Would this annoy a plumber/ch engineer

[8ob]

I’m having a new boiler (Baxi 800 combi) fitted tomorrow. Currently there’s a hot water tank in the airing cupboard and a cold water tank in the loft, all to come out obviously. Question is should I empty the cold and hot tanks tonight to give the boiler guy a head start in the morning (I know how to do it, I replaced the hot tank myself about 10 years ago). Or would he just find it annoying that some amateur had been fiddling around before he arrived?

He would probably prefer you to leave out the kettle,a mug, the biscuits and for you to then sod off for the day.

Bob

 

[tom 748]

you
seen the price of copper

 

[Kayos]

What was leaking on them?
I just had to swap some nearly new leaky rad valves I fitted in the toiletI can't remember what make they were but probably came with the rad so cheap crap I suppose.
I fitted some new Drayton ones that seem OK.

For various reasons the drops to the rads had to be 10mm, he bought cheap nasty adaptors that needed a lot of persuading to seal

 

[pressbrake1]

That job used to be a right pain for me - just about every customer would start with ‘can you just..’ and finish with ‘it won’t take long’. Yeah right. Take four doors off, lug them downstairs and outside to avoid mess on the new carpet, out with a handsaw and a plane etc etc. A proper price would get up towards three figures.
much quicker now with decent tracksaws but the price is still higher than most customers expect because of course the tracksaws have to be paid for.

In my game I get’ could you just’ requests that are several days work

 

[minimutly]

I’m just a thick metal worker and get jealous sometimes

I had a plumber in under pressure from mrs
So I had to do two weeks work ( machine shop foreman) to pay for plumber for day and a half and think to myself the old cylinder etc will soften the blow. It’s gone when I get in and I redo some of the crap work
Unfortunately I’m too thick to be a plumber or wire tugger and must pay the price .

Carpenters don’t have scrap to help with costs

When daughter and granddaughter was with us we had a “free” boiler installed. The condensate drain leaked, had to re-do it, the oil feed leaked, had to re-do that. The lash up in the loft on the flue had to be seen to be believed. Cowboys, or at best trainee cowboys. Anyway, got a new boiler out of it.
My mate’s a car mechanic - does the tech stuff as well as servicing/engines etc. Lump all that together and his level of knowledge has to be huge, yet his pay is pants. His brother is a plumber - needs a fraction of the skill but payd twice what his brother is.

 

[Mikes]

good luck to them

one thing with cylinder sludge you dont know whats in

legionaires can be within it

so you get a tank rip all of the composite insulation off of it where does that go as its a waste product that dosnt degrade
then you have to cut the top off and the bottom off
then you have to check the thickness of the sheet of copper or stainless steel as it can be much thinner in places

before use it has to be cleaned

This guy was using the copper from cylinders as it was naturally different in thickness, colours etc and the top in particular gave naturally curved shaped pieces. Don't think he would have liked working with a new flat sheet of copper. Think that's half the battle, being able to look at scrap and turn it into art.

 

[pressbrake1]

When daughter and granddaughter was with us we had a “free” boiler installed. The condensate drain leaked, had to re-do it, the oil feed leaked, had to re-do that. The lash up in the loft on the flue had to be seen to be believed. Cowboys, or at best trainee cowboys. Anyway, got a new boiler out of it.
My mate’s a car mechanic - does the tech stuff as well as servicing/engines etc. Lump all that together and his level of knowledge has to be huge, yet his pay is pants. His brother is a plumber - needs a fraction of the skill but payd twice what his brother is.

When I was a apprentice we also had plumbing apprentices. At the end of time which was a couple of years less they were not classed as full trade Being a class number below.
Whos laughing now, not me
The few people I’m still in touch with are in the building trades now including the machine control sparks and all are doing well.
**** did I get it wrong

 

[mtt.tr]

I have to account for everything but the building trades see it as a right to steal scrap off customers

To be fair most people wouldn't have a clue what to do with scrap copper

 

[mtt.tr]

I went to a company that reclaim copper from network cable.

They had racks of 1m3 bags full of copper. Biggest earner in their business.

