Immersion not working

mickman

Hi GUys

Immersion isnt working - changed the switch and power going to it but still nothing . I have a lot of limescale in the water so reckon the element is covered in it and stopping it

Would there be any noise if this was the case ? I press the switch and nothing at all happens - when it worked there was a sound so you knew it was working

I have a spare element , is that easy to swap in ?

Thanks for any help

brightspark

mickman wrote: »

Hi GUys

Immersion isnt working - changed the switch and power going to it but still nothing . I have a lot of limescale in the water so reckon the element is covered in it and stopping it

What do you mean by you changed the power going to it?

It's possible that you have added another fault when you changed the switch, some other posters here have.

mickman wrote: »

I have a spare element , is that easy to swap in ?

Thanks for any help

The wiring of the new element is the easy part...getting the old one out can be tricky and has often resulted in needing to replace the complete cylinder!

Putting the new one in...not too hard, but will depend on how competent you are with plumbing.

Have you a multimeter? You really need to establish what's wrong before you replace parts at random.

mickman

brightspark wrote: »

What do you mean by you changed the power going to it?

It's possible that you have added another fault when you changed the switch, some other posters here have.


I changed the switch on the wall , no multimeter

The wiring of the new element is the easy part...getting the old one out can be tricky and has often resulted in needing to replace the complete cylinder!

Putting the new one in...not too hard, but will depend on how competent you are with plumbing.

Have you a multimeter? You really need to establish what's wrong before you replace parts at random.

I changed the switch on the wall

brightspark

Why did you change the switch?

Can you post a photo of the new switch? (so we can see if it's wired correctly)

It's also possible that the stat in the immersion has failed.

It will be difficult to establish exactly what is wrong without at least a multimeter.

mickman

brightspark wrote: »

Why did you change the switch?

Can you post a photo of the new switch? (so we can see if it's wired correctly)

It's also possible that the stat in the immersion has failed.

It will be difficult to establish exactly what is wrong without at least a multimeter.

Changed switch cos it was the easiest place to start - it's wired fine

Where is stat?

brightspark

Have both the bath and sink elements stopped heating?

brightspark

The stat is blue in that pic

mickman

brightspark wrote: »

Have both the bath and sink elements stopped heating?

yep. both are not working

hufpc8w3adnk65

mickman wrote: »

it's wired fine

On what expertise or skills have you based that on?

mickman

MrMac84 wrote: »

On what expertise or skills have you based that on?

its not that diffictult - i have done it before

took a photo of the current one before changing and then wiring exactly like it was before. it doesnt take genius

hufpc8w3adnk65

mickman wrote: »

its not that diffictult - i have done it before

took a photo of the current one before changing and then wiring exactly like it was before. it doesnt take genius

You'd be surprised how many Cowboys like you I've come across who thought it doesn't take A genius and were sadly mistaken when I informed them it was wired wrong. If you were half as clever as you think you are you wouldn't need too post here asking strangers for help. People are trying too help you and your snipping at them!

brightspark

mickman wrote: »

yep. both are not working

Ok,

IF you have correctly replaced the switch and there is power going to the switch, then the most likely failure and easiest to change is the thermostat, you don't need to turn off the water, it sits into a tube. DONT FORGET TO TURN OFF THE POWER FIRST.

It's unlikely that both elements have failed at the same time, and you haven't said anything about MCBs or RCDs tripping.

There are other possibility faults, but without a meter it won't be easy to check.

Your spare element probably has an stat in it which you can use.

brightspark

mickman wrote: »

its not that diffictult - i have done it before

took a photo of the current one before changing and then wiring exactly like it was before. it doesnt take genius

Could you post the before and after pics?

mickman

brightspark wrote: »

Ok,

IF you have correctly replaced the switch and there is power going to the switch, then the most likely failure and easiest to change is the thermostat, you don't need to turn off the water, it sits into a tube. DONT FORGET TO TURN OFF THE POWER FIRST.

It's unlikely that both elements have failed at the same time, and you haven't said anything about MCBs or RCDs tripping.

There are other possibility faults, but without a meter it won't be easy to check.

