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32281

General Discussion Area / Re: House Alarm @ 03.45 a.m.

« on: 08 April 2008, 16:30:03 »

... for an average alarm system i would charge £52 a year for a maintenance contract covering alarm for parts, labour and call out for 12 months which i think is quite reasonable...

Yes, not unreasonable. Like Mark, I suspect, I am able to look after it myself so I would prefer to do so.

It was the manner in which the previous company tried to extract the money from me rather than the cost that got my goat.. Saying that it would render my insurance invalid and threatening to come and remove the alarm (with no legal basis to do so) if I didn't pay up. Words engineered to extract money out of the vulnerable IMHO, and that really gets me fired up, I'm afraid.

Anyway, I'd also be interested in your recommendations for a panel as mine has a couple of doubled up zones now. I've got a few Texecom PIRS which I seem to recall being impressed with when I installed them.

Kevin

A texecom R8 would do you fine which has 8 zones if you want more zones and fancy the challenge of the phone book as a programing manual then go for the premier with flush mounted keypad in satin chrome with prox tag looks great.

 

Kevin

32282

General Discussion Area / Re: House Alarm @ 03.45 a.m.

« on: 08 April 2008, 16:24:16 »

Doesnt make them look like a rip off, it is a rip off.

I hear so many horror stories of what people charge to come out and look at things its crazy, but saying that with the price of fuel and car tax now prices are always going to rise. Personally i couldnt charge silly amounts for going to house for 2mins, but then again people will say your not paying for how long it takes to fix your paying for what that person knows in his profession

Try calling British Gas out at 3 AM too!  

Kevin

32283

General Discussion Area / Re: House Alarm @ 03.45 a.m.

« on: 08 April 2008, 15:57:11 »

... for an average alarm system i would charge £52 a year for a maintenance contract covering alarm for parts, labour and call out for 12 months which i think is quite reasonable...

Yes, not unreasonable. Like Mark, I suspect, I am able to look after it myself so I would prefer to do so.

It was the manner in which the previous company tried to extract the money from me rather than the cost that got my goat.. Saying that it would render my insurance invalid and threatening to come and remove the alarm (with no legal basis to do so) if I didn't pay up. Words engineered to extract money out of the vulnerable IMHO, and that really gets me fired up, I'm afraid.

Anyway, I'd also be interested in your recommendations for a panel as mine has a couple of doubled up zones now. I've got a few Texecom PIRS which I seem to recall being impressed with when I installed them.

Kevin

32284

General Discussion Area / Re: House Alarm @ 03.45 a.m.

« on: 08 April 2008, 15:31:28 »

I have to say that I think the maintenance timers and not providing the engineer codes/boss engineer codes to the customer is a little naughty.

Alarm company wanted 80 or 90 quid a year plus 30 odd quid just to change the code on our alarm when we moved in. Fortunately they had left the "engineer" manual with the previous owner so a quick master reset and I configured it how I wanted.  

Kevin

32285

General Discussion Area / Re: House Alarm @ 03.45 a.m.

« on: 08 April 2008, 14:12:07 »

I went out on then lash one night with a mate of mine (a scouser) who was leaving work and we ended up fairly close to my parents' house so I offered him the spare bedroom and we turned in for the night.

About 4 AM he decides to go for a slash, and then can't remember which bedroom he came from. He decided the safest course of action would be to go downstairs and kip on the sofa rather than risk picking the wrong room.

Of course, I had set the burglar alarm, and then passed out to the extent that I slept like a baby through the chaos that ensued.  

My Dad is impossible to wake as well, so my mum gets up to investigate, and finds a scouser she'd never met before in his boxer shorts bouncing round the living room in a panic.  

She said she would have lumped him one but for the fact that burglars don't tend to operate in boxer shorts and he didn't appear to have a video concealed anywhere on his person.

Kevin

32286

General Discussion Area / Re: House Alarm @ 03.45 a.m.

« on: 08 April 2008, 09:36:09 »

There's a house up the road from us where the alarm goes off frequently. I went and poked around with a torch the first couple of times but now I ignore it. Not much use as a deterrent now.

