Stephen

Water was leaking from my toilet. Found it was a cracked connector, so searched for another on internet and every plumbing store and can't find one. Please help, The connector is for a water inlet valve which has a 3/8 inch thread, this screws into the connector. The connector then expands to a 1/2 inch tail which a braided water hose screws onto. I tried to make the repair using a simple brass 3/8 to 15mm hex bush, but the head of the bush is too small meaning that there is not enough contact area between the hex and the cistern and the seal between the hex and the cistern is only fractions of a mm smaller than the hex head, so not enough contact between the hex and seal either! I'm hoping someone knows of a 3/8 To 1/2 inch connector. The water inlet valve is bottom fed and made by the firm Roca.

I'm getting married later this year and my fiancee and I would like to spend our honeymoon over in the USA. We would like to stay in and see places and sights such as San Diego, Las Vegas, Yosemite, Palm Springs the Hoover Dam and San Francisco etc. Ideally this could all be arranged as a package with everything covered such as flights, transfers, hotels , transport between places a guide on transport and any excursions. Had a look online and cant find anyone that seems to offer this. Have you got any suggestions for travel firms who could offer a package like this.?

Thanks

I am thinking about buying a bike. I liked the look of the Pinarello FP1 ( I think it is 2009 model? ) in Sky colours, but now I have seen the Ribble Gran Fondo ( 2010 model ) and I like that too. In your own opinion which is the best bike and why?

If I got either of the above bikes ( I live in hilly North Wales ) what is the best rear gear system for me to go for and why - compact, double or triple, I am thinking triple, because there would be more range and flexibility for the different gradients??

Thanks

We have moved to rented accommodation which has an EFEL Harmony oil stove. I light the stove, and it seems to work fine for maybe an hour with effect coal and logs glowing red, but then for no apparent reason the flames die down to nothing even though the boiler may be on the highest setting. Normally at this point I just turn it off fed up, but when I come to light it the following day all is ok for an hour or so and then the same problem occurs. Why should this be and how I can resolve this. The stove has a back boiler with flow and return pipes, on one of the pipes is a thermostat, this only seems to control the central heating pump.

Please help, there does not seem to be any useful information on the net.....

An email was sent by a club member to our chairperson about an incident which involved the chairperson at our club, but which would need committee resolution.

The email was forwarded by the author's wife to the committee and was therefore discussed by the committee. A statement coming from the comittee was that personal correspondence should not have been in the form of a personal email to the chair, but by correspondence directed through the secretary to the committee.

The author has now asked the committee to retract their statement since as it was personal correspondence to the chairperson, it should not have been discussed by the committee.

Is the author correct or incorrect with what they say?

My girlfriend and I want to get a house together, but, she can't get a mortgage because she already has one.

In 2004 she built her own house with her ex partner. In 2008 things had very much broken down in the relationship and we suspect he was having an affair, They agreed to carry on living together and to put the house on the market. During 2009 my girlfriend moved out after an incident of domestic violence.

At end of 2009 we got together and today, my girlfriend lives with me and we are very happy together, we live in a house that I lived in with my ex partner, so she isn't totally comfortable and that's one reason we want to move and get a house together. Over 2 years later her house is still on the market, there have been 3 separate offers which have all fallen through. Her ex partner has another girlfriend who is living with him. My girlfriend is continuing to pay half the mortgage for a house she isn't living in, whereas he is only having to pay half the mortgage for him and his girlfriend to live in a relatively new 4 bedroomed house which was valued at £250K.

My girlfriend has asked him to give her £50K and to take over half the remaining mortgage of £45K, and she will walk away but he says he can't afford this.

He has already won with every aspect - using and hurting my girlfriend whilst they were together, keeping most of the possessions because it was my girlfriend who had to move out due to the situation, living in a nice house and only having to pay limited mortgage. We want to salvage something for our future, ideally we need the house to sell so we and especially my girlfriend are able to move on with our lives.

Please can anyone help us by giving some good advice as to what can be done?

Is there a way we can make the house sell, or force him to buy my girlfriend out?

Is it possible for my girlfriend to charge any rent?

Have you any other suggestions?