Your spare element probably has an stat in it which you can use.

ok thanks for that . ill try that at the weekend. When you say "its unlikely that both elements have failed" - what do you mean by this ? Or are you calling the stat and element also

mickman

brightspark wrote: »

Could you post the before and after pics?

dont have them now, sorry. this was a while back. i changed the switch and didnt resolve so i just stopped using the immersion.

want to get it back working now though

i have terrible limescale though so it would make sense that hte element is covered in it. have to de limescale the kettle once a week

mickman

MrMac84 wrote: »

You'd be surprised how many Cowboys like you I've come across who thought it doesn't take A genius and were sadly mistaken when I informed them it was wired wrong. If you were half as clever as you think you are you wouldn't need too post here asking strangers for help. People are trying too help you and your snipping at them!

yes others are trying to help me but you are not. Stop posting please

brightspark

Did you look at the pic I posted?

The stat is in the top of the immersion heater, which has two elements a long one used for "bath" and the short one used for "sink"

I see you had a similar issue last year?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=89944921

What was the end result that time?

Also MrMacs advice was sound, an immersion circuit is relatively simple for experienced electricians but there are some subtle differences between switches, if you come here asking questions please respect those trying to help.

brightspark

On the pic there is also a high temp cut-off, (it's black with a red button)

Try pressing the red button first before doing anything else.

snoopy12

brightspark wrote: »

On the pic there is also a high temp cut-off, (it's black with a red button)

Try pressing the red button first before doing anything else.

Sorry to hijack but when that red button needs to be pressed does it mean that the water temp should be turned down to stop problem reoccurring?
Or does it need to be looked at by a pro?

mickman

i respect people that offer to help, Mrmac basically insinuated that i was clueless and a "cowboy"

brightspark

snoopy12 wrote: »

Sorry to hijack but when that red button needs to be pressed does it mean that the water temp should be turned down to stop problem reoccurring?
Or does it need to be looked at by a pro?

First things to check are

Stat set too high, try turning it down.

Clothes being left on top of heater terminal box.

Then maybe check for a faulty stat.

If that doesn't work you are probably looking at replacing the immersion.

mickman

brightspark wrote: »

First things to check are

Stat set too high, try turning it down.

Clothes being left on top of heater terminal box.

Then maybe check for a faulty stat.

If that doesn't work you are probably looking at replacing the immersion.

ok thanks

snoopy12

brightspark wrote: »

First things to check are

Stat set too high, try turning it down.

Clothes being left on top of heater terminal box.

Then maybe check for a faulty stat.

If that doesn't work you are probably looking at replacing the immersion.

Thanks a mill brightspark. Will try turning down temp and if not it's a new immersion. Only happens a few times a year but it's annoying (but tbh we use little hot water from the tank only for dishes). Thanks again.

Ps. Sorry again mickman for the hijack.

brightspark

Forgot to add.. Do you have another source of heat on the cylinder? An oil burner or gas burner heating the water as well as the immersion?

snoopy12

brightspark wrote: »

Forgot to add.. Do you have another source of heat on the cylinder? An oil burner or gas burner heating the water as well as the immersion?

Not us if that's for me or OP but we have an oil boiler which heats rads and water.

brightspark

snoopy12 wrote: »

Not us if that's for me or OP but we have an oil boiler which heats rads and water.

Yes meant for you.

It's quite likely the oil is heating the water in the cylinder to a higher temp than the cut off stat.

snoopy12

brightspark wrote: »

Yes meant for you.

It's quite likely the oil is heating the water in the cylinder to a higher temp than the cut off stat.

Ok, so I should be mindful of not having both on together or at similar times?

brightspark

Can happen with just the oil, probably an easy way for you to check it is to see if it ever trips without the immersion being on. Or if it never happens when you don't use the oil.

mickman

brightspark wrote: »

Forgot to add.. Do you have another source of heat on the cylinder? An oil burner or gas burner heating the water as well as the immersion?

yeah gas burner and thats works fine. thats why i was in no rush to fix this but now im going renting the house so want to get it fixed

brightspark

mickman wrote: »

yeah gas burner and thats works fine. thats why i was in no rush to fix this but now im going renting the house so want to get it fixed

Comments were aimed at snoopy12 who was asking why his cut off stat was tripping