025 at 9:36amWeb
Show threadClyde DaviesApr 10, 2025
@sellathechemist There is a 60s tower block on campus (Grade II listed). It stands empty right now because it's riddled with asbestos. So none of us APM folk (of whom 250 odd will be leaving soon, possibly including me) can move into it like we were supposed to. It's a white elephant.