Immersion Heater Probs

nabowla

I've been having a bit of a saga with my immersion heater (at least, I think that's what it's called - it's the one that heats up the water for the flat!) A couple of months ago I woke up and found that I had no hot water. My landlord called a plumber in; the plumber said that one of the two rod things that heats up the water was not working (it's less than 2 years old) and that the timer switch was also faulty. He took the rod out and told us that we needed an electrician to fix the timer.

My landlord then called out an electrician. I wasn't here at the time but apparently he didn't have all of the right stuff with him so removed the timer box and fixed the wires so that they'd heat up enough water for me to have a shower every day. Then my landlord went away to Australia and nothing happened..........

Luckily someone from this website mentioned that the timer that I had was faulty and had been recalled by the manufacturer. So I contacted the manufacturer and they sent out a free electrician to fix the timer. The electrician installed a new timer but said that he'd only done some temporary wiring as the immersion heater couldn't be fixed properly until the rod thingy had been fixed by a plumber. Every time I want hot water I have to press the 'boost' button to heat up enough water.

Problem is that I got up this morning and the boost button simply isn't working. I'm worried and totally confused. Do I call a plumber to fix the rod or an electrician to check the timer (again)? I think I need a plumber because the root cause of the current problems is the fact that one of the two rods is missing, but will the plumber be able to check that the heater's properly wired once the rod's replaced? How do I go about finding a reliable, honest, not-too-expensive plumber in London? My landlord will eventually refund the bills but it's up to me to find the right person/people and pay the bills. Any advice gratefully received.

letsbehonest

You need a competant electrician to do this job properly my advice would be go to your local central heating/plumbing shop and ask them to suggest the right person, as most of these shops supply the trade

nabowla

Will the electrician be able to fix the rod? I thought that was something a plumber would have to do as it's water-related? Like the idea of going to a plumbing shop - now all I have to do is find one near me!

uncle_buck_3

Just to help clarify an immersion heater.

Have a look at the picture in the link below:
http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/0-1722

The immersion heater is the item on the left…this is basically just an electric element.

The item on the right of the picture is the thermostat. (Rod)

The thermostat is there so that even when you leave the immersion heater switched on all of the time as soon as the water in the cylinder gets to the temperature that the thermostat is set too it switches the immersion heater off. When the water cools below the set level it will switch back on again…etc.

The thermostat can be renewed without removing the immersion heater, so yes an electrician would be able to fix it.

plumb1_2

Imo it will be the element that has gone, and best to get a plumber to replace it, and i would recomened replaceing the other 1, while he has the cylinder drained, if it has only lasted 2yrs, the other wont be far behind failing.
He should also be able to reconnect the electric cable back to the new heaters.
When you sorce a plumber ask the question.

mercurystar999

A decent electrician should be able to replace the immersion and the timer. The immersion heater is a five minute job once the cylinder is drained. The timer is also pretty easy to change.

nabowla

Thanks for all the tips - especially the pictures as I think I now understand what's gone wrong. The plumber took out one of the immersion heaters as it was faulty, so it sounds as though I've got to get the cylinder drained and the immersion fixed. The timer's ok if it's wired correctly. I'll get a couple of quotes today now that I feel a bit more confident about what to ask for: hope it doesn't cost too much :-)