Thank you for any really good advice, I am not looking for "go see a solicitior" advice, but anything else, or if we did go through solicitors,a short explanation of what they would be able to do?

My partner and I want an LCD TV DVD combi. It's for the bedroom and needs to be 23" - 26". We have a budget of £300. My partner is insistent it must be a good brand, she isn't interested in the brands like Technika unless it can be proven they are good enough. Please give me some good suggestions on which combi to get and why.

Thanks

When my Mum was @45, she had a TIA mini stroke and it was then found she had a partial blockage of the carotid artery. In her medical reviews following she was put on 2mg/day of a blood pressure drug, dropprenil ( sorry can't remember the name properly ). Since this time, there have been occassions where my Mum has felt unwell, aching and tight chest, feeling sick etc, she taken her blood pressure and found it to be high ( as high as @192 / 76! ) and so has then immediately taken another pill to try to bring the pressure down. She has spoken to her doctor about these episodes, but he has not suggested to do anything. My Mum wonders whether the carotid artery needs to be unblocked but the doctor has said this is too risky a procedure, she has asked whether her dosage needs to be increased, but the doctor says too high a dose will cause her blood pressure to become too low. He seems happy for the situation just to carry on as it is.

I would be interested to read comments from anyone who has knowledge about this topic and any advice you can give, is the doctor giving good advice or fobbing her off? Should she try to see another doctor? What should be done to try to prevent her having these bad episodes?

Thanks

I want to go on holiday with my partner but we haven't decided where to go yet.

I am 34 and she is 28. We are interested in lounging by the pool, or going to a waterpark, going out for food, and going on excursions to interesting places. We don't want to stay in a resort which is too lively. I have been to Turkey before and really enjoyed it and wonder whether we should go there - stay in Kusadasi or Side, i would like to go to Pamukkale and maybe Ephesus.

The other places we have in mind are Crete or Cyprus, but I have never been to either.

Which of the 3 places would you recommend to go and why? What attractions are there to see/do? What area would you recommend to stay in?

Thanks

My girlfriend wants to sell her house which is jointly owned with her ex boyfriend. Her ex boyfriend is continuing to live there and has agreed to the sale of the house with a local estate agents, but the property is not selling. The house is currently marketed at a much lower price than it is actually worth since it is subject to a local occupancy clause. I feel the estate agent is not marketing the property very well - they only use internet and the house is in a rural area so not many people will pass by and see a For Sale sign. I have suggested that another estate agent markets the property, but, her boyfriend refuses - he is obviously very happy to keep living in a house with his new girlfriend whilst my girlfriend must continue to pay half the mortgage.

What can we do to try to get this house sold? Could we force sale via an "action of division and sale" through the courts? If this is possible can someone please explain how this works? Are there any other suggestions?

All serious help is gratefully received.

Thanks

My Girlfriend has just bought the new shape vauxhall corsa. underneath the fuel filler flap is obviously the fuel cap but clipped onto the flap itself is a small cylindrical/conical grey attachment, what is it is meant to be for?? It is about 2-3 inches long can easily be removed from the clip and has a flat tip.

Thanks to those who give a proper answer. To those are thinking of giving a stupid answer/comment and slagging off Vauxhalls, go and waste your time somewhere else!

My girlfriends father, Raymond was originally prescribed 2.5mg once per day but recently went back to the doctors and found that his blood pressure had dropped to normal. However the Doctor decided to increase the dosage to 5mg once per day.

Raymond is type 2 diabetic and thinks that 5mg may be the normal dosage for someone who is type 2 diabetic AND has raised blood pressure. However is also seems strange that if blood pressure has reduced to normal why the dosage should have increased?

We would like to know what other people think, or if anyone with REAL knowledge is able to explain or confirm what should be the case, obviously any answer given would only be used to discuss

the dosage further with Raymonds doctor.

Thanks

I currently have an oil boiler which heated radiators and could heat water, although water can also be heated by an immersion heating.

I am going to upgrade as follows and need for someone to give me an idea of cost. I have had a quotation from what I thought was a good company but it seems very high to me.

