Immersion heater not heating water overnight

[NeilK 0]

Hi

 

I have a problem with my immersion heater.  It runs on an economy 7 tariff overnight.  It heats water when the boost is on but doesn’t heat water overnight – hasn’t done for a couple of months.  I have just had the element to the economy 7 unit replaced by a plumber but there is still no hot water in the morning until I press the boost.

 

I have storage heaters which do work overnight.

 

Does anyone have any thoughts on what the issue may be?

 

Thanks

[Murdoch 333]

Could be a variety of things....... have you had your meter replaced? has the fuse gone in the E7 fuseboard? has the isolation switch failed? 

 

TBH unless you have some test kit you could struggle to diagnose this properly - a competent spark could do dead tests on the circuits in an hour - and remember, because its not working doesn't mean its dead ....... the fault could well be on the neutral. If its the isolation switch, get a new one fitted with a neon

 

[ProDave 1,954]

Fault finding by swapping random parts has proven not to work. You have probably paid a plumber unecessary work to drain and replace the immersion heater which was probably not faulty in the first place, or else it would now be working.

 

You would have done better getting an electrician to test everything, work out what was broken, and fix that broken part.

[Evans Electric 3,070]

I'd say it was a  faulty Imm Htr controller ,  not kicking in for the 7 hour night time period .    Difficult without being there . 

[Murdoch 333]

Do you have a Horstmann system ?

[Doc Hudson 1,214]

Basic rules of life you need to be aware of;

1/ Plumbers are normally good at keeping liquid in pipes and making toilet waste flow downhill to a big drain.

2/ Occasionally plumbers can connect a permanent supply 'Live-Neutral-Earth' onto a component providing it is clearly labelled up. e.g.  "terminal 1=Live(brown), 2=Earth(green/yellow0, 3=Neutral(blue)"

3/ Any items activated by timers, thermostats, motorised valves, I-phone Apps, economy-7,  etc. involving switched-live control wires will more often than not completely confuse 95%+ of plumbers.

4/ Fault finding done by plumbers on any electrical control problem, on an existing installation will typically be "keep randomly replacing bits till it works". (Diagnostics and testing are a concept plumbers very rarely grasp)

 

I would get the whole of your system tested by a suitably qualified and competent electrician, as I would never trust ANY electrical diagnosis done by a plumber.  [This is based upon many years of first-hand experience seeing how the majority of plumbers approach electrical problems].

 

Doc H. 

[NeilK 0]

Thank you for your replies, much appreciated.  I have booked in an electrician.

 

 

[Kurly 0]

I have an identical issue as the OP. I am in a privately rented flat and the system is configured for Economy 7 

The Immersion heater suddenly stopped working a few weeks ago. My Landlord arranged for electrician to take a look who informs me everything works ok and the problem is with the “tele switch” and to contact my energy provider. My energy provider says get an electrician to look at it. Can anyone please advise? 

[Kurly 0]

Apologies, my problem is slightly different to the OP in that neither the immersion heater nor “boost” switch works.

[ProDave 1,954]

22 minutes ago, Kurly said:

Apologies, my problem is slightly different to the OP in that neither the immersion heater nor “boost” switch works.

If the boost does not work, that is nothing to do with the teleswitch. The boost should operate at any time of day or night.

 

Get back onto your landlord and demand it is fixed. Suggest they send a better electrician as the first one failed.

 

 

[Murdoch 333]

On 26/08/2019 at 21:31, Murdoch said:

Do you have a Horstmann system ?

 

????

[Kurly 0]

I do indeed Murdoch.

[Murdoch 333]

9 hours ago, Kurly said:

I do indeed Murdoch.

 

In which case tell your landlord to get it replaced ....

[Kurly 0]

Why?

[Murdoch 333]

1 hour ago, Kurly said:

Why?

 

Is this question a joke?

 

My opinion based on experience ............ just report the issue to the landlord and get them to sort it out 

[Kurly 0]

Not a joke. What’s wrong with Horstmann?

[Murdoch 333]

5 hours ago, Kurly said:

Not a joke. What’s wrong with Horstmann?

 

They go wrong ..... Who said anything about changing the make or model.

 

Just get your landlord to get it sorted

[Kurly 0]

Ok, Interesting.

It’s a bit of a weird one this. The electrician tested both elements which were fine and informed me the problem must be something to do with the “teleswitch”. When he left I believed it was still broken however It seems to have started working again as I am getting hot water again although possibly not as warm as it was previously. Anyone any ideas as to what happened?

[ProDave 1,954]

When he checked the heating elements, did he do anything to the thermostats? 

 

Most modern thermostats have a second safety cut out which usually shows as a tiny little red button that has popped out, and are easy to reset just by pushing it back in and it will go click.

 

He didn't by any chance do that, and not bother to tell you what he did?

[Kurly 0]

I can’t remember exactly what he said he did as I was preoccupied at work when he called ProDave however I do remember him say everything he had checked including the elements were working fine so the issue must be with my teleswitch and suggested I contact my energy provider to sort. My energy provider had no idea how to solve the issue and told me to contact a sparky.