If people aren't going to maintain them I wish they would disable them. Problem is, houses have been there for 9 years, alarm company are a bunch of shysters so anyone with any sense will have told them to break off, and now the batteries are starting to get a bit ropey and a few spiders are living in PIRs I suspect.

Kevin

32287

General Discussion Area / Re: Road Tax for LPG drivers....

« on: 08 April 2008, 14:42:45 »

Bad luck.  Buy him some Vaseline for Christmas.  

Kevin

32288

General Discussion Area / Re: Road Tax for LPG drivers....

« on: 08 April 2008, 14:32:52 »

X or Y reg? He might be lucky if it's on a X plate as it's 31st March 2001.

kevin

32289

General Discussion Area / Re: Road Tax for LPG drivers....

« on: 08 April 2008, 14:28:51 »

I like the way the Grabbing Scot has backdated the VED increase banding to 2001, but not the LPG discount !!!

Band G = £15 per year (note that vehicles with a G banding are only eligible for discount if registered ON or AFTER 23rd March 2006).

The cheeky tinker!  

Kevin

32290

General Discussion Area / Re: Speed Camera

« on: 08 April 2008, 09:40:16 »

metal bucket on a rope is supposed to work with gatsos

.. or a JCB on a low loader with an unsecured boom. Brightened up my mate's drive to work one morning. Took the top clean off the gatso and deposited it in a ditch, apparently.  

Kevin

32291

General Discussion Area / Re: Another LPG question ....

« on: 08 April 2008, 11:42:30 »

Hi Marie,

OK. It will probably need to have the map tweaked when the pressure has been adjusted. The adjustment is under a red cap on the evaporator. I remember seeing it.

The tank will be pressurised now so I guess it needs to be purged of LPG before taking the multivalve off!

Kevin

32292

General Discussion Area / Re: Another LPG question ....

« on: 08 April 2008, 10:35:18 »

That they did. still cant figure out where James put the bolt for the fuel tank.

Found that. It was in his toolbox, which he forgot to take with him.

the insurance didnt ask for one. but i was just thinkin it might be a good idea just incase .

Absolutely. For peace of mind and in case it's required at a later date.
Another thing occurred to me, BTW. When we were mapping the LPG the vapour pressure was a little lower than I expected. It was down at 0.8-0.9 Bar and I had a feeling that kit was supposed to run at 1 Bar. Might be worth asking Jeremy if that's Ok of if it needs adjusting.

Kevin

32293

General Discussion Area / Re: Another LPG question ....

« on: 08 April 2008, 09:56:10 »

Given all the information I have collected over the past few weeks, the valuable comments made tonight, and the important fact that he is rated highly by KW, methinks I'll be phoning Patrick tomorrow - got a couple more questions for him - but he's looking favourite right now...

I should stress that James and I only popped in there and had a chat with him so not enough to form an accurate opinion, but he was talking sense. No bull about drilling manifolds on the engine and the like. He did say he normally tries to persuade people not to DIY LPG V6 Omegas and wished us luck.

I'd still want to be seeing some of his work first, personally.

Giving himself a week to do the job will mean that he won't be rushing it. The kit he was fitting looked top notch, and he said for a professional install he wants people not to come back so he uses what he finds to be most reliable!

Kevin

32294

General Discussion Area / Re: Another LPG question ....

« on: 07 April 2008, 23:36:26 »

Gold mine = Full of junk and sh!te  

The lakes meet is for socialising and a little tinkering. Despite having spent practically the whole weekend in a garage it felt like we didn't do any socialising by the time we'd finished. And it's just NOT the type of job you can do in a grassy field.

Kevin

That was my fault   sorry

Not at all. Just full of random nuts, bolts and bits of metal that would "come in handy" sometime. And they did.

the u-fig guys have said to me that they will do a fitting report for the insruance too. which is great. for the certificate he said i might have to part with a few more pennies.

Which insurance company are you with? And did they ask for a certificate?

Kevin

32295

General Discussion Area / Re: Another LPG question ....

« on: 07 April 2008, 22:38:22 »

<------------------

 

You forgot the man who started us all off.

Kevin