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Well known electric car brand immersion heater problems

aligarjon

Hi Guys.

Has anyone else had problems with the above .  I got called to a job a couple of weeks ago, tenant had no hot water.  They had an unvented cylinder in the roof with dual immersion heaters that were both not working. Supply was a single supply via Horstman off peak timer with boost function for the top element in the day.

I could get power to both elements by manually adjusting the clock or boost but neither worked . Both thermostats seemed to work ok and overheat stat had not operated.  

Plumber came in and replaced both elements. We then had the same issue, power to the elements, but no hot water. The strange thing is my clamp meter was reading that they were drawing 12.6 amps each when tested and the tenant (a student with an energy usage gismo in his lounge) was charged £4.00 on his meter over a few hours and still got no hot water.  You could see his readings going up and down as i turned the elements on and off.  

I wondered if the clock was faulty, possibly something happened when the original elements blew and was cutting out as he said it didn't hold good time so i replaced it. We had the same issue.

I came back with the plumber and he replaced both the new elements, one with the same brand as above and the other with a different brand,(because that was all he could get because they are not a standard thread apparently) the different brand (off peak element) is now working perfectly, The new one from the same brand that is in the top for a boost still does not work although appears to draw power.    

    We appear to have had 3 brand new faulty elements.  ( The overheat stat had not tripped on any of the new stats and there was power directly onto the spades on the back when operating the thermostat.  I forgot to mention The thermostat was a plug in type. The spades on the back that connect to the element appear to make a good connection, i even tried giving them a squeeze with some pliers to make sure but they seemed ok  )  The different brand is also plug in. 

How can it use energy if it isn't actually heating up?

Anyone else had problems with these things?

edit to add i was getting 18.6 ohms across the new elements

I was beginning to doubt my sanity

Gary                                                                                                                                    

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  • 0

    Had this with an unvented cylinder where the non-return valve in the hot supply to a shower mixer had a bit of gunk in it holding the valve open. When someone turned on the hot tap elsewhere it received mainly cold water. Might have been unbalanced supply to cold, not fed from after the pressure reducing valve, can't remember now.

  • 0 in reply to OlympusMons

    This sounds feasible as before we eventually got some hot water a lot of air followed by some very dirty water came through first. This could have been from the bottom of the tank i suppose. May never know now.  I'll add i have no idea how these systems work, i thought i was just going to wire up an immersion heater, job done.  Slight smile

  • 0 in reply to aligarjon

    Last time I was asked to "just wire up the immersion heater" it was also an unvented cylinder in the loft, installed sideways under the slope of the roof with legs (manufacturers make "recumbent" cylinders), during a loft conversion by others. I noticed the feet were on some 18mm chipboard which was laid on 4" ceiling joists, the feet were between the joists, and the cylinder was near half way along the span of the joists. It was already full up with water. I had to get the owner to get the plumbers back in to remove the cylinder and get it strengthened up. Was a neighbour of mine, so didn't get any dosh for possibly saving lives. Oh well.

  • 0 in reply to OlympusMons

    IIRC, one has to be registered i.o.t fettle unvented systems, so I shall be keeping my own vented one. Problem with modern properties is finding the space for the header tanks. That's progress for you! :-(

  • 0 in reply to Chris Pearson

    anything unvented over 15 litres capacity should be installed and maintained by someone holding a G3 specific qualification. Both Vented and unvented cylinder intallations should be notified to building control, but not all are in practice..

    Mike

Reply
  • 0 in reply to Chris Pearson

    anything unvented over 15 litres capacity should be installed and maintained by someone holding a G3 specific qualification. Both Vented and unvented cylinder intallations should be notified to building control, but not all are in practice..

    Mike

Children
  • 0 in reply to mapj1
    mapj1 said:
    anything unvented over 15 litres capacity should be installed and maintained by someone holding a G3 specific qualification.

    Yes, but the qualifiction is quite simple, 1 day, £100. I did it last year. Seeing some of the installs at a recent block of flats I worked at, it isnt just the electrcial industry that has problems with the Labour force not doing things correctly. Many cylinders did not comply, due to the tundish being incorrectly fitted, and, once the water was turned on, a large number (20+) of bathrooms had the taps/pipes fitted incorrectly, so hot came out of the cold tap, and if you turned the shower colder, it would make it hotter.

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