Diagnosing Economy 7 Problem

[mrtom]

Hi! The economy 7 heating element on our Megaflo hot water tank isn't working. The only other appliance on the economy 7 circuit is a dimplex storage heater which is also dead (I've checked the internal trip) and neither have worked since moving in. Either they're both broken or the contactor (hagar - es220) has gone.

We called out an electrician who charged forty quid to tell my girlfriend to 'leave this switch on over night'.

After a quick chat he 'tested' the contactor and said 'oh yes, this is showing as blown'. He left saying he'd get a price and report back. He didn't, and I wasn't really surprised.

I'm just not sure what to do. Shouldn't this be easy to diagnose? Is there anything I can test before getting someone else out?

 

[Marvo]

It should be easy to diagnose where the problem lies but it's not the kind of thing you can safely test yourself. From what you say I fear you have ended up wasting 40 quid on some chancer. Rather start again and call an established and registered electrician.

 

[ProDave]

Well I wouldn't have paid him £40 for that.

In that situation, I would have diagnosed the problem, given a price to fix it, and not expected payment until it was fixed.

It could be the contactor, but it could equally well be the DNO's time switch (or even your own time switch) that turns the contactor on.

Either call the previous guy back to do the job properly, or get a different sparky who you can trust, to do the job properly.