Immersion wiring query

mburke

The immersion switch needed to be replaced and I picked up a new switch but it is not the same as the previous one.

Basically I have the 3 wires coming from the main (neutral, earth and live) from the immersion I have 4 wires (green/yellow=earth, blue, black and brown).

The switch has neutral in, neutral out, live, bath, sink and two earths. which way would you suggest I wire this so that the fuse box doesn't trip.

I have attached images to show the configuration.

2011

Blue - Neutral - connect to N out on the switch

Black - Either live to sink element or bath element connect to either sink or bath terminal in the switch.

Brown- Either live to sink element or bath element connect to either sink or bath terminal in the switch.

Green yellow connect to either of the 2 earth terminals in the switch.

There should be a supply cable to the immersion switch, make sure the earth from this is connected to the remaining earth terminal on the switch.

Brown on supply cable, connect this to the live in terminal on the switch.

To identify which is the sink and which is the bat element, measure the resistance between the brown and the blue then the brown and the black on the flex to the immersion. Which ever has the lower resistance is the bath element.

If you are not 100% sure of what you are doing get a qualified electrician to do it!!

Remember all connections should be tight and doubled over.

paddymick

What 2011 said
and also i would check that connection of the wire from the element to the stat because from the picture it looks very scorched suggesting a loose connection there:eek: and if you look closely at the 2 screws the one on the right looks a bit higher so maybe its not screwed fully home

colly3

In a similar situation to the opening poster - spring went in the switch, haven't been able to get an identical switch to the old one (pic one) so not entirely sure how to fit the new one (pic 2).
Any help or tips would be appreciated.
Thanks

17larsson

The brown cable currently in 'L' goes into 'L in' on the new switch.
The brown cable currently in 'bath' goes into 'L1'.
The black cable currently in 'sink' goes into 'L2'.
The blue cable from the white flex goes into 'N out'
The other blue cable goes into 'N in'
You need to put a link wire from 'L out' to 'Com', make sure it's the same size cable (2.5mm).
Put the green/yellow cables in one of the terminals either side of the main unit.

That should get you out but I would rather hear back from you saying you got an electrician to do it but if not just make sure your connections are tight and the power is off at the fuseboard when working on it

Diggerdunne

In the first pic the 2 blues together is wrong.... You should be breaking the neutral thru the switch. U see there is no cable in the N out terminal

meercat

You may want to return that new immersion switch for another brand
There is problem with that switch and i have replaced numerous ones in the last while

tomdempsey200

meercat wrote: »

You may want to return that new immersion switch for another brand
There is problem with that switch and i have replaced numerous ones in the last while

I wasn't aware of any issue with them

are you sure it wasnt loose wiring?

meercat

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

I wasn't aware of any issue with them

are you sure it wasnt loose wiring?

Definitely not
Replaced at least 6 of them that I had fitted
Don't seem to be able to take the load

17larsson

meercat wrote: »

Definitely not
Replaced at least 6 of them that I had fitted
Don't seem to be able to take the load

I actually noticed this recently as well. I wasn't sure if it was coincidence or the fact this particular switch was dodgy but if other people are finding problems as well then it must be the switch

colly3

meercat wrote: »

You may want to return that new immersion switch for another brand
There is problem with that switch and i have replaced numerous ones in the last while

Thanks for that meercat - I took your advice and went to the electrical shop this morning and got an identical one to the old one. Will wire it up when I go home.

Thanks all - Great site with great people always willing to help

colly3

Diggerdunne wrote: »

In the first pic the 2 blues together is wrong.... You should be breaking the neutral thru the switch. U see there is no cable in the N out terminal

Has been like that for 15 years :eek:

Diggerdunne

Put the neutral going to the immersion element into the N out terminal and all is good then.....

colly3

Operation Immersion is a success, thanks everyone

davidmpm

hi,

my switch is the same as Mburke's switch and the immersion has never been fully wired since the house was built.
at the moment there are 3 wires connected and 4 loose wires.


the 3 connected wires are:
Blue to N
Brown to L
green & yellow to the brass connector on the side


the free wires are Blue, Brown, Black and Green&Yellow

would I be correct in saying that the free:
blue wire goes to the N OUT port
Black wire goes to BATH port
Brown wire goes to SINK port
Green & Yellow goes to the other brass connector earth terminal - opposite the one with the other the green & yellow wire?

thanks for any help!!

tomdempsey200

davidmpm wrote: »

hi,

my switch is the same as Mburke's switch and the immersion has never been fully wired since the house was built.
at the moment there are 3 wires connected and 4 loose wires.


the 3 connected wires are:
Blue to N
Brown to L
green & yellow to the brass connector on the side


the free wires are Blue, Brown, Black and Green&Yellow

would I be correct in saying that the free:
blue wire goes to the N OUT port
Black wire goes to BATH port
Brown wire goes to SINK port
Green & Yellow goes to the other brass connector earth terminal - opposite the one with the other the green & yellow wire?

thanks for any help!!

brown=bath black=sink

most of the time

you could check if you had an owl meter or a esb meter that spins

davidmpm

cheers tomdempsey200 ill try that!

2011

This can be confirmed by using an ohm meter. The bath element will have a lower resistance than the sink.

tomdempsey200

yes

about 19ohm for bath

and 25ohm for sink

if he has a multimeter

davidmpm

I actually dont have an ohm metre but ill try brown=bath black=sink and see if that works by monitoring which heats more water
thanks!