Mike's comment on the thread about OC tube heaters, " a length of dowel sticking out the back so the AC/TP could be given a tap when needed." Has reminded me of occasions in the past when a good clout does the trick! No doubt we have all seen a customer who cures their TV problem by giving it a clout on top. In the latest series of "The Crown" on Netfix the Queen Mother is seen to give a TV a thump when it was playing up, she was reprimanded by the Queen. " Mother don't do that ! Its rented!"
As a kid I saw a Murphy TV with a large nut fixed to a pivot made of Meccano over the tube neck with a string attached to it which exited through a vent hole in the back so that the intermittent tube could be tapped by remote control!
Later on my cousin ran an elderly Morris Minor, in which the fuel pump was prone to stopping. It was electric and conveniently mounted on the bulkhead behind the speedo he rigged up a hammer pivoted over it with a string through the back of the speedo so that when the car lost power he could give it a clout and start it ticking again! I visited and fitted a new set of points to the pump which provided a better solution!
The fuel and temp gauges on my BMW E30 occasionally play up a sharp rap on the dash puts them right! 'loose nuts' is the problem I'm told...
But the 'Best clout device ever' award has to go to a neighbour of my mum's. He is a nice enough chap but a little eccentric, the house he lives in hasn't had any work done for decades and looks pretty derelict. In his kitchen was a thick length of string, it came out through a vent in the wall and was tied to the curtain rail. It went through to the garage where the central heating boiler was situated. When he wanted hot water he would turn on the tap and pull the string. There was a distant thud...
The problem was that the boiler needed a thump to get it to start, so hanging in front of it was a small bag of sand. When he pulled the string the bag swung back and when released clobbered the front of the boiler prompting it into life! This arrangement had worked well for years by all accounts! W. Heath Robinson would be so proud!
That one about the boiler is very ingenious!
I remember my Nan and Grandad had a Korting Nimbus telly back when I was little, and every so often the picture would turn blue, looked like a total loss of red and green, my Grandad would get up and give it a thump on top which would bring back normal operation! They put up with it for years, until they were offered a new set by my great uncle, my grandad wouldn’t spend any money on anything unless it was either really cheap, or totally knackered!
I used to ‘repair’ my bedroom lights by whacking them… they were those MR16 12V halogen bulbs, when they died you could normally get some more life from them by giving them a damn good thrashing! Those bulbs lasted absolutely ages! I also did the same to one of my car headlights when it failed one morning, whacked it and it came back on! I bought some new bulbs, but it lasted a good few weeks before it needed changing.
I'm doing that with the motorised valve on the CH system....It gets stuck and we only get hot water. Give it a sharp thump and it starts whirring away and then satisfying clicks as the switches make contact and the pump starts. The manual override doesn't seem to work so at the moment, a thump is the best solution until I get the contractors out to fix it.....
I'm doing that with the motorised valve on the CH system....It gets stuck and we only get hot water. Give it a sharp thump and it starts whirring away and then satisfying clicks as the switches make contact and the pump starts. The manual override doesn't seem to work so at the moment, a thump is the best solution until I get the contractors out to fix it.....
I recently had a problem with a motorised valve and watching YouTube video showed me that the motor is only held in place by a single screw. Mine was slack and tightening it cured the problem. No need to do more than remove the lid to access it.
Peter