Supply and installation of Worcester Bosch 28i combi boiler with wireless programmer/room stat.

Pipe up from gas meter to boiler @10 metre run

The boiler will be sited right next to hot and cold water pipes, next to an electric socket and next to a drain so these aspects should be relatively easy.

There would need to be @6m pipe to connect into existing central heating pipework

Hot water tank needs to be removed

I want an existing small radiator in kitchen to be moved along the same wall @3 metres from current location

A new single radiator to be installed in a spare bedroom, the nearest supply pipes are @4 metres away

A new double radiator to be installed in main bedroom, the nearest supply pipes are @6m away.

I also asked for some existing pipes to be tidied up.

Oil boiler to be removed but I will arrange disposal

The quote I received was for £3,200 ( £3,800 inc VAT )

Would be great if someone was able to give me an idea of cost for each element.

Thanks in advance

Please will you tell me what the lowest Wii fit age is.

Thanks

I have read on a forum that folded rear seats give a car better performance. The reasoning given was that when vertical they exert more downward force. I agree with the final statement, but I don't agree that should give any better performance. The seats still weigh the same whichever way they are folded therefore they still exert near enough the same force on the suspension and wheels. Even if there is some truth to what is being said, the difference in performance can't be that great since nowadays rear seats don't weight that much in the first place!

Anyone got any other ideas or can prove their theory right or wrong?

My house is currently heated by an old oil boiler. I am wondering whether I should upgrade to a combi boiler because I think it might be more energy efficient, also since my house needs to be reroofed I would like to try to get rid of the chimney.

Am I right in thinking that a gas boiler will not need a chimney and an oil boiler will?

Is gas heating more efficient than oil?

Will gas ( mains ) be cheaper than oil?

I need some good advice because I don't have a clue on these things.

Thanks

I don't have a George foreman grill and would like some information.

It is claimed George Foreman grills are healthier, and yes they would be healthier than frying, but are they healthier than normal grills, if so why, because on other grills the fat runs away too?

For what reasons should I buy a George Foreman grill rather than use my own cooker grill which isn't that difficult to clean and also cooks quickly?

I plan to put a patio in my garden. I have some paving slabs which are about an inch thick. I have never done this kind of thing before and I need some advice. The top of the patio ( near the house ) will be higher that the bottom ( by the lawn ) so I need to slope the patio slightly. I'll try to get an even slope by putting in some pegs with string connecting the 2 to show the angle. I'll make some sort of spacer to have an even gap between slabs.

The area I'm looking to patio has had slabs resting on it for a few months, so it is compacted soil. Can I just go ahead, put some sand down, lay the slabs then cement in the gaps? If not, why not?

I must cut a few of the paving stones.

Can I use a big angle grinder for this?

Will it make a lot of mess?

Do I have to cut through the whole slab or is it like a wall tile where you only need to cut through partially then it will break cleanly somehow?

Any ideas or advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

I have been connecting to the net wirelessly with a netgear 1-2-1T adaptor. Today it has stopped working for some reason and I fear there may be a fault with the device rather than a problem with my PC, but I'm not sure. I plug the adaptor into a USB ports, and the led lights on the unit, but the PC doesn't even detect I have plugged anything in. It isn't the port itself, because other things work on it. I have reverted back to my previously used Netgear 111 USB dongle ( which is slower ) until I can find out what is going on and try to resolve, or get a new unit.

This evening I stopped to get petrol. When I drove away there was a burning smell ( electrical ) I had unusally loud feedback from my amplifier and there was a funny noise from the engine. I stopped the car and looked under the bonnet but couldn't see anything wrong. I started the engine and the battery and stop light came on and then occassionally flashed, but now they have stayed on. I drove carefully to a nearby Renault Specialist. They were closing up for a day, they could smell the smell, looked under the bonnet, disconnected the negative and rubbed it on the terminal and it sparked from that they said it looked like there were no short circuits. Then they just said that I probably need a new alternator and it would probably cost me over £300! I have a Renault Clio 2.0l 172 it is 3.5 years old! Please help, do you think it is the alternator like they say or a short circuit or something else? What should I do now to make sure I'm not getting conned? Thanks