 

[Kayos]

When daughter and granddaughter was with us we had a “free” boiler installed. The condensate drain leaked, had to re-do it, the oil feed leaked, had to re-do that. The lash up in the loft on the flue had to be seen to be believed. Cowboys, or at best trainee cowboys. Anyway, got a new boiler out of it.
My mate’s a car mechanic - does the tech stuff as well as servicing/engines etc. Lump all that together and his level of knowledge has to be huge, yet his pay is pants. His brother is a plumber - needs a fraction of the skill but payd twice what his brother is.

Nonsense

Proper plumbing is a skill, you should be comparing the cowboys you had to cowboy mechanics

I did a full 4 year apprenticeship to get just my gas and central heating qualifications

Always the same on here, people bashing trades and calling them rip off cowboys

Some of the stuff I did and do would make your head spin just trying to understand it, never mind design it and make it work

 

[pressbrake1]

Nonsense

Proper plumbing is a skill, you should be comparing the cowboys you had to cowboy mechanics

I did a full 4 year apprenticeship to get just my gas and central heating qualifications

Always the same on here, people bashing trades and calling them rip off cowboys

Some of the stuff I did and do would make your head spin just trying to understand it, never mind design it and make it work

If you knew what minimutly designed and built you wouldn’t say that.

 

[Kayos]

If you knew what minimutly designed and built you wouldn’t say that.

If you knew what I designed and built would you say that?

 

[mtt.tr]

Well I know the flavour of all the crayons

 

[pressbrake1]

If you knew what I designed and built would you say that?

Are you a fluid dynamics engineer. That makes your head spin pre computer modelling

Only kidding, as I said I know I’m a thick waste of space

 

[addjunkie]

Only kidding, as I said I know I’m a thick waste of space

Your not, you are perhaps just not marketing your skills in the right way or right place. A lot of it comes down to right place at the right time, and choices when opportunities crop up.

Best machinist, Ive ever met ex tool maker from an ordinance factory. Went on the tools, pumps, compressors dry gas seals etc and made a very nice living. Only down side he drunk himself into an early box.

 

[mtt.tr]

Your not, you are perhaps just not marketing your skills in the right way or right place. A lot of it comes down to right place at the right time, and choices when opportunities crop up.

Best machinist, Ive ever met ex tool maker from an ordinance factory. Went on the tools, pumps, compressors dry gas seals etc and made a very nice living. Only down side he drunk himself into an early box.

Many a man ruined by drink, such a tragedy

 

[pressbrake1]

Many a man ruined by drink, such a tragedy

The older I get the more it makes sense

 

[MCKDAVID]

....

Best machinist, Ive ever met ex tool maker from an ordinance factory. Went on the tools, pumps, compressors dry gas seals etc and made a very nice living. Only down side he drunk himself into an early box.

Sadly rife in the offshore and Marine industries...

I'm a functional alcoholic, if I'm honest with myself, always have been, some days harder to function than others... Too many years away for weeks / months at a time....

The best tech I ever worked with, was useless for the first three days of a trip, half cup of soup for dinner, because he'd spill the rest otherwise. Used to shake like a witchdoctors rattle... Every one knew, even the OIM would ask is John on solids yet ....... I used to laugh, but 20 years on I'm the same......

 

[Gareth J]

Having had a bit of plumbing done recently, while it might vary place to place, there aren't really any charges for disposal for the customer. The tip were happy to take bathroom ceramics and glass and assorted boxes and offcuts. Anything metal went in the appropriate scrap bin here and will be weighed in due course.

I get that a plumber will have to pay for disposal of all that stuff so will see the metal as recompense for that but for anyone who scraps stuff anyway, or isn't earning Megabucks, expecting a plumber to leave everything behind unless asked to dispose should be (and to be fair, has been in my experience) the norm anyway.

 

[Mikes]

Are you a fluid dynamics engineer. That makes your head spin pre computer modelling

Only kidding, as I said I know I’m a thick waste of space

It's a sad fact of life that not many know (or care) about the real things of life. They might understand that there are people who make things using tools but have no clue that someone has to build and set-up these and then maintain them to ensure continued accuracy. Just to even bother to obtain and use the machines that you do shows a dedication that few outside of our realm would understand. Certainly not something that you would look at and say it will make me rich but you know it is essential. Without wandering back on to the thread about engineer being a dirty word, you should be proud of what you do. Same should apply to any chosen profession (providing it is carried out correctly).