Immersion failure with PV diverter (Eddi)

H.E. Pennypacker

I had an immersion diverter installed along with PV just over a year ago and now there seems to be an issue with the immersion. When the diverter boost function is selected, the diverter passes power to the immersion for about 20 seconds and then decides that max temp is reached.

Resistance on the immersion elements looks normal, the thermostat on the immersion looks to be working fine in terms of resistance and passing voltage through and the diverter is passing 230V to the immersion when boosting.

The original immersion failed about a week after the Eddi was installed but that was thought to be because the immersion was there almost ten years so this is the second failure in a year.

The Eddi troubleshooting guide reckons that its either the immersion thermostat or the element so I suppose that replacing it is the logical next step.

Has anyone else had similar issues with their immersion & diverter?

reklamos

H.E. Pennypacker wrote: »

I had an immersion diverter installed along with PV just over a year ago and now there seems to be an issue with the immersion. When the diverter boost function is selected, the diverter passes power to the immersion for about 20 seconds and then decides that max temp is reached.

Resistance on the immersion elements looks normal, the thermostat on the immersion looks to be working fine in terms of resistance and passing voltage through and the diverter is passing 230V to the immersion when boosting.

The original immersion failed about a week after the Eddi was installed but that was thought to be because the immersion was there almost ten years so this is the second failure in a year.

The Eddi troubleshooting guide reckons that its either the immersion thermostat or the element so I suppose that replacing it is the logical next step.

Has anyone else had similar issues with their immersion & diverter?

Sound like a thermostat problem on the heating element. Try to reset it, there should be a button for that on it.

denismc

So does the the water heat up when you use the bypass on the Eddi?
Are you running the latest firmware? you will need a "Hub" to do any firmware upgrades.

I had issues similar to yours in that the Eddi would stop diverting even though the max temperature han't been reached.
I got a replacement Eddi and everything seems to been fine since.

MyEnergi have their own forum where you might find some answers,
https://myenergi.info/eddi-f4/

H.E. Pennypacker

denismc wrote: »

So does the the water heat up when you use the bypass on the Eddi?
Are you running the latest firmware? you will need a "Hub" to do any firmware upgrades.

I had issues similar to yours in that the Eddi would stop diverting even though the max temperature han't been reached.
I got a replacement Eddi and everything seems to been fine since.

MyEnergi have their own forum where you might find some answers,
https://myenergi.info/eddi-f4/

Thanks for the info. Both hub and Eddi are on the latest firmware (just updated the hub as there was an update before Christmas). The bypass doesn't heat the water either.

denismc

If the bypass isn't working the problem is probably not with the Eddi.

H.E. Pennypacker

denismc wrote: »

If the bypass isn't working the problem is probably not with the Eddi.

You're right - I had a closer look today and found an issue at the connection to the Eddi. Any idea what would cause it? The connection wasn't loose at either end. The burnt wire started off as a blue Neutral and was wired to the immersion thermostat.

reklamos

H.E. Pennypacker wrote: »

You're right - I had a closer look today and found an issue at the connection to the Eddi. Any idea what would cause it? The connection wasn't loose at either end. The burnt wire started off as a blue Neutral and was wired to the immersion thermostat.

Ouch.

This is not a good sign. The heating element was pulling way more current than the wires could handle, the terminal started melting also. I would have expected tripped circuit breaker or blown fuse. This could have caused fire. How many kWh your heating element is? Is it connected directly or is there junction box in between?

H.E. Pennypacker

reklamos wrote: »

Ouch.

This is not a good sign. The heating element was pulling way more current than the wires could handle, the terminal started melting also. I would have expected tripped circuit breaker or blown fuse. This could have caused fire. How many kWh your heating element is? Is it connected directly or is there junction box in between?

Its a standard 2.85 kW immersion element with a direct connection between the immersion and the diverter.

Thinking about it again, I think that I know what happened. I reckon that some overenthusiastic packing of things in the hotpress pulled on the flex and dragged the neutral out a bit. While the individual connections seemed tight, the clamp securing the lead where it enters the unit wasn't tight enough.

I've fitted a new immersion in any case, although I don't think that there's any issue with the old one. I've also replaced the wiring to the diverter and am using the second heater connections - I'll keep a close eye on things. I'm also waiting for MyEnergi to let me know what the turnaround on a repair to the unit will be as ultimately it'll have to be fixed.

denismc

That's scary looking, just goes to show you circuit breakers don't protect you from everything.

H.E. Pennypacker

H.E. Pennypacker wrote: »

You're right - I had a closer look today and found an issue at the connection to the Eddi. Any idea what would cause it? The connection wasn't loose at either end.

It's a classic loose wire connection symptom.

Maybe they weren't loose when you checked because it was welded in place by arcing.


Arc fault detecton is a circuit breaker that would have flagged this. It's not standard to fit these. Standard earth leakage or overcurrent detection devices do not operate as it is not a fault condition specific to what they protect against.