Immersion heater help

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D Brennan

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Got called out to a fault on a immersion heater 2 weeks ago.

Immersion heater that was on was run off a timer which also had a boost button on it, when i got there i did all the usual checks and the electrical side was all fine.

told the landlord to send a plumber round to put a new immersion heater in.

I went back to connect the new one up & noticed he had put a standard one in so i took the timer off and it is now just operated on a switched fuse with a 13 a fuse in.

After one week i gets a phone call and its gone again, i went back did al the checks, there is power to the thermostat but no power out, so i told plumber to change it, i went back reconnected again, all worked.

Immersion heater gone again, i goes back checks eveything all ok again, plumber checks imm heater its gone again, he puts a new one in works for another week, today i gets another phone call same problem... Help me? :|

any one got any ideas of what it might be??

The original imm heater was longer than the one installed now, could this be the problem and its burning itself out??... but surely the stat would turn it of before this happened.

I am going back in the mornig for another look but all ideas help would be appreciated

Guiness DrinkGuiness Drink

 
Do we have a model/supplier type etc of the immersion installed?regards

Don
no sorry, i havnt looked at this one yet, he has put a diff make in the last few times

 
This is a wierd one !! They could be a faulty batch I suppose.

If the cylinder is not re-filling fast enough after a bath ,say, because the valve between the header tank and the cylinder is jammed almost shut, then the heater element would not be immersed in water and would overheat.

Deke

 
This is a wierd one !! They could be a faulty batch I suppose.If the cylinder is not re-filling fast enough after a bath ,say, because the valve between the header tank and the cylinder is jammed almost shut, then the heater element would not be immersed in water and would overheat.

Deke
That was my thoughts, or for some reason the tank is not filling to the top???

 
Hot water cyclinder fills at the bottom & empties at the top..

It has to be full or you dont get water comming out! ;)

Unless its plumbed in ar5e about face as they say? :(

May be worth checking that the feed pipe & flow pipes are correct.. :|

 
Hot water cyclinder fills at the bottom & empties at the top..It has to be full or you dont get water comming out! ;)

Unless its plumbed in ar5e about face as they say? :(

May be worth checking that the feed pipe & flow pipes are correct.. :|
well the plumber has been back 6 times so im hoping he has checked that lol, i just cant think of any good reason why this is happening, worst bit is a keep having to go back free of charge as the landlord who passed me the jobs refuses to pay, its 15 miles from wer i live as well...... :( :( :( :(

if i go again and its still fine electrically im going to drown the plumber

 
I think this is one where you may need to step back and just double check the bloomin obvious electrically...

e.g.

re-test the whole circuit from CU to Imm Heater..

R1+R2.

Ins Res,

Polarity.

Correct cable size.

Fuse rating.

Volt drop.

earth loop impedance

If you can categorically say these are ALL correct there is nothing more you can do to make the supply any better?

Have you checked the previous faulty heaters?

i.e. is it just the element gone open circuit..

or is there an Ins-res breakdown?

If the component is failing.. This is a manufactures warranty issue?

All goods sold MUST be fit for purpose.. Sale of goods act 1979! ;)

 
I think this is one where you may need to step back and just double check the bloomin obvious electrically...e.g.

re-test the whole circuit from CU to Imm Heater..

R1+R2.

Ins Res,

Polarity.

Correct cable size.

Fuse rating.

Volt drop.

earth loop impedance

If you can categorically say these are ALL correct there is nothing more you can do to make the supply any better?

Have you checked the previous faulty heaters?

i.e. is it just the element gone open circuit..

or is there an Ins-res breakdown?

If the component is failing.. This is a manufactures warranty issue?

All goods sold MUST be fit for purpose.. Sale of goods act 1979! ;)
thats what i had in mind to do, few year ago though i originally put he circuit in fot it anyway so im sure all will still be ok

 
New immersion heaters have a thermal cut out. It's not set to hot (or filling too slowly) and the cut out been activated?

Sorry if I'm stating the blooming obvious.

Old stats didn't have this........ (hence why only a problem with new one?)

 
when you say there is power into the thermostat but not out, this would point to the stat being faulty, not the elements, so maybe it is set too high and the cutout is operating.

 
As Sparkyri has said , ( I didn't notice that bit ) check that Stat, is the plumber using the same stat, or could be a bad batch of stats.

Also as Apache says , the stat set too high, causing the overheat device to trip.

Deke

 
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