Immersion heater wiring - help needed please

[ivrytwr3]

Hey all,

Before anybody says "get a qualified electrician" - i can't, i can't afford it and so i am asking for some help so we can hopefully have hot water for the winter!

The immersion heater we have heats the hot water only (a boiler does the central heating). The water has suddenly become scalding hot and i believe the thermostat(s) have gone and so i have bought replacements.

I have googled how to replace the thermostat and it looks straight forward as long as that is the problem - if it isn't then anything else is out of my capability and i will have to get in a professional. I have took a couple of pics, can someone tell me if the current thermostats are wired correctly?

Lastly, what do you recommend setting the ew thermostats too? The last ones were set at 60 each.

 

[nikmet]

hey, lets all offer our professional advice and expertise for free, then later we can start another thread saying how theres no money in being a skilled electrician anymore!!

 

[ivrytwr3]

*slow clap at nikmet* As a new poster here i feel i should be polite, but with that post you don't deserve to be polite too!

I have asked for advice on changing a thermostat, that's all, i could get that info and videos from youtube and anywhere else on the net. But i wanted advice from experts like yourself before i started and before i did more damage than repair!!

I also have NO money to request the services of an engineer - times are hard if you hadn't noticed.

But what i did say and i said from the begining was if this doesn't rectify the fault, then i will HAVE to get in a professional as i don't know what to do next, nor do i want to cause any further damage.

Very strange post from yourself as this is a electrical forum, what type of questions or problems would you expect to find here?!

Get out of bed the wrong side this morning or did you not get any last night?

 

[telectrix]

if you don't have test equipment, one way to test if the stat. is switching is to switch on the heater and look at the meter. the disc will be spinning fast with the immersion drawing current and slow right down when and if the stat. switches off (on digital meters this is indicated by the speed that the LED flashes ).

 

[nikmet]

I was not un polite to you, just stating that the fastest way to find you have 'No Money' (as an electrician) is to provide your expertise and knowledge for free, I come across this often, always from people who can pay-but don,t want to.........just my opinion

 

[vjsmarwick]

I think it's your element that's shot not your stat if you are still getting scalding hot water but for that you are better getting someone in try it your self and rip the side out of the tank and you could be in deep hot water hehehe. I was at one a couple of weeks ago and the element was welded to the tank because it had been too long when fitted. Good lunch I am sure if you get a proper guy in you will get a good job and not starve. Even at 2 hours I would only charge £40 but I don't travel as far as reach you sorry.

 

[ayjay]

turn the stat down(anti clockwize) allow time for the water to cool down though
if the immersion element was split there wouldnt be any hot water just a bubbling sound
it seems odd why the boiler isn,t connected to the tank btw

 

[DieselShunter]

I think it's your element that's shot not your stat

Care to conject what sort of fault with the element might cause the water to continue to heat after the stat has been satisfied and has cut the power to it?

Ivrytwr, sounds to me like you've sourced the right parts and are doing the right things. Try turning the 2 stats right down to their minimum and see if there's still an overheating problem.

 

[ivrytwr3]

I will turn the stat down and see what happens.

But that is 2 different brands of stat i have bought and still the hot water is so hot you can make a brew with it!

Can i ask a question? Right, the E7 comes on at night for a few hours and auto cuts out, my concern is that there is no temperature control with the stat it just keeps heating as long as there is power ie if the E7 did not cut out i think the tank will continue to heat the water. Is it possible to have a working stat that continues to boil and boil the water? If so, what is the cause?

 

[snowhead]

ok, replaced both thermostats last night and set both to 60 degrees.

Not wanting to do any of the Self employed electricians out of work but,

That's your problem.

 

[ayjay]

as snowhead said,60 degrees is far too high
water boils at 100 degrees c but the stat wont go that far
just turn it down and experiment with it till its right for you
don,t waste the boiling water though drink pints of tea or have a really hot bath(or both)

 

[ivrytwr3]

as snowhead said,60 degrees is far too high
water boils at 100 degrees c but the stat wont go that far
just turn it down and experiment with it till its right for you
don,t waste the boiling water though drink pints of tea or have a really hot bath(or both)

OK, please bear with me again here! You are saying 60 degrees is too high, yet a post on page 1 stated:

60-65 no less than 60 or it will not kill off liegoneers disease as for the rest can't help if we can't see the pics

also when i googled this to start with it showed to set at minimum of 60. If it's just a case of turning the stat down i am going to look a right d!ck!

Thanks all.

 

[snowhead]

If the stat at the bottom is set to 60 the top of the cylinder overnight on E7 will get to a far higher than that.
If the stats are calibrated, set the bottom to 45 and the top to 55 to start, then turn the bottom up a fraction each day till the temp is suitable.

 

[lauriehurman]

That's why, every public facility you go into has a notice "THIS WATER IS VERY HOT"
They'd rather burn you than give you Legionella.

Laurie

OK, please bear with me again here! You are saying 60 degrees is too high, yet a post on page 1 stated:



also when i googled this to start with it showed to set at minimum of 60. If it's just a case of turning the stat down i am going to look a right d!ck!

Thanks all.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

*slow clap at nikmet* As a new poster here i feel i should be polite, but with that post you don't deserve to be polite too!

I have asked for advice on changing a thermostat, that's all, i could get that info and videos from youtube and anywhere else on the net. But i wanted advice from experts like yourself before i started and before i did more damage than repair!!

I also have NO money to request the services of an engineer - times are hard if you hadn't noticed.

But what i did say and i said from the begining was if this doesn't rectify the fault, then i will HAVE to get in a professional as i don't know what to do next, nor do i want to cause any further damage.

Very strange post from yourself as this is a electrical forum, what type of questions or problems would you expect to find here?!

Get out of bed the wrong side this morning or did you not get any last night?

oh aye....your only happy caus your gettin summat...for nowt......same old same old........
you witnessed it here guys....
look you....
go get an electrician in.....or if it fires dont you dare come back in here saying `well you told us to do this`...or even more churlish......gettin the `authorities` involved...then pointin em to here.....

 

[cobrauk]

Am i the only who noticed another problem here ? there looks like no over heat safety stat has been installed, only a normal stat that's why he has scolding hot water

"From April 2004, new and replacement Immersion Heater Thermostats need to incorporate an overheat safety cut-out so that if the water thermostat fails, the water in the cylinder will not overheat which could cause scalding water to come out of the